[After almost a month's worth of sporadic writing, my first Sylestia-based story is finally done! This was based off my own experiences with the arena sub-boss(es) in the Dungeon of the Forsaken, and inspired partially by the Lindsey Stirling song The Arena. Feedback and constructive criticism are welcome. I hope you enjoy the story!]

The Arena

The doors slammed shut behind the adventurer and their Sylesti, a resounding boom of finality that stirred up dust around the arena. The room was featureless, save for dimly lit torches in evenly spaced steel brackets, and a large wooden grate on the other side of the arena. Although the flickering torchlight was dim, it still illuminated the figures in the arena, faint light casting exaggerated shadows on the walls with every movement. Two dark purple Kelpari, bedecked in pearl armour and strange looking equipment, checking the arena for any hidden traps. A blue Aurleon, snow swirling about her with every flap of her wings as she inspected the upper levels of the arena. A small human of indeterminate gender, wearing a black and white winter parka with irregular blotching on the back, holding a staff in one hand and scanning their surroundings. Above the arena, several robed figures sat amongst the worn seats of the balcony, cloaked by an illusion spell. Their eyes blazed with malice underneath their hoods, pointed teeth bared in smirks of anticipation for the promise of violence to come.

Without warning, the grate slowly opened, rusty gears creaking in protest as the Sylesti instantly fell into formation. Swarms of Vorkids poured into the circular room, their hissing and chittering increasing in volume alongside their number. The unintentional piece of music was complemented by the thudding footsteps of bulky Myconids that lumbered in with them, fungal faces frozen in hatred-filled scowls. Gradually, the stream of creatures petered out, until at last, a large Myconid King and a Vorkid Queen emerged from the gates depths, completing the circle that left the adventurer and their Sylestis completely, utterly surrounded.

For a moment, silence reigned in the arena, only to be broken by the sound of slow, measured clapping. "Bravo. You've managed to trap me and my party within an arena that's meant to be an inescapable deathtrap. While I hate to cut your gloating and self-congratulation short, I do have a few things to point out."

bang... bang... bang... bang...

One of the dark elves frowned, acute hearing honed from countless battles picking up the sounds of a faint commotion just beyond the door.
"Fun fact one. I have faced down bigger armies than what you've got here, and with less Sylestis too. Why, we once dealt with a Vorkid invasion at Faerinas Shrine. These three here," - at this, the human gestured to the Sylesti around them - "ended up taking down all except for around a dozen of the invaders - and yes, they did get the queen."
The warrior's frown deepened. What on earth was the human going on about? There were only three Sylesti in the arena, and the sorcerer would've known if there were any others, even if they were otherwise concealed.

bang.... bang... bang... bang... thud... thud...

The banging got louder, and a little deeper in volume. Ripples of motion spread through the ranks as some of the weaker monsters tensed, instincts screaming at them to flee. Some of the other figures frowned as they began to hear the noise as well.
"Fun fact two. Most Sylestis may not be able to talk, but they are still quite intelligent, and that's not getting into the ones that are trained for battle - especially the ones who are attuned to Fire, Light, or Shadow."

thud... thud... boom... boom...

By now, the noise was a lot louder, and clear for everyone to hear. One of the figures stood, hood falling back to reveal yellow eyes and white hair. Before the sorcerer could act though, the human continued.
"Fun fact three. Wooden doors don't hold up well against Fire or Wind attacks... but they don't do very well when faced with a determined, Earth attuned Sylesti with high Strength either."

BOOM... BOOM... CRACK!

Cracks spiderwebbed throughout the wood, metal bands groaning as they were forcibly shifted out of position. Then the entire door flew off its hinges, flattening a few unfortunates as it landed with a crash, and three other Sylesti leapt in. A sandy brown Zolnixi with fire dancing around him, a Draeyl with dark red scales and bright green eyes, and the culprit: a white furred Qitari with a navy mane and off-white scales, cracking the earth under his hooves as he landed. An inhuman scream rang out, a desperate command spoken in the language of the dark elves for the assorted monsters to kill. But even as the monsters surged forward, the sorcerer found himself drowned out by the war cries of six angered Sylesti.

Several Vorkid Drones, Myconid Sprouts, and Myconid Shrooms surged forward to crush the Sylesti with numbers, and found themselves repelled by a wall of fire. The Webspinners launched sticky globules of webbing in an attempt to trap their foes, only for the Draeyl to unleash several blades of air with a spin, deflecting the globs that were not outright shredded back towards their senders. Unused to being on the receiving end of their own webbing, the Webspinners unlucky enough to hit screeched, flailing blindly and knocking over other Vorkids. The resulting piles of tangled limbs and dented chitin were targeted with ruthless efficiency by the Aurleon and the light-attuned Kelpari, bolts of shadow and light putting down the insects with practised ease.

The orange-capped Myconid Warriors stomped forward, staff-brandishing Seers flanking them as they roared and swiped at the Sylesti. The other Kelpari surged forward, duly enduring the blows while retaliating with blasts of water, then brought her hooves in front of her and summoned a wave of water, pummelling the warriors and finishing off some of the more weakened ones. Meanwhile, the adventurer dextrously parried the Seer's weapons with their own staff, tricking them into striking their fellow Myconids, or exploiting openings to strike them with a punishing blow.

The Vorkid Shifters and Lurkers fared no better. The Qitari had launched himself into the closest group with gutso, kicking and bucking with wild abandon, before jumping away as the last Vorkid fell to face his next group of targets. For some reason, the insects were all ignoring the Zolnixi, leaving him free to sling fireballs around unmolested, intercepting any attempts at ambushing his teammates and occasionally setting a Myconid or Vorkid on fire.

Despite this though, the dark elves were not worried. There was a good reason why the weaker Myconids and Vorkids were sent forward first - their job was to wear down the party, leaving them weakened and easy prey for the stronger monsters to finish off. Even if they managed to fight their way through the entire horde, their enemies would still have to contend with the Myconid King and Vorkid Queen, both of which were more than equals to their respective armies. And if even they couldn't manage it? Well, they hated getting their hands dirty, but if they had to do the jobs themselves, so be it.

The Sorcerer smirked, and hissed an incantation. Twisted magical energies permeated the air, the Sylesti shuddering as they felt echoes of a magical signature that felt wrong in every way imaginable. Much to the Sorcerer's surprise though, instead of being utterly incapacitated, they merely faltered for a moment, before redoubling their attacks, each one seeming to fight harder than ever before. Gritting his teeth, he thumped the floor with the end of his staff, cloaking spell masking the noise as he released yet another pulse of magical energy, carrying a whispered command directly solely to the Myconid King and Vorkid Queen.

The last Myconid Seer had just fallen when the Vorkid Queen screeched loudly, followed shortly by the Myconid Kings deafening roar. With answering cries of their own, the main bulk of the combined Myconid-Vorkid army advanced menacingly towards the Sylesti. Venom dripped from the fangs of the aptly-named Vorkid Venomspitters, leaving stained spots that faintly sizzled in their wake. The Pounders hissed, yellow eyes gleaming with animalistic malice. The Myconids were no less intimidating, with Adepts and Reavers that were far larger than their Sprout, Shroom, Warrior and Seer counterparts. The Adepts were all armed with staves larger than the staffs carried by Seers, while the Reavers had grossly exaggerated claws instead of fingers, grown with only combat in mind.

In response, the Sylesti regrouped around their adventurer, the Draeyl and Zolnixi working together to create pulsing waves of fire that fended off the first few monsters. However, their numbers soon grew overwhelming, and the dark elves smirked as the two Sylesti began to pant, breathing heavily in an unmistakeable display of fatigue.

Then the figure laughed. "Well, looks like it's time to get serious. Cranberry, NOW!"

The male Kelpari leapt forward with a whinny, a bright yellow glow suffusing his entire body. He stomped the ground with both hooves as he landed, unleashing a pulse of bright yellow light that briefly lit up the entire room, forcing the dark elves to avert their eyes. As they blinked spots out of their vision, they noticed that all the Sylesti looked much healthier than they had any right to be, and the Vorkids that had been closest to the attack were blinded or outright dead.

The Myconids, however, had no such concerns, and charged onwards, disregarding whatever injuries they may have sustained in their singleminded goal to defeat their foes. The first half a dozen Myconids were promptly stopped in their tracks by the Zolnixi, who gave them something else to worry about as he spat fireballs at them, surrounding them with bands of fire, and finished off by setting them all alight in a blazing inferno. Meanwhile, the Aurleon made a gesture, and the Draeyl briefly glowed purple, before she was launched straight towards the Myconids, screeching angrily all the way. Two particularly unlucky Adepts got a face full of snarling Draeyl, her claws leaving deep gouges in their fleshy stems as they fell. Then, she whirled around, and whaled on several Reavers like a veritably frenzied whirlwind.

The remaining Myconids were fighting the Qitari, who had managed to get their rapt attention by way of loudly whinnied insults (including one that sent the human into a fit of laughter, chortling about hamsters and elderberries) and several rude gestures that wouldve been physically impossible otherwise. He now had a faint brown outline around his body, and every time he was struck, said outline flared brightly in response, leaving the Myconid responsible injured, while the Qitari carried on unaffected. Despite the frequency with which this occurred, the Qitari's taunting had left the monsters too enraged to think properly, leaving them vulnerable to the Draeyl and the Zolnixi. The two capitalized on this opportunity, sending gouts of fire and razor-sharp blades of air into the Myconid mob.

The arena became a whirling, riotous confusion of color and noise as the battle raged on. The human shouted commands, pointing with their staff occasionally as they directed their Sylestis in performing a masterpiece of deadly harmony. The Aurleon ducked and weaved, cawing raucously as she avoided the Vorkid's blows. Sometimes, she'd dart in to strike at close range, a three-pronged blow with talons and beak that left her looking hale and hearty. The male Kelpari took a less offensive approach, occasionally glowing as he healed his teammates. Sometimes, he'd unleash another bright flash of light like he had before, healing any injuries that his teammates may have sustained. On the other hand, the female Kelpari went for a more aggressive route, forgoing the blasts of water in favour of lashing out with her powerfully muscled tail and hooves, as well as summoning much bigger waves than before. Occasionally, she'd encase herself or another teammate in an ice orb, and once the orb broke, the Sylesti emerged looking less scraped up.

This time, the Sorcerer didn't wait for the monsters to be completely killed off before sending out another pulse of magic, which also had the convenient side effect of disrupting any mana-based attacks by the Sylesti. As the yellow light around the Kelpari was forcibly extinguished, purple-capped Augurs and maroon-capped Champions lumbered forward, the Augur's heavy wooden staves plowing furrows into the dirt as they dragged their weapons behind them. Unlike their weaker Reaver counterparts, the Champions were armed with a variety of weapons - staves, rudimentary swords, the occasional axe, and a few even had warhammers. Between the Myconid's footfalls, dark grey Shadowweavers and Shadowfiends scuttled towards the group, their purple and navy fangs gleaming as they hissed in a foreboding chorus.

For an eternity-filled moment, the building tension hung thick in the air, almost palpable as the army continued to advanced inexorably and only getting heavier with every passing second. Then, the Aurleon and Qitari threw back their heads and screamed as one, a discordant cry that shattered the silence and utterly threw their foes into chaos. The army's ranks broke, the monsters almost trampling over each other in their haste to do something, anything to flee from the thing that so inspired terror in them. They didn't know what it was or who it was - all they knew was that their instincts were screaming at them to flee as fast as they could, and so that was what they did.

That was when the Sylesti leapt into action, making full use of the precious few seconds that the two simultaneous taunt-inflicting moves had brought them. The Zolnixi inhaled and spat out a searing wall of flame, inflicting burns and incinerating the nearest monsters. The Qitari reared up and stomped down on the ground, kicking up a plume of dust and causing several advancing Myconids to lose their footing, before barrelling straight into the mob once more. The light-attuned Kelpari let off bursts of bright light, flares fired straight into the monsters eyes that left them staggering about, dazed and vulnerable to the follow-up wave launched by the other Kelpari, water battering the monsters. Disoriented and soaking wet, the monsters were easily finished off by the Draeyl or Aurleon, who swiftly ended their lives with a flick of the claws or a blast of shadow. Even the human got in on the action, staff flicking out every now and then as they smashed their weapon into any Vorkid or Myconid that got too close. They worked through the mob slowly and systematically, until only a few remained standing.

The Sorcerer didn't bother with subtlety, briefly glowing crimson as he uttered a string of harsh syllables. A moment later, the remaining monsters were surrounded with an empowering aura, red light flickering around the Myconid King and Vorkid Queen as they advanced, hell-bent on destroying the ones that had decimated most of their army with their new-found power. The human stopped smiling, and he smirked.

"So you're going to buff your monsters? Fine then. Sequoia, slash them!"

The Draeyl spun, razor wind whistling through the air. The blades of air curved harmlessly around her companions, and smashed into her foes with the force of a sledgehammer., tearing gaping wounds that dripped with blood and ichor Then, faster than anyone could react, they all leapt into action, grouping off and triple teaming whatever monsters were close by, using superior numbers to counter the boost in power that the monsters had received from the sorcerer. Although the Sylesti fared much better against the boosted monsters in groups than they would've alone, the sorcerer noted with satisfaction and some dark amusement that the Sylesti were also sustaining more injuries than before.

Finally, only the Myconid King and Vorkid Queen remained. But even as the last Augur fell, the Sylesti didn't slow down, their outlines a blur as they immediately shifted their focus to one of their two foes. The Qitari, Zolnixi, and Draeyl went after the Myconid King, with the Qitari opening the battle with a blow that caused the Myconid King to stagger briefly. Wheeling around, the Myconid locked eyes with his hated foe, and he let loose a hatred-filled roar as he flung himself forward, dropping all pretence of strategy and higher reasoning as primal, rage-fuelled bloodlust took over. As he stomped and swiped, hell-bent on pulverising his hated foe, he completely ignored the continuous onslaught of blows unleashed by all three, slamming into his wooden bulk and slowly chipping away at his defences.

Meanwhile, the Kelparies and Aurleon targeted the Vorkid Queen, keeping her occupied by strafing her with attacks from different directions, while avoiding or taking whatever attacks she threw their way. Every blow cracked her chitinous shell just a little more, jolts of pain spreading like wildfire as she screeched and flailed about in a futile attempt to target her assailants. Her eyes glowed brighter and brighter as she was slowly worked into a fury, movements growing less and less precise, until her rage reached a tipping point. She screamed, abandoning finesse for simply charging at her foes, firing off wide bursts of webbing as she futilely tried to catch them with her stingers or fangs, heedless of the projectiles hitting her. Her charges grew more and more infrequent under the relentless, unbroken assault, until she was reduced to limping around, legs struggling to support her weight. In the end, she was put out of her misery by three synchronised strikes slamming into the back of her head, one after the other. She let out one last screech, and crumpled to the floor.

Their foe downed, the three Sylestis turned to assist their teammates, who were now firmly on the defensive as the Myconid King roared and accelerated, cracking the much-abused flagstones with every stomp and outright crushing some of the more weakened slabs. The female Kelpari interposed herself between the Zolnixi and a particularly telling blow, and was sent flying into the wall from the impact. The human rushed over, potion in hand as they deftly uncorked the flask and poured the purple liquid all over their Sylesti, who perked up as the first few drops splashed onto her hide. Then she glowed, fully healed as her fellow Kelpari sent a hasty ball of healing energy her way, and eagerly leapt back into the fray, encasing the Qitari in a protective sphere of ice just as his own shield fizzled out.

Above, the Sorcerer gritted his teeth, flexing his fingers out of habit. Despite the multitude of empowering auras and the sheer amount of mana flowing through the Myconid King, the three Sylesti engaging him had been skilled, and annoyingly so - to the point where, instead of a one-sided battle favoring the monster as would've been expected, it had been a stalemate at first, with both sides dealing roughly equal amounts of damage. Then the Qitari had whinnied something - but whatever it was, it had enraged the Myconid King even further. From there, it had all went downhill, and when the Vorkid Queen fell, the Sorcerer knew for sure that it would only be a matter of time before the Myconid King did as well. As such, the Sorcerer decided to employ the oldest strategy in the book.

"We've got to retreat. The Myconid King will be able to stall somewhat and buy us some time, but it wont be much."

Another Dark Elf stood up, with white hair tied back into a bun and piercing purple eyes. "And be turned into undead if she happens to be in a bad mood?"
"There is no other way. As soon as the Myconid falls, the Sylesti will be on us in a flash. Every moment spent standing around here is another moment that could be spent preparing. Why relinquish control of the fight when we have the advantage of determining the location and timing? I'm sure she'll understand."
The Priestess scanned her erstwhile companion for any signs of deceit or hidden agendas at play. Finally, she sighed. "Very well. But if this fails..." her voice trailed off, implicit threat clear for all to hear.

The Sorcerer nodded in acknowledgement, then intoned a cantrip masked by the sounds of battle, a subtle nudge that made the Sylestis and their master less inclined on apprehending them and more focused on continuing on through the dungeon. The brief flare of purple mana visible only to his eye reported success, and he allowed himself a smirk at a job well done. Then, he whispered a final incantation, and the entire party of dark elves melted into mist, a creeping miasma that reformed well away from the arena just as the Myconid King let out one last bestial bellow and fell, never to rise up again.

~

"Well, that's over and done with." The adventurer gingerly picked her way across the battlefield, carefully sidestepping the various corpses, husks, and body parts that littered the battlefield, flipping the switch needed to open the gate and continue their journey. Even though she knew that Vorkids and Myconids could not be reasoned with, she still wasn't completely inured to killing, especially not when it felt so uncomfortably like casual, wanton slaughter - after all, most of their battles had been against foes where lethal force wasn't necessary.

The Aurleon was the first to exit, letting out a happy caw at being able to stretch her wings as she flew out of the arena. As the Sylesti expressed their relief and joy at finally getting to leave the room, the adventurer hesitated briefly. Then, she turned to the Zolnixi.
"Gobi? Can you do me a favour and incinerate the corpses? They don't deserve to be left here to rot."
The Zolnixi nodded, and padded over to the door. Inhaling, he spat out a small fireball, one that exploded as soon as it reached the center. The fireball expanded, rushing outwards in one explosive wave - but despite the sudden blast of heat, the flames themselves never made it past the gates, which had slammed shut in response to the explosion. The anti-magic enchantments that had been in place to prevent escape by magical means now stopped the fire from spreading to other parts of the dungeon. It would extinguish itself once it had burnt everything flammable in the arena, leaving nothing but ashes and the faint scent of regret.

Without a word, the adventurer walked up to the Zolnixi and flung her arms around him, burying her face into his fur. After a while, she stood up, eyes shining with renewed resolve.
"We'll get through this. All of us. We'll get through all this together..."
Gobi growled softly, nodding his assent.
"...no matter what they throw at us."

~

The dark elves approached their Mistress' inner sanctum cautiously, kneeling a short distance away from the dias that she stood on. The necromancer didn't deign to turning towards them, instead facing her latest creation as she spoke.
"So, I take it that you have news regarding our deterrents?"
"Yes, Mistress Vierna. The human has defeated all of the Myconids and Vorkids unleashed on them." The necromancer did not reply, and the Sorcerer correctly interpreted her silence as a cue to explain further. "We made a tactical retreat in order to regroup, so that the element of surprise may remain with us.
"Oh? Is that so?" A pause, as the group feared for the worst. "Then you know what to do. If they get too close, do send them on their way."
"Understood."
As they hastily left, relieved to have been spared from their mercurial Mistress' wrath, Vierna Da'Sheer allowed a smile to appear on her face.
"So this is what the Council sends to take me down? A human and a few Sylesti?" Her smile widened.
"My elves should be able to deal with them. And if not?" Her grin widened, and had there been anyone else in the room, they'd swear that for a second, her face had been replaced with a grinning skull, purple lights burning balefully in the sockets."
"Then I'd love to see them try and stop me."