Benedict sprinted, blade drawn and ready. Bark groaned as the evil Ent shifted and twisted. Vines came toward them, whipping around attempting to catch him. He whipped his sword around himself in the strongest slash he could manage, catching a vine almost perfectly. It felt almost like Benedict had tried slicing into a rock. The vine whipped away, throwing him into the air.

  Shiyo buried her blade deep into another vine, then again. On the second slash, it whipped away, with the end hanging limp from the damage she had done. Unlike all other monsters Benedict had encountered, the tree beast didn’t scream. It showed its rage by bringing the damaged appendage down, missing Shiyo by inches.

  Roots emerged from the water and slammed down. Waves crashed over the ground. Benedict buried his blade to keep steady as fetid water washed over him. A root came for him. He slid to the side and struck it, and his blade bounced off like it was made of iron. It swiped to the side, and he grabbed onto it.

  Shiyo ducked under the root and slashed upward. Black fire-like shadows reached around it, peeling the outer skin away. Benedict launched himself off as Shiyo struck a second time, severing it. A brief glance showed blood on her arms, flowing into her sword.

  Benedict landed on his feet and stared at the monster. Celica thrashed about the vine as hard as she could, but it refused to release her leg and continued holding her out of reach.

  “I haven’t encountered one of these before,” Shiyo growled.

  “Celica must have some magic in her staff,” Benedict said.

  “And where is it?”

  Benedict cursed under his breath. “I don’t know.”

  “Look out!” Celica screamed.

  A pair of vines darted for them. Benedict dodged one way, Shiyo the other. The ground exploded as the vines ripped themselves free and came again.

  “I can do that, too, big guy,” Benedict said as he drew his grapple.

  It grabbed onto a thick part of a vine, and Benedict pulled himself up, out of range of the flailing roots. Vines came for him again, and he couldn’t move. He released the claw and fell, bounding off the tree monster’s trunk and landing right next to a root. The root rose above him and flexed.

  Shiyo darted in and struck. Shadows swirled, and the root pulled away, newly stripped of multiple outer layers of its bark. It came down again, right on top of Benedict. The Viper’s Curse crawled to the tip of his blade. The root slammed into the ground where he had just been, and he thrust into the soft inner skin Shiyo had revealed. There, the monster was much softer and he buried his blade half deep before jerking it out.

  Shadows came down again as Shiyo sliced deep into the root at its new weak point again and again. Her attacks came so furiously that it broke away, sap flying like blood out of the new wound. The tree stumbled, but gained its footing back in moments.

  Benedict looked over to Shiyo. Her forearms had turned crimson from the blood running down them. She panted hard, and her skin had grown paler. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

  “Stop, please,” he said. “This does no good if you die to this.” He motioned to the obvious signs of her curse.

  “Suggestions, then?” Shiyo asked.

  “I’m cutting Celica free. You find her weapon.”

  Vines came down. Shiyo jumped away. Benedict dashed into them, bounding off one, then another. The vine around Celica hung from a single branch. He launched the grapple. Through the assault, he flew, slicing and stabbing at any vine that came near. One knocked him away. He kept hold of the trigger, put his sword away, and drew the cross. Lines and runes on its surface glowed as he reared back.

  Celica struggled to free herself from the vine. When she came close, it would throw her around again. Benedict aimed his throw just above her. He had never been good at any throwing sports, so hopefully the magic would make up for it. Still flying upward, he threw as hard as he could.

  In midair, maybe two yards from him, the cross glowed and sprouted blades. His aim—or the spell guiding the tool—was good enough. Spinning like a saw, it slammed into the vine, then wrenched itself free and flew back. The blade hadn’t gone all the way through, but it was enough. Snap. Celica fell, screaming, into the swampy water.

  Benedict landed against the side of the tree, the tension of the grapple holding him in place. Right next to him, he spotted the monster’s eyes, barely larger than his fists. They glared at him, and he at them. Out of desperation more than any semblance of strategy, he drew his sword and stabbed into the nearer eye.

  If the monster could have screamed then, it would have. Instead, it thrashed and jerked. Benedict accidentally hit the release button. He hit the ground hard, losing all his breath on impact. A root loomed above him. His body refused to respond to any request for movement.

  A bright flash came above him, and the tree monster stumbled backward. Another flash, this one clearly lightning, struck it hard in the trunk. The wood split and shattered, leaving a gaping hole. Shiyo sprinted past, holding a stone in her hand. She jumped to the hole and shoved the stone into it, then sprinted away. Another explosion of magic ripped the trunk open.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Celica appeared above Benedict and shoved a healing potion in his mouth. “Please be alive!”

  Benedict gulped the liquid down and coughed. “I’m okay. It’s just a few bruises. I think.”

  Disregarding the awful taste of the healing potion, it worked fast. His energy steadily came back, and he managed to rise to a sitting position.

  “More importantly,” he said, rubbing his head, “are you unhurt?”

  “A little shaken, but healthy,” Celica replied.

  Shiyo offered a helping hand to Benedict. “You need some harder hitting powers.”

  Benedict let Shiyo help him up and stretched. They would have to move quickly, but where? While he was deciding, Celica grabbed his hand and Shiyo’s.

  “I’m so sorry!” she said, staring at the ground. “I couldn’t do anything! You both almost died, and still you rescued me. All those other adventurers were right. I’m not cut out for this. Please, let me go back home. I’ll not bother you again.”

  With as much care as he could manage, Benedict placed his free hand on Celica’s shoulder. “You’re our ally, even if just temporarily. We save each other. That’s the idea. Shiyo saved me several times in that fight.”

  “Four,” Shiyo said.

  “We don’t keep count because we’re a party. We help each other, and that includes you right now. If you never want to go on another adventure again, fine. Finish this one out. You’ll regret it forever if you don’t.”

  “I’ll be on the lookout for the big monsters,” Shiyo said. She even let herself smile a little. “You be our magic support. Can you do that?”

  Celica wiped tears from her eyes and nodded. “Sure!”

  “That being said, where should we go now?” Benedict asked.

  Shiyo pointed down a long trail of land. “I have a hunch about that direction.”

  “Then let us go. Celica?”

  Celica grabbed her staff. “Yes!”

  Deeper into the swamp, dry land became sparse, turning into more a series of dirt clouds that took a toll on the party’s feet. Frogs croaked nearby as they passed—Benedict worried they were more monsters, but they were indeed just frogs—in unison with the caws of local ravens. All the while, an unnatural mist curled about their feet.

  Celica kept quiet. Her tears had dried, leaving her face a little paler, but her expression had turned harder and more determined. She murmured something under her breath, and the index finger of one hand danced like she was writing a spell. Practice, Benedict assumed, for the next monster they might encounter.

  A bend in the path brought them over a log. Benedict went first, stepping carefully to the other side. When his feet touched ground again, the stench hit—sour and clinging, with the unmistakable note of rot. Shiyo and Celica found it when they caught up, as well.

  Celica covered her nose and mouth as she gagged. “What happened here to make it so much worse?”

  Shiyo immediately looked about. “That’s the smell of death. Where is its source?”

  In a mass of reeds, Benedict spotted something. Closer inspection revealed a body, its clothes shredded and its flesh stripped away by the local wildlife. Closer examination revealed a missing leg. Benedict reached out with the tip of his sword and tilted its face toward him. Its neck snapped under the strain, and the head fell. Behind him, Celica gagged.

  “Over here, a coffer,” Shiyo shouted.

  From the coffer, Shiyo drew two small parchments. One of them was a letter, the other a map, partially filled in.

  Shiyo read the letter. “If anyone finds this, please take this coffer and all its belongings back to my sister, Lyse, in Lorvath. Tell her that I’m sorry I couldn’t get her what she needed. At least the Sisters can still help her.”

  “The Sisters?” Benedict asked.

  “A group of older women who volunteer to look after the sick and injured,” Shiyo whispered. “They’re famous all over Phynel.”

  “Well, the least we can do is take this with us back to Lorvath. Lyse will want to know what happened to her brother.”

  “Benedict! Shiyo!” Celica shouted. “Look at the body!”

  The reeds rustled, and the skeleton stood. Its head was back on its neck, with a small, black thing holding it in place. It opened its mouth like it was trying to shout, then moved forward. As it still had a missing leg, it immediately fell over and continued crawling forward. Celica yelped and backed away.

  Shiyo walked toward it, let it grab her leg, then jabbed her sword into its skull. Bones cracked and creaked, and something inside screamed and squelched. When Shiyo pulled her sword out, black goo covered it.

  “Parasites,” she spat while cleaning the blade. “They take over corpses in places like this. The head is the safest place for them, so that’s what you aim for.”

  “I think we found something more disgusting than slimes,” Celica groaned.

  “Then if we see any, we should kill them before they can get a corpse,” Benedict said.

  The map was of the swamp for sure. Though lacking detail, Benedict could tell where the adventurer had marked the various islands, along with their rough shapes, on the western side of the swamp. He also marked in bright red ink several areas with the word “No”. Those would be where the treasure wasn’t, he presumed. A quick check of their bearings told Benedict they had been going west the whole time, right into the map’s already explored area. South on the map showed nothing. This man at least hadn’t explored there yet.

  Benedict looked back at Celica. If she wasn’t present, he could probably make short work of the search by using Morighana’s power. Could he still do it without arousing suspicion?

  “Shiyo, would you mind taking a break with Celica here?” Benedict asked. “I’ll scout a bit ahead. Don’t worry, I won’t engage any monsters.”

  “Are you sure?” Shiyo asked.

  “I am.”

  “Just be careful.”

  “Thank you,” Celica said.

  Using the small area that the map showed, Benedict navigated through the swamp to the south until he stepped beyond their mapmaker’s range. He looked around, then back. Shiyo and Celica had disappeared in the distance, beyond the thick trees. That should be far enough.

  Morighana’s power built up in Benedict’s veins, and the world came into perfect clarity for hundreds of yards around him. His focus first was on anything monstrous in the area. Another tree monster lay nearby, quiet for the moment. Slimes hid under the water. He’d have to keep Celica away from there. Reptile-like creatures crept through the reeds. No undead were around.

  Further away, he spotted a boat, run upon the ground and broken in half. Monsters lay in that direction, of course. He drew what he could of the land on the map, also marking the monster locations. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it would do.

  Benedict crept back to Shiyo and Celica. By the time he reached them, Morighana’s power had calmed. The girls stood together, chatting about something Benedict didn’t hear.

  “I’m back,” he said.

  “You’re safe,” Celica said.

  “I told you I would be.”

  Shiyo stared hard at him. “So? What’s ahead?”

  Benedict cleared his throat. “I saw something in the distance that looked out of place. That might be where our treasure is, but there are quite a few monsters around. I marked out approximate locations on the map.”

  “Good. Let’s go then. Ready, Celica?”

  Celica spun her staff and set it on her shoulder. “Yes!”

  Together, they walked a meandering, slow path toward the boat. Benedict kept his head on a swivel. Without Morighana’s power, all he had to know where the monsters hid were his marks on the map. Maybe they would stay put.