by Shawn Wyatt
So should could show concern, I thought.
Bastion began to cast spell after spell on the giant. Sloziar closed his eyes. His entire body went rigid and he began to shiver as the darkness redoubled its efforts to claim him, but Bastion’s spells loosened its effects. Creatures moved at the edge of the clearing, but a few arrows and bullets from Evey and I, along with Sloziar’s reputation, kept them away.
“Ren, this better work. My mana is almost out.”
“It will work,” I said. “Just keep casting.”
Bastion burned through the last of his mana. When he could cast no more spells, Sloziar opened his eyes and nodded. I drew Gaia’s Stem from my belt and tapped the ground at the giant’s feet with it.
Trees and vines sprouted from the ground and lifted Sloziar into the air. The vines bound him and held him fast as golden light swirled around the giant and sucked the darkness away from him. The light grew brighter until I had to hold an arm in front of my face. When the light faded, the vines retreated, and Sloziar landed on his feet.
The giant stretched his arms and cracked his neck, then gave all of us a smile. “Thank you, little humans. The corruption is gone. And you, little magician. It’s good to see you again.” He addressed this last sentence to Wish.
She gave him a smile-—the first one I had seen on her face since we met—-and nodded. “Maybe you three aren’t so bad,” she said.
Wish looked at Sloziar when she said this, but it was clearly meant for Bastion, Evey, and I.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: AGARIC
"I will not stay within these borders!" Sloziar roared, his voice so loud the roots under our feet vibrated. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. This was not going well.
Sloziar had scooped our party up and carried us back to Nyfed in a fraction of the time it had taken us to reach him. The giant's long legs bounded through the forest with ease, and he thought it an appropriate way to repay us for our assistance. Once we had arrived at Nyfed, things went south.
After a warm welcome from Althea and Glenndiril, the Elders had insisted Sloziar stay within the borders until the threat had been eliminated. The giant did not agree with them.
The scent of strong ale reached my nostrils, and I opened my eyes. Bell pushed a flagon of ale into my hands. "Take it," he said. "This could go on for some time."
"This has happened before?"
He gave a rueful smile. "As you can see, Sloziar does not like anything to impede on his freedom."
I sipped the liquid and relished the aromatic flavor. "How did you even get ale here? I assumed Nyfed would only have herbal teas to drink."
Bell laughed. "We may serve nature, but remember that even the strongest liquor is derived from exposure to the elements."
The Sylvan had a point. I enjoyed the ale and tried to ignore the thunder of Sloziar's voice. A group of sprites had gathered to watch the commotion, but even their normally-curious selves hid behind a tree and peeked around its trunk, rather than draw any undue attention their way.
Althea had far more patience than I did. "Sloziar, please. We do not know how profound the effect of the corruption is. It did not take you completely, but previous exposure might make you more susceptible than you would otherwise be. I know how you feel about your freedom, but we could not bear to lose you."
"The corruption won't touch me again. I won't let it get close enough."
"Did it not come upon you while you slept before?"
Sloziar paused mid-sentence. "I don't understand where you're going with this."
Althea smiled. "Nowhere, except to say you can rest easy within our walls with the knowledge it cannot reach you here."
I heard Bell whisper beside me. "Bravo, Althea."
The giant's shoulders slumped. "Fine. I'll stay here for the time being. But don't expect me to sit idle and contemplate the trees."
"I am sure we can find much work for you to do while you are here. It is not often we can call upon the strength of a giant."
Her words seemed to placate Sloziar, and he settled down. Just in time, too--I had drained most of my ale. Althea turned her attention to us. "Ren, we have you to thank. I understand you chose not to attack, but rather to lend him your strength?"
I shook my head. "No, no. I just realized he could fight it off with a little help. Bastion's the one that drained all his mana healing Sloziar. Credit goes to him."
"And credit will be given. But it was your judgment call that spared our friend, and for that, we thank you. And give you a much-deserved reward. The healing magic did more than give Sloziar strength, yes? It also fought off the darkness."
"It seemed to weaken the darkness, but I don't know if I would say it actually harmed it."
"Weakening it is more than sufficient. Here, take these."
Althea waved her hand, and four branches of aloe vera appeared in the air in front of her. The items drifted through the space between us and floated there until I grabbed one. The others fell. Bastion and Evey scrambled to catch theirs. The item text appeared hovered above it.
Aloe Stem
Crafting Ingredient
When attached to an item, this stem lends each attack a slight healing factor.
I looked at it in confusion. Why would I want to heal with an attack? Then it struck me: if healing weakened the darkness, attacks that healed with each strike would essentially increase the damage inflicted on Withered creatures. On the flip side, it would lessen the amount of damage inflicted by each attack on normal creatures.
"I see you understand," Althea said.
I nodded. "I'll keep it in reserve for now, though. We fight just as many un-Withered creatures, so this would slow our progress."
"Perhaps, but bear the item in mind for your next foe. Our scouts have tracked his location down, and his power grows ever greater as the corruption grips him. Here, come forth." Althea beckoned to a Sylvan that stood at the edge of the dais. The man strode forward, his tree-like legs swift over the ground.
He gave us a slight bow. "Adventurers. You will find your target to the west. The rest of the scouting party has engaged him and harries him with light attacks until you arrive, but I'm afraid time is not in your favor. Agaric, your foe, is a massive toadstool. This creature has long been an enemy of Nyfed. He shares no concern for the environment and is more concerned with the propagation of his children throughout the forest than the survival of the ecosystem. While we abided his actions until now, the corruption has given us cause to take more immediate action."
Bastion held up a hand. "I'm sorry. Did you say toadstool?"
The scout nodded. "Yes, but a toadstool ten feet high and at least half that around. Agaric is fond of spreading his poison spores across an area, so beware if he begins to shiver."
"Right." Bastion shook his head. "I don't know why anything in this world surprises me anymore."
"Are there any other attacks or abilities we should know about?" I asked. I didn't want to go into this fight blind.
"None of any particular note," the scout replied.
"And in this case, you do want us to slay him?"
Althea nodded. "We hold life sacred, but in this case, more life is at risk if Agaric continues to live. Slay him. It will not solve the problems between our culture and his, but his death will buy us a few years of peace until Agaric returns. His death will not be the end. He will simply regrow with time, so you need not concern yourself with guilt."
"Okay," I said. "Consider it done."
A quest prompt appeared.
Quest Progression: Break the Darkness
New Quest: Mashing the Mushroom
Slay Agaric the Toadstool and bring his reign of terror to an end. In doing so, you further weaken the strength of the Waldgeist and take one step closer to finishing your quest.
I accepted the quest and watched as it vanished from view. Now time to move. "How far from Nyfed is Agaric?"
"Not far," the scout said. "Several hours' journey if you know the paths. I wi
ll guide you."
Sloziar growled. "I hate that toadstool," he said. He turned to Althea. "Are you sure I can't lend my assistance?"
"No, you may not. You must remain here and allow us to heal whatever effects still linger from the corruption."
He crossed his arms and looked for like a disgruntled, thirty-foot toddler. "Fine. Good luck, little humans," he said.
"Thanks. We'll report back when the job is done."
With that, the scout led our group to the opposite edge of Nyfed, to a gate we had not seen before. The path shifted from solid ground to massive lily pads that floated just on the surface of a lake. This watery pathway carried us to the edge of Nyfed. The darkness of the forest could be seen through the barrier, an opaque background to the brilliant shimmer that had come to mark safety.
Sprites played in the water, their translucent wings throwing drops of water in all directions. Fish floated just under the surface and snacked on any insects unfortunate enough to land there. One bug-eyed fish broke the surface and snatched a water beetle into his mouth, but vanished just as quickly when he caught sight of our group.
"Poor little beetle," Wish said. "I thought life was sacred here?"
"It is, but so is the natural order of things. Life begins and life ends. We don't seek to interfere with that process, only to preserve it." The scout shrugged. "It's a difficult concept for many younger ones to understand, but now that fish will have the strength to lay many eggs and have many babies."
"And what if the beetle had babies?" Wish asked.
"No one ever said the natural order of things was fair," the scout replied.
The lily pad pathway ended and we reached the border of Nyfed. Beyond a gateway made of trees lay the forest. Two more scouts nodded their greetings to our guide as we approached. "Safe travels, and good luck."
"And with you," our scout responded. We stepped through the barrier and once more, the warmth of Nyfed faded into the damp gloom of the forest. "Agaric's location is near another pond farther into the forest. It should take us no more than two hours to reach it, and less than that if we hurry." He looked to the sky and squinted. "It might be in our best interest to move with haste."
Tension radiated from the scout. Though he said nothing, I suspected he worried for his comrades. "How clear is the path there?"
"It isn't too difficult," the scout said. "The trees in this part of the forest are spaced farther apart than in the areas you've been so far."
I grinned. "Then I know a way to move faster. Evey?"
She nodded and whistled. Boris bounded forward, slid to a stop, and dropped to his knees. "All aboard," Evey said.
Boris could sit three people comfortably. Unfortunately, this meant two people had to hang on where they could. The task fell to Wish and the scout.
Wish sat astride Boris' neck. He had no opposition, as she scratched behind his ears and won his favor faster than anyone else could have. The scout sat just behind Boris' front legs, and used his longer legs to hold fast as the bear ran.
In spite of the added riders and extra weight, Boris only complained a little--something Wish quieted with more scratches behind the ear. I heard Evey sigh and mutter under her breath. "Between this girl and the sprites, my bear is going to be spoiled. He'll be completely useless."
Bastion tried to suppress his laughter, but the shaking of his shoulders betrayed him. "I think he already is. I caught him nosing around for more honey earlier."
Another sigh from Evey. "Great."
Boris loped across the forest floor. Before long, the scout turned to Evey. "How do you get him to slow down? We are almost there."
Evey asked Boris to stop, and the sudden halt in motion almost flung us all from his back--every except Wish, who hugged Boris tight around the neck.
"Unconventional, but effective," the scout said. He rubbed his neck with a wince. The sound of battle stole any quip we might have made. "Hurry, this way." The scout bounded through the trees, with us close on his heels.
The trees provided little cover in this area of the forest, and a fallen log marked the area Agaric had chosen to call home. Multiple fungi sprouted along the length of the downed giant. Every minute or so, these would break free and charge the scout's position with a high-pitched battlecry.
The scout winced once more. "Try to avoid the screams of the little ones," he said. "They can disorient you. We've lost too many scouts to friendly fire in past battles because of the pests."
The other scouts spotted us, and one broke away from their force and ran across the battlefield. "You're the adventurers?"
I nodded.
"Good," the scout said. "We need all the help we can get. Agaric is distracted, so focus your attention on him. We will take down as many of the little ones as we can." Behind him, two scouts dragged an injured man from the battlefield to a point behind the trees. The newcomer watched them go. "That's the fifth man that has gone down."
Bastion started to move in that direction. "I'll be right here if you guys need me," he said. "But I'm going to heal them."
"Got it." Bastion had settled in well to the role of a healer. The man that charged across the battlefield to save strangers was not the same rage-filled player I had met just a week before.
I turned to face Evey and Wish. "You two ready for this?" They nodded. Another high-pitched shriek pierced the air. "Let's go. He doesn't sound happy."
Agaric crashed through the trees, his huge form almost comical in size. An angry red mushroom capped the creature's pale white body, and each time he moved spores scattered through the air around him. Evey nocked an arrow and let it fly, but it seemed to have little effect on the creature given the other arrows that sprouted from its body. Agaric looked like a grass-fed, organic pincushion.
"Hold on," Wish said. "Let me try something." She pulled out the same stone she had used on the Hamadryad and held it at arms length, one hand clasped over the other, and began the same strange incantation she had before. Her brows furrowed as she focused. The stone began to glow with a ghostly hue as mana flowed from her body into the rock.
When she opened her eyes, they were completely black for a split second as she threw the stone at Agaric. The Hamadryad burst out of the stone and sank its fangs into the toadstool with a hiss. The toadstool, in return, shrieked with fury. The dozens of smaller toadstools around the battlefield all turned and charged the Hamadryad, but the great serpent flicked them away with a lash of its tail.
Evey and I looked to each other and nodded. She nocked another arrow, and I loaded a Desert Bullet caster shell into both pistols. While Wish had the beast distracted, we could tear away its HP.
Evey fired arrow after arrow, each one following the last with such speed that I couldn't distinguish different shots. I had not seen her use that ability before; it must have been a new one she gained after the fight with Sloziar. I took aim and squeezed both triggers. The recoil caused the pistols to jerk upwards, but the bullets flew true.
The Hamadryad ducked away as the wreaths of flames enveloped the toadstool and burned his spores in midair. The monster once again screeched as its HP dropped from the attacks, and the Hamadryad redoubled its attacks.
The smaller toadstools had noticed us. Though the scouts dispatched many with arrows, more continued to spawn throughout the fight. They went down after only a single hit, but it made it difficult to focus on Agaric when his minions charged us at any given opportunity. Evey and Wish stood close together, and Boris knocked away any toadstools that drew too close to them.
I had no such protection. Half of my shots flew toward Agaric, while the other half went toward making sure I didn't gain a new mushroom hat on top of my head. I made a mental note to thank Bell once again for the pistol; Serpent's Fang fired smoothly and quickly, and I found my shots missed far less with it compared to the other pistol.
A wave of heat washed over me from behind. I pivoted, but Bastion stood behind me with a grin, sword in hand. A dead toadstool lay at his feet. "
I've got your back," he said. "I'll begin throwing healing spells at Agaric. You keep shooting."
"Thanks," I said. I loaded one Freezing Shot shell and one Desert Bullet shell, and kept a Lightning Shot shell between my fingers. I had an idea. "How did the healing go?"
"They're stable," Bastion said. Mana flowed into his hands and caused his fingertips to glow with a golden light. "But the healing spells don't work as well on NPCs. It was just like before."
I fired the Freezing Shot shell. It hit Agaric and froze a part of his cap, and the Desert Bullet followed suite, dousing the creature with ice melt. I loaded the Lightning Shot into Serpent's Fang and holstered my other pistol. I needed this shot to hit. "Got that spell ready?"
Bastion nodded. "Yeah." He flicked his hands toward Agaric, and the golden light covered the distance between us and the monster. The dark mist that danced around his body shrank away from the light, and I fired. Blue-white electricity arced from my gun and slammed into the toadstool, centered on the moist part of its body. The creature shrieked loudly with pain, and it's HP dropped to 25%.
Evey paused her bombardment and flashed me a thumbs up. "Good thinking," she said.
"Don't pat yourself on the back just yet," Wish said. "Look."
The forest had grown silent for a moment--and then Agaric rent the air with a scream that staggered us all. The scouts covered their ears with their hands and dropped to their knees. Boris roared back at the toadstool, enraged by the audial assault. Agaric's body writhed in place, and then tendrils burst forth from the ground. Any of the small toadstools that remained were immediately consumed by the attack, and Agaric's HP began to rise.
"He's healing himself," Bastion said. "He's healing himself by absorbing his own offspring. Now I see why the Elder Seers didn't like this thing."
I loaded another bullet with shaking hands. "He won't be a problem for much longer." The sound continued, a palpable wave of force, and my vision blurred when I looked directly at the monster. "We have to kill him fast."
