“To continue with our introductory series on “Things you Didn’t Know Could Kill You,” I present the humble Fly Trap. Gather around as I explain it’s mechanism. Once several thin hairs are triggered, like so… the trap closes, causing the fly to be trapped within. There, it dies and is used as nutrients by the plant. Now, as we move into the adjacent room I’ll ask you to remain by the door. The creature within is technically concerned tamed… As you can see, this is what happens when an infusion of life mana in the surrounding area is used by a non-sapient plant to evolve. Notice how it is roughly three times our size. It can even speak. How are you doing Arnie?”

“FEED ME SEYMOUR!!! FEED ME!!”

“And so that concludes today’s class. In short, don’t feed the wildlife.”

Seymour Plantbane, Recorded From: “An Introduction to Carnivorous Plant Life.” AC 1238

“RUN!! GET TO THE CLEARING!!”

We all break out into a sprint, with Wilhelm and Mina swimming ahead faster than the rest of us. There’s a familiar *POP* and Luna is back on my shell, providing cover for me as we go. The area is darkening, the kelp blocking out the sun and I can already feel the shadow of their impending attack. And yet… the plants haven’t descended yet.

My stalks spin around, trying to keep an eye on the forest at all times, trying to look behind me to gage how close the plant monster is. Silt and sand are kicked up by my passage, and I move with all the speed my characteristics can give.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

The thing behind has quickened up its pace. He must be trying to reach us before we get to the safety of the outside world. Can it follow us there? I banish the thought from my mind for the moment. There are other worries taking precedent. Such as the fact that the closer we get to the edge of the forest, the more forest there appears to be.

On closer inspection it seems as though the forest can move even when we’re staring dead at it. Root tendrils of the surrounding kelp has grown from the ocean floor and the plants are crawling along, trying to circle and box us in. The motion is not the instantaneous jumping I saw before, but if it can delay us long enough, the thing behind us can catch up. I try to quicken my pace.

Wilhelm and Mina are beginning to outpace the rest of us, and I discard all measure of restraint, calling aloud,

“Stay together! If we’re separated, we’re easy pickings.”

At my words, Mina looks behind her and sees our struggling progression. She seems hesitant for a moment and then launches into a song. I can tell she is under strain, but I give a silent thanks for whatever boost she can provide.

‘ding

Bardic Effect Applied

Effect: +5% increase to DEX

Effect: 5 minutes remaining

I put on another burst of speed as the forest begins to close in. A cautious eye is trained upward, waiting for the kelp to fall. I never see the roots below.

‘ding

You are in combat!

[Demon Kelp Forest] attacks you with [Spearing Roots]

-120 HP!

You have taken damage!

You are bleeding!

A twisted root spears into my tender underside, shredding through the thin armor plating. It punctures my torso, and I can feel my insides tearing. The pain almost blinds me, the twisting hole in my body impaling me to the spot. It hasn’t pierced all the way through, but its enough to lift me off the ground. My legs kick reflexively, futilely trying to gain purchase on the sand. I can hear Luna’s panicked cry,

“Crabby! Are you okay? What can I do?”

Through a bloody haze I can see the others frozen on the spot, shocked expressions paralyzed with indecision.

I barely manage to gasp through the pain, “leave…me… go… on….”

They have to get out of here, I’m stuck and there isn’t time to free me. Wisdom it hurts. I can barely think through my pain blinded haze. I idly note that I feel a bit lighter and see that Luna is now on the ocean floor in front of me. Good, she can join the others and get out of…

“Bill! Billy! Do you guys have any bladed configurations? We need to cut this root to get Crabby free!”

What is Luna doing? Why aren’t they leaving? The thing is getting closer, the forest is closing in, they have to go!

“Yes, but we…”

“Do it! Wilhelm, guard the perimeter with me, we need to block any further attacks from coming in. Mina, if you have some way to help, do so.”

Luna takes charge, and everyone begins to move in a flurry of motion. I try to organize my thoughts enough to protest, but I am barely holding onto consciousness right now. As the two brothers cautiously approach the stationary root holding me aloft, they move to either side. I hear one of them say,

“Sorry, this will probably hurt like hell.”

Then, a thin metal edge protrudes from each of their shells, circling them entirely.

Huh, I wonder what they…

A squealing *whirr* sound splits the ocean floor, the pieces of metal are spinning blades twisting in a circle around their shell. Oh no…

They approach either side of the root stalk and begin to cut into it. The vibrations travel up the plant to where I’m impaled and shake my insides. I hardly need the system to tell me the vibrations are making things worse, the pain does that for me.

‘ding

Warning!

You are now severely bleeding!

-20 HP per second!

Apply pressure to the wound immediately!

With a sharp *crack* I feel the root break and then I’m uncontrollably falling to the sea floor. With a *POP*, Luna teleports next to me and catches me before I fall. I hear her muttering and try to focus on what she’s saying.

“Okay, assess the patient. Stab injury, don’t remove the weapon. Breathing’s good, still conscious. Need to wrap and stabilize the impaling object, stop the bleeding…”

From her spatial storage, a long strip of bandages comes out and with most of her arms, she begins wrapping my shell in a tight bundle. I can hear the sounds of combat around me and with a lazy eye note that everyone else is either dodging or diverting the attacks of the plants around us. Around Luna and I is a strange sea of calm. I put my thoughts in order enough to weakly wave a claw at her.

“Need… to…. go….”

“Shush Crabby, we’re getting out of this together.”

The others are guarding the two of us in a rough circle and seem to be doing a decent job of distracting and redirecting the incoming attacks. But I can tell this is only a reprieve. The kelp doesn’t even seem to be trying too hard, content for us to remain stationary while it repositions and blocks us in.

‘ding

Pressure bandage applied, bleeding debuff is reduced.

-5 HP per second!

Now that I’m stabilized, Luna turns to the Bill brothers.

“I need you guys to carry Crabby on your shell, we have to continue moving. The rest of us will guard.”

Luna works with them, and I can feel myself lifted in the water. I settle a bit unevenly on their shells and we then continue our trek to safety. Everyone is now looking above and below, managing to dodge the odd roots that bursts from the ground. Now that we’ve discarded stealth, everyone is using Mana Pulses to try to map the surrounding area, trying to predict the oncoming attacks.

We make it another twenty meters before the creature enters the range of my perception. The giant has changed how he is traveling, now swinging from the kelp trees above us. He is slower now, but catching up, trying to catch us unaware. Shortly after I detect him, the others do as well. We’re moving at the rate of our slowest members, the two brothers carrying me and I can tell we won’t make it in time. Luna seems to come to the same conclusion.

“Wilhelm, how strong are you?”

The question seems to take him aback, almost as if no one has ever questioned his strength before.

“Strong, why?”

“Can you throw Crabby and me clear of the forest? I’ll make sure the landing is good, and then circle back and help out. Crabby should be able to pick up comms out there, and we can request reinforcements.”

For an interminable moment, Wilhelm thinks. Finally, he says,

“I can probably do it. You’ll have to take off your armor though.”

Even through my pain addled haze, I can tell this is a bad plan. There is so many things that can wrong, the plants could attack us in a new and unexpected way, we could collide headfirst into a plant. A gentle tapping on my mandibles breaks me from my musings.

“Crabby? Crabby, stay with me. Remember Drill Sergeant Lee? I need you to do a mana-up like he did.”

I weakly reply,

“I’m… not… that… good…”

“It doesn’t have to be perfect! Just enough for an initial explosion. You can do it, I believe in you Crabby!”

Her words buoy my willpower and I shakingly put my claws together. I push through the pain and use [Mana Manipulation]; pulling all the mana I can handle out of my core and into the space in front of me. The most I can handle is about a quarter of my mana pool at once. A blue light illuminates the area from the gently pulsing energy between my claws. And now I just have to…

*CRUNCH*

Make….

*CRUNCH*

This….

*CRUNCH!!!*

SMALLER!!!!

*CRACKLE*

With a final heave of my mind, a fractured crystalline structure is floating in my shaking claws. It’s wildly unstable, threatening to buckle and explode if I bring my attention away from it for an instant. I hear Luna say,

“Okay! Now, hold on Crabby. I’m going to carry you and then we’re going for a ride. When I tell you to, throw it ahead of us okay? Hold on to it as long as you can.”

I muster a grunt in acknowledgement and try to ignore the nagging doubts whispering in the back of my mind. Gently, Luna takes her usual position on my back, and I can tell she’s discarded her armor. Then, the length of a tail envelops us and I hear her yell,

“NOW! THROW IT!”

With a drastic heave I thrust my claws forward, and as I do, I’m able to see the others.

Mina appears haggard, jerkily flitting about and taunting the kelp to attack her. One of the brothers has a cracked shell, I’m not sure when that happened but he must have been struck at some point. The area is almost completely dark now, the only light from the fractured crystal flying ahead of us. The crystal makes it a few meters into the kelp before I start to lose my grasp on it. I say,

“Can’t… hold…”

Luna yells, “EVERYONE! LOOK AWAY!”

I’m almost running on autopilot at this point, barely able to understand what is going on but I follow the instructions given. I just have to trust Luna knows what she’s doing. Even without my eyes on it, the bright flash sends dots across my eyes. The dots quickly fade and I understand her plan. The demon kelp can sense mana and must have took the unstable crystal to be an incoming attack. When we looked away, it drastically repositioned which cleared a path forward. There’s an almost straight shot ahead and I can see safety in the distance. The realization is all I manage to accomplish before Luna screams,

“NOW WILHELM!!”

I feel his tail tensing around us, and his normal coloring instantly shifts to a blood red hue. Wilhelm screams,

“CRAB FLY!!!”

And Luna and I are catapulted down the now clear path.