---Eliza---

I have made a terrible mistake.

The entire swamp is in chaos.

I'm desperate, and perched on a nearby branch, but I don't think I can leave by the door. I'm much bigger than before, and I glow. Not very conducive to stealth. There's a giant mass of those giant lizards climbing out of the water and engaging in combat.

One such lizard, lunging from the water, receives a bone crushing blow to the top of its head, driving it into the mud. I hear the crunching of the poor lizard's spine and skull from here, and the crushed remnants of its teeth are no longer in its mouth. I would describe it as flattened.

The culprit is a giant tree. A giant tree I hid soul cores in.

An uppercut with a misshapen branch sends another giant lizard flying up into the air and crashing back into the water. It doesn't rise again.

Setting up my soul thread generator just as Brian did took a lot out of me, I worried the whole time since I can't see soul nearly as well as he, but I managed it in the end. Currently I am struggling to repatch my soul, since I used almost all the material Brian donated to keep me alive. I am doing quite well, but completely vulnerable in a nearby tree. Thank the Sun Orb I hadn't perched in THAT tree.

Massive clublike branches swing in every direction, a maelstrom of crushing power. The lizards hides are too strong, and withstand the blows, but the bones and organs beneath are turned to pulp before my eyes.

Why did I have to stash those in the tree right next to the door?

But wait, all this death means opportunity!

Also trees don't have eyes.

I just have to wait until the tree is done flailing about, then I can sneak in and steal some really big mana cores.

Maybe it will be grateful that I have awakened it? I might be able to able to talk to it now that I have magic.

I'm absolutely sure I can't kill it, and neither can Brian. Maybe that will change after I eat some of those lizard's crystals, but I doubt it. Brian might be able to set it on fire and run away, but not if I can't warn him there's a giant angry tree right inside the door.

OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH, that had to hurt! A lizard got through the hail of blows, and grabbed a branch in its jaws. The branch snapped, and left a sharp point, and the tree flailed harder! The lizard went in for another bite, and the sharp point of the branch went right in that hissing maw, lifted the whole creature up by its jaws, then impaled the lizard fully by smashing it into the ground. Repeatedly. The body count is increasing.

The tree seems panicked. It probably has never been injured before. This is my chance.

Let's see, a link has this funny bit here, this one there, and a few squiggles... and done.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Hello?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Hello?"

"AAAAH?"

"Yes, I made you a while ago, but it seems you are under attack. Would you like help with that?"

"Help?"

"Yes, I can help you see what's attacking you. I can also help with the attackers to some degree. If I do though, you have to promise not to hurt me."

"See?"

"Ah, yes, you've never seen before. One moment."

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Yes, yes, it's very useful. You see that brown wiggling thing? That's you. Wiggle one branch at a time and you can get a feel for where they are."

"Ah!"

"You see that black thing down there coming towards you? Smash it!"

"Smash!"

"Oh My Honeysuckle. You can stop now, it's dead."

"Smash!"

"Or I guess you can hit it until it's literally buried underground. That mud is awfully red. You know, I think we're going to be great friends."

"AAAAAAAAH!"

---Brian---

"Do you know any really big spiders?"

Grimal shifts about a bit.

"I hope not. The old athletics director was a real piece of work, and she was a seriously big spider. Used to run the combat training, had a fondness for maiming slow students.

I swear the Chancellor hired her to scare the students into running faster."

"Ugh... I met her then. And she took some kind of special interest. Said she wants me to come back and train, but I'm really rather doubtful."

"I highly recommend not returning." Grimal shifted again. "My wounds itch... Do you have another of those black rock I can chew on, maybe it will distract me."

"Here. And she said she'd hunt me down if I didn't come back."

"Ah, I guess there's no need to tell you the rest of that story. You're as good as dust."

I paused, digesting that. "We can hold off story telling for later. I don't know much about magic, and I think you do. Could you teach me a few things? Maybe even the odds a little? If I'm not ready to face her again, I don't think I want to go back, so she'll probably show up here eventually."

"You're supposed to ask nicely before blackmailing someone. You little chert!"

"I've saved your spherical hide twice now, and that is what I'm going to do, it's not blackmail if it's the truth, is it?

I need your help and I'm on a deadline... literally. Help me out or I'll have to do my best and run away. We can save storytime for later."

"I'm not a great luminary by any means, but I can teach you a few things, I guess. I don't think I'll be able to teach you enough to beat Deodora, but I can try. If we live, our slate is clean though. This kind of knowledge is valuable."

"You still owe me the rest of the story though.

"Fine, I'll finish the damn story. Would you like to continue wasting time, or would you like to put some work into surviving?"

"Can I take option three and go home and eat a cheeseburger?"

"I don't know, can you?"

"Probably not, lets get started."

"Listen up, because I'm not gonna repeat myself."

I settled in and began to listen, a strange rythmic thumping heard in the background.

What the hell is that noise?