Two hours later and Andra was regretting her decision. It didn’t help that Kaylen kept pointing out that they were lost and that they definitely should have asked for directions. The party trudged through the thankfully not-too-thick forest, wondering whether they would be too tired to fight by the time they reached the tower.

“Maybe this is for the best,” Riven said, perhaps for the third time. “I really wasn’t looking forward to fighting zombies.”

“I was actually getting excited,” Kaylen replied, again for the third time. “I wanted to show Maxim’s team how easily I could take down zombies with the holy power of Sanguis.”

“Do you even have divine powers?” Andra asked. “Because I specifically told you to use them back at the monastery and you still went charging in swinging that mace.”

“I do have divine powers. I just got excited at the monastery,” Kaylen explained sheepishly.

A couple of minutes later, the group reached a small clearing. Andra was about to pass through the surrounding brush and into the clearing when she noticed something that made her halt the party with an outstretched hand. In the center of the field was a single huge flower, much larger than a person. It had no stem, appearing to be attached directly to the ground, and the petals were blue. As the group watched, it slowly bloomed, first revealing an interior set of red petals then, where the stamen should be, a woman. She was facing away from the party and from the angle, it was hard to tell exactly how much of her body was human-shaped, though it was clear that she had at least the beginnings of legs. Her hair and skin were green and she was entirely naked.

“Is that a dryad or a leshy?” asked Kaylen, her voice a whisper. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a fairy.”

“No, she’s no fairy. I think she’s an alraune,” Fiona replied.

Riven shook her head. “You’re both wrong. She’s a rafflesia.”

“A demon,” Kaylen said seriously.

“Sometimes they come to human lands to feast on our flesh,” Riven added. “Apparently we’re considered a delicacy. Looks like she’s rooted at the moment, so she’ll be at her most powerful. We need to be careful.”

Kaylen was already drawing her mace.

“Fiona,” Andra whispered, sharply.

“On it, boss.”

Fiona lifted Kaylen up and tucked her under one arm.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Kaylen whispered. At least she was smart enough not to draw the demon’s attention.
    Just then, a loud bellowing scream emerged from somewhere in the woods behind the party, gaining the attention of the rafflesia, who turned and looked at the party with shock.

Riven stepped past the bushes out into the clearing. “Fear not, fellow adventurers,” she called out, loudly. “For I, our mage with powerful fire magic, will defeat this beast with my powerful fire magic.”

At that moment, she leapt to the side just as huge spine-covered roots burst from the ground beneath her and twisted around in the empty air where she had been standing a moment ago.

Riven laughed theatrically. “This poor creature did not anticipate that a mage would be so nimble. If only she had a way to force me to stand still, or even force me to turn my immense power against my—”

She cut off with a gasp as she was hit with a bolt of pink magic that Andra now recognized as a charm spell. Then she stood there, dazed, as the spell worked its way through her mind.

“Kaylen,” Andra said.

“On it.”

From her position under Fiona’s arm Kaylen held out a hand, palm-forward towards Riven. For a moment, her hand glowed and Riven seemed to glow in response.

“Oh, so you really do have powers,” Andra said.

Riven shook her head and said “Huh? Hey, what happened?” Then she turned and saw Andra’s cocky smirk.

“Come on! No fair!” Riven whined.

At that moment long, thin vines shot from the ground around Riven and quickly wrapped her up, pulling her legs together so that she lost her balance and was forced to rely on them for support. One arm was pinned to her side, the other to her chest.

“Oh, okay, this is good, too,” Riven said. “We can do this.”

She moaned with pleasure as the vines squeezed her more tightly.

“Uh, boss? Should we do something?” Fiona asked.

Andra hesitated, while the vines twisted Riven around to face the rafflesia. The rafflesia spoke to Riven in the same demonic language that the arachne had used. Riven replied in the same language and the two conversed back and forth for a while, leaving Andra wishing she could speak demonic languages so that she didn’t have to rely on the treacherous Riven to act as her ambassador. Finally, the vines unwrapped themselves from around Riven and receded into the ground.

“Aww,” Riven moaned sadly.

Deciding that the rafflesia was no longer a threat, Andra stepped out into the clearing, followed by Fiona who was still carrying Kaylen under her arm.

“So what’s going on?” Andra asked.

“Turns out she’s not here to eat anyone,” Riven explained. “She came here fleeing one of the Demon King’s campaigns. She was forced to flee her home and is now living in hiding here. Let me tell you, she is not a fan of the necromancer, so she was pretty happy to learn we were here to stop him.”

“Another one?” Fiona asked. “Why are so many demons coming to a land that’s so hostile to them?”

Riven shrugged. “A lot of demons see human lands as a sort of romantic unexplored wilderness. So their lives get upset at home and they come here, dreaming of adventure instead of seeking out refuge with another demon lord. But a lot of times they’re unprepared like this girl. I directed her to a friend who can teach her Rampartian, so that she can at least communicate. It was the least I could do.”

“Wait, what about that arachne?” Andra asked. “She wasn’t a refugee or something, was she? Because then I’d feel guilty about killing her.”

“Refugee or not, she was attacking people and needed to be stopped,” Kaylen pointed out.

“I’m pretty sure she was a spy, from the way she talked,” Riven explained. “And even if she wasn’t, killing a demon is no big deal as long as you don’t exorcise them. Their soul goes back to whoever holds their contract. If her contract was destroyed like the incubus, she’ll be a free agent with no body and no resources and have to work her way back up from the bottom of society, but I’m sure she’ll bounce back in the end.”

“Alright, well, with that little detour out of the way, let’s get moving,” Andra said.

Riven hesitated. “Uh, listen, you girls probably have a handle on the whole zombie thing, right? I mean, they’re slow and shambling and you have Kaylen to take care of them, so you don’t really need me. So do you think she’d mind if I asked to hang out with her a bit? Obviously she doesn’t have to use her charm magic or anything on me if she doesn’t want to, but of course if she does want to I’d totally be up for that. I feel like—”

“Fiona,” Andra said, interrupting Riven.

“Right. On it.”

Fiona lifted Riven with her free hand and tucked her under that arm.

“No! No fair!” Riven whined.

Ignoring her, Andra breezed past the rafflesia and continued through the clearing, Fiona in tow carrying the others.

Bessen and the others watched as Lady von Ekko’s Glorious Adventurer Brigade went dashing into the woods, Kaylen shouting “So long, suckers,” as she ran.

“They’re weird. I like them,” Nightingale said.

Maxim turned to address the team. Bessen found something uncomfortable in the way he addressed them from beneath a plague doctor’s mask. She wondered if he’d placed scented herbs in the beak in preparation for the encounter with the zombies. “They’re a bunch of idiots. Alright, Atworth, do your thing.”

Atworth held up a hand. From somewhere in the trees, a robin came flying and alighted on their outstretched finger. The tiger, Melissa, eyed the bird hungrily but did nothing. Holding the robin close, Atworth whispered to it and, although it didn’t visibly appear to respond, it seemed that Atworth got their answer because a moment later they said, “The tower is this way,” and started walking in a slightly different direction from Andra’s group. The others followed.

They continued walking for around two hours, occasionally pausing for Atworth to consult another bird. They found themselves walking through thick woods, full of low-hanging branches, thorn-covered bushes, and sharp inclines. That was the disadvantage of asking a bird for directions, Bessen supposed. They found a dry creek bed which was somewhat easier to follow, but the incline sharpened on either bank until they were forced to choose between turning back and hoping that the banks leveled out further on. They could attempt to climb up, but no one wanted to figure out how to lift Maxim, the physically weakest party member, up so they decided to continue forward.

The party soon found an obstacle that no one had expected. Vaguely spherical translucent blobs about the size of dogs were lying in a huge pile, blocking the path. They looked like huge droplets of water. Or maybe fish eggs.

“Amazing,” Maxim said, awed. “I’ve never seen so many slimes.”

“What’s the big deal?” Bessen asked. “They aren’t very powerful monsters.”

“It’s not about how powerful they are, it’s about how rare they are,” Maxim explained. “They come from the Fae Realms, you know? And they’re probably the most alchemically interesting creature in existence. They’re worth more than gold.”

He sighed with longing. “I’ve always wanted a sample to experiment with, but they’re so expensive.”

“Well, how are we going to get past them?” Bessen asked.

“Forget getting past them, we have to bring them with us,” Maxim said frantically.

Atworth shook their head. “If you’re referring to my powers, they don’t work that way. I can communicate with animals, but I can’t control them.”

For a moment, Bessen pictured the slimes bouncing after the party in a long trail.

“They don’t need to be alive,” Maxim said sharply. “Bessen, start smashing.”

“I dunno,” said Bessen, looking at the slimes resting peacefully in their pile. “They seem pretty innocent. I’d feel bad killing them.”

Maxim sighed. For a moment, Bessen thought she saw the goggles of his mask fog up. “I suppose you’re right. I hate to leave such a treasure trove behind, but we have no other choice. Besides, we have a bet to win. So we need to figure out how to get past.”

“Can’t we just walk around the side?” Atworth asked. “The pile is thin enough on the left that we should be able to get past without stepping on any of them.”

“If we startle them, they might turn corrosive,” Maxim said. “We don’t want to be in the middle of them when that happens.”

Nightingale had crouched next to the edge of the pile and was now poking one of the slimes. “So doing this is a bad idea?” she asked, continuing to poke it. “Wow, it’s so cool.”

Bessen stepped forward. “Alright, I’ve got this.”

She took a deep breath, putting her whole body into the action, then let out a great screaming bellow. It lasted for several seconds, seeming to shake the trees nearby. Her party members had covered their ears, and Melissa’s fur was bristling like a frightened cat.

The slimes didn’t react.

“Huh, that usually works,” said Bessen.

Atworth slapped Bessen’s arm. “I told you to let me handle any animals,” they said.

“Monsters count as animals?” Bessen asked.

Atworth sighed, pinching the bridge of their nose. “I’ll tell you what. If it’s alive and it doesn’t talk, it counts as an animal.”

“What about plants?” Nightingale asked, her tone that of a child thinking she’d outsmarted her parent. She was now petting the slime like a cat.

“That’s…” Atworth hesitated, unable to form a response. “You are so frustrating to talk to, you know that? Just let me handle this.”

They knelt down next to Nightingale and whispered something to the slime pile. The slimes did not offer any sort of reaction.

“Strange, I can’t seem to get through to them,” Atworth said.

“Can they even hear?” Bessen asked.

“If they want to. But you’d think out here in the wilderness far from their world, they’d keep themselves sensitive to sound,” Maxim explained.

Atworth examined Nightingale for a while, who had now pulled the slime onto her lap. “You know, they really don’t seem to be reacting to anything. I think we can just walk past.”

After coaxing Nightingale back to her feet, the party slowly picked their way through the edge of the slime pile, finding the way easily and gaining no reaction from the slimes. Melissa leapt up to the grassy ledge above and walked along it, staring down at the party with the tiger equivalent of a smug face. Once they were past the slime pile, they began to move on, but Maxim hesitated, reaching into his bag and pulling out a syringe.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Atworth asked.

“I can’t just leave them here,” Maxim said. “I need a sample.”

Maxim returned to the pile, and slowly inserted the syringe into one of the slimes. It didn’t react. Carefully, Maxim pulled back the plunger, collecting his sample. Still the slime did nothing. Finally, Maxim removed the syringe from the slime. The slime twitched and quivered. Then several of the slimes around it twitched and quivered in response. Maxim stood quickly and began backing away. The slimes began to move forward, sliding along the ground like snakes rather than the bouncing movement Bessen had pictured. They were far from the fastest creatures Bessen had seen, they would be easy to outrun, but there was something unnerving in how easily these shapeless creatures moved along the ground.

“Let’s go!” Maxim called, and took off at a run, the other party members in tow.