“It’s not working,” Penelope whispered to me.

“What’s not working?” I answer quietly back.

“My magic, obviously,” she hissed. “They’re fighting off the disease faster than I can add it to their system. I could try to brute force an organ failure, but from this distance....”

I scowl, staring down at the betentacled creatures below me. They seem deceptively simple; two-short-of-a-dozen tendrils, each about two to three feet long, radiate out of a small, spherical core about the size of two fists. The creatures hang around in a pack of sixteen, rotating slowly as they glide smoothly along the ground, picking up bugs with their “steps” and shoving them into a small mouth in the core. They were fascinating, almost entrancing creatures to watch in their simplicity and efficiency. They were kind of cute. I’ve never seen anything quite like them before.

Unfortunately, my soul sense indicated that they were all dangerous, and Remus insisted that all creatures outside the walls should be assumed hostile. My team’s strategy of guiding Penelope to a vantage point and letting her concoct a lethal disease for anything that stood in our way had finally hit a roadblock, but it was a roadblock at something I really didn’t want to fight. The second day of our journey had been full of these kinds of hard situations, and people were starting to feel the pressure.

“...It would also be likely to tire you out, and we’ve been relying on you for the whole journey,” I murmur. “We might need to kill them the old-fashioned way, or take another route.”

“I’m not any more likely to be of help if we run into those massive creatures you warned us about,” Penelope answers back. “Total body mass is a significant factor in what I can and cannot efficiently kill with an infection. These things are just… oddly resistant.”

I scowled deeper, not sure what to do. The creatures had twisting souls that undulated and snapped at rapid speeds. I’m guessing they’ll be fast, mobile, and intelligent enemies. Against sixteen of them, I’m afraid it won’t be a fight the team can win. Was any other way forward better? Searching my senses and memory, I’m not sure there was anything. Navigating a safe path through the forest was like navigating a clean path through the sewers! It’s not about if we smell bad, it’s just what we end up stinking like the most.

The big problem is that the large-souled creatures seemed to have territories. If we started to move too close, sometimes even if I’m barely sensing them at the edge of my range, they would start moving towards us. The whole forest was terrifyingly aggressive; traveling had been a product of poking at the edges of those territories to determine where the hell they were, then trial-and-erroring a path between them before any of the bigguns actually reached us. I have absolutely no idea how a team would survive without someone whose senses were at least as good as mine… we’ve already had too many close calls.

We’d have to go through one of those territories if we wanted to avoid these… tentacle-things. Remus called them “Little Disciples.” We’d probably take them easily if he stepped in, but then we would fail the test. Kind of defeats the point.

I tilt my head towards the rest of the team, and Penelope nods. The two of us head down to meet up with them. Norah raises a questioning eyebrow and gives a thumbs-up, as if to ask "are we good?"

I shake my head, giving a thumbs-down.

"Disease resistant," I report quietly. The team swears.

"I have an idea that’s either clever or moronic. Remus, how viable would it be to try and lure two groups of monsters together and let them fight it out?" I ask.

The old man takes no time to consider it.

"Not viable. At all. The thing about a strategy like that is that it might work, and if it does? Great. But it won't work every time, and when it doesn't work you now have twice as many angry monsters on your ass. You need to go into every plan assuming that the plan will fail, because someday it will. Such as right now."

I nod, having figured as much. Penelope had been downright tickled to be the one doing most of the killing so far, but now we were pretty deep in the forest and the rest of the team didn't have much experience actually fighting monsters. Our backup plans were not very good.

"Well, these guys look fast and smart," I murmur to the team. "And there's sixteen of them. But if we try to head around, we're gonna attract the attention of whatever bigass thing was making those thumping noises."

The team shuddered. We’re stuck between sixteen rocks and a hard place that was probably spiky and shot acid.

"I vote we get the little guys," Orville says eventually. "We at least have the element of surprise and we know what we're up against. Taking the gamble against some huge thing Vita sensed that we know nothing about is a bad play."

"There's way too many for me to block, though," Norah rumbles from within her armor. "They're gonna get past."

Orville nods.

"I say Penelope stays back with me, up high on a vantage point. She buffs me up as much as she can, I fill them with arrows while you three protect the tree."

"Can you make those shots? They move super weird and their actual bodies are only about this big." I put my hands together to show him.

He frowns, but nods.

"With Penelope steadying my aim? Probably. There's still going to be plenty for the rest of you to kill, though."

Bently nods.

"I think it's a good idea!" he says in about as quiet a tone as the huge boy can muster. "We can protect a single tree trunk, right?"

"Will you be okay down here with us tall folk, Vita?" Norah asks, grinning.

"Guess I'll have to be," I answer humorlessly, grabbing at my spear. Damn, would I be able to do this? If worse came to worst, should I pull their souls out? Should I turn them against each other, make them into zombies? Would I survive the aftermath of that if I tried it? Probably not. I’ll keep that as plan Z.

"I suppose I'm back to support," Penelope sighed. "I know I'm still needed for our main objective, but I think it's best if I exert myself a bit here regardless."

Her fingers were already tracing those invisible patterns only learned mages could see, taking her time with a complicated weaving rather than the quick spells she used in the middle of battle. She touched me and I felt magic take hold, though I’m not sure what her spell actually did. She repeated the process for the others, trying to hide the sweat rolling down her face as she did so. Then she and Orville made their way up a tree while me and the others put our backs to it, Norah in front with myself and Bently flanking her.

Half a minute passed, then Orville let loose a shot. One of the sixteen souls died immediately. Another shot came, then another, claiming one more life. The Little Disciples screeched in fury, blasting towards our team even faster than I had suspected. I gripped my spear tight, battle stance ready as they burst through the underbrush, yet another dead to Orville's shots as they skittered towards us at terrifying speeds! Thirteen were still left when the first one made contact, Norah stepping forward to slam it with her shield.

Penelope murmured something above us and the spell in my body activated, sharpening my focus to a razor's edge. I stabbed down, taking the stunned monster's life as Bently's wild swings ripped half the tentacles off of two others, crippling them.

Yet there’s still ten more, and the remaining beasts all hit at once. Their horrible screeches ring in my ears as one leaps at me, a circular mouth full of rows upon rows of serrated teeth opening from its core. There's an intense calm about me as magic guides my limbs and accelerates my thoughts. I stab forward, clean through the mouth, ready to move on to the next one... but it doesn't die! The little horror clamps down on my spear, blood spewing from its mouth. It actually bites down, ripping the tip right off!

Shit! In an instant, everything is chaos. Three Little Disciples crawl over Norah, blinding her and trying to peel her helmet off her head. Two more harass Bently, screeching and hissing as they dance outside the range of his axe, distracting him. The one with my spear tip embedded in him struggles to move, but two more shoot past and start climbing the tree! I swing what remains of my spear like a club, aiming to knock them off as tentacles suddenly wrap around my leg, lamprey-like mouth chomping open my calf. I turn to try and beat the newcomer off just in time to see the last Disciple jumping right at my face...!

Pain surges through me, and while it's no worse than what I’ve had before, it was going to be if I didn’t do something. The thing on my leg reels, opening its jaws in preparation for a deeper bite. I wouldn't even be able to stand soon, and if that happens I’m dead.

Screw that. This arrogant fucking animal was touching me. I rip its soul out through its tentacles, pulling its life into the very leg it was trying to dine on. It took more effort than I expected, but it was still fast enough.

Still, it was best not to get caught. I yank the utility knife out from my belt, dropping my broken spear. The other leaping monster collides with my head, but I devour the life from its body the moment it touches me, before it can even try to bite. With two quick jabs of my knife, it's easy to stab the already-dead Disciples. Hopefully, no one would catch them being dead beforehand.

"Orville! Incoming!" I shout, turning my attention to the Disciples on Norah. They had actually succeeded in undoing the straps on her helmet, which she was trying desperately to hold on to. I grab one of the disciples with my free hand, kill it, and stab its body. The other two immediately turn on me, screeching in fury but meeting similar fates.

A blast of wind from above almost knocks me face-first into the ground, sending the two disciples on the tree careening to the forest floor. They screech furiously, but seem to notice they're now outnumbered, as they immediately turn and skitter away at speed. The ones Bently had been fighting do the same.

...Damn, everything was so much easier with necromancy. Five pretty decent souls, just like that. My bleeding leg finally gives out as I feel the living Disciples flee as far away as they can. Ugh, they got me right on the inside of the knee. Woah. That's... a lot of blood.

"Hold her still!" Penelope snaps, climbing down the tree and rapidly casting something.

She drops next to me as Norah grabs my torso. Penelope runs her fingers across the back of my leg, her eyes going wide as her fingers return slick with blood.

"Shit," she swears. "Anticoagulant. Norah, pressure here. I need to—"

I tuned out after that, as the energy from Penelope's prior spell quickly dissipated and left me suddenly feeling very, very lightheaded. Things happen in a bit of a blur after that, and the next thing I know Penelope was slapping my cheek lightly and trying to get me to eat something.

I didn't understand. No one ever gave me food except Lyn. Was Lyn here? No, that wasn’t Lyn. Where was that beautiful soul that glows like the sky? Well, no way I’m going to turn down a free meal. I happily munch a little, drinking the proffered water afterwards. What was I doing, again?

I must drift off to sleep after a while, because the next thing I know I’m lying on the ground, wrapped in a blanket. I sit up slowly, looking and feeling around as the memories of the fight play through my head. My team was here, all awake and standing guard. They all seemed fine; I must have been the only one to get hurt. Go figure. Judging by the islands overhead, a few hours had passed.

"Oh hey, we're alive," I announce. "That's good."

Immediately, Bently rushes over and grabs me from behind, picking me up into a huge hug. I squawk in surprise and Penelope screeches at him to put me down, but the dude is so busy crying joyfully into the back of my gambeson that he doesn't listen.

"Vita! Oh geez, Vita! We were so worried!"

"I-I'm fine! Bently, I'm okay, put me down! You're going to attract monsters or something!"

"Vita, stop kicking!" Penelope snaps. "I haven't fully treated your wound yet!"

"Vita, Penelope said you were poisoned and you weren't saying anything and I was so worried and—"

That went on for a while. Eventually, the pandemonium from my awakening dies down and I got a recap of what happened. The little bastards were poisonous, and I, shamefully, was the only one that ended up getting bitten. Just as I thought.

"Hey, don't look so down, Vita!" Norah said, slapping me painfully on the back. "You saved my ass! You killed six of them and I couldn't even get one!"

"For real," Orville agreed. "You're even better with a knife than you are a spear."

"I'm really, really not," I protest immediately. "Penelope's focus spell was doing all the work. And I still almost died!"

I glance over at Remus, who's giving me this look. Shit, what did he know? Did he see me?

"Shut up and keep eating," Penelope orders, pulling me from my fears. Food could always do that. "There was some necrotic muscle damage, and I need you to have enough food in your body to put it all back together. Be careful next time!"

"Sorry. I will," I say, gratefully collecting myself another sandwich. "It's no good for morale if the team mascot stays injured, after all."

I glance at Remus, who actually smirks a little at my callback joke. Huh. Well, maybe he won’t murder me for blasphemy, then.

"Cheeky brat," he comments. "You can't be that injured if you're well enough to say stupid shit."

The rest of the team seems confused by the comment, except for Norah who puts me in a light headlock and laughs.

"Team mascot! Holy shit! I guess you're tiny enough for the job!"

"It's funny because my height is a product of extreme past suffering," I respond blandly, taking a bite out of the sandwich. Norah takes it as a joke (which it kind of was), shaking me a little more.

"Everyone get off her!" Penelope eventually orders. "Do not touch her until I say she is healed!"

Laughing at the fuming biomancer, the team backs off and lets me eat. I successfully down another sandwich before Penelope demands to look at my leg again, which I gladly show her.

"Thank you, Pen," I tell her. "You saved my bacon."

"That was not a bacon sandwich. And don't call me that."

"No, it's... it's an expression. I'm just expressing gratitude because you saved my life? I really prefer being alive, so I appreciate it."

She snorts.

"As if I had the option of anything less. The whole mission ends if you die. We're completely reliant on you to chart us a path. And also in combat, apparently."

"That's... not the kind of thing I'm confident I can repeat," I protest again. "Hell, I could stab half the stuff in this forest right in the head and they'd just shrug it off."

Penelope stared at me for a bit, her piercing gaze judging me silently.

"Well. As long as you're functional for your main purpose. You should be good to walk now. Do you need further rest, or shall we get going?"

I move my leg experimentally, wincing a little. I really didn't want to slow the team down any more than before, but walking probably wasn't the best idea. Should I just walk on it anyway? No... pride was stupid. I may as well rest. If only I could rest while moving...

I glance over a Norah. She stares back, raising an eyebrow. I hold both arms out towards her, making grabby-hands.

"...What?" she asks.

I wiggle my arms a little, flexing my fingers faster. A small, whimpering noise escapes my lips. Behold, Norah, the ultimate technique of the tiny beggar! The cute-and-innocent face!

"...Oh my god, do you want to be carried?" she asks, slowly starting to grin. "Come on, Vita. Use your words, honey."

I whine again and shake my arms more, causing her to laugh and stand up. Gathering her things, she lifts me all the way onto her shoulders. Holy crap she was tall!

"There, you dork. Now which way are we going?"

I giggle and point, orienting my mental map immediately. Hopefully, we could still get most of the way to the objective before nighttime. I didn't want to be away from home any longer than I had to.