[Cursed Crone] The Final Showdown

As Arianwyn neared the Crone, stepping further and further into the sickening, unnatural, oppressive night, she found herself weighed down by the otherworldly sadness less and less. It was strange—if she had felt the crushing weight of grief a kilometer away, why did she feel better now that she stood within the beast's shadow? Certainly, the magic was not actually weakening: she had seen the townspeople and their trance, the way they sobbed just to be in the vicinity of the Cursed Crone. They had been so paralyzed by the misery inherent to the monster that they could not even flee her wretched claws. The people had been prisoner to the destruction of their town, frozen as the lives they had created for generated were ripped to shreds in front of them. The Crone's magic was strong, and Arianwyn knew she was not immune to its effects.

No, it was something else: not immunity, but something deeper. A force within her that was fighting back against the very implication that she should be melancholy. A motivation, perhaps—her legacy. Arianwyn realized that she had felt the weight of mourning lift from her shoulders as she considered her parents' pride in her actions. Though she knew them more from photographs than from her own memory, she could picture in her mind's eye her mother's approving smile, her father's supportive nod. Her belief that they would be proud of her, her conviction that she was doing what was right and that, in doing so, she was living up to their heritage, she was fighting off the sadness that had threatened to drown her. She was a Runeguard, and by the Order, she was going to end this monster and protect the lands of Ivras.

"Over here!" Her shout rang loud across the battlefield, almost unnaturally so, as though some deeper magic was amplifying her voice. Arianwyn raised her head in pride, conviction true in her step. She was no coward, and no victim of this monster. She was a battle mage, a monster hunter. She would not be gripped by fear or quelled by sadness. The monster seemed to hear her, she noted with satisfaction. The raven skull paused for a moment, the tentacles stilling, and Arianwyn noted the slight tilt of the head of a creature who was listening, considering. Then, the beast began to turn, twisting in the sky to face her. Its shadowy wings blotted out what was left of the sun; its ominous tentacles grasped at open air as though just longing to grab her from the earth. The beak split open, and a howl emanated from the monster, so full of anger and sadness that, if Arianwyn had not steeled herself for the noise, she might have been compelled to flee in horror.

"Yeah, you big chicken. Remember me?" she challenged, baring her teeth in an expression between confidence and arrogance. "You're going to regret the day you even looked at this valley. You destroyed homes and destroyed lives. I'm going to make you regret every single second you've been here."