"Are all in position?" The question didn't need to be asked - Maisy could feel each living thing in her domain, but anxiety drove her to ask it anyway. The large stag next to her did not cast his eyes to the nervous flip of her tail, which she approved of.

"All are."

She didn't know what the Challenge would entail for the humans, but for her it was simple. And complicated: Maintain her domain. The creatures would come and attempt to establish footholds in her domain. If they held the territory for a long enough time period - she wasn't sure as of yet how long that time was - they would gain it and she would lose it. There would be consequences for losing parts of her domain, but that, too, was a mystery at the moment. Her thoughts returned to the last part of the challenge notification:

Welcome to the Cryptid Challenge! During this event, unique creatures and challenges will offer growth opportunities for you and your domain. Cryptid challengers will attempt to take control of portions of your domain by remaining in those zones for a set period. As you lose control, the strength of your forces will weaken, and you can only reclaim lost areas or expand your territory to regain strength.

Success is determined by how much territory you retain and the loyalty of those within your domain. The stronger the loyalty, the greater the power and abilities you can gain - but it can also weaken if loyalty declines.

To complete the challenge, you must maintain 50% of your domain and have at least 90% loyalty among your residents. If you fall short of these requirements, your domain will be forfeit. If you lose control to a challenger, all your domain skills and benefits transfer to them, and you will be bound by their requests, including forced ejection from the domain.

She dismissed the notification with a huff of frustration. Too many words. Humans talked too much.

The night pressed close around her, the air thick with tension. Maisy stood at the edge of her domain, her senses honed to the smallest shift in the world around her. The forest was still - too still. Her tail twitched, a sign of unease, but she refused to show any weakness. The lives of the creatures of her domain stirred in the soil beneath her feet, their presence felt in every breath of wind and rustle of leaves. Every one of them, from the smallest Scamperer to the proud Solstice, her loyal stag, was waiting for her command.

She glanced at Solstice, who stood at her side, large and unyielding. The quiet strength of him always steadied her. They had worked together before, but this... this was different. This was the Challenge.

She turned, stretching her limbs, feeling the familiar pulse of power that came with owning a domain. The feeling was both exhilarating and suffocating. She was responsible for every living thing here. If the creatures within her land failed to hold their ground, they would lose the territory - and the consequences of that were still unclear. Would she weaken with it? Would the very essence of her domain fray and splinter, like the wildness that had once ruled before The System?

No matter. She couldn't afford to dwell on what she didn't know.

In the distance, the first sign of the enemy - massive rabbits - appeared. A faint tremor in the air, like a whisper, told her they were coming.

"We begin."

She didn't wait for an answer. Her body, sleek and glowing with arcane energy, melded into the shadows as she moved, unseen. These creatures would not take her land easily.

The first wave came at them fast, their speed almost unreal. The massive rabbits leapt from the underbrush, their yellow teeth flashing in the moonlight. Maisy was already in motion, her claws unsheathing and slicing through the air. One of the rabbits made the mistake of getting too close. She tore through it in a blur of fur and blood, the force of her strike sending its limp body crashing into the dirt. But the battle didn't stop.

She was not alone. Her domain stirred with life, the creatures of her forest rushing into motion. She felt all of them at the same time, the combined experiences threatening to overwhelm her. She refocused her attention on the weakest of the group, allowing Solstice to move ahead to protect her while she did. They'd discussed this strategy - she would need to switch her attention to each part of her domain in turn, leaving her vulnerable to attacks. The Scamperers, erratic and wild, launched themselves at the rabbits with abandon. It was chaotic, like a frenzy of sparks in the night, but their efforts were effective. For a time. They matched the rabbits in size and ferocity, the two almost a perfect match-up. She sensed the fighting through impressions overlaid with an instinctual understanding of her territory. Scamperers had the upper hand at the moment, dropping down from the trees to attack, fleeing back into them in hit-and-run attacks. Their fight would be one of numbers.

But not all of her creatures were prepared for what came next.

One Scamperer, larger than the others, surged forward, claws flashing as it leapt at a rabbit. Too fast, too reckless. The rabbit evaded with ease, its movements like water, fluid and uncatchable. With a flash of yellow teeth the Scamperer was gone, blood staining the ground. Maisy felt a surge of anger. Her creatures had strength but they lacked coordination.

"Solstice, regroup!" Her thoughts snapped across the bond.

"I see across the Herd bond. Rally the younger ones. The strong must lead." Solstice's calm voice steadied her, but her frustration didn't fade. The Scamperers needed discipline. And they were hers to train.

She dodged again, a swiping claw sending fur flying as Solstice trampled dozens of rabbits in moments. They were being overwhelmed and Maisy was struggling to maintain her focus on the attacking creatures and her domain. She pulled her attention in and joined the fray in full, her and Solstice laying waste to everything that came near them. Her concern for her people and the low level of the creatures didn't even allow her to enjoy the slaughter, irritation setting her fur on edge even as the ground around them quieted. She looked at her paws in disgust - the clearing they occupied was a carpet of bloodied fur and snapped bones.

There was no time to appreciate the destruction.

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"More coming." Solstice's voice rang out in her mind.

She stretched her awareness out again and saw. The Scamperers had been overwhelmed and had retreated to the trees, out of the reach of the leaping rabbits. The pack of Frostfang Wolves had quickly dispatched everything in their territory and were sitting in a loose circle facing outward. The mated pair of Thunderclaw Bears were covered in rabbits, the smaller creatures more of a nuisance as they climbed up their bodies, their teeth unable to do more than cause minor wounds. The bears roared and swiped but for every rabbit they knocked away two more took its place.

"Work together! Remove them from each other!" Maisy's command was ignored as they continued to spin in useless circles.

The Whispering Owls were sitting easily in the branches of the trees, Echoing Calls disorienting any that tried to climb the trees, but otherwise doing nothing. They hadn't been responsible for a single kill as they sat protecting themselves from attack.

Bloodthorn Vines that sprouted in patches of tendrils were feasting on any rabbits that stepped on them, but were ignoring any that they weren't feasting on, some even dying as they were trampled by hundreds of feet tearing the ground out from underneath them.

The Abyss Vipers and Badger Sentinels were faring well even with different tactics. The vipers struck fast and true, their Hiss of the Abyss disorienting rabbits just before Venomous Strikes poured dissolving acid into their targets' muscles. The badgers fought with unprecedented fury, but in solitary patches. She saw a dozen in a single area, but all apart from the others. Each was surrounded in growing walls of dead rabbits, one even nestling in the middle of the makeshift fortification.

"ARE YOU SLEEPING??" The force of Maisy's objection woke the badger, only for it to snuff in indignation and turn to bury its nose in the pile of dead bodies to fall asleep again.

Cinder Lynxes stalked through the woods, striking from the shadows and leaving trails of fires in their wakes. The smaller cats faded into the smoke, only to appear from another cloud of smoke to strike from behind. As strong as they were, they were also fighting as individuals and seemed unconcerned that they were leaving fires to lick at the woods around them. Maisy was grateful for the snow then.

Luminescent Butterflies flitted around the woods seemingly at random, falling to their deaths any time anything touched them, erupting into shimmering clouds that put what killed them into a deep slumber.

The only beings operating with any sort of tactical sense were Solstice's herd of Radiant Stags and the Shadow Fawns that roamed with them. Some shot Solar Bursts from their horns in radiant beams, incinerating limbs and cutting glowing holes through the attacking swarm. Others in the herd had spent the previous night absorbing the moonlight, and now Moonlit Charge was sending sweeping rays of cold death through the ranks of rabbits, slicing them as cleanly as any blade. Shadow Fawns were disappearing and reappearing in and out of reality with Eclipse Leap, the ability allowing them to teleport short distances to stomp rabbits to death, only to retreat as they began to be swarmed. The support members of the herd touched some with glowing horns, Lunar Heal closing the small wounds and refreshing the injured.

She sensed the evolved hawks, the Skyreaver Raptors, but couldn't sense their exact locations. They must have been in the air and not touching anything within her domain.

"Solstice, we are too scattered. Clear the areas with the Whispering Owls and Bloodthorn Vines." She felt his herd break off into two groups, Moonshade's fawns splitting into two groups to follow.

"Gravelguts! Wake up!" She sensed the badger snort and roll over. "Wake up now or you will be my next meal." She felt a sensation through their communication that could best be translated as 'try it,' but he stirred and got to his feet in a huff. She sent him an impression of where to bring his badgers, warning him to avoid the Luminescent Butterflies as much as possible while clearing the rabbits from there.

"Thornjaw, your pack needs to move and begin clearing a wider area. Move to here," she sent him the location of the Scamperers where the largest group of rabbits was congregating. They had given up on climbing the trees and seemed content to sit and wait for them to come down.

"No. The pack stays."

If cats could drop their jaws in surprise, Maisy would have. "What?"

"The pack stays. We have cleared our territory, now we protect it."

"There is nothing more coming your way, you need to support."

"The pack does not support. Our territory is clear."

Maisy's fur stood on edge, her fluffed tail flipping a furious cadence. Her response was slow and dangerous. "You have no territory - I have territory. You will support."

Silence filled their bond louder than any words.

Maisy pulled her fury in, reaching out to the missing raptors. "Tempestwing, bring your flock here and kill all invaders."

No words responded, but vague impressions of beings in flight filled her awareness. They were content to soar and saw no reason to land, no reason to risk themselves.

"Tempestwing, you will clear that area or you will face me when you land." She heard a cry of indignation from far above but felt the impression of the flock growing closer. They came fully into her view as they crossed into the air below the trees, dropping like the silent killers they were. Rabbits were snatched by massive claws and carried into the air, the larger ones flinging the rabbits spinning through the air while the smaller raptors ripped them to shreds. Red mist and tufts of fur fell like bloodied snow as the last of the rabbits was cleared.

She knew there was no point in trying to communicate with Rootmother, the heart of the Bloodthorn Vines. Not only couldn't they move quickly, their level of consciousness was on par with the butterflies, instinctual and primal. She knew she'd have similar results with the Abyss Vipers - they had no leader and only understood concepts that related to hunger and mating.

She sent a message to Ashclaw, the leader of the Cinder Lynxes - as much as any of them could be considered the leader. They were solitary creatures who only tolerated the presence of others of their kind as long as it didn't interfere with their food. What she got back was a vague impression of "We hunt until all are gone." It wasn't what she would have preferred but it was as much as she could get.

With no more orders to give Maisy took a deep breath, purring to calm herself. As her fur settled and her tail calmed she settled in place, paws digging into the soft earth. She took a few moments to calm herself, pushing aside the requirements of leadership, the concern for her domain, and her frustration at those living within her domain.

She purred, she relaxed.

The purring stopped and Maisy opened her eyes, almost lazily. Her fur rippled as her muscles tensed. Maisy the Leader was gone, only the Huntress was here now.

She was gone in a blur of tan and black fur, moving through the trees like the whisper of death.

Maisy hunted, and rabbits died by the scores.

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