At the far end of the hallway of the paintings, in the direction of the keep, a metallic door just opened. A man holding a walking stick in his right hand walked out. He seemed to be in his sixties and had short gray hair with a receding hairline; he wore a suit but no tie, which was about as formal as most people would dress these days.

“I’m sorry, I was told to go upstairs but didn’t know where to go,” Rosario apologized and walked swiftly towards him. He also made some steps in her direction, and the door closed slowly behind him after he let it go. “I’m Rosario González, I’m here to see the mayor.”

“You found him,” announced the man with a business-like smile. “I’m William Cornwell, mayor of Spiez. Feel free to call me Bill.”

“Thanks. I was supposed to be here with two crystalsmiths, but the guard told me they arrived before me.”

“That’s correct. They arrived some fifteen minutes ago and the young man at the gate let them in. We were just looking at the town from the keep. Mr. Noah had some doubts about the town’s security, so I figured I’d give him a 360-degree view from the tower.”

That sounded indeed like Noah, and a view from the town’s tallest point sounded ideal to get a better appreciation of its defenses. The people who built the keep, centuries ago, probably thought the same. “Let’s join them, and we can talk in more detail about this swarm you discovered.”

He turned around towards the door that led to the keep and Rosario followed him, but was distracted by a glass display set against the wall; inside were several items that looked old: a black hat and a ruff, a signet pouch and golden chains, as well a staff with a gilded metallic pommel. The mayor noticed her interest.

“Ah, these were symbols of government from the patricians from back then. The items inside that case even belonged to Franz Ludwig von Erlach, who was city mayor around 1600.” He approached the case and pointed with a finger. “See the signet and the chains? Those were symbols of his authority as ruler and diplomat.” He then opened the case and took out the staff, now using it instead of his cane, which he left on the side of the display.

He headed back to the door to the keep and opened it. Rosario felt unsure about how to interpret his actions; was it some sort of symbolism? Or did the man just like to play with historical objects? Nevertheless, she followed him inside the keep.

They entered a square room, which was packed with medieval objects; sculptures, paintings, pieces of armor and clothing, trinkets, and household items of all sorts. They were all neatly placed on shelves and displays and seemed to be dusted regularly, but still filled every available space in the room, except for a path that led to a staircase at the opposite end. Rosario fell behind, distracted by the sight.

“Ah yes, here is where we brought most of the historical artifacts. You see, the castle used to be a museum, but after it was reconverted to a government building, we realized it would be a shame if these valuable items became lost or ended up improperly stored, so we saved them here.”

“This is amazing,” admitted Rosario. “My youngest apprentice would love to visit.”

He nodded with a solemn air. “It is good to know the younger generation shows interest in history. Perhaps in the future, many other generations will get a chance to enjoy them.”

Rosario took a step forward but didn’t feel the floor. For a split second, she thought perhaps the old wooden planks were unleveled, but immediately realized it wasn’t the case. The last she saw before falling into complete darkness was Bill Cornwell, standing on the staircase, with a stern expression on his face.

*****

At the market near the docks, Stefan and Franziska munched on a bag of strawberries they had just bought from a street vendor. Fresh fruits were a rare commodity, and it felt like the finest treat.

“Look! A bookstore!”

“Ah, come on, not again. You already bought books yesterday, and you only looked at the pictures.”

“Because I’m looking for something. I don’t need to read the rest yet,” she didn’t wait for an answer and walked inside the shop.

It looked old and smelled of even older paper; books piled up on every available surface, including a counter behind which they heard a voice.

“Welcome! Can I help you find something?” said a short and chubby man as he emerged from behind the counter. “The children’s section is over there, and all the paperback adventure books are on sale this week.”

“Thanks, but no. My sister is looking for books about monster plants. The technical the better.”

“Ah, a young scholar! I can offer you this compendium here; it’s an expanded version of Wenzel’s Introduction to Botany. I also have the extended version of Künzle’s medicinal plant guide, updated to include 74 species of monster plants. And if I may offer you something more local, this is a field manual of only behemoth and monster vegetation of the Highland.”

Franzi took the books and started going through them, with a serious expression on her face. Stefan eyed the field manual the seller had showed her last.

“That looks like some cheap photocopy.”

“Well, excuse us for not having a printer in this town. This book is produced one hundred percent locally and photocopies are as fancy as we can get.”

“Was it written by someone from around here?”

“It was! My own stepfather, to be exact. He was resistant to crystals and loved going out to the mountains, so he made records of most of the species he found during his travels.”

Franziska looked up from the book she was studying. “Is he still here?”

“Unfortunately, no, he passed away five years ago.”

“Was it monsters?”

“No. Heart complications, likely from extended exposure to crystals.”

Stefan looked away, pretending to be interested in a book; what the seller described could be the fate waiting for many crystal hunters and smiths, or for any person who decided to expose themselves to crystals. After all, one was only as resistant as the crystals one could survive.

Franziska left the first two books on a shelf and approached the desk, where she placed the exact amount of money written on the photocopied book.

“I’d like to buy your stepdad’s book.”

After some last words, the siblings left the store and continued their walk down the street and towards the docks. Franziska looked serious as she went with the book in her arms. Stefan was starting to suspect that there was more to his sister’s curiosity than just wanting to play post-Collapse botanist.

“Hey Franzi, why don’t we get something to eat and then sit down so you can read your book?” as he finished speaking, he noticed his sister was not by his side anymore.

He saw her across the street, staring at the window of a chocolate store so close her nose left a mark on the glass. Stefan approached with the intention of dragging her away, when the tempting display of sweets made him change his mind. They walked in just in time to hear the explanation the seller was giving to a customer.

“…And the cocoa beans are sourced from our own cocoa trees.”

Franziska gave her a skeptical look. “Cocoa trees are tropical and can’t grow in this climate,” she pointed out.

“That is correct, but we have three of them in the castle’s greenhouses. After the Collapse, some cocoa trees survived in greenhouses around the country. These are trees expanded from those.”

They looked at the chocolate bars and froze when their eyes landed on the price tags.

“Forget it,” said Stefan.

“Yeah, we’d have to go crystal hunting again,” admitted Franziska in defeat.

The seller saw the disappointed look on her client’s faces and pointed towards some bars that looked similar to chocolate but had a fluffier texture. “I can offer you these instead. They’re as tasty as chocolate, but made mostly of malt, with a small part of cocoa.”

It costed significantly less, and the siblings bought three. They exited the store and made their way to the docks, where they found the same bench where they sat with Rosario the night before.

The malt and chocolate bar tasted heavenly, and they had to make an effort not to eat the one they had bought for Rosario. To put the thought away, Franziska unpacked her new book.

“So, why did you pick that book?”

“Because I found what I was looking for.” With chocolate-stained fingers, she quickly shuffled through the pages until she stopped at one and showed it to Stefan. “I think this is the monster that Rosario saw at the power plant.”

Stefan took the book in his hands and looked at the photocopied handmade illustration. It showed the three developmental stages of a monster plant that started indeed, similar to a large artichoke. The first stage of development looked very close to what Rosario had described. The second one showed a similar organism but was much taller, with the scales opening in the top. The last image presented the plant now thrice its original size, with all the scales piled towards the bottom half of the creature and pointing outside, like the petals of an open rose. From the opening at the top of the monster plant emerged five stems, pointing upwards and then down at the end; each one carried a seed pod. It wasn’t a unique developmental pattern, but what caught Stefan’s attention was a note indicating this plant produced independent offshoots, which the author called “parasitic offshoots”.

The siblings had never heard that before, and Stefan began reading in a whisper.

Once infested, the parasitic offshoot can modify the host’s behavior, causing it to act in defense of the otherwise helpless plant.

“Can monster plants really do that?” asked Franziska. He shrugged and continued.

These “helpers” can act not only as defenders but can also have the function of providing the ‘Paractus obliquus’ with nutrient sources and aid in dispersing its seeds.

“Those would be the bulbs hanging from the stems, right?” she asked again, pointing at the third illustration.

“I think so. Let me finish.”

Infested animals found in the vicinity of a ‘Paractus’ specimen included mammalian, avian, and reptile species. In all cases, the parasitic offshoot nested itself subcutaneously in the back of the neck near the foramen magnum, thus positioning itself in an anatomic area from where it can access the central nervous system while at the same time avoid been bitten or scratched off by the host. There is no evidence to exclude the possibility of parasitic offshoots infesting human beings. To the author’s knowledge, this species hasn’t been observed in regions adjacent to the Highland, but it is recommended for it to be exterminated as soon as suspicions of its presence arise.

Stefan put the book down. “A plant that produces mind-controlling parasites… that’s creepy,” he admitted. “I’m glad Rosario killed it.”

“I think the lizard I found in the camper was infested too,” said Franziska, still too interested in the topic to be disturbed by its implications. “It had that weird bump on the back of its neck. Do you think the people that attacked us were infested as well? Maybe the lizard called the infested people to come and protect it, and that’s why they attacked.”

“And it would also explain why people were hunting animals to feed the monster,” added Stefan, lost in thought.

The explanation made sense to Stefan, but the idea of a monster plant that could manipulate people just like that was disturbing, and so he silently watched the boats at the harbor. He remembered Noah, the paranoid crystalsmith who suspected everyone of being secretly an extinctionist, that is, a member of an unproven conspiracy theory organization that supposedly wanted to accelerate human extinction after the events of the Collapse failed to do so. Stefan wondered how much could a Paractus really influence a human being. Was it all based on broad instinctive calls, or could there be a more sophisticated level of instruction? The monster Rosario encountered was a young one, but what about a more developed one?

After a moment, he got up. “We should go back. It’s almost ten and Rosario is probably waiting for us at the inn. We’ll ask her and see what she thinks.”

*****