Finding my next stop takes longer than I’d like. I manage to get lost on a backroad that led me in roughly the direction Leona pointed when it doubles back onto the road in a different spot than I’d expected. The general state of disrepair doesn’t make the roads any easier to travel. When I arrive, the sun is already on it’s way down. I enter the parcel of land.

You have entered Serran’s Reach

I have indeed. The place is desolate. There are five buildings in what must have been the courtyard, giving the impression that place was abandoned a long time ago. The only incongruous element here is the field. Rows upon rows of dark corn waft slowly in the evening breeze. As I go closer to investigate, I realise it’s actually teal ears on green stalks. I reach for one to take a sample when I hear a noise behind me. Turning around I see a tall, gaunt man behind a lantern.

“Good evening traveller. We get so very few guests. Would you like to come inside for a spell?”

He gestures towards a building I hadn’t noticed earlier, a light visible in one window.

“Thank you. My name is Tee, I live over by the Greenlily farm.”

He lets me walk in front as we head to his home. When I get closer, I see it’s in much better repair than I thought it was. Lilacs are growing outside the door, and their pleasant scent fills the air.

“I am Vlyk. I live here with my wife and children.”

Opening the door for me, he shows me down some stairs on the inside. The walls are decorated with chalk pictures clearly made by children. Halfway down I nearly fall as I trip on something. When I look back, I can’t see anything but Vlyk and his lantern.

“It’s an interesting design you have here. Right into the cellar from outside?”

I’m getting a bad feeling about all of this, but I don’t want to antagonise him, since I really need his help. Finally, we reach a larger room.

The walls are adorned with framed, dried plants. A crackling fireplace is happily pouring heat into a room that’s already warmer than necessary. They seem to be burning some sort of coal, with a large bucket placed next to the fire. Around a table is a woman, and six young children. The woman smiles at me with eyes that are too large, and more teeth than you’d expect. Each of the children’s heads snap towards me as I enter. Three girls and three boys, nearly identical to their parents. Vlyk directs me to a chair facing the others, with my back to the door.

I look up at him, seeing that he has the same eyes and teeth as the woman.

“You have a lovely home.”

The children start talking to each other, their voices chittering and clacking more than actual words. The sounds make my head hurt. The female snaps her fingers, and as one they stop. Her eyes haven’t left me. Vlyk sits down next to her, facing me.

“The Greenlily farm, you say. We saw the kings man come from there.”

I wait a moment to see if he had a point to make, but he lets the silence hang in the air. Nodding a little, I start talking.

“Yep. He wanted to have a little chat. That’s actually one of the reasons I was coming by to talk to you. You see, the soil on my ground is sort of poisoned, and…”

The kids start talking again, but the female is on top of it, smacking the closest on top of his head, making a clicking sound with her mouth. The male keeps eye contact, creeping me out more by the moment. I suddenly realise what’s wrong with them. They have no body language. They’re sitting perfectly still, none of them are blinking. I’m not even sure they’re breathing. A chill goes down my back.

Skill increased: Social Perception.

“So yeah, poisoned. I was wondering if you knew anything about soil quality, old mines or fungus, like this one.”

I get the sample from my backpack, holding it out towards the man. He sits perfectly still, looking at me. After a moment, I stand up to lay the sample on the table in front of him, then return to my seat. He never looks at it, but the children turn their heads, sniffing towards it. Before they act, the mother raises an arm, a rolling click emanates from her throat. Each of them look away.

“So, have you seen anything like it before?”

He glances at it for just a moment, and the world dims for a moment. When he looks back, everything goes back to normal.

“Yes.”

Well this guys is intent on doing this the hard way, isn’t he.

“Is there anything you can tell me about it?”

He nods eagerly.

“It makes a very tasty soup.”

I blink a few times.

“Wait, you can eat it? It grows on the poison coming out of the ground. By all rights it should kill you outright.”

He shrugs. After another few moments of awkward silence, it’s clear that he’s not going to elaborate.

“Okay then. So I’m going to go into the mine where the poison comes from. Would you like to come with us? There’ll be plenty of that slime if you’d like some.”

He shakes his head.

“No.”

I close my eyes, counting to ten.

“No what? You don’t want any, or you don’t want to help me?”

“Neither.”

I take another moment to breathe, trying not to loose it. I can’t tell if he’s trying to troll me or if there’s something I’m not picking up on. Actually, as I’m drawing breath there’s a strange flavour to the air. It’s masked by the burning coals and the residual lilac, but somethings there. Making my decision I bring up the Perception alert, selecting Smell as my specialisation. For a brief moment it feels like a bolt of electric ice shoots up my nostrils, burying itself in my sinuses. Then a world of smells open up to me.

You have chosen the specialisation Smell under the skill Perception.

I discover that I can separate the smells in my mind now. There’s a distinct, heavy cloud wafting from the fire. The fresh fragrance of the lilacs from outside. There’s an unpleasant, pungent odour seeping out of the sample I brought. And a warm, fuzzy fragrance streaming off the people in here.

“Before we continue, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”

His smile never falters.

“Not at all.”

I breathe through the fabric of my shirt, finally getting a puzzled look from the female. The kids start talking as soon as she’s looking away.

“What exactly are you?”

He looks away from me to the female. She nods at him, and he looks back. His smile fades slowly.

“I can show you, or you can leave. Pick carefully.”

I shrug, standing up. He stands as well, and we move towards each other, until we’re face to face. His proportions are still wrong, but now I can see the cracks in the illusion. His skin is flowing over his muscles when he talks. His eyes are painted on, made up to look real.

“I’m half dryad, friend. My best friends are human, and I’m getting to know a full blood dryad. If you’re friendly and respectful to me, I will extend the same courtesy to you.”

With a nod, he walks back to the sofa, sitting down with the female. The children’s chittering gains in frequency and volume, and the world slowly starts melting.

Ability increased: Charisma.

The walls around me turn to dirt, roots and rocks sticking out at random places. All the furniture morphs to mounds of earth and clumps of wood and grass. Each of the children changes into little creatures a foot across. Mandibles up front, six legs, chitinous body. Looks like a cockroach.

The male and female grow together into a creature two meters tall, hunched over in the small cave we’re in. His carapace has the same colour the little ones have, but there are more spikes, more decorations, and more arms. He’s standing on two legs with six more appendages along his upper body, each pair serving a different function. One pair looks like shovels, another like sickles. The third pair are hands, four fingers and a thumb. It looks at me, tilting it’s head. A voice echoes in my mind. His voice.

“This is our true form.”

I look around, shrugging again.

“Cool.”

His faceted eyes observe me for a moment.

“So what will you do? If you want our royal jelly you will have to kill us.”

Grimacing, I shake my head.

“I don’t know what your royal jelly is, but I know I don’t want part of it. And I really don’t want to kill you. As I said before, I want to be friends and neighbours. Is that going to work for you?”

I swear the insectoid abomination is confused.

“Yes? We have never met a human who did not hunt us. We found this farm after the previous owners had abandoned it. We continued growing the driftcorn, but nobody came to collect. We leave it for the fungus to eat. We do not think anybody knows.”

I consider their size for a moment.

“Uh, so you guys eat fungus? Anything else?”

He points to the spot where the fireplace used to be. In it’s place is a pit in the ground, surrounded by glowing worms. In the pit is a viscous looking liquid that slowly bubbles, giving off the smells I noticed earlier.

“In there is various fungus. Plants we grow. Used to be animals we’d capture, but they no longer come here.”

That makes sense.

“Look, if you don’t want to come with us tomorrow, do you want me to bring you back the fungus I can? If you’re interested, we can trade for it. I need fresh water for my farm, and any crops you can spare.”

He seems to consider my offer for a moment.

“I will agree if you will help keep our secret.”

I sigh, shaking my head.

“You’re not getting this, are you? As long as you act with honour and respect, we’re going to be friends. And friends help each other out with stuff like keeping a secret. You’re not hurting anyone, as far as I can tell. That makes you good people to me.”

Your relationship with the Vlykkyhs collective has increased to Not-Food-Friend.

I blink at the notice for a moment. I guess they do eat their enemies. I notice that Vlykkyhs has extended his hand appendage, and I take it, shaking it carefully.

“But out of curiosity, and stop me if I’m being rude… What happened to your wife?”

He takes a step back, first gesturing to the body, then to a large extrusion on the side of his neck.

“Female is body. Male is mind.”

As he says this, the growth moves, showing itself to be a larval creature.

Sure, that’s not disgusting. I hide my reaction as I take my leave, crawling out of the cave with the bug. Whatever illusion they used to make me see the farmhouse, it camouflaged the long tunnel down as well. When we surface, we’re inside a dilapidated building. As we get outside, it’s nearly pitch black, with only the moons to light the way. I turn to Vlykkyhs, noticing that the front of the building is broken down, the light from before nowhere to be seen.

“Friend Tee, before you go, I am assuming you are not able to see in the darkness.”

I nod quietly as she grabs at her back. When her hand comes back, she’s holding a grub. With a twist, it lets out a squeak, going limp. After a few moments it starts glowing softly.

“Take this. It can be dangerous out there.”

I shake her hand again.

“Thank you. I’m happy that we can be friends. I’ll be back soon with news of the miners sludge.”

They wave at me as I start down the road towards home. The darkness under the trees is nearly complete, making the glowworm invaluable. While I’m walking, I breathe deeply of the forest air, picturing the scents in my mind. The freshness of trees breathing after a long day of working under the sun. The decay between roots and old logs where the smallest life recycles everything.

I feel content, in a way I never did as a healer.