Fortunately, Bunty’s axe caught on a thick root and arrested his fall. Bunty looked around, heart thumping and breathing heavily. Going up wasn’t an option. There was only tightly packed dirt above. He could see ground ten feet below him. Yukiho’s unconscious body lay in the light coming in from above. If she had followed the pilgrimage’s rules, she wouldn’t be in her current state. Now she’d be dead weight he needed to get out of the position. Mei’s screams echoed through the dimly lit caves below. She sounded terrified. Bunty would need to get her help first.

“Hina! Koki!” He yelled but got no answer. Considering the sounds of snapping and pounding footsteps above, they were engaged in battle.

Flowers as big as Bunty’s head emerged from the darkness. Saffron like strands wriggled at their heart and their aroma intensified. Bunty knew they were coming for him, and he wasn’t in a defendable position. So, he cut the axe free with his dagger and dropped the rest of the way down. A soft roll took the stress off his knees. Bunty rose with a defensive swing of his axe and cleaved through a nearby flower.

This had to be creature Kartik had warned him about. He still couldn’t figure out how the gate had brought them to its hunting grounds. Bunty took in his surroundings while chopping down the flowers that came at him. Bones and rotting carcasses of strange lizard creatures littered their new environment. As his nose adjusted to the sweet and spicy aroma, he could pick up the undertones of death in there too.

Bunty soon realised the plant monster was much weaker than the beast they had faced before. Unlike the creature on the ground floor’s ruins, the plant relied on the element of surprise to overwhelm its victims. That was the only answer he had as to why it struggled to get a firm hold on Bunty. Then he noticed: Yukiho’s unconscious body was gone. The flowers weren’t trying to put him down. They wanted to keep him distracted.

A quick hypothesis formed in Bunty’s head: ff his assumptions were correct, the flowers acted independently, but they were part of a single creature. It could spend all day sending the flower grabbers at him, tire him out and then take him down. If he needed to win, he needed to find the beast’s heart. Perhaps damaging it would turn all the attacking flowers inert. So, he chopped an opening for himself and ran towards Mei’s screaming.

It didn’t take Bunty long to find her. She had her arms wrapped around a jumble of roots while dozens of flowers held onto parts of her body. If not for her augmented arms, they would’ve carried her into the massive maw above. It sat in the heart of the flower hanging from the ceiling. The mole would’ve fit in through the orifice. The spicy smell in the area got stronger as he approached the creature. Bunty guessed the creature’s digestive juices were the aroma’s source.

Instead of freeing Mei, he dashed to Yukiho’s aid first. A flower had wrapped around her head and would most likely suffocate her soon. It surprised him that the woman hadn’t recovered yet. As a Climber of the third interval, her tempered body’s recovery time had to be much higher than average. Then again, considering her speed, perhaps she didn’t pick any cores that improved her hardiness or recovery. Bunty leapt off the ground, wrapping his legs around Yukiho as the flowers lifted her off the ground. He climbed up to her legs and hacked through the wrist-thick stems.

As soon as the pair dropped, the flowers attacked them once again. Bunty grabbed Yukiho’s collar with his left hand while fending the floral attackers off with his right. He dragged the woman with all his might towards Mei. Progress was slow due to the number of flowers coming at him. A flower finally got his left arm, and Bunty tried ripping it off failed. The petals held him with a surprisingly firm grip, and the feelers within—stigma, Edgar would call them—had a strange hold on his wrist. Bunty had no option but to chop through the steam. The flower went limp and fell away but left the limb numb. He could barely feel his finger but managed to keep a hold on Yukiho with willpower alone.

Bunty released her on reaching Mei. He used both hands to cut through the stems and then helped her rip the flowers off.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

Mei didn’t answer, of course, and struggled to cover up. It didn’t do much good. The flowers had ripped her yukata around her arms, hips, and torso, exposing the raw flesh underneath. She tried to get up, but her legs failed her. Despite the low lighting, Bunty could see dark welts on Mei’s pale skin where the stigma had held her. Bunty dragged Yukiho onto her lap, spun on his heel and busied himself attacking the flowers.

There was no end to it. A stitch had formed in Bunty’s side, and he no longer had his breathing under control. If he didn’t do something soon, things were going to take a turn for the worse. Bunty glanced at the giant flower above them. The attacking stems came from within its mouth. He couldn’t figure out what sensory organ the creature used to target them. One thing was for sure, though, if they were to survive. He needed to take the flower out.

Feeling returned to Bunty’s hand as he fought. He guessed the flowers needed to keep hold for the numbing effect. Perhaps they applied the paralytic agent over time, and they hadn’t built up in the limb yet. When Mei summoned half a dozen frost fire wisps, relief washed over Bunty.

“Protect her,” he said before turning to the roots behind Mei. She looked at him panicked, but within moments she had her dagger out. She drew the frost fire into it and slashed at any flower that got close. Much to Bunty’s surprise, the flowers shied away from the cold aura.

When Bunty started climbing the roots, a frost fire wisp flew into his axe head too. Mei most likely understood that he was her their salvation. When looking down, Bunty he realised the flowers were going for Yukiho now. It then dawned on him: the creature sensed temperature to hunt. Bunty slipped the axe’s loop around his next and let it dangle over his shoulder. It left his back cold, but the flowers stopped coming for him. Mei still hadn’t gotten on her feet but was doing a decent job of protecting Yukiho, so Bunty continued towards his goal.

Once at the ceiling, Bunty could see where the flower met the earth. A soft golden light glowed from within the green. It had to be the creature’s heart. Fortunately, the dense network of roots served as perfect handholds. He moved from one to the next like an ape, hoping the flowers wouldn’t find him again. Another frost fire wisp flew into the axe on his back. The cold intensified, but Bunty didn’t mind. The temperature on the third floor was much higher than the previous two. The added exertion had him sweating even more. Bunty’s breathing was ragged by the time he made it to the glowing connector.

Bunty had never attempted wild acrobatics or manoeuvres like the ones Mei used against the mole. However, climbing the tall buildings in Noble’s Ring often demanded hanging in uncomfortable positions. Unlike nature, human construction avoided hand and footholds as much as possible. The nobles disliked common folk climbing their buildings, after all. It never stopped Bunty nor Neer. New Calcutta was their playground. Bunty put his trust in his knees as he swung up and slipped them through a tangle of roots. All he could do was hope they’d support him. Then he held his axe with both hands and swung it into the flower’s glowing base.

The glowing axe head needed a couple of tries to penetrate. The first time, it only a bit an inch into the fleshy mass. The blade’s blue light weakened, but frost spread from the point of contact. The second swing cracked the hardened surface. Flowers came for Bunty then. The cold aura might have made him invisible, but the creature could feel the attack. Bunty ignored them and swung for the third time and finally got through. Golden goo sprayed Bunty’s face, but he didn’t stop. He repeatedly swung even when flowers clung to his back and shoulder. Their hold weakened when the glowing liquid flowed from the plant, raining down on Mei below. It didn’t take long before the entire beast went limp. The sound of fighting above ceased too, and he picked up the sound of Koki and Hina shouting to each other in Japanese.

Bunty summoned his spirit before untangling himself. He held it to the plant’s wound, and golden wisps flowed out of the dead monster. They merged in front of the fountain pen, forming a Core. It was as big and bright as Uzeth’s. Considering the beast’s history, it surprised Bunty no one had killed it yet. The location was a known one. Then again, the plant had displayed a modicum of intelligence. Perhaps it felt out a party’s strength before showing its true self. Either way, Bunty had killed it, and he was confident the Core would give him what he wanted.

Mei was on her feet by the time he returned to ground-level. She pried the flowers holding Yukiho off the woman. Bunty gave her a once over. She had a gash along the side of her head, but the blood had already clotted. He guessed it was an effect of the flowers. The monster most probably didn’t want its victims to bleed out and lose nutrients to the earth.

“You okay down there?” Hina’s voice echoed through the now silent cavern.

“Bruised and tired, but solid,” Bunty replied, looking up. He could see the silhouettes of her and Koki’s heads. “I killed it.”

“I guessed. Where’s Yukiho?”

“Unconcious. She’s suffered a head wound, and the flowers housed a numbing agent. It might take her a while to wake up.”

Mei and Koki exchanged words in Japanese too. Hina added to it, and the tone got angry, all of a sudden. Bunty ignored them and climbed out first. Then he dropped his rope and Mei started climbing it straight away. Hina had to instruct her to tie it around Yukiho’s waist first. A heated conversation followed before Mei complied. Bunty’s arms were much too tired, so the others pulled her out. Then they did the same with Mei.

Hina’s spirit came of use once again. Bunty noticed how their numbers had multiplied. Hina didn’t just use them to lighten the loads but had them clinking to her clothes too. He couldn’t help but wonder why she hadn’t figured out alternate uses for it before. It didn’t matter. They were out and had survived.

“Too many close calls.” Bunty sighed, fingering the two cores sitting in his vests’ pockets.

He watched as Koki pulled a vial out of his pack and held it under Yukiho’s nose. It didn’t take long before the woman stirred. She grimaced as soon as her eyes opened, reaching for the wound on her head. Her eyes took a moment to focus before moving between her party members.

“We’re alive.” She sounded surprised. Her voice came out as a croak.

“You can direct your thanks to Bunty,” Hina said. “He’s the one that killed these things.”

“It was just one beast actually,” Bunty told them. The smell of rot had replaced the sweet aroma. It rose out of the cross-shaped opening in the ground. “The flowers were its appendages.”

Mei added information in Japanese and Koki contributed too. The latter’s words sounded unusually harsh. Bunty ignored them and helped Yukiho onto her feet. She staggered for a moment, but then her cape hugged her back and legs before stiffening.

“We need to find our way out of here,” Yukiho said, rubbing at her eyes. “The beasts will smell something has changed here.”

“We need to go south,” Bunty told her. The party looked at him, questioningly. “A friend told me about this creature. It’s not far from the floor’s hub. People don’t come here because of the unsolved disappearances.”

“Let’s hope you’re right,” Yukiho said, before speaking to the others in Japanese. It didn’t take long before the weary party to get themselves together. Everyone hydrated before starting their journey to safety.