"This is it." Meisa finds herself in a desolate valley, alongside her number one helper Yamada T Ieri and Cai M Eskil. The valley is shrouded in mist, and the ground is coated in a corrosive substance. 

The trio marches through the murky air, their boots making a slurping sound as they break the film of the acidic soil beneath them. Meisa, the leader, looking stoic with piercing green eyes and a sharp jawline. Her hair is pulled back in a tight bun, not a single strand out of place despite the harsh conditions. Yamada T Ieri glides smoothly across the ground. His eyes, however, gleam with a hint of excitement. Cai M Eskil however is a kid brought along to fill the numbers.

Yes, this is it, the once every 30 year invasion of the elven mainland. The birthplace of the Elves is a polluted mess, characterised by the lack of anything arable. 

The air is thick with the smell of decay and something else, something metallic and bitter. Meisa's nostrils flare at the scent. The misty valley is eerily silent, save for the occasional hiss of steam rising from fissures in the ground. The acidic mist clings to their clothes and skin, leaving a faint burn and a sticky residue as they jump around to increase their speed as they tail the enemy.

The trio has been trailing a pair of men wearing combat vests who are traversing the seemingly endless expanse that is the valley of poison. 

"How long is this stupid reconnaissance mission??" Meisa groans as she slices off the bicep from a human arm.

"A few days, Meisa." Ieri spits the toothpick in his mouth as he starts cleaning the muzzle of his pistol. 

Meisa's eyes narrow as she looks over the horizon, where the sun is setting in a display of sickly green hues. The landscape is a patchwork of decayed trees, their bark sloughed away to reveal rotting wood beneath. The leaves are a dull brown, brittle and lifeless, crackling underfoot like ancient paper.

They let the human roast for a few more minutes, carving pieces of it for consumption. The valley is littered with caves that are excellent hiding spots, and since there are countless caves, it's really outrageous for any force to check all of them for loitering warriors like them.

Meisa disposes of the charred remains and the three flicker from their spots. 

"Eskil, can you sense the direction they're going?" Meisa grumbles. In response, Eskil wields his sword, well, it's not a sword, it's more like a receiver rod.

"Their scent is faint, but they're moving east." The young elf says, his voice nasally, as if the corrosive air has been getting to his throat.

The trio start running in that direction. The bright moon follows, shining on their backs as they run and run until they see it. A walled city. 

"That's it. Let's check the defences." Ieri says, signalling to Meisa and Eskil to follow closely as they hide behind some rocks. 

"Remember, we're here to prod their forces and gain experience." Meisa grumbles, unsheathing her sword. 

"Remember to clean your sword, ma." 

"Brat, now that you're five years old you think you can talk back to me? I have a higher rank than you." Meisa immediately flickers to the direction of the pair they were tailing. 

The city loomed ahead, its fortifications stark against the night sky. The wall, a monstrous construct of steel and stone, stretched for miles, disappearing into the haze. The moon casts long shadows that danced across the barrier. 

The three of them move in to engage the enemy. Meisa goes first, charging quickly with her sword drawn.

Her sword however was blocked by her opponent's hardened arm and they followed up with a hook to her side, causing her to flicker a metre backwards.

"What, I told you to use one hand to strike with your sword so that you'd have an arm ready to defend!" Ieri yells out.

"Trash team! Pig teammates! Who told you to be a long ranged warrior? Trash! You'd shoot me first before you hit the enemy!" Meisa sweeps her leg, causing the opponent to jump and take the peppering bullets shot from Ieri's pistol.

The opponent hardens his skin once again and attempts to jump away, but Meisa pushes her advantage, as before he lands on the ground, she hits him with the tip of her sword, causing him to be pushed back ten metres as he hardens his abdomen in response. 

"Damn, the bane of swords." It's a cheap technique, but Meisa didn't bother to learn about it.

Due to Meisa engaging the enemy, Ieri can do nothing but watch and look for the second opponent. 

Once he finds him, Ieri immediately opens with a shot of his pistol, raining at least ten projectiles at his opponent, but his opponent simply blows the bullets away with his breath and he charges at him holding a spear.

With two hands, he swings the five metre spear at Ieri. Ieri flickers away and erects a large wall of stone under his opponent, and like target practice, once again shoots at his opponent.

His opponent flickers a metre forward, and lands under the wall, looking exhausted.

Ieri finally shoots one hundred bullets in an instant clean through his opponent's chest as they try to avoid it.

On Meisa's side, she slashes at her opponent like a flash, but her opponent's reaction speed can not be underestimated, as every time her near instantaneous attack lands, he manages to harden himself at the right time. 

After attacking like this thrice, Meisa flickers back to Eskil and the others. 

"There are others coming." Eskil exclaims.

"From the sky!" Meisa, Eskil and Ieri flicker away as a gust of wind wounds the earth beneath her previous location.

Eskil and Ieri look half dead as the trio stare at the thing in the sky.

"I can't believe it, it's a Harpy!"

The creature in question descends from the sky with a shrill cry that pierces the night. Its massive wingspan casts a shadow over the trio as it lands gracefully, talons digging into the corroded earth. The creature's human torso is muscular, with feathers the color of rusted metal covering its broad shoulders. But rather than call it a Harpy, she looks more like an Angel with chicken legs.

"Damn, if I can't kill one of yous, I'll go mad!"

The Harpy lets out three more wind blasts, each time wounding the earth severely. The three of them flicker back once, Meisa grabs Eskil on the collar the second time, and Meisa and Ieri flicker back again, this time, Eskil is on Meisa's back.

Ieri stops Meisa from spouting more colourful words as he assesses the situation.

"At this rate it'll be over for the three of us." he sighs. 

The harpy's wings flap once, sending a gust of wind that stirs the acidic mist into a tornado. Meisa's grip on her sword tightens as she feels the weight of her mission pressing down on her shoulders. 

"I'm sorry baby." Meisa drops Eskil.

"Mom!" 

"I still have a daughter at home, and if push comes to shove, I'll make a new kid." 

"What the heck are you saying?"