She pulled the wagon in front of the inn/tavern.

I’m still not sure what to call it.

The towns folk had called the place both things and had also informed them it served as the meeting hall for the headmen.

A man walked out of the attached stables. Thokri waved him over and paid him to take care of the horses. They got off the wagon and went into the ill-defined building.

Inn, definitely an inn.

They found a table and sat down.

“Do you need more salve?” Anna asked. Rose nodded.

“Want me to rub it in again?” Anna asked. Rose nodded enthusiastically. “Just come to my room when we go up for the night,” Anna replied.

“How’s her training coming along?” Voekeer asked. Thokri rubbed his beard for a moment.

“Not too well. The lass had no stamina, and she’s weak as a kitten. Don’t know what they had her doing, but it wasn’t labor, that’s for sure,” Thokri replied.

“I got a pretty good idea what she was doing,” Lyreen said.

“More like who she was doing,” Elaine added. Rose made a rude gesture at them.

“She was a dancer,” Anna said.

“That explains a lot,” Thokri replied.

“I thought a dancer would have great stamina,” Voekeer said.

“Shaking your ass for men is a lot different than running in armor in the hot sun,” Barika replied.

“Fair enough,” Voekeer said.

“I’m more curious about how Anna’s doing with the war shot,” Lyreen said. Anna grinned.

“You’ll see,” she replied.

“I feel bad for the monsters,” Voekeer said.

“You should, lad,” Thokri replied.

They waved a barmaid over, and a young woman rushed over enthusiastically.

She’s really young.

If Anna had to guess, she’d say that this was no woman, but a girl no more than fourteen. She looked at the party with wide eyes for a moment.

“Are you heroes?” she asked. Thokri laughed hard.

“No, lass, we’re just adventurers,” he replied.

“Really!?” she asked excitedly.

“Aye, just here to kill some spiders,” Thokri replied. She inhaled sharply.

“I have to go get my grandpa. He’s been waiting for you!” she said and then rushed off.

“And there she goes,” Elaine said smirking.

The girl returned with an older man a few minutes later. He looked at them for a moment.

“Didn’t expect a bunch of women,” the man said. Elaine looked around the room.

“Yeah, it is kind of a sausage fest in here,” she replied. The man laughed.

“By the gods, it is, isn’t it?” he said.

“We’re planning on heading out tomorrow,” Voekeer said.

“The forest is half a day’s walk, and the nest is another half day away from there. Hope you don’t mind camping surrounded by viscious monsters because the Gloomwood has more than just spiders in it,” the man replied.

“Oh, fun,” Anna said. The man looked at her in confusion until his eyes found her chest.

“I, uh,” he said.

“I get that a lot,” Anna said. He looked up quickly.

“I’ll get you a map. Let me know if you need anything else before you go,” the man said.

“Some ales and food would be nice,” Elaine said.

The young barmaid turned red and rushed off. The man smiled as he watched her go.

“She’s a good girl but kind of excitable,” he said.

“We all were at that age,” Barika replied.

“I’m William, but you can call me Bill, and that was Lynda,” he said.

“Good to meet you, Bill. I’m Voekeer,” Voekeer replied. The rest of the party introduced themselves. Bill took a seat at their table.

“I have to ask, why did you decide to take this contract? Other than for the coin, that is,” Bill asked.

“Spider legs are delicious,” Anna replied. Bill looked at her oddly.

“You’re going to eat them?” he asked.

“Some of them, yes,” Voekeer replied. Bill shook his head.

“Takes all kinds, I guess,” he said.

They talked with Bill until the food showed up, and then they ate. Food was stew, as usual, and the ale was piss water, also as usual.

They went to bed early, wanting to get a good night's sleep before heading into the forest. Rose showed up and Anna put the salve on her before she left, not wanting to spend the night in anyone’s room.

I think she likes being alone.

Rose had been ecstatic when she got to sleep in Anna’s tent the first night they had found her and was shocked when they paid for a separate room for her.

“Maybe she wasn’t alone often before we met her,” Anna said.

They headed out the next morning, paying for the horses to be stabled and someone to watch the wagon for them. Anna put the strong box in her pack, not trusting the townsfolk with that much coin.

“I should make a zombie to leave in the wagon,” Elaine said.

“We’d never get the smell out,” Barika replied. Elaine rubbed her chin and then snapped her fingers.

“I know, what if I stuffed it with flower petals?” she asked.

“I don’t think that would help, lass,” Thokri replied. Elaine shrugged and kept walking.

They reached the forest midday. Anna summoned a few eyes and sent them off ahead. She looked around for a moment before walking into the forest herself. The others followed her, and they made their way to the spider nests.

They headed deeper into Gloomwood. Unlike the empty forest where they had found the caravan, this place teemed with life. There were the normal animals one would find in a forest, deer, rabbits, wolves that kind of thing, but there were also ones with mana cores.

They were similar to the other animals, but the mana had changed them. There was a deer with glowing antlers. It was eating some brush.

That’s a big boy.

It was twice the size of normal deer, and its fur was white, making it stand out in the green forest. She wondered how such a brightly colored creature had made it to adulthood and then realized that it was probably because of the horns.

I bet it shoots lightning or something.

Not wanting to get shot with lightning again, she decided to leave it alone.

The eyes made the animals run away if she got too close with them, so she kept her distance. It wasn’t just the animals that were changed by mana. There were plants that were filled with it. They didn’t exactly have mana cores. It was more like concentrations of it throughout. She stopped when she spotted fire moss. It was sparkling with odd orange mana.

“What is it, child?” Barika asked.

“This plant is filled with mana,” Anna replied. Barika walked over and looked at the fire moss. “Do you think it’s safe to harvest?” Anna asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve never used plants soaked in mana before,” Barika replied. Anna took out her belt knife and started to cut the moss free.

“I’m going to take some, but I think I’ll find some other herbs to test first. I don’t think Lyreen would ever forgive me if I messed up her potion,” Anna said. Barika laughed.

“You’d never hear the end of it from either of them,” she replied.

“I still think their baby would be cute,” Anna said.

“I have no doubt. Shame I’ll never get to see,” Barika replied.

“I’ll get to see their great, great, grandchildren and say goodbye to them one day, too,” Anna said. Barika put her hand on Anna’s shoulder and squeezed for a moment before letting go.

“Come on, we don’t want to be wandering around this place at night,” Anna said. She started to head in the direction of the spider nest, keeping a lookout for a good place to camp for the night. She found a pond fed by a small stream just after sunset. It was clear enough to set up their tents.

“I’ll keep watch,” Anna said. She could hear things rustling around in the brush and spotted a few creatures that didn’t look all that friendly lurking in what they thought were shadows.

“Anyone want fresh meat, or are we just eating rations?” Anna asked. The others looked around.

“Rations will be fine,” Barika replied.

“Rations it is,” Anna said. She started to open her pack to fish hers out. “Are we going to cook it?” she asked.

“No need. These rations are good cold,” Voekeer replied.

Thokri started a fire and watched it closely. She pointed at the fire then at the rations and shrugged.

“The fire helps keep the critters away,” he said. Rose nodded. Anna thought back to the dire wolf and wondered if a simple fire would have kept that beast away.

Guess we’ll never know.

She chewed on some of the dried meat. It was the good stuff she’d bought for the sea monster contract. They would have to start cooking again once it ran out. The stuff from the guild was terrible.

Or I can buy some more good stuff.

She had intended to buy a bunch of it and some chests that kept food fresh when they got back to Oldforge, but that hadn’t worked out. She chewed and looked through her eyes floating around them, looking at the different plants that were next to the camp.

Oh, that one’s pretty!

She spotted a plant covered in big flowers. She floated her eye over to get a better look. The flowers had two petals. There were spikes coming out of the edge of the petals. The center was covered in a thick syrupy substance. Some of the flowers were closed. She wasn’t certain why they didn’t look like new buds.

Those ones are some of the biggest.

She chewed away at her jerky, watching the odd flowers, debating on if she should dig one of the plants up and bring it with her.

I could put that in one of my flower boxes.

A bird flew over and landed on one of the flowers. It poked its beak into a small opening in the center of the flower.

The petals snapped shut. The bird struggled for a moment before going still. A few feathers stuck out the sides of the now shut flower. She stopped chewing.

What the fuck!

“What is it, child?” Barika asked.

“A flower just ate a bird!” Anna replied excitedly.

“Are you sure you saw that?” Elaine asked.

“Yep. It’s over there if you want to see for yourself,” Anna replied.

“I’ve heard of plants that can eat critters before. Some even get big enough to eat folks,” Thokri said. His statement caused the others to look around nervously.

“I’m going to take one,” Anna said, starting up.

“Why?” Lyreen asked.

“I’m going to plant it in my garden,” Anna replied.

She took a small shovel from her pack and walked off towards the strange plant. She made her way to the plants and found a small one.

Can’t take the one that has the bird in its flower.

She dug it up and brought it back to the camp. Her friends were staring at her.

“What?” Anna asked.

“Have you lost your mind?” Lyreen asked.

“No,” Anna replied. She set the plant down and picked through her pack, looking for one of the cloth sacks she brought along.

Adventurers need sacks. That’s what Thokri told me.

She pulled a rough burlap one out and stuffed the roots of the plant, along with a large chunk of dirt, inside, then tied it. After that, she tied the whole thing to the side of her pack. Her friends were still staring when she sat back down.

“Why are you all just staring at me?” Anna asked.

“Why in the world do you want that thing, child?” Barika asked.

“Cause it’s pretty,” Anna replied.

“That is not pretty,” Lyreen said.

“Well, I think it is,” Anna replied.

She took some of her jerky and dropped it on one of the flower’s petals. It snapped shut around it. Her friends just stared at the plant for a moment, and then went back to eating.

The others went to their tents after they finished, and Anna put the fire out once she was sure they were all sleeping. Each of her friends had a lantern to carry with them if they needed to relive themselves at night.

I still don’t know why they get so mad when I send an eye to keep watch for them.

Lyreen had said something about privacy, but she still didn’t get why that was so important.

She put a small chunk of jerky in each of the plant’s flowers, not wanting it to eat her hair as she walked. She also splashed some water on the sack knowing that plants needed to keep their roots wet.

Hope it lasts till we get back to Oldforge.

She floated the eyes around, watching the animals that preferred the nighttime. She idlely wondered what darkness was like for the thousandth time.

The morning came, and they broke camp and ate a cold breakfast as they walked. She spotted huge webs sometime before noon. There were huge bundles stuck inside some of the webs. Using her eyes, she looked through the silk and found animal carcasses wrapped up inside.

“Found the spiders,” she said.

“Where at?” Voekeer asked.

“Over that way. We’ll walk right into them before we see them though,” Anna replied.

“How do you want to do this?” Voekeer asked.

“Kill the fuckers, then burn the webs as we go. Not too much fire. Don’t want it to get out of control,” Thokri replied.

Anna took a deep breath and let it out. It wasn’t really necessary, but it did calm her for some reason. She summoned dozens of eyes and sent them out into the forest. They would spot spiders, and then she would use her tentacles to kill them.

She walked slowly towards the webs. She stopped and pointed at a spot a few feet away.

“There,” she said.

Lyreen lifted her hand. Sparks flowed into her focus and then back out into her body again. A jet of flame shot out of her palm into the area Anna had pointed to. Webs that were unseen by all but Anna’s eldritch eyes burst into flames. Lyreen stopped her spell as soon as they caught. They burned away with a whooshing sound. The eyes spotted a spider trying to scurry away. It had been hiding in the webs.

Waiting for something to walk by.

A tentacle with a spike appeared suddenly and stabbed it through the head. Its legs flared around, not realizing it was dead yet. After it stilled, she tossed it aside and they kept walking.

“So why do they build webs if they stalk around the forest and kill things?” Anna asked.

“They normally just bring things back and store them in the web,” Thokri replied.

“So why was that one hiding?” Anna asked.

“Sleeping,” Thokri replied.

“Wait, spiders sleep?” Anna asked.

“Aye,” Thokri replied.

There was another burst of flame. This time, a spider shot towards them. Lyreen killed it with a force bolt to the face. Unfortunately, part of the spider exploded, showering them in spider gore. Everyone stared at Lyreen.

“Why in the name of the gods did you shoot it at this distance?” Elaine asked.

“It was attacking us!” Lyreen replied.

“It would have gotten Anna!” Elaine said. Lyreen stopped and looked at said eldritch horror who was covered from head to toe in greenish gunk.

“Sorry,” Lyreen said.

Anna licked her lips, made a face, then spit.

“Yuck,” she replied. She shook her head then started to walk farther into the webs.

The eyes found a few spiders creeping around. She stabbed them quickly, not wanting to get covered in the gunk again. Lyreen and the others stayed a few steps behind her as they walked. Lyreen and Elaine took turns burning the webs. Elaine’s fire was far hotter, so it had to be used carefully.

“Have you ever seen fuzzy spiders like this before?” Anna asked.

“Aye, big ones and little ones,” Thokri replied.

“Do you think they’ll taste the same as the cave spiders?” Anna asked.

“They’re close, lass,” Thokri replied.

The spider nest was big, but they managed to clear it by the end of the day. There was a pile dead spiders, dozens of them.

Anna started to pull the legs off, getting them ready to cook. She only took the biggest juiciest looking legs, leaving the rest in a pile. Thokri was cutting the caprice off of the larger ones.

“What are you going to do with those?” Anna asked.

“They make good shields,” he replied.

“But you have one made from dwarven steel already,” Anna said.

“Aye, but I can make one from this that’s nearly as strong and weighs less,” he replied.

“So why don’t more people make shields from spider parts?” Anna asked.

“You have to kill them first, and that’s not as easy as you make it seem,” he replied.

She put the pile of legs she wanted to cook near the fire that Elaine had built.

“Go find somewhere to wash up. You stink!” Elaine said when Anna walked next to her.

“Fine,” Anna replied.

She walked away from camp and sent a few eyes around to look for a stream or lake. While the foresters had a map of the place, it wasn’t very good, so she had no idea where one could be.

She wandered around for an hour before finding a small lake. It was nighttime, so the lake was grey, but she could tell it would be pretty in the daylight.

She walked to the bank and undressed in the moonlight. She set her things on the shore and walked into the lake about waist deep before she started to scrub the gunk off. The water was cool against her skin. She looked down at the still surface and saw her face.

The silvery moon light didn’t let her see any colors, but it was as clear as a fine mirror. She turned and looked over the lake. The moon was reflecting off the surface as well as the stars, making it look like she was standing in the sky.

The water started to ripple for a moment. Something was swimming toward her. A figure burst out of the water right in front of her.

The fucking fuck!

Suddenly, it grabbed her by the hair, then dove under the water, dragging her with it. The thing swam fast. It pulled her far into the lake and started to dive deep into the clear waters. Anna saw two human-like legs kicking next to her. She grabbed one of them and squeezed, not hard enough to break bones, but it would hurt a human or elf.

The thing let her go and started to claw at her arm with its strange webbed hands. Anna grabbed its other leg, then yanked it towards her.

It’s a woman, whatever it is.

She pulled herself between its legs, close enough to grab hold of its hip, and then yanked herself right against its crotch. One hand held its hip, and the other shot to the thing’s neck. She squeezed hard as the thing thrashed around.

I think it breaths water like that sea monster, but it looks like a human or elf, so if I can stop the blood from going into its head, it will pass out anyway.

The woman’s struggles lessened. She went still after a moment. Anna could feel her heartbeat still, so she knew she hadn’t killed her.

She was yanked back by her hair when she let go of the woman’s throat. She squeezed out of reflex and crushed the woman’s hip. She let go and reached back to try and get a grip on whatever had pulled her hair. It let go and darted around to catch the woman who was drifting towards the bottom.

A man?

The man carefully held onto the woman and swam away.

She won’t make it.

The woman had attacked her for some reason, and she was unsure if she should help or just kill them both. She summoned an eye and sent it after the man. He swam to the bottom of the lake and into the thick plants that grew there. He placed her on the bottom and shook her a few times.

She didn’t move, still unconscious. He poked at her shattered hip and then shook her again. A few children swam over and started to poke at the woman.

Must be hers.

Anna was starting to feel a little bad for hurting the woman so badly until she spotted the bones. The eye looked at the pile that sat near their nest. Most of them were fish with a few deer mixed in. She could care less about those. It was the human skull that sat broken mixed in with the others.

It was obvious that it had been cracked open so that they could get the brains. She’d done it herself to animals. That meant that these things were maneaters, and there was only one thing to do with maneaters.

Tentacles wrapped around the family of monsters, and with one quick motion, she crushed the life out of all of them. Their broken bodies floated to the bottom to rest next to their victims. She turned and swam back to the shore.

After washing her dress and cleaning her belt, she put them both back on. She then started to walk back to camp, wanting to tell her friend about her strange encounter.

It took her about twenty minutes to return. The others were cooking the spider legs as well as a pot of something else.

Guess not everyone wants them.

She shrugged. It just meant more for her after all.

“That took a while,” Lyreen said.

“I found a lake, but some monsters attacked me, and I had to kill them,” Anna replied.

“What kind of monsters?” Elaine asked.

“They looked like people with webbed hands and feet,” Anna replied.

“Could be a few things,” Thokri said.

“Well, they’re dead now,” Anna replied.

The others didn’t seem to care all that much, so she dropped it. She went back to her pack to see how her plant was doing.

I wonder how long it takes to eat?

The flowers were still closed. She poured more water on the sack and then walked over to check the food.

A few of the legs were done, so she took one and started to break it apart, pulling out the meat and eating as she went. She passed a chunk to Thokri when he held out his hand.

“Is it everything you hoped for?” Elaine asked.

“Yep,” Anna replied.

The forest spider meat was more tender and juicy than the cave spider meat had been, even after it had been roasted over a fire instead of boiled.

“I wonder if I could keep giant spiders for meat?” she asked herself. Elaine shuddered.

“Only you would even think of that,” she said.

“Can’t, lass. They eat too much,” Thokri said.

“Oh, okay,” Anna replied.

She munched away at the spider meat. Rose sat next to her and held out her hand. Anna ripped a nice chunk out and handed it to her. Rose ate it without hesitation. She chewed it, tilting her head back and forth as she did. She swallowed, and then smiled, giving Anna a thumbs up.

“Want more?” Anna asked. Rose nodded yes, and Anna gave her another chunk.

“I can’t believe you’re eating that,” Lyreen said. Rose shrugged and took another bite.

“I’m sure she’s eaten worse,” Thokri said, his voice grim. Lyreen looked confused for a moment and then shook her head.

Is that because she was a slave?

Anna still wasn’t sure what had happened to Rose, and she really didn't want to find out.

I’m getting tired of learning awful things.

They cleaned up the camp and went to their tents for the night, leaving her alone again. She didn’t really like being alone, but no one else could do what she could, and the others needed sleep, so she dealt with it.

She sat next to her pack and started to sing her song softly, looking up into the night sky.