Chapter 58: Ch 58 – Petals

“Alright. Emmett. We’re trying to find a way out of this place. So if you could focus, I need you to take point down the hallway.” I explained.

Emmett glared back at me, “What's wrong with these guys? Hey! That one is all tied up. Make him go first.” he said realizing Gerl’s situation.

“No.” I replied flatly.

Gerl who had briefly tensed, relaxed at my refusal.

"Fine, then make the fucking goblins do it." He said gesturing at the goblins in question who had been mostly apathetic towards his existence so far. I wasn't surprised, this wasn't the first time they had seen him, so they probably knew exactly what was going on without any explanation at all. Alright, maybe "understand" was a bit of an overestimation. I didn't doubt they recognized what was happening and had their expectations though.

Scout just grunted as the other goblins glared at the big demon.

“You get to take the lead.” I said with force not wanting any more back talk from him, I did at least manage to stop speaking before I could add, “Because you're an ass.” I really wanted to say it out loud but I was trying to lead by example.

“Fine…” He turned, muttering something under his breath.

I sighed.

“He called you a 'bitch' again. Should I repeat the punishment?" Naan asked perhaps a bit too eagerly.

“No… this is wasting enough time.” I said feeling downright exhausted by the whole process.

Wait... Why had Naan asked that? Why did Naan care if he insulted me? Sure it might have bugged me, but why Naan?

As the large demon started down the hall the goblins all looked at me for guidance.

“Just a moment.” I told them.

I glanced over to Devin who was watching the demon with narrowed eyes. I reached up to him and pulled his attention towards me giving him a smile. A kiss later I felt a bit better and Devin looked less murderous.

Devin leaned over to me and whispered, “Please tell me you're not going to… do things with that?” He asked.

What do I even say to that? I mean, on one hand, he had a point. If I did anything like that it would only make this infinitely more awkward. Still, there had been a suggestion from Naan at some point that we should test. I didn’t think it would work… But I’d fucked goblins for less possibility. Well, that wasn’t quite the same, was it?

“I certainly hope not…” I decided to reply instead.

Devin sighed at my words, “Well at least you're honest.”

I glanced at Gerl and gave him a small smile, “You alright?”

He nodded, “I… Was surprised is all.”

I checked on the demon heading down the hallway, he had made good progress without any issue so far, so that was at least a little reassuring. “Alright, I guess we should get going.” I said starting after Emmett.

Naan interjected, “We need to be careful to ensure that he spends enough time inside the dungeon body vs outside of it.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?” I asked.

“Because this area is enclosed his body will not actively deteriorate, but he will eventually use up what spare mana is within him, as long as he's within the dungeon's body, that will replenish him. Otherwise, his body will break down.”

I nodded as we walked, “So we should let him recharge between halls or something?”

“So often shouldn’t be necessary, but it would work.” Naan confirmed.

Ahead of us Emmett reached the end of the hall and glanced both ways. Then he just stood there waiting for us, tapping his sizable foot impatiently.

"Naan... Why did you ask if we should punish him?" I asked.

"He is undermining our order, it is only natural to punish such."

I considered that, I suppose that was a very Naan way of looking at it. Maybe I'd just been overthinking it. Still, Naan was really taking to the whole "We are one" idea, wasn't it? On one hand, I sort of liked the change in attitude. On another, it was kind of surprising, maybe even jarring.

Our group arrived at the intersection shortly with the whole group avoiding the vines on the ground as we went. None of us really wanted to trip or get involved with eerie glowing plants. Everyone definitely had a more pronounced reaction to this place, and it was making them all stand on edge, I almost felt the odd one out with how little I felt it. I glanced both ways waiting for Naan to offer its directions. Both directions looked more or less the same, just more stone, and more vines and flowers that were glowing. Nothing seemed different from what I could tell.

That was when I noticed something slightly out of place. Among the grays and slight pinkish hues in the stone, barely noticeably between the dark greens of the vines and the glowing flowers was a streak of another color, red.

“Naan, do you see blood over there?” I asked immediately.

I could feel Naan’s senses lurch towards my gaze focusing on the ground. I couldn’t help but devote some attention to it. It was indeed a streak of red across the floor. It wasn’t large, it wasn’t like a person had been murdered there. The gaze shifted around as Naan confirmed my thoughts and I focused on just watching. There was an opening in the wall, a passageway that had broken through the stone. It wasn’t big, rather maybe some small critters might have used it. Maybe a burrowing rodent?

I felt a bit dizzy, but focusing on my breathing helped.

This I didn't like. Everyone else had been concerned from the beginning, but seeing blood on the floor, rodent or not was concerning. Was it the ghost of a dead dungeon watching them that was driving them to feel weird? Some creature that lived here skulking in the shadows? Then again, what shadows?

I needed more information. I let my form shift from human back to my tiger kin equivalent. Tiger ears caused the soft sounds of breathing to become more pronounced immediately as I went from barely hearing them at all to being able to focus distinctly on them.

“Holy shit! You’re a shapeshifter!” Emmett exclaimed.

“Shut up.” I shot back trying to listen carefully flexing my ears to adjust where I was listening.

“No wonder you're so hot! You gave yourself a tit job didn't you?” He continued uncaring for my response.

I heard his mouth clamp shut a moment later, and I felt a distant magical tug within myself. I had little doubt Naan was as annoyed with him as I was.

Squeaking… scratching… Crunching...

I turned my head trying to use every bit of instinct I had, and every skill I’d developed to pin down where that was coming from. My eyes turned with my head as I tried to angle my ears to catch the sound.

I found myself staring at a closed glowing flower bud.

“Oh... it's the plants.” I said aloud feeling my stomach sink at the realization that we were currently standing in what could only be described as enemy territory.

“What is?” Devin asked.

“Naan, make a tunnel to the side. We need to get away from the plants.”

“The plants?” The voice in my head asked.

“That flower is eating something. I have no idea how that works, but I can hear it struggling inside... or maybe... chewing inside...” I replied aloud hoping to explain shit to everyone at once, I really had no idea what the sound was.

I could tell Naan’s gaze shifted towards the flower, pressing in to inspect my words, probably see for itself what I was talking about and verify that I wasn't full of shit. Unfortunately, that was a mistake.

The plant suddenly recoiled, pulling back from Naan’s gaze. Then the vine twitched across the floor.

“Naan!” I screamed into my head, “Tunnel now!”

I felt the dungeon body shift and the stone started to turn to dust pouring off the wall.

All around us the vines twitched and shifted.

I stepped back into Devin, which I was glad for because I felt like I was swaying a bit. Devin wrapped an arm around me his blade coming up along my side already in hand.

“The fuck is this shit?” Emmett asked a note of horror in his words.

The goblins pressed in tight around us like they were trying to share warmth, or maybe just be as far from the vines as possible.

I glanced back towards the wall our escape route quickly making progress. Then suddenly it stopped as we were about to back our way into it.

“Naan?” I asked not sure why it had stopped.

“This area is contested…” Naan replied.

“Oh no…” I said noticing a vine twitch in the stone that had been uncovered. It flexed and a few bits of stone chipped off and fell away to the ground. We couldn’t stay here, this was bad.

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“Should we stab the vines?” Devin asked his eyes watching them shift around on the ground. His blade drifted this way and that as if warding the plants back, too bad they didn't have eyes.

“I… don’t think so.” I admitted. If we did that they might get even more violent. They were plants, right? They had been calm, and serine until Naan had tried getting too touchy-feely with its dungeon vision. Plants didn’t normally eat things. These did, but I was thinking about temperament. Why were they eating things? Was it because they needed food? I didn’t think so, more like they were agitated. I decided if nothing else that might make sense.

I had a plan and so I started, “Everyone. We are going to head that way, back the way we came. Don’t step on th-”

A loud thud from my side. That drew everyone’s attention.

"-vines." I heard myself finish as horror captured my attention.

Emmett had stomped down as hard as he could onto a vine that had been squirming fairly closely. In the blink of an eye the vine reacted, the green massive plant pulled in sharply around his bare foot and coiled around his leg like some kind of vine-based snare trap. It then pulled him off his feet and brought him to the ground with a crash over half his height down the hall.

“Fuuuck! Shit!” He yelled as the vines continued to pull him down the hall slowly as the vines in the room all shifted around. It was like the vines were acting like an enormous wall inhabiting snake. The massive green plant was shifting slowly in the walls and along the floors even where it wasn’t actively flailing trying to find the source of its disturbance.

Emmett reached out to grab the vines, but that only agitated it more. It coiled around his hand, then up his arm.

“Calm down, just leave it be!” I told him hoping that might help.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He asked back incredulously.

“You’re agitating it!” I tried.

“Well you’re fucking mental!” he yelled back at me. Even as he continued to resist. True I really didn’t know for sure, but this was clearly making it worse.

I considered having Naan reclaim him but as it stood he was inside the dungeon body.

“Naan we can get him back right?”

“You want him back?” Naan asked clearly deciding the investment might not be worth it.

“I’d rather have the option than not… but you have a point…”

I shook my head, “You can do it right?”

“As long as he remains in the dungeon, or is close enough.”

“Alright well, we’ll let him be the distraction for the moment if you need to suck him up or something do it.”

Shifting from internal dialog I pointed, “Everyone slow, steadily don’t touch the vines. Single file!”

The half the goblins had to go first, then Gerl, the other half of the goblins, then me, and Devin followed in the rear.

We could hear Emmett struggling against the vines as we moved only drawing more and more of the green plant to curl around him, it might as well be trying to crush him at this rate. He continued to curse and fight the plant as we went. Leaving him slowly behind.

“Fuck! Let me go!” he continued among other things.

“Hey! Hey! What the fuck…” He called out and I paused for just an instant to notice Naan’s vision fixed upon him. A glowing flower was getting closer and closer… Then snap, the massive petals twisted inwards, there was a crack, and blood sprayed outwards and Emmett's body lost its head. I took a half step back in shock, Naan's vision twisting to inspect the details more intimately and my stomach protested may be more than a little.

“Shit!” I said not really wanting to see that.

“What?” Devin asked gently pushing on my back.

“The decoy is dead.” I replied just as I started feeling dizzy again. “Shit…” I said trying to force myself to step forward.

My vision wobbled, my sense of up and down started to spin and I tried to freeze up to not lose my balance.

"Anna!" I heard from behind me.

Some kind of cord was tugged, and something pulled something to me, and as if it was a step too far I swayed. The lines between my senses all seemed to fuzz and everything was everywhere, and nowhere.

I reached out for something, anything grasping for help, I don't know if I reached anything. Instead, I just felt the floor come up and find my arms with a distant twinge of pain.

I heard a sword slide into his sheath.

I heard a yell, was that Kosue? Why was Kosue yelling?

Something tugged against me from underneath, tightening, wrapping, dragging. That kind of... hurt?

It was so distant, my vision was so dark, and the sounds were getting so quiet.

I felt jostling back and forth.

It was kind of like trying to sleep in the back of dad's old car when he took us down to grandma's, or the farmers market. I remember missing her each time we went down that way until they closed.

Wait... What? What was I thinking again?

Suddenly thick arms folded me against a hard body, my whole world was still spinning if slower but the darkness was slowly receding now, I hated being so useless… I’d tried to tell myself I wouldn’t let this happen again. Not after spending all that time imprisoned. But here I was again. I found myself looking up at Devin, I was in his arms, and I welcomed his help.

I focused on the sound and Devin’s breathing rather than the sound of the vines, and the world shifting around me.

I heard the goblins practically cheering around me. I could barely tell what the hell had happened, but moment after moment my senses began to refocus.

The group reached an intersection, and I finally turned my attention to guiding the leading party members shouting directions to point them back down the path we’d gone down. They had at least gotten us out of harm's way, the vines around us were still. But not a single one of us took any chances as we proceeded with care.

It was a tense ten or so minutes of careful paced 'follow the leader' when I spotted the open door at the end of the passageway. Then we were out of the long-dead dungeon. The whole group panted as they dropped to the ground like Kosue and Gerl, or glared back at the plants like Scout and Devin.

"Thanks for the support little guys." Devin said glancing over at Scout and his group.

Scout gave back a firm nod, "We protect."

The rest of the goblins made other various displays of approval or at least seemed proud of themselves.

I glanced down to see that they had green... sludge? vine juice? Something that was green coating, not one but at least three goblin blades. I barely remembered it. It was so hazy, that I must have actually blacked out for a moment there.

Then slowly the doors began to grind closed. I couldn’t help but wonder why, and my attention flickered back to Naan’s vision, and I could see gears turning tick by tick based on stone chunks Naan was creating and then removing inside the two walls. Why did I keep doing that! Stop it, your making yourself sick!

Devin placed me on my feet, but was more than willing to still do most of my standing for me, as I spoke I leaned into his support, “We’re not going back in there."

“Good call.” Devin agreed.

Gerl looked up at me, “Thanks for that…”

Scout was more thoughtful, “Burn?”

“It's an idea… but only if we can do it from this side of the door.” I said.

A few goblins chuckled and shoved each other saying things like, “You go?” As if they were daring each other to be the one to go try and set those vines on fire. They seemed a bit excitable, probably because of their victory back there. I was glad when none of them did anything rash and the doors creaked to a stop and a deep “thud” echoed out as the doors finished closing.

Everyone visibly relaxed when that happened.

I gently touched Devin’s arm, “Thanks.”

“You scared the life out of me.” he said. “I thought I had lost you for a moment there.”

I snuggled up against him not wanting to think or know about just how close I had come to that.

He took a breath at my actions realizing that I understood that as much as he did. “Thanks…” I whispered again pressing my face into his side. For a moment I just let myself shudder into him.

He squeezed me tightly in his arms in return.

Sometimes I forgot how terrifying this world could be. I’d been so focused on the humans discovering I was hiding goblins in my basement that I’d quite literally walked into a true den of monsters.

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