Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Snow vine

They had left Armaros at the inn with the order to not go anywhere but to the library and the zoo, and they had left for the snow vine. What was a snow vine doing at Lone Hill, and so far from the heart of the world, was beyond the three? But they needed to get rid of it before someone died.

They made it to the coast in two days, and they rested on the beach for a day so that they could be rested for the battle. On the fourth day, they made it to Lone Hill. It was a small hill that was surrounded by rocks, hence, the name.

The snow vine was in the middle. It was a peony flower with roots sprouting at its base. Bright blue with white undertones. The surrounding grass was frozen, and it seems to be guarding something.

"Ok, game plan," Dorian said as they did their group huddle. "I will start a fire, and Leander will focus his arrow barrages on its eyes and roots. Morris, you and I will keep the vine off Leander and into the flaming hill."

"What if the fire spread?" Leander looked at the rocks, which had grass pocking out of them. Then, at the surrounding cedar trees.

"You will use one spell slot from your staff to make the flames die down, after the vine is done for," Morris stated, and he placed his hand in the middle. They did their ritual and Morris jogged to the base of the hill.

Dorian was close behind him and Leander put up a barrier. He aimed three arrows, deciding to sacrifice the bigger number for greater accuracy, and watched as Dorian made sparks appear in his hand, and then he used a wind spell to spread the flames up the hill.

With a roar, the snow vine began spitting icicles at them. One nearly got Morris in the head, but a well-timed arrow from Leander redirected it.

The two warriors were dodging around the icicles and cutting at the vine's roots when they tried to go for Leander. The arrows and icicles were sailing over their heads, and it was all they could do not to get hit.

Then, they heard a pained roar from the vine, and the icicles stopped for a second. They all chanced a look at the vine, and saw that its eyes were bleeding a bright blue liquid that was freezing faster than it was falling down the vine's petals.

The icicles were renewed, but, this time, they were not aimed at all. The vine swayed dangerously around, clearly blind. Then, it opened its maul, showing them the thorns, it had for teeth, and began doing swiping motions with it. Trying to get either Morris or Dorian between the thorns.

Morris jumped over the vine's head, but Dorian had to bring his shield up. One of the thorns poked to the other side, centimeters away from Dorian's hand.

The tank answered with another barrage of sparks, straight into the vine's maul. Three arrows shot past him and into the tongue of the vine. Splintering inside.

The tongue fell limp to the ground, and the vine began to have troubles moving its head. Dorian bashed it a couple of times with his shield, forcing the head to fall into the flames.

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"Morris, cut its head off," screamed Dorian, and Morris did a running leap and brought the axe down on the vine's stem. The vine twitched on the ground, and a single leaf appeared at the cut-off place.

"That was not good. Its life source was not the head," Morris said, and  Dorian wondered what it could be. It didn't look like the source was the roots, either. Seeing as they were a charred mess.

The vine stood, now with leaves as a head, but no eyes. It didn't have a maul, either. All three scanned it for glowing parts. Then, Dorian noticed something in the middle of the stem. It gave off a blue shimmer.

"There," Dorian pointed at the place and Morris rushed with his axe. Dorian was close behind him. They slammed their weapons, Morris with the axe and Dorian with the saber, into the growing place. They jumped out of the way when they felt the familiar feeling of Leander's mana, and three arrows pierced the hole they had made and splintered in the vine.

The vine shuddered, and froze completely, falling to the ground and freezing the entire hill.

"Well, that saves me a spell slot," Leander yelled from the base of the hill, and Morris chuckled. He looked at his blackened boots and his ash covered uniform and deemed them in need of washing and mending.

"I found the nest," Dorian called out to them, and they moved to the nest. The two warriors waited for Leander to come up the hill, and then made a circle around the snow vine's nest. There, in the straw, was a single blue seed with white patterns of leaves on it.

"Should we hand it over to the researchers, or just destroy it?" Leander wondered if it was not kinder to simply shoot an arrow in the seed.

"We hand it over. These are the rules," Morris pulled out a knitted bag, one he had bought from the little elf girl that had sold him the wannabe lemonade, and stashed the seed away. It was cool to the touch.

"But, if there is a seed, do you think there is another vine nearby?" Dorian asked, and the two looked at him.

"Snow vines breed with themselves. They are self-pollinating plants," Leander informed him, and Dorian blushed.

"I think I will be hitting the guild's monster index soon," Dorian said, and they walked down the hill, being careful not to slip and fall. When they were nearly in the base, Morris got a mischievous look on his face and sledded the rest of the way down, laughing all the while.

Dorian grinned and did the same. Leander continued to walk slowly. He knew that if he fell on the ice, he was going to be breaking his bones. He had just gotten back to the five kilograms lost mark again. Furthermore, he couldn't risk another clinic stay.

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