Flurry saw her destination on the horizon long before she reached it, the crystal spire piercing the heavens being visible from miles away. Flurry usually went out of her way to avoid even so much as looking at it, but now, it was finally time for her to face what lay within.
She flew above the forests that surrounded the spire, granting her a vantage point on the defenses below. Magenta crystal spread from the base, completely covering the ground, and on top, various structures formed from the same crystal stood, almost resembling a small town.
With a grimace, Flurry noted she wasn’t alone. There were at least twenty of them visible, probably more out of sight, wandering around the ‘town’ aimlessly. Surprisingly, they were all mostly equine, rather than some of the more monstrous varieties she had encountered in the past. From a distance, they seemed almost like normal ponies.
But they weren’t, and Flurry scowled at herself for even considering it. Crystal jutted from their flesh, replacing the bone she normally saw, even completely covering some of the larger ones. She couldn’t afford sentimentality, or she would just wind up dead.
Flurry lit her horn, focusing on picking out the most dangerous targets first: The horned ones, the spellcasters. Counting a total of eight out in the open, she focused a spell and fired. A thick beam of magic shot from her horn, splitting into eight and striking her foes. Six of them crumpled to the ground, while two of them, both larger than the rest, screeched in pain and looked up at her.
The rest of them looked up as well. Several of the winged ones launched into the air, shrieking as they flew towards her. Flurry dove to meet them, drawing her sword. Just before she would have crashed into one, she dove to the side, bringing her rapier down to slice one of its wings clean off. It spiraled in the air, crashing into one of its fellows and tumbling to the ground.
Two more rose to meet her, darting towards her with the crystal claws at the tips of their wings outstretched. Flurry reached out with her magic, grabbing the wing she had just severed, and swung it at one of her approaching foes, skewering the other with her blade.
A flash from the corner of her vision made her twitch, twisting her body to avoid a bolt of magic fired at her from the ground. One of the surviving spellcasters hissed, horn glowing with magenta light, and fired again. Flurry grabbed one of the still airborne fliers and yanked on it, moving it into the path of the oncoming projectile. It shot a hole right through the flier’s chest, Flurry pushing herself back to avoid its continuing path.
Flurry pulled the crystal orb from her cloak, and hurled it towards the attacking caster. She cut at an approaching flier as she watched the orb fall, dodging its diving swipe. She dived, weaving around the caster’s shots, drawing the grounded ones, otherwise unable to engage her, closer. Once a sizable group had gathered around the caster, she reached out and triggered the orb.
It expanded rapidly, spikes erupting from its surface in every direction. The caster, and several of the grounded ones surrounding it, found themselves impaled, staining the spikes with their ichor. A few of the larger melee ones, covered by crystal armor, survived, being simply knocked away by the attack.
More foes emerged from the surrounding crystal structures, summoned by the ongoing battle. Flurry thrust her rapier into the neck of one of the armored ones, raising a shield to protect herself from the attacks of the newly arrived casters.
Flurry flapped her wings hard, pushing herself up further into the air. Lowering her shield, she focused all her magic into her horn, firing a ball of energy into the ground. On impact, it exploded, a magical shockwave ripping through the gathering horde. A few of the fliers took to the air, but the rest were thrown away, the ones close to the blast zone being torn apart.
Panting, Flurry dropped to the ground, taking a moment to catch her breath, and only barely regaining her energy quickly enough to block yet another attack from a caster. Looking around, she saw that despite how many she had taken out, her foes’ number had only increased.
Sighing, Flurry reached into her cloak and pulled out a vial of brown liquid. She hated using them, and it was her last one, but she got the feeling this was the last time she would find it useful. She uncorked the vial, took a deep breath, and downed the entire thing. She felt the power flow through her, her expression morphing into a twisted smile.
Violence wasn’t something Flurry normally enjoyed. She was good at it, and well practiced, but it wasn’t something she took pleasure from. Fighting was but a task she had to complete, and she had learned to detach herself, to not think too hard about the specifics.
But under the influence of the… stuff in those vials, she found herself reveling in it. She rarely recalled the exact details of her actions, lost in a blurred haze of magical frenzy, but she did remember the feelings. The feeling of perverse joy as she ripped through her foes with increased ferocity, tearing the crystals out from their flesh and using them to smash through their armor… she hated how much she enjoyed it.
When she finally regained her lucidity, she found herself alone, facing the doors to the spire. She chose not to look behind her, not wanting to see the carnage she had wrought, quickly checking she still had her weapons and tools before pushing the doors open and walking inside, shutting the doors behind her.
She used a spell to quickly clean her coat and cloak of ichor. She tried not to think about how much there was.
A large spiral staircase ran around the inside wall of the spire, leading up so high that Flurry couldn’t see the top. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any enemies guarding the inside. Taking to the air, Flurry ascended the spire, keeping an eye out for foes. But none appeared.
Eventually, she reached the top, the stairs leading into a circular hallway with a door to the chamber at the spire’s apex. Flurry stood in front of the doors for a moment, readying herself. Then, with a deep breath, she narrowed her eyes and pushed the doors open.