Kaju’s eyes opened wide when he sighted the monster, the cause of his distress.

The giant flower hung lazily around the tree in the distance, unaware, perhaps disdainful of the newest arrivals in its lair.

It was the first time Kaju had seen something like it. Heck, he doubted if it was all but a nightmare. The flower was unbelievably unreal; it was horrifying. A shiver ran down his spine. The smoke and the gullies sketched on the ground sent his mind further down the dark hell of desperation.

The boys…

The thought stopped Kaju’s meandering. He worriedly looked around in search of the two boys. His heart fell back to its place when he found them hiding behind a tree, alive though injured, safe but in the proximity of danger.

They hadn’t been separated for long yet Mannat and Pandit were in shambles, their appearances resembled those of sunburn, dirt-covered, hardworking though unappreciated laborers. Their clothes had holes poked by sharp branches and hair had given free room to a family of dead leaves.

Pandit surprisingly suffered no injuries. Mannat wasn’t so lucky; the boy had a variety of small red scratches all over his exposed flesh that looked like the veins of a burnt leaf glowing in the wind.

Kaju couldn’t wait any longer — not after seeing them in such a destitute state. He hurried over.

Perhaps, it was Kaju’s clenched fists or his locked jaw, or maybe it was just the pace at which he ran toward the two boys and the glare of his eyes. Pandit’s heart fell when he locked eyes with the old retired sentry.

“What the fuck happened here?” Kaju blared worriedly; it was almost a roar. His voice could have been categorized an attack considering how loud and wrathful it was. The duo of the young apprentice and the old hunter following Kaju flinched and staggered hearing the roar. The apprentice barely kept his feet. He would have fallen over if not for the hunter's help who grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back to his feet.

Kaju’s unabashed eyes swept over the Mannat and Pandit.

“We are fine,” Mannat answered with a comically stoic face only for the old man to ignore him.

Kaju grabbed Mannat from the arm and looked him over and under his clothes despite the boy’s resistance until he was satisfied. He stretched and moved the boy’s limbs, pressed and stressed the key parts of his torso until he had made sure the boy was fine. He knew too many soldiers who had lost mobility in their limbs because of careless self-diagnosed injuries, not realizing the extent of their trauma under the fallacy of blood rush and excitement. His limp was the best proof of it. He was also a fool in the end.

Kaju turned to Pandit next whose hair stood up in fright.

Pandit coved his chest and stepped back away from the old man.

“Don’t even think about it old man.” His voice rose with his emotions. He sounded like a chicken in the pen next up to be slaughtered.

Kaju did intend to inspect Pandit for injuries, but seeing how energetic the boy was, he decided to leave him be. Besides, the warning did make him apprehensive. For all chinks and kinks, Pandit was stronger than he was, at least in terms of raw power. He didn’t want to get suckered punched and lose the little respect he had in the boy's heart and falsely believe that soldiers only amounted to that much. He still had to convince the boy to join the army. The fewer obstacles he rolled down that road the better.

“So,” Kaju turned back to Mannat. “What is that… thing?” He asked nudging his chin in the direction of the flower.

“The worst,” Mannat replied. He then turned to Tote and the hunter who had miraculously survived their first meeting with the flower.

“Did it attack you?” The hunter asked, sweat gathering on his forehead. His wavering eyes glanced fearfully between the flower in the distance and Mannat. His thoughts were crystal clear for everyone to see.

“No, we attacked it and it retaliated… in kindness” Pandit grinned.

The answer put a frown on the hunter's face.

“All right, stop fooling around.” Mannat’s rebuke made Pandit click his tongue though he did faithfully shut his mouth. “We—” Mannat wanted to question the duo when the flower started rattling again.

“It’s the same sound.” The hunter said vigilantly, peering in the distance to find the source of the sound.

“The flower is warning us to stay away,” Mannat said.

Kaju saw Pandit’s lips rise in a smile and squinted at the two boys. “Why do I think that’s the opposite of what you two plan to do?”

Pandit burst out laughing. “You are not so bad, old man. I guess you did learn a thing or two in the army.”

“The flower is a product of miasma corruption.” Mannat continued before Kaju could get angry. “It has to be killed. There is no other choice.”

“But—”

Pandit blew a raspberry at Kaju’s face, interrupting him. “Look, old man. This thing doesn’t just concern your village! The flower's pollen will corrupt the whole forest if it isn’t killed! Do you understand that? We’ll have no place to go if that happens.”

Kaju exhaled and fell into thoughts. Pandit and Mannat waited for his choice with bated breaths. They looked at one another. Silently deciding a way to harmlessly take down the tree if Kaju didn’t agree to help. They were doing it. They were taking down the flower whether the old man agreed or not.

Pandit had no choice because Mannat had made up his mind.

“Come on, old man. Don’t back out now.” Pandit taunted. “Don’t tell me that’s all a soldier amounts to.”

Kaju raised his head. He stared at Pandit with deadpan eyes while recovering his bow from his back.

Pandit clenched his machete, ready to rumble.

Suddenly, Mannat grabbed Pandit’s clenched fist, breaking his concentration.

Kaju acted at the same time. Fortunately, he didn’t act against them.

“So what do we need to do?” Kaju said. His voice wasn’t enthusiastic, but there was pressure in the depths of his black eyes. A kind of strength that said he was ready to act, that he was joining the quest and his decision was final.

He shared a glance with the hunter who nervously nodded in agreement.

“What about him?” Pandit’s words put everyone’s attention on Tote.

The boy though the same age as Pandit and Mannat, was half their size, both physically and mentally. He stared at the flower in a daze, shivering. He was scared. He wanted to run away. He could sense the flower's menacing gaze upon him. His chest could barely contain his heart; it was drumming incessantly, trying to push him away from there.

Suddenly, a hand fell on his shoulder and the tight grasp sent him to the ground. Screaming and clawing he tried to get away from the horror that had gotten a hold of his virgin life.

“Help me!” Tote shouted repeatedly, looking around with aggrieved eyes for a sign of hope. Unfortunately, all he saw through a set of watery eyes was a kaleidoscope of disappointed faces and shaking heads. His heart fell. He had never seen his master so disappointed, aggrieved.

“Get up,” The chilling words of his master broke Tote’s illusion. With the realization came embarrassment. He stood up slowly, head down, fists clenched.

“You are going to leave here,”

Tote raised his head in a hurry to refute, but his master didn’t give him a chance to interrupt.

“You are to go outside the area influenced by that thing,” A brief pause. The hunter continued. “And wait for us. Wait until nightfall. If we don’t return by then you are to return to the village and tell them everything that happened here. Tell them to--”

“I’m not going!” Tote shouted over the voice of his master. “I’m not leaving you behind!”

How could he go back in face of danger when his master was to stay behind? How would he live with the shame of leaving them all there to die? He would survive but be named a deserter. No one wants a deserter in their party. No one would trust him to protect their backs. How would he explain it to the rest of the village? He couldn’t leave. He would not be a hunter if he leaves.

“I’m not running away!” Tote shouted again. His eyes were wet. He rubbed them clean against his sleeves and scrapped his thoughts out of his dry aching throat. “I would rather die here than turn back and leave you behind. You will have to take me back. I’m not running!”

Tote didn’t see it but the frown disappeared from this master’s face.

“That’s fine,” Kaju patted the hunters back in praise before getting back to the matter at hand. Looking at the flower he said, “Now let’s talk about the plan.”

Everyone turned to the old man leaving the young boy confused and vigilant. Tote was ready to face the consequences of his cowardliness. But what was this? He shouted a few words and the old man agreed. Wasn’t Kaju a stonehearted general with no regard for emotions? No one told him Kaju was such an easygoing person.

Everyone ignored Tote.

Mannat told the returning members of the party everything he knew about the flower, and then they started shooting ideas at eachother. It didn’t matter who said what. The important thing was to make a sure-hit plan.

“Why don’t we burn it down?” The hunter said.

“No,” Kaju shut him down, raising a hand to the man’s face. “There are too many dead trees around. We are also not equipped to control the fire; if the fire spreads it can burn the whole forest on our side of the village to cinders.”

Mannat sarcastically glanced at Pandit who shook his head in defeat.

“Anyways, we need to find a way to get close to the flower first,” Pandit said feeling dejected. “It’s impossible to dodge its water jets.”

“I say we attack it from four directions at the same time,” Mannat added. “That way we can divide its attention and the danger.”

The hunter nodded. “We keep eyes on it and only move forward when we are not in its attack zone.”

“But how do we kill it?” Pandit asked, once again excited about the prospectus.

“Let’s cut the tree,” Kaju suggested. There was a pause, exchanged glances, and then nervous nods. Then everyone turned toward Pandit.

“What?” Pandit asked stepping back and away from them. “Are you thinking about sacrificing me? It’s not going to work out. I’m not a virgin.” He heard Mannat snicker and repeated vehemently, “I’m not.”

Tote barely suppressed his laughter. He hid his face behind his hands when a squeak escaped his lips.

“You are thinking too much.” The hunter said. His cheeks ballooned and his eyes crinkled, smiling. “You are the only one equipped to cut it down.”

Pandit looked at his machete and snorted in disdain thinking he should have begged his father to teach him how to use the bow. His dependence on swords and machetes was putting him through experiences that he’d rather not have.

“All right,” Kaju knocked the bottom of his spear on the ground. “We’ll distract it while you get close. Cut the tree and run in the opposite direction. Don’t wait for it to fall on your head. You are not that hard-headed. ”

Mannat added. “The thing will have no chance to survive once the tree is cut down. It is strong and deadly but a flower in the end. Any questions,”

“I have a question,” Everyone turned toward the boy who hadn’t spoken since the start of the discussion. Tote got a little nervous tingle in his stomach from the stares but found the strength to calm down and clear his doubt.

“What will we do if the flower moves away from the tree?” Tote asked.

“Why would the flower move away from the tree?”

“I thought it couldn’t move?” Kaju’s eyebrows rose in confusion.

Mannat and Pandit looked at eachother and then stared back at Tote.

“There are thirteen dead trees around you see,” Tote pointed to the trees. “All of which have deep grooves in their trunk and large pits underneath them. Now they might not mean anything, but they are too identical to be discarded as superficial.” Tote then pointed at Mannat. “He said it was called flower centipede. I don’t know if its name has any other meaning, but Centipedes are fast on the ground. What will we do if it discards the tree and comes after us?”

“Hmm, it’s a good thing we didn’t force you out of the discussion,” Kaju said. A smile grew on Tote’s face. “Let’s pin it to the tree,” Kaju suggested drawing an arrow to his bow and smiling. The smile was infectious and soon had everyone grinning.

“All right, let’s move then,” Pandit said and stood up.

“You all go,” Mannat said. “I’ll stay here until you all are in position. The flower is irritatingly interested in me because I killed its saplings.”

“What saplings?”

“The parasites in the villager's bodies,” Mannat answered noncommittally. “Anyways, you all will have better odds that way.”

Mannat’s words proved true. The flower ignored everyone else and kept a close watch on Mannat while the others dispersed into the woods, out of the flower's range of attack and senses.

Pandit went all the way around the flower and didn’t stop until he was behind it. He believed his chances were higher the further away he was from Mannat. It was a chance he had to take, despite being nervous to leave Mannat alone in the range of the flower's ire.

Mannat also kept a close eye on everyone. When everyone got into their positions, he moved. He didn’t need a bow and arrows to attack the flower. He had his skills. He conjured a small bullet of mana in the palm of his hand and charted a path to the flower that would put him in range to attack and leave in time.

“Let’s start!” Mannat shouted and everyone confirmed it with actions.

First came an arrow from the west. It struck the flower right at its throat. The arrow didn’t penetrate through the stem but it got its attention. The flower centipede rattled its petals in anger and looked away from Mannat, giving him a chance to close the distance. And close the distance he did.

Mannat dashed forward. He had no problem scuttling through the flora and fauna of the deep forest terrain despite having no skills related to agility. A peak performer who had practiced running every day on-road and in the forest need not worry about not being agile.

Meanwhile, the flower centipede continued rattling its petals at the highest frequency, shooting long acidic jets in Kaju’s direction, to the west. The old man had specifically chosen to target the flower petals. Troubled by age and injuries, he was not an accurate shot like the hunters. Even Pandit was a better shot than Kaju having practiced archery in the past year, protecting Deacon on his herb gathering runs through the forest.

Mannat kept a close eye on the flower while making his way closer to its base.

The flower bounced in all directions shooting jets of water at everyone. It could never quite catch anyone, which irritated it boundlessly.

Their strategy worked so perfectly well that Mannat easily reached twenty meters away from the flower. He could have gotten closer, but there was little protection the rest of the way. Staying vigilant, Mannat raised his hand and fired the mana bullet floating atop his palm. The blue ball of destruction sailed through the air, screeching like a berserk lark attacking a predator to protect its hatchlings. There was no way the flower could ignore Mannat’s presence any longer.

The boy ignored its wrathful rattling and conjured another identical blue ball. The first one was to attract the flower's attention and the second one to harm it. Mannat targeted the flower's dark mouth and sent the mana ball sailing. He hoped the mouth would be its weak spot and the damage dealt would give his friends some time to act.

Mannat wondered why he couldn’t sense any miasma from the flower while retreating, but he put the thought to the back of his mind as the two mana balls struck their target.

The resultant explosion produced a gust that dispersed the bed of dried and dead leaves at the bottom of the tree, leaving a bald patch of upturned ground in its wake. The flower was uninjured, but the explosion and the shock produced dazed it for long enough for Pandit to act.

“Do it now, Pandit!” Mannat yelled aggressively while rounding behind around a thick tree for protection. He hid away from the Flower's sight and spread his mana sense around in full force. Actively using the skill he sensed much further and clearer.

Pandit ran with all of his might, sprinting over the temperamental forest terrain like a leopard after prey. In seconds, he was ten meters from the flower. Another few seconds and he would have made it underneath it. Then the beast came to its senses. Where Mannat’s mana sense could only detect the presence of objects with mana signature, the flower's Earth sense could detect even minute changes in the area under its scrutiny.

Detecting an invader so close and dangerous, the flower went berserk. It forgot about Mannat and started a mad assault against Pandit, firing multiple acidic jets all around without a care. They sliced apart the dead trees lingering around the flower. The acidic pressure was so strong, that the jets penetrated through their targets, slicing far and beyond, multiple targets at once.

Everyone unanimously stopped attacking and retreated outside the range of the flower's acidic water jets. The mayhem continued for a whole five minutes, spreading a burnt sulphuric odor in the air, raising dust and dirt, and destroying the calm. Then the water jets stopped. The flower gurgled, its stem vibrating like an empty pipe but no more water sprouted from its throat.

It was time.