Leaving the Inn allowed Bryn to take in some of the damage that the plant growth had done to the town, but he didn’t understand the full scope of the destruction until he emerged from an alley onto Main Street. It sounded as bustling as the average day, except the activity was chopping rather than shopping. Dozens of townsfolk were taking machetes and axes to plants, only able to limit the destruction as the vines grew just as fast as they cut.

  Every stall had been either removed, or forcibly stuck to the ground as the vines choked the life from Dregmoor. Despite the efforts of the townsfolk, even just walking through the street without tripping was difficult.

  “This is infuriating.” Jordan said as he stared at the ground to ensure his foot wouldn’t catch. “I’m gonna eat so many vegetables when we’re done with this dude, I will have my revenge.” He said matter-of-factly. Bryn chuckled as he too navigated carefully through the mess of plant life.

  Approaching the road that led out of town, they saw Vince and Reggie helping the civilians. Reggie was helping with the chopping, his barbarian skills allowing him to make an actual dent, while Vince was talking to a group of demon giants. He looked to be busy, pointing in various directions as he assigned each person a role. His sleeve hung loosely, and Bryn stopped in his tracks. This had been the first time since their respective injuries that they had seen each other, and Bryn wasn’t sure how his presence would be received.

  Vince looked up from a clipboard he was studying and saw the pair approach. He immediately walked over to Bryn and tucked the clipboard under his armpit so he could extend his hand.

  “Thank you for saving my life. If you hadn’t fought him while Jordan and I got away we could all be dead. I hope when this is over I can be a member of your party again.” He said, his sincere smile indicating his sincerity.

  Bryn shook his hand, relieved that Vince appeared to be in good spirits. “I’m sorry you were in that situation in the first place.” Bryn said, but was cut off before he could continue.

  “None of us are stupid, we had no intel on that guy. It’s No one’s fault but his that my arm’s gone, but a cleric uses support magic and usually isn’t involved in combat anyway. I can still use my skills, so this will eventually be just another day at work.” He said, shrugging the shoulder of his missing arm.

  Jordan came over and put his hand on Bryn’s head. “I just talked to Reggie and told him to evacuate everyone if we don’t come back in two hours. Vince, you’re going to be in charge of the older people.” Jordan said, patting Bryn’s head before pointing at the cleric.

  “The only people they trust that are able to guide all of them are you and Reggie, and he needs to keep the rest of the townsfolk organized in case you all need to defend yourselves. This is only something that you can do, so take care of it for us ok?” He asked. Vince nodded and smiled, saying his goodbyes to the two as he resumed giving direction to the various people helping control the plant growth. Jordan and Bryn said their goodbyes to Reggie and made their way out of town.

  The path to the source of the infestation steadily became greener as they trudged along. The muddy paths of the marshlands began to morph into a strange combination of a lush forest and its original self. Vibrant green vines covered the muddy ground and the dead black trees, with brightly colored flowers decorating most visible surfaces. The swampiness was still present however, and the aesthetically pleasing environment contradicted with the foul smells and difficult terrain.

  “Do we even know what this is?” Bryn asked as he began to fly to avoid struggling through the thick muck. “I’ve studied carnivorous plants before, and plants that are the source of unusual growth rates in the surrounding vegetation. But what this thing has been doing? I’ve never heard of this specific combination of abilities.” He said, frustrated at his lack of knowledge.

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  Jordan lagged behind Bryn, trudging through the mud with more difficulty than he cared to admit. “Well I have a theory, but slow down first.” Jordan said, though Bryn was too deep in thought to hear him. Jordan frowned, and for a moment activated Environmental Symbiosis and jumped on Bryn’s back mid air.

  “I will not be ignored feathers!” Jordan yelled, causing Bryn to immediately panic and crash into the ground. After emerging from the mud and slapping Jordan on the back of the head, he allows him to continue his train of thought as they continued walking. “It strange because the effects shouldn’t be this widespread, but it looks like the work of a Warden.” Jordan said, wiping the remaining mud from his armor.

  As the two drew closer to the source, they readied their weapons and potions, though no danger appeared to be immediately present quite yet.

  “What’s a warden?” Bryn asked as the pair examined their surroundings.

  “Wardens are like rangers, we both draw on the power of nature to fuel our skills. A warden is much easier to start with, since the base power and skills are triple what a ranger’s are. Now that I’m at level 9, the variety of skills I have compared to a warden of the same level make us close to even.” Jordan said, noting that wardens get much fewer skills than rangers do.

  Bryn gestured around him as they continued their approach. “What makes you think someone from the guild did this? Even a level 20 Druid wouldn’t be able to do this on their own for more than a few days.” He whispered, attempting to stealthily approach the opening in the forest/marshland where the source was.

  “Yeah, there’s something else happening, I just think a warden might be part of it. When I used credit I saw a single entity at the source of the plant growth, and a warden that got supercharged somehow would make sense. The vines with the pretty flowers are their MO.” Jordan whispered, holding out a hand to stop Bryn from proceeding.

  “Hawk.” Jordan whispered as his eyes focused.

  He clearly saw the corpse of the plant monster he had defeated earlier, and no other changes to the environment seemed to have occurred. “It’s clear. Do you still want to go with plan A? We only have one left.” Jordan asked as he lowered the storage bag to the ground.

  “Yeah, the other option is to go down there, and fighting up here is already enough of a home field advantage for them.” Bryn said as he checked the loadout of his Arsenal Watch. Jordan dug a sparkling blue potion out of the bag, taking a swig before handing it to Bryn.

  “Damn dude that really packs a punch, I feel so wired.” Jordan said, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. Bryn chuckled and chugged the remaining liquid. Once he was finished and recorked it, he handed the vial back to Jordan.

  “A full one is about the strength of 13 cups of coffee with the equivalent crash out in 12 hours. You and I will both be hurting after this, but if we can kill this plant thing it’ll have been worth it.”

  Bryn said, standing to his feet as he began stretching.

  Once he had done a final check on his gear, Jordan grabbed a large bag from inside the storage bag and walked over to the hole that had opened next to the plant corpse.

  As he navigated his way through the vines, he did a final survey of the battlefield and confirmed there wouldn’t be a clear enough area to create any convergence circles. The haphazard layout of the vines on the ground didn’t leave any space for any large drawings. Even though they had plenty to work with even without them, it was nice to have the backup they provided. Once on the precipice of the hole, he opened the bag and pulled out a cartoonishly large smoke bomb, weighing at least 20 lbs.

  Using a match to light it, the smoke began pouring out almost immediately. Jordan coughed slightly as he dropped the bomb down, hearing it roll and smash into something with a thud. After waiting a few moments, thick black smoke began to pour out of the pit. He backed up several paces and drew his swords.

  “Bat.” Jordan whispered, changing his Animal Spirit to enhance his hearing. He stood still with his swords drawn, listening for any movement. Bryn stood further back, ensuring the volatile supplies he would be carrying were stored properly. Just as Jordan began to fear their plan hadn’t worked, he heard it.

  Simultaneous tunneling sounds came from below as Jordan turned off his Animal Spirit Skill. He had all the information he needed as he activated Environmental Symbiosis, the grey fog that normally coated his body showing a green tint as he prepared to fight. The crater that the plant monster lay next to exploded in a shower of vines as a figure shot into the air.

  The figure came down slowly, and Jordan realized it was because of the vines that were connected to their back were lowering them. Once in view, he saw the figure was a woman, perhaps an elf. Vines wrapped around both her legs, spiraling up from her feet to her thighs. Her torso was covered in flowers in a pattern that mimicked a long sleeve shirt, the petals spiraling all the way down her arms. The flowers were similar to the ones that populated the vines in town, though these were vibrant and colorful to the point of nearly blinding the viewer. Her ears were pointed and her bright yellow hair cascaded down just past her shoulders. Her facial features however, were hidden behind a helmet sized pink tulip petal that seemed to sprout from her neck.

  Before Jordan could make any snarky comments, the vines connected to her back launched the woman at Jordan. As she traveled through the air, a green light flashed near her hands, and a long sword appeared in her right hand. As she struck the glowing blade down upon Jordan, his blade met hers in a flash of sage green energy.