“I don’t hear anything,” Cillian says.

  My feline ears wiggle. I turn my head and foy hearing. Then I hear it again. Some kind of movement. Not a step, but something. “I do, and It doesn’t sound normal.”

  I sniff the floor and find an odd st. A very odd, earthy st rather dissimir to stone. Finally, I s my surroundings with my eyes. The walls and ceiling look fine, but the floor reveals something.

  “We’re dealing with some kind of big snake,” I say.

  All frown at my words. “How you tell?” Emma asks.

  I tap the floor. “The dust in the ter of this hallway is ed up in a slithering motion.”

  Cillian grimaces. “I don’t like snakes.”

  I shrug. “They’re not that bad. So long as you avoid the venom and not get crushed, you’ll be fine.”

  Myers g Cy. “Maybe me and Cy should stay behind.”

  “NO!” Cy whines. “I want to keep adventuring.”

  “It’s dangerous,” Myers ters.

  “It’s fine,” I say. “There is only one snake, and I’m fident in taking it out.”

  “Yes,” Cy pumps up a fist.”

  “I don’t like this-” Myers begins.

  “It’s fine. Just let me lead,” I interrupt. “We’ll go kill the snake first.”

  Frowning, the old mas. They all follow me along as I traverse the keep.

  Uhe previous buildings, everything within the keep hasn’t beeroyed. Undamaged paintings don the walls o metal torch-stands on the walls. On the floor, we pass numerous piles of bones and clothing.

  After several more hallways, we stop at the entrao a vast room. The room has several rge pilrs, dozens of corpses, and most notably a sihrone.

  “The snake is in this room,” I whisper.

  “What should we do?” Cillian asks.

  “Nothing,” I answer. “I’m going to take care of it aloay out of the way and out of sight.”

  With my instrus clear, I travel into the rge chamber. I gnce around and listen for where this beast is. But I hear and see nothing. Taking a g the dust, I see that they disappear near a pilr.

  So that's where you are.

  I look up to find a monster falling midway from the ceiling.

  SHIT!

  With a thought, my body transforms into a Fenrimorph with gaus pre-equipped. I raise up both arms. Two scythe-like bdes strike my arms with enormous enough force to crack the stone underh my feet. Before I recover, awo bdes desd towards my head. With a grunt, I push away while hopping out of read narrowly avoiding my head getting decapitated.

  When I nd, I quickly reorient myself and take a stahen I take the moment to truly look at the creature.

  Why does every monster I meet o shit on my logic?

  On at of a snake, I am only half correct. The monster I face has a serpentine lower body but an upper body not dissimir to a mantis. The monster has four bded arms and an ioid head. Where its serpentine lower half is a leafy green, its upper half is brown with what looks like segmented bark. As for the bdes, they aren't sharp and made for cutting, but are covered in thousands of serrated sharp spikes desigo rip and tear. Though, with enough ford speed, cutting is an option.

  Just as I evaluate the monster, so too does it evaluate me. The monster rises higher and readies its four pincer-like scythe. Two beady eyes stare in my dire with clear intelligence.

  We stand for what feels like minutes, but is only several seds. Then, all at once, hell breaks loose. The monster accelerates forward. Expeg this, I blod dodge the scythelike swings until an opening reveals itself. When it does, my fist ect with an arm using enough forove the appendage from the beast.

  Reag quickly, the monster retreats with a limb leaking a green fluid. Seeing the surprise areat, I chase after the mohe monster tinues running, but I don’t let up. The motempts to climb up a pilr, but I react faster. With a hop, my fist nds on the pilr. The pilr breaks and shatters into debris. A mistake and a trap, for the dust obstructs my vision enough to slow my rea. The monster's maw opens, and from that maw, a dozen needles release directly into my chest.

  Though I’m surprised, I don’t allow my mind to wander. Ign the pain in my chest, I hop forward aend my other fist. It was clear that the monster wasn’t expeg such a rea. With the full fory body, my fist makes tact with the monster's bark-covered chest. The beast's chest cracks violently before the monster is yeeted into another pilr. I hear the crad impact as monster meets pilr. The monster, with chest ied and leaking green liquid, recovers immediately. Then it starts slithering up the pilr.

  Before I move to stop the thing, the pain in my chest etes siderably. sidering there is no reason for the pain to soften, I immediately panic. Grabbing a needle, I rip it out of my chest. When I do, I 't help but grimace at the bloody roots that started to sprout a upon my flesh.

  These aren't needles, these are seeds!

  Removing the rest of the seeds, I return my focus on the monster noed snugly at the top of the pilr. Though the beast's chest is still damaged and arm missing, it is no longer leaking that green fluid.

  Whatever that thing is, it’s smart. When it lost its arm, it retreated. And then, the moment the opportunity preseself, it ied me with parasitic seeds. If I wasn’t a fenrimorph, those seeds would have beehal.

  Moving my body, I feel a bit of numbness and stiffness. Not enough to inhibit my movement, but enough to weaken.

  Flesh-eating seeds that release a paralytic poison. Now that’s devious. If you get ied by the seed, it will numb the pain before feasting on your internals. By the time you realize what has happened, you’d be dead.

  For the minute, her me nor the monster move. For me, I wait as my body fully ralizes the poison and regees damage. For the monster, it waits for me to succumb to the poison.

  Just as the poison is fully purged from my system, I hear Myers yell my name.

  “Quasi. That’s not a monster! It’s a Phytonid.”

  Gng at the room's entrance, only Myers is visible. The old man is holding his e in one hand and the ntern iher.

  A Phytonid? As in one of those pnt people? Aren’t they supposed to be humanoid?

  I g the monster warily. To my surprise, it’s eyes are staring directly at Myers. I’ts mouth opens slightly.

  “You speak my nguage and you know of my kind! Are you of this world?” A very feminine voies out of the monstrosity. A voice that is soft and alluring- a voice you’d expect to hear from a woman at a brothel.

  Of this world? Is this thing a champion?

  I blink as a ret memory resurfaces.

  I’m an idiot. I should have realized sooner.

  I activate [Shift]. My body transforms into a cat. The Phytonid focus immediately shifts bae.

  “Are you hes?” I ask.

  The Phytonid tilts its head in surprise. Even the serpentine grip holding onto the pilr somewhat rexes. “I am. How do you know about me?”

  Because I’ve got a dumb goddess of luy side.

  “Yoddess, Mus, and my goddess have formed an alliah one-another. It seems we are allies and this fight between us is a mistake.”

  Though still wary, the Phytonid rexes a bit more. “I see. I was not informed of su alliance.”

  “The alliance was formed about a week ago. Mus told me that her champion was stranded on an isnd and that there was a castle nearby.”

  The Phytonid stares at me for several long calg moments. Then, all at o slowly slithers down. I don’t move at all and instead wait until she stops several meters from my position.

  “This alliance? What does it entail?” hes asks.

  “You will join my crew and follow my orders. In exge, you will level and grow stronger so long as that goal does not interfere with mine.”

  The Phytonid rises up as though to make itself rger and more terrifying. “I am a war daughter of a great tree. I was bred and watered to hunt and sughter any and all that threaten my . To serve one weaker than myself is a great insult that I ot justify.”

  I chuckle, unbothered by her words.

  “Weaker? Really? If I remember correctly, you ran from me after I destroyed your arm and crushed your chest.”

  “I did not run. I merely relocated to a more advantageous position to wait for my poison to take effect.”

  “A poison I am immuo.” I add.

  hes pauses uainty. Her elevated body seems to lower several i.

  “You are immune? Why were you waiting? Why did you tio chase and hunt?”

  I grin. “Because I have a naturally high healing ability. I was allowing the wounds your seeds caused to fully heal so that I am in perfect dition.”

  The Phytonid lowers herself after every word. Her monstrous appearaarts to look slightly less monstrous.

  “How would you have beaten me?” she asks.

  I shrug. “Not sure, but I figured I’d destroy the rest of the pilrs so you 't run. And then I’d use my superior speed, strength, and reflexes to whittle you down aually kill you.”

  At this point, I ’t help but feel a bit sad for the Phytonid. The woman's body is practically sloug towards the ground.

  “Your… pn would work. I do not have a ter.” She crosses her bdes in front of her chest. Then she lowers herself further. “I will yield to your authority and strength as the prime matriartil such time I am strong enough to take your py goal is realized.”

  Matriarch? Really? Boris is going to have a goddam field day if hears this.

  “What goal?” I ask.

  hes rises up. One of her serrated bded limbs taps her belly. “I carry the seed of a great tree within me. When I have gained enough strength, I will pnt the seed and revive my after the fming sce.”

  “Fming Sce? Actually, you expin ter.” I wave a paw towards Myers. “Myers, all is good. Everything is taken care of.”

  Myers and the rest warily walk towards me. As they arrive, hes stares at them with curiosity and a plete ck of hostility.

  “I’m guessing she is an ally now?” Myers asks on approach.

  “Yup. By the way, why’d it take so long for you to tell me?”

  Myers raises a ntern. “I ’t see well in the darkness. It was only when I noticed the green blood and pntlike body that I realized you were fighting a Phytonid.

  “Fair.” I point a paw towards the Phytonid. “Everyohis is hes. She is now part of our crew.”

  “Your crew is getting real odd.” Cillians strides up with a frown.

  “She’s not that odd,” I ter.

  hes does something of a bow to my crew. “I wely sisters in war and hope we will sever stems, shatter bark, a upon the ar of our enemies.”

  Cillian raises an eyebrow in my dire.

  “Riiiight.”

  I ignore his look and instead introduce my current crew. I also inform her about the presence of both Boriss and Irmgard. Ohe introdus are plete, I return to the mission at hand.

  “Alright. Myers. Just to make sure, we’re currently in the audience chamber, correct?”

  Myers nods. He raises a palm to the singur thro the opposite end. “Yes, and it seems the remains of the [King] and his subjects are still present.”

  The king is a meatless corpse covered in aged fabric, surrounded further by the corpses of more of his subjects.

  “Then we best get to looting.” I grin.

  “Matriarch.” hes interrupts with her voice. “Before I am to join you on plundering the remains of those yet to fully return to nature, I wish to request time to restitute my arm and regee the wounds inflicted upon my chest cavity.”

  “Go ahead. Also, call me Quasi.”

  “To call you by your name is an insult to the sisterhood and your leadership. I ot allow myself to give su insult.”

  “How about patriarch?”

  hes shifts ba utter surprise? “Why do you wish to be called a sve? I would never wish someone of your strength su insult.”

  Dear god!

  “Just call me [Captain]. It’s a term most simir to Matriarch.”

  Though unhappy, hes obliges. “Then, [Captain], give me time to reach peak bat performance.”

  She slithers away. While she does, I return my attention to the rest of my crew. “Let's go.”

  We arrive he throne and g all the bodies. he throhere are numerous corpses dressed in aged fine garments and jewelry. Unfortunately, it’s clear that the corpses were thhly searched and looted. The only thing remaining is jewelry and whatever garments that are still in pce.

  Regardless, Cillian and Cy are already kneeling and pig up the jewelry. Cillian with glee, and Cy out of curiosity uhe watchful eye of Myers. As for the thro’s clear that nearly everything was removed from the [King's] person. Only the shredded remains of whatever clothing he had on him is left.

  “There’s something here,” Emma excims. With her hand, she begins wiping dust off the throhen she grins when she dusts behind it. “Look at this.”

  I walk behind the throne. On the back of the fancy chair, I’m met with over a dozen inactive runes.

  “The throne is runed?” I ask.

  Emma nods, grinning from ear to ear. “Yes! A lot of runes. Over twenty!”