They stopped at the edge of the lake, hesitating for good reason. Rory was still wet all over from their last trip across it. Besides that, there was the sense of danger lurking under its surface, the possibility that the creature’s summons was no more than a lure to get them into the water again. A potential trap.

“You think they’d mind if I burned away the water?” Dez asked.

“That’ll probably take us too long,” Rory said, trying not to sigh. “But I think I have an idea.”

After asking the others to step back, Rory raised his staff high. The metal skull atop it started glowing with its habitual eerie blue radiance. He activated his Sigil of Frozen Lightning, then aimed several icy blasts at the surface of the lake. Soon enough, he had encased a wide area with ice, stretching from one bank to the other with a sheet of sturdy-looking white.

“Be careful,” Rory cautioned. “Try not to press down too hard or the ice might break. Also, keep an eye out for any guests that might pay us a visit from below.”

“Is this Frozen Lightning?” Dez asked.

Rory smiled, echoing the grin on Dez’s face. “Yes, it is. Anyone coming up might have a nasty surprise in store.”

They decided to forge onwards. Rory had made sure the icy covering was deep enough to bear their weights together, but he hadn’t constructed it perfectly. The whole sheet itself sank a little when all of them got aboard, water splashing in from the sides to cover their feet. It was also treacherous and slippery. Rory had to catch himself from losing his footing multiple times.

Thankfully, they got to the other side of the lake without much mishap. Rory sighed in relief when his feet fell on solid earth instead of shifting ice for a change.

As the others joined him, he looked around and noticed something he hadn’t before. This wasn’t the other bank of the lake, so to speak. What he had thought was the lake curving away like a river was more like the water surrounding an island in the middle of the lake.

“I don’t see it anywhere,” Evelyn said, probably trying to see where their quarry had disappeared to.

“Must be within the trees,” Dez said. “Let’s keep our guards up.”

They headed onwards, still wary and careful. All of them had their Sigils’ images glowing on the backs of their hands, ready to be used at a moment’s notice. A part of Rory was paranoid enough to ask them to burn the little woods on the island down. Then there would be no danger at all. But it was better not to antagonize their latest acquaintance if they could help it.

The creature wasn’t far off. There was a large clearing up ahead between the trees, golden grass nearly as tall as Lucy gently waving around in the soft breeze.

Rory frowned. His Sigil of Knowledge hadn’t provided him much when he had first seen the creature, and he had hoped that would change once they were close enough. But it still wasn’t giving him anything beyond that first bit of info.

The monster before them was the leader of the Wilders and the hybrid creatures here. According to the Sigil of Knowledge, it was some sort of progenitor to them all. All that talk about what sort of creature led to what simply made Rory more curious to know how they were directly related. Well, at least his Sigil of Knowledge had revealed that the monster before them was the source of the strange seeds they had seen.

“I’m grateful this wasn’t a trap,” Rory said once he was close enough to be heard. “Yet.”

The creature showed no physical reaction to his statement. “As am I.”

“First things first. I’m Rory.” He went on to introduce the others briefly. It felt strange trying to act so civil after all the fighting they had done, and might be required to do some more, but there was something weirdly calming about the monster before them. “Who are you?”

“I am known as the Woodlander.”

“That… doesn’t tell us much, beyond your name. Because I’m guessing you know a lot about us already, don’t you, Woodlander?”

“That is true.” The Woodlander paused, seemingly wondering. “I am a creature born here not long ago. The world was violent and rupturing, and I wished to take no part in it.” Its branches twisted slowly like hands indicating the area around Rory. “All you see before you are a part of that rupture. I decided to make it my home and live here for the time being.”

“Born how, exactly?” Evelyn asked. “And why have your people infected those survivors with your plants?”

“We have done no infecting. Not on purpose. One of the… precautions I took was to establish an aura that would prevent other creatures from invading my territories. An aura of threat, and when ventured deeper, an aura that delivered on that promise of threat.”

Evelyn’s eyes widened. “You’re saying that you have this poison floating around in the air? That means we have it too!”

“Correct. You are likely infected with it as well. As such—”

“We aren’t,” Rory said quickly before everyone started panicking too much. “We didn’t feel the aura affecting us because I’ve got protection against it through my stats, which I can extend over to the others. It’s really a mental poison, rather than a physical one, isn’t it?”

“You make bold distinctions between the body and the mind. But that is the way of your kind. You are correct. The plague is of the mind, not the body. It afflicts your spirit, not your constitution.”

The others stared at Rory. He gave them a brief explanation about his Fortitude stat, and how his Leadership stat spread the beneficial effect to everyone in the party.

“So if the survivors back there aren’t infected with anything physically,” Rory said. “There’s no need to force them to take your seeds, is there?”

The Woodlander creaked as it bent forward a little, its crown of branches curling towards Rory’s group as well. He could tell he had garnered its avid interest by rejecting its poisonous aura. “Ah, but one should not sustain a poisoned mind for long. As you have yourself mentioned, the madness can be debilitating.”

“Release them into our custody,” Evelyn said. “We’ll take them from here and ensure they don’t come back. Works out well for everyone, doesn’t it?”

“One would think so, but these creatures didn’t simply wander in of their own volition. They were driven here. On purpose.”

“They were probably looking for a safe place to stay where they wouldn’t be hunted down by monsters. It’s not their fault they wandered into a place like this.”

“Not even if they came in at the behest of monsters?”

Rory paused. What the Woodlander was suggesting didn’t make sense. These had to be people looking to survive the apocalypse any way they could, a group of Hillhard residents who thought they could shelter in the park. There was no way they could have come over at the request of some monster trying to kill them.

“I’ve seen many such people since this apocalypse began,” Rory said. “None of them have ever intended me or any people I care about true harm.” He paused. “Well, not the ones who’ve been trying to survive here, at least.”

“Do you have any proof?” Evelyn asked.

In response, the Woodlander turned around and strode farther back. Rory and the others had been about to follow, but they were stopped when the ground started shaking. His momentary alarm was cut short when it stopped all of a sudden, a root bursting free and rising up through the grass.

“What in the…”

Dez lost his voice as they all saw what the root held in a viny grip. There was a patch of what looked like a grisly combination of bone, black fur, and meat, all stale and dried. But the strangest thing was that it was burning.

It was burning black, little blue glints shining here and there.

“Dez…” Lucy stared at the fire, then at the big guy behind her. “That’s your fire.”

Rory looked up at the returning Woodlander. “Did you obtain that from the people you… captured?”

The knot that served as the Woodlander’s face seemed to tighten up a bit. “Correct. They were searched thoroughly to see if they brought anything untoward other than themselves. This was found in one of their… pockets. We have safeguarded it since, remaining vigilant in case it heralded further complications.”

“Do you know what it is?” Evelyn asked.

Rory thought he did, and he got his confirmation when the Woodlander answered before long.

“It is a piece of what your kind refer to as the Djinn,” the creature said. “It seems they had a plan to infiltrate my home.”

Evelyn frowned at the burning mess of meat and other disgusting bits. “With that?”

“It was growing upon one of your kind we captured. There is no doubt that it was the infancy of some foul creature, perhaps a familiar or one of the Djinn themselves. Given time, it would have grown into a true menace. Fortunately for all involved, it was found and subjugated in time.”

“But what do the Djinn want with you?” Dez asked.

“I cannot say. Perhaps they are envious of the domain I control. Perhaps their malice makes them act in that manner without reason. All I care for is the protection of my home, and as such, I will do what must be done to ensure it.”

A part of Rory understood that. ­­­He was also determined to do whatever it took to make sure that the palace came to no harm. That they could continue to stay in it without trouble, without needing to worry about monsters infringing upon their right to live a safe, happy life. He could sympathize with the Woodlander’s goal.

But then, what happened when their goals collided against each other? For his part, Rory doubted he’d ever be able to forcibly convert any monsters to his side, though the former neophytes were a strange consideration in that angle. After all, he hadn’t really asked their permission if they’d wanted to stay with him as people, or if they would have preferred to remain as monsters.

“What exactly is it that you intend to do?” Rory asked eventually. “How is forcing the people to become your subjects going to help anything?”

“I require those who will have the capability to carry out my will in the beyond.”

“The beyond?”

“I think it means outside its dungeon,” Evelyn said.

Rory grunted. “Minions for your nefarious deeds, huh?”

The Woodlander chose to ignore that. “Are you satisfied with my intentions now? Recognize my generosity and leave us in peace or condemn yourselves to certain doom.”

“We’re not satisfied.” Dez stepped up, fist raised once more with dark fire wreathed around them. “We came her to rescue the people you want to infect with your seeds. We can’t allow that.”

The Woodlander rose to its full height, all of its branchlike hair standing on their ends. Its posture screamed out threat. “Even after all my explanation, even after my generosity, you insist on carrying out your harmful intentions?”

The monster had tried to be civil. Rory decided that he ought to at least try to meet it with the same level of effort.

“We aren’t going to be swayed from what he came here for,” he said. “However, we don’t have to achieve it with violence. I think we can work something out so that we both benefit from the arrangement.”

“Another deal?” Evelyn muttered.

Rory didn’t answer her. He stepped forward, keeping his eyes on the knot at the top of the Woodlander’s trunk. “You only need the humans as expendable subjects who can take care of things outside, something you can’t do. Forget about them. Let us do it, instead. In return, we’re going to take the humans with us, and they won’t be under your control at all.”

“And am I supposed to trust you because you require me to do so?”

“We’ll leave something here as insurance for your faith in us.”

“We will?” Lucy asked.

Rory smiled. “We will. Dez, I need a Sigil of Chthonic Inferno from you.”

Dez frowned, but he agreed and held out his hand. Rory’s Weaving granted him the Sigil he was looking for. Afterwards, he threw out a bolt of Frozen Lightning and used his Weaving on the patch of ice it threw up.

He looked around. “Anyone got any spare electronics or anything?”

Lucy stepped forward, looking both a little curious and somewhat afraid of the Woodlander. “Will this work?”

She gave Rory her old mobile phone. Of course, it didn’t work. It must have gone out thanks to the EMP.

“Perfect, Rory said.

He used his Weaving on the phone to get a Sigil of Activation. It was all he needed. He arranged the Sigils of Frozen Lightning, Activation, and Chthonic Inferno. When the white lines faded away, he was left with a Sigil showing the image of ice set on dark fire.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Abyssal Frostshock. Monsters of the abyss, beware. This will trap the creatures carrying dark infernal powers with absolute certainty.

[Teal II] allows creation of minor 8-meter Abyssal Frostshock traps.

Stats

Type: Element

Rarity: Exceptional

Tier: Teal II [0%]

Efficiency: High [74%]

Rory showed the new Sigil to the Woodlander. “We’re going to use this to set traps around your territory. This will stop any Djinn or their kind specifically, without harming any other creatures.”

“I am to trust you?”

Rory set the Sigil to the ground and uses his Warding to insert it there. He indicated Dez to use his fire there, who took several steps back then fired a ball of blazing dark flames. As soon as the fireball struck the spot Rory had Warded the Sigil of Abyssal Frostshock, ice burst out of the ground, lightning sparking all over the rapidly growing crystals.

The response was sudden was enough to take them all by surprise. Lucy jerked back, Evelyn flinching. Rory had to stifle himself from jumping as well.

The Woodlander hadn’t reacted much, however. Maybe it didn’t possess those kinds of responses. It stared at the trap for a while, then at Rory for a long time. “What strange powers you possess.”

“So, do we have a deal?”

“As you wish, then. You may take your brethren. But recall always that I will expect progress. Do not force me to act.”

There was a strong threat there, but it didn’t diminish Rory’s smile. He had struck another bargain and rescued the ones who hadn’t been seeded yet. It wasn’t ideal, considering the state of the boy and his pet, but it was better than nothing. Rory would take it and run.