From a bird eye's view, the battlefield was consumed by an expansive globe of darkness, stretching several miles in circumference. Unnatural and eerie, its surface rippled like waves on an abyssal sea.
Stepping through the barrier, the peaceful desert surroundings were instantly replaced by screams and dying gurgles.
Rays of red energy rained down from the sky, each blast followed by hundreds of fresh, agonizing cries. The goblins were in complete disarray.
They hurled stones wildly in every direction, slashing at the air in blind fury. Some, unable to distinguish friend from foe, turned their weapons on each other.
Those that accidentally charged out of the darkness blinked in confusion- only to snarl and dive right back in, driven by bloodlust.
Within the darkness, the goblins could only see a few feet ahead and the crimson rays of death sweeping their ranks, the source acting as a beacon for their advance.
Meanwhile, the Dark Elves had very little trouble initially. They darted in and out atop their salamanders, striking with precision before vanishing back into the veil of darkness.
Despite Myra's newfound overwhelming power, the battle was still a brutal one. Three hundred Dark Elves, some not even adults, against ten thousand, albeit weakened from their forced march, goblins. If they were human, they would've fled already.
But goblins, altered by their frenzied and berserk state, knew no fear.
More than half of the goblin horde was killed, yet they pressed on with single-minded determination to exterminate the dark elves. And some they found.
As the battle raged on, the goblins' wild, unpredictable movements eventually found their marks. The Dark Elves, expertly maneuvering around the horde, were occasionally met with the frenzied, wild charge of goblins.
The salamanders fought fiercely to protect themselves and their riders in these moments, their spiked tails impaling goblins swarming near. But even they weren't infallible, and some were blindsided, swarmed, or caught mid-combat with no way to escape.
Xanveris and Xelvanya fought side by side, their mounts weaving through the battlefield.
Xelvanya, a close-range fighter infused with red mist, tore through dozens with her scorpion spear, while Xanveris struck from a distance, unleashed waves of magic that wiped out scores in an instant.
Zark's role was to guard the Oasis alongside several others, cutting down or impaling charging strays with magic and weapons. None had yet reached the mothers inside, nor had the waters been tainted.
And Myra?
She kept her distance from the Oasis, realizing quickly that her presence alone directed the goblins' mindless charges.
With their unrelenting frenzy- blind to the growing field of corpses around them- the decision to fight away from the cave proved wise. And this did not include the many poisons that could have polluted their waters.
While maintaining the globe of darkness and firing deadly rays of energy, any stones or weapons hurled her way were vaporized by the red mist surrounding her.
Were it not for the darkness, she could have wiped out hundreds- if not thousands- more by herself. But then, her people- her children- would have been massacred instead. She might have become the last Dark Elf.
As the battle dragged on, the already exhausted goblins slowed immensely, and the massacre became more intense. By the end, the goblins were dropping like flies, even to the smallest of the Dark Elven children.
The dark veil shielding the battlefield from the intense sun rays lifted, revealing the green and red-stained sands beneath the layer of bodies, scattered like fallen leaves.
When the veil was lifted, some goblins sprang to their feet, and the battle resumed briefly before these clever ones joined the field of corpses.
Of the three hundred Dark Elves, sixty were killed and forty were injured, ten of them severely. Half of the Dark Elves returned with the wounded—family members and loved ones- while the rest began their ritual of double-tapping the corpses and dragging them into separate piles.
Occasionally, one or two would spring up, but the Dark Elves on alert ended their lives quickly.
Then, the bodies of the goblins began to rise and disintegrate, their red mist flowing up into Myra's gem embedded in her forehead.
When the Dark Elves cast their gazes over the battlefield, they quickly realized that the ones still lying there were not yet deceased. Unconscious or faking it, it didn't matter. They finished the job, and their remains ascended into Myra's being.
The battle was over, and the sun was setting, but there were no smiles. Despite their victory, their losses- though small in number- were high for their total populace. Every lost soul was known to all, and the grief weighed heavily upon them.
After descending, Myra calmly walked toward the injured. Red energy ebbed from her, seeping into their wounds. Any poison was neutralized. Torn tendons, broken bones, lost eyesight, lacerations- all were mended.
The energy she absorbed from the corpses of the green skins restored her own and also gave her enough to heal her kin. Primarily using the red gem, she stored what remained within herself.
Like before, a red mist ascended from the ground and enveloped Myra. All eyes were drawn to her. Some worried that another doom approached, while others held eager anticipation.
Xanveris and Xelvanya were no different. Soaked in green blood, exhausted and fatigued, they could only hope it was not serious. Their bodies could not handle another extended battle, or even a skirmish, with the red mist in their eyes flickering faintly.
Soft, eerie whispers echoed out from the red mist. It was subtly different from last time- more intense, more ominous, with traces of black now running through the once pure red.
"Let us quickly perform our rituals for the deceased," Myra's concerned voice emerged, her expression grim. The red mist and whispers faded back into the stone.
Myra's hand swept across the cavern. "Prepare essentials for evacuation. We may not need to leave, but we also need to be prepared should it be necessary."
The Dark Elves stiffened at her words.
"Is it over? Or...?" Zark asked somewhat confused and completely exhausted as well.
"The God of Tenebris watches over us, for now. And he is concerned."