"How many arrows do you have left, El?" Dawn asks and she motions that she still has thirty one reds before she has to switch to the splinters. Reds, or red feathered arrows, were made using the Harpy Feathers and gave a boost in base damage, flight speed, and distance. Splinters were the simple wooden arrows, nothing special, but she had about a hundred of them. Dawn didn't ask about her "secret project." Although she knew El completed it, it is still untested, therefore not a reliable battle resource at the moment.

Since the first room where they fought the Mandrakes and freed some captives, they had found two more such rooms with much less people. Each time, they allowed a Spriggan to run towards the next tunnel before killing it. So far, it's been the best source of direction.

They did run into a Gorshix in one of the tunnels, but El stopped anyone from hurting it and it left of its own accord.

"How did you know it would do that?" Rachel asks, impressed that she knew that such a vicious looking creature would be so docile.

El's sad smile seems a bit more melancholy as Kona translates, "She used to hunt them, before she ended up in Kes Rentas."

"Like, how did you end up there?" Rachel asks as they continue down the tunnel, her tone matching the growing somber mood.

"I can answer that," Kona says in an unusually flat tone, touching El on the arm. "There was a territorial dispute between the Lunar Elves to the west and Kes Rentas. Eventually, the survivors were driven towards the mountains. Vic and her squad somehow got away with not participating in any of the battles and managing to save a few that were able to escape the skirmishes."

Rachel has to force herself to focus on the path ahead as she listens to Kona continue, "Vic was able to keep her in hiding for a while, working with Ramona. Then we all left together during the expulsion."

"I'm sorry to hear that, El," Dawn says and the Lunar Elf smiles back with her sad eyes, though she wasn't as sorrowful as she was moments ago. Elsbeth points to everyone, makes a big circle, then crosses two fists over her chest.

"She says she loves us," Kona translates in a much happier tone.

"Hold on," Rachel stops everyone with outstretched hands. "There's a huge room up ahead. El, can you help me out?"

Their formation changes, with El and Rachel moving up to scout the area ahead and Kona and Dawn remained behind, watching the rear. Even though she didn't have Zoom, Dawn had Darkvision and they could still hear and none of the monsters so far were stealthy. The other two returned in a moment and described a cavernous area with a domed ceiling. It was several times larger than the first room with the Mandrakes, but the floor seems to be covered in a slowly writhing mass of roots or tentacles, they couldn't decide. There were also lots of skeletons laying around a massive rosebud like plant in the center. The stolen goods sprinkle the raised walkway that encircles the room.

"It's gotta have something to do with the Mandrakes. Maybe it's their mother?" Dawn asks, but no one seems to have any idea either. "Any way I can get close enough to Scan it?"

"No way," Rachel answers, "There's two rows of Shriekers at the entrance. If we pop them it'll alert whatever's in there. There's, like, no way to clear them."

"Aside from the noise, do they do anything else?" Dawn asks. El shakes her head no. "Okay. There's gotta be more than just that big flower in there."

"There was a big shadow on the ceiling that looks like it could be something, but it wasn't moving, like, at all."

"Think the skeletons will animate or are they just for decoration?" Dawn asks.

"Definately animate," Rachel says with confidence. "So cliche."

"Hmm… most likely plant based…" Dawn muses, "Anyone have fire Abilities? My Hellfire is gonna be weak in a Boss fight."

Rachel is wearing one of the Rings they got from the Fizzet at the lake, Ring of Embers, which grants her a few charges of a basic Firebolt Spell. Elsbeth has Flameburst Shot, which has an effect radius of 5feet per arrow and her multiplier Ability is ready to go. Unfortunately, all of Kona's Spells are Arcane based and her Warlock of the Stellar Sentinel Feat only allows her to change their elemental damage to radiant or shadow. Hellfire only does Dawn's level plus seven in fire damage.

"Alright," Dawn says, psyching herself up as much as everyone else, "Ignore the Shriekers. Give me enough time to Scan the big flower and the shadow, it's gotta be something too. Keep the mobs off me until then, clear them if you can. Ready to go?"

****************************************

"No. No more no more no more…" I ramble and mumble breathlessly.

The visions are evolving. No has died in a while, though I almost wish they would. I think that morbid desire is part of the torture. The candle wants me to feel this way, have those thoughts.

My words and actions are being misconstrued and everyone I care about starts to dislike me. Hate me. Despise me. Loathe me. Distorted, angry faces spit hate filled words at me. I'm belittled. Degraded. Their words turn to violence and I'm too weak to defend myself, though I don't think I can even if I could.

My mother curses me for abandoning her in a hospital to play a video game. Dawn and Rachel accuse me of sexual harrassment and toss me into a maelstrom of legal battles, public shaming, and reprisal.

I'm standing in the vardo and I almost feel like I'm back in the physical/virtual world. It's gotten to the point where I'm not sure which world I'm supposed to wake up in. There's chunks of clotting flesh sticking to my claws. There's the constant rhythm of the blood dripping into pools on the floor. There's muffled shouting echoing in the distance. I look around at the massacre.

Everyone is dead.

Eviscerated. Torn to pieces. The smell of iron is heavy, filling my lungs and collecting behind my eyes. I can't stop myself from looking around at faces, into their open, lifeless eyes. The faces of the children. Of Luvina. Her bloody hands stiff from rigor and clutching at a squirming Coaster.

"…you did this… You did this. YOU DID THIS…"

"It's my fault…" I hear my voice say, but my lips don't move. They don't move because they're being pulled back into a plastic grin. I'm not an Ifrixian now. I'm a human. I'm wearing the clothes I had on IRL. They're soaked with blood. And I'm smiling.

And then nothing.

I can't see it, but I know my body that Vic is watching has fallen over and is clutching at it's sides. It's foaming at the mouth, begging for it to stop. It bravely, foolishly refuses to utter the safety phrase.

The elemental torture is back and I practically welcome it. I'm too afraid of the false visions. I'm suprised they're not playing constantly. When they replaced my actual memories I knew I was in trouble. And now, as if sensing the feeling of relief, the candle mixes up the elements. I get random combinations of two kinds of elements and the novelty is renewed. Then, a new one emerges.

An abomination of viscous, black ooze covered in perfect sets of pearly white teeth and doll like, blue eyes bleeds into existence, wrapping barbed tendrils around me. Tearing out chunks of my flesh with its teeth and crying steaming hot tears onto exposed skin. It echoes voices all around me. They sound like words of praise, of joy. They're happy I'm being tortured. The voices are ones I know well. The teeth that aren't ripping me apart are moving, speaking these voices. Singing a psalm of suffering.

Nothing.

Why am I doing this again? Who's doing this to me? What did I do to deserve this? I've got to get out of here. I've got to end this.

[Time Remaining: 00:59:58]

Can I…

****************************************

"Now!" Dawn commands and before the mushrooms can reach full bloom, most of them are trampled by her team.

Elsbeth looses three arrows at the parade float sized bud in the center and they explode, lighting up the room and catching things on fire. The bud shivers from the impacts and explosions, but shows no other signs of damage.

Rachel also fires a single bolt but angrily voices that it didn't do much because of an estimated seventy percent resistance to fire. They all look on in confused horror.

The petals begin to unfurl and blossom, revealing it to be a monsterous black rose with a beguiling, nude, plant woman in the center. Dawn is able to cast Basic Scan during the reveal of the lithe monsteress with flowing black petals for hair. Simultaneously, the large shadow drops from the ceiling, shaking the ground with its mass and revealing itself to be a twisted, walking garden of corpses in multiple stages of decay, dark green vines, and black roses in bloom.

>Scan[4219/4219HP, 2209/2209MP, 200/200SP]

>Scan[2990/2990HP, 90/90MP, 462/462SP]

The ground beneath them continues to move as they realize that the entire floor is the Alraune's woven root system. Black vines envelop and infest the skeletons, bringing them up and ready for battle with simple wooden clubs or sharpened wooden spears in hand.

>Scan[195/195HP, 9/9MP, 60/60SP]

"Necrobotany…" Dawn mutters to herself, half impressed and half terrified. "And they're resistant to fire?" Before she has time for another thought, everyone scrambles to dodge or block attacks from the Puppets. They weren't particularly fast, but their movements were jerky and unpredictable, as if the vines were still trying to figure out how to pilot the skeletons.

Dawn looks over at the Tomb Blossom in time to see it spawn another one. From the tangled body, the vines excrete and fill up a skeleton, placing it gently on the ground and severing the connections to it. It is a slow and methodical process that has already begun again. Still, that makes two bosses and nine plus more minions versus the four of them.

A sultry voice calls out, a sound like the hissing of a snake an undertone to the voice, "I desire their treasures, my loves." Luxa motions with her arms as if controlling the Puppets, but then lays back in her flower throne. She runs her hands over her body like she's never been in this form before and she had to investigate it this very moment. "My desire is your mission."

"Ugh, so creepy," Rachel says, hurling darts and blades into the skulls of three Puppets. They deal damage, but not the Vital Spot kind one would get from living creaures. "Damn it."

Elsbeth tries once more to fire Flameburst Shots at Luxa, but a large appendage lunges out of the monsterous Tomb Blossom, blocking the arrows and absorbing the hits. When Kona tries to cast a Spell, a thin vine shoots out from below and slaps her across the face, interrupting the chant and disrupting the Spell.

"Kona. Up shield broom cast." Dawn's command would be confusing to anyone else, but the cat girl dashes over on all fours as fast as she can, rolling under a club swipe, jumping onto Dawn's shield, and launching into the air. She withdraws and mounts her Flying Broom and tries casting again.

After birthing another Puppet, the Tomb Blossom whips vines to the ceiling to pull itself up and fight the aerial menace. It's decision to leave the battle on the ground ended up being a mistake as Dawn and the others bring the Puppets as close to Luxa as they could.

"Sanctuary," Dawn casts and the vines beneath her glow white in a large circle. The sanctifying light helps heal the party within and weakens everything else. This means they're weak to radiant and Kona and Dawn are more than ready to spam Spells and Skills until the room is a smoking crater.

While dodging lunging vines, Kona casts Arcane Blast, an AoE damage Spell that creates an explosion of magical energy. The normally purple light is a blinding white with the Tomb Blossom at the epicenter it shakes and shivers from the blast of its elemental weakness. She follows it up with several bolts of radiant energy, accompanied by exploding arrows from Elsbeth.

On the ground, every swing of her glowing Thunderstuck is charged with a Smite and each impact turns the Puppets into explosions of vine, bone, and viscera.

While watching with feigning interest, Luxa has her guard down long enough for a Stalker to appear behind her, striking twice with Critical Stab and Echo Strike. Her shriek is grating on the ears and can be felt in the chest like heartburn. Black, viscous ooze leaks from the wounds on her back as vines wrap up Rachel like a mummy, squeezing her as they take her away.

Dawn glances at Luxa's HP (3807/4219HP) as she rushes over to help Rachel, giving her weapon a half spin to utilize the bladed side. She slashes at the vines, cutting Rachel free with ease, and tugs away at the wrappings. Two bolts from the air evaporate them and when Rachel becomes visible, Dawn uses a couple Healing Hands since she was in range.

Seeing Dawn struggle with a bound Rachel, Kona takes a moment to fire Arcane Bolts at the vines. Her moment of distraction cost her a flying Puppet to the chest the Tomb Blossom hurled at her. As it tackled her off of her broom, the cadaver tried to bite at her face. With her hands still free in the embrace, Kona signed one Spell after the other.

A purple, spectral hand grabs onto the skulls face, pushing it away. Right after, a purple ghostly figure appears below her with arms outstretched, absorbing most of the impact of her fall and dissapating. Kona receives minimal damage from the ground, but continues to struggle against the Puppet. Two thin blades slice the monster into pieces before it evaporates. Elsbeth's hand helps her back on her feet and back in the fight. After draining most of her MP, Kona draws out her Stellar Ore Staff and Simple Shooting Star Wand. They nod at each other, split up, and continue firing at the Tomb Blossom.

The final remaining Grimvine Puppet lurches over to its mistress and is subsequently absorb by the roots around the Alraune. Her HP jumps back up by 150 points, stopping the bleeding on her back. Her inattentive attitude is replaced by an aura of true hostility.

"You insects dare to sully my perfect form! Kill them, my loves!" As her ire rises, so do dozens more Puppets through the floor of shifting roots. "I desire their heads as trophies! Deliver me this!"

Dawn assesses the emerging situation before giving out orders, "Kona, El, switch with me. Wipe out the Puppets. Rachel, keep on the green lady."

They all move in unison, smiling inwardly at Dawn's inability to pronounce Alraune. Everyone chugs either a Mana or Stamina Potion as they change partners. Radiant explosions and bolts cross paths with speeding arrows and flying weapons. The noise is disorienting and the action seems chaotic, but all four women are in total control and the battle moves along as close to the plan as one can honestly expect.

****************************************

Gorm glowers at his apprentice Cooks. With all of the experimenting with strange ingredients, rare spices and oils that Ardacen gave and Mika extracted, it wasn't strange that Gorm had risen his Cook Class to level 25 in such a short time. In order for him to advance it further, he needed an apprentice to reach 15. And, with so many willing to not only learn, but work and be treated as one would in the military by a Half-Orc Sergeant, it would be no difficult nor drawn out task.

In fact, Dawn and Lieutenant Grandersil, as he would still address her in his head, were the ones to not only suggest, but encourage him to rent a stall, bring some of his apprentices, and sell a pre-fixed menus of some of the Linqs favorites. With lots of food in storage that would never go bad or even cool off, everyone would be fine without them for a while.

Using his "allowance," he was able to rent out a sizeable area zoned for a small, sit down restaurant including a kitchen. There were a total of ten, four top table, tables that could comfortably seat four people, six two tops, and six chairs at the bar/counter. They brought over most of the more unique ingredients, cookware, cooking oils, and spices and purchased basic dining ware, extra cookware, and staples such as vegetables and starches in the local markets.

Having never done anything like this before, he relied heavily on the experience of a Half-Human, Half-Lunar Elf woman named Malica Orswin. She was short for an Elf, but tall for a human, about five foot eleven. Still, Gorm dwarfed her and everyone else, in the kitchen. Although her ears were only half as long as a full-blooded Elf and a bit rounded rather than pointy, her long, pale blue hair tied in a loose bun and her pale blue eyes gave away her despised lineage in the city.

Only by hiding her true identity was she able to manage a food cart that was growing in popularity in Kes Rentas. However, when word of her race finally leaked, her cart was destroyed, she lost a hand, and she had to take her two children into hiding. Malica was able to take refuge with Elsbeth Trusco and Ramona Violetta, before everyone's expulsion from Kes Rentas.

With Pravdara's blessing, Dawn and Rachel returned her hand to her. The safety of her children, older son Heleno and daughter Kori, no longer at the top of her worry list, she was able to return to her home away from home under the tutilage of the gruff and handsome Gorm. Both of their hard core, yet outwardly playful personalities paired very well, and though they worked the kitchen and the rest of the Cooks like tyrants, the trust and loyalty they earned was unbreakable. They were equal parts feared and respected in the kitchen, and they both returned that with empathy and nurture.

So, with their leadership, a library of delectable recipes, and a militaristic team, it took a little over an hour for it to be the trendiest and most popular spot in Kes Solomas in a decade. Even a city full of traveling merchants and peoples of vastly different backgrounds had never seen or imagined such creative foods. Not only that, but the prices were so low for such luxurious items that Gorm and Malica had to raise prices multiple times and enforce a limit to the amount of food customers were allowed to buy at one time since they were starting to save them in storage devices.

Still, with the chaos of the crowd and the noise in the kitchen, one of the servers managed to hear the words "Linqs" and "Higo" from a table in the dining area. Nowhere was Linqs advertised or even said by the kitchen or wait staff, so it raised the suspicions of Gorm and Malica. They sacrificed the use of Elijah, a Saurean former Scout turned Cook who trained as both under Gorm, to tail these individuals and to report to Victoria his findings. A man down on the line, everyone buckled up and focused on their tasks. Sweat began to pour, not because of the work, their Advanced clothes saw to that. No, they were more worried that an underhanded plot was being hatched and Linqs was being targeted once again.