Livia, Krey, and Emilie were there among the orchardeers, marching into those trees still with the shafts of morning’s light piercing through the canopies. They stood out and drew much attention, but nobody was about to question the emboldening of their ranks by three intrepid strangers, even if it did mean a slightly broader sharing of the profits. Everyone had liked the sound of Emilie’s plan, and it’d earned her party a vanguard position in the orchardeers’ formation. They’d be getting the best shot at racking up kills, but with the catch of also being in the most danger. However, if Emilie’s plan worked, then it would hopefully spare everyone from most of the risk. If it didn’t though…

The orchary, to the unobservant, might’ve appeared to be like any other forested area. However, those who paid attention and looked up would see that it was possibly the densest growth of natural bounty in Calsa— possibly in all of Berodyl (though that might depend on your exact definition of ‘natural’).

“Alright, everyone,” Kenrick called as he brought the party to a stop. “Remember: the more severed tails you collect, the more pay you’ll earn. Now, let’s get to it!”

“Come along,” Emilie urged. “Let us accompany the division heading deepest into the orchary; my plan will be most effective that way.”

“Are you sure?” Krey hummed and hawed. “We might have better luck sticking to the pockets of trees growing in richer soil, bearing better fruit.”

“Her steps are guided by Phyrn,” Livia nearly whispered. “As are mine.” She took a deep breath, and her voice picked up in volume as colour filled her face. “Come on! Let’s go!”

“Alright,” Krey shrugged, smiling. “Where my ladies lead, I shall follow.”

Orchardeers were kicking the trunks of trees to rustle them, startling the vampire squirrels nesting in them and forcing them out. When they emerged, the orchardeers swiped at them with their weapons, hoping to either kill them or at least encourage them to leave. Either way, the one thing they were all trying to avoid was being bitten, as a bite from a vampire squirrel was almost certainly going to result in a slow, painful death. Everyone was doing a fairly good job of it, even if the damn critters were still getting their fair share of scratches in; painful and bloody, yes, but not fatal in the least. Emilie came to a stop at a particularly dense group of trees, climbing in amid them while Livia and Krey focused on keeping pests away. It was time to put her plan into action.

Green magic was mostly known for aiding one’s allies, but it was also for giving one’s enemies ailments. With her rosary clutched in her praying hands, she silently called upon the power of the Decakon, and beseeched them to flush her enemies from their perches. From the earth, a plume of swirling sulphuric vapour burst up around her and began spreading through the treetops. It sent the vampire squirrels up there into a panicked frenzy, the toxicity triggering their fight-or-flight instincts.

“That’s it!” Krey pointed, hollering at Livia. “Do your thing!”

“Right!” Livia stabbed Veridis into the ground, and began preparing herself. She balled one hand into a fist and straightened her fingers on the other, pressing her fist against her palm. She took in a deep breath and, as she did so, raised a foot up. She brought it down hard on the ground as she released her breath, throwing her hands out to her sides. In that moment, she, Krey, Emilie, and a small number of the orchardeers became contained within petramantic walls that rose up around them. These walls were made of perfectly smooth stone, meaning that, as the vampire squirrels began dropping out of the trees to avoid Emilie’s fumigation spell, they became trapped within Livia’s stone barrier.

“Yes!” Livia cheered. Those damn squirrels were easy pickings now, having nowhere to run. After helping Emilie back into the more open area, the three of them started sweeping the outer boundary of their arena, picking off the squirrels with ease as their instincts drove them to continue their futile escape attempts. Once they were done, Livia compelled the stone walls to recede into the earth, and they moved on to do it all over again in another part of the orchary.