Eudora shoved a potion into my mouth and collected the substance leaking from the alraune. Particularly the sticky secretions from the tips of the tentacles.

I sucked up the potion and spat the bottle away.

"If that's what you were going to collect, did you really need me here?" I sighed. My strength slowly returned as the potion took effect. With the alraune unconscious, I was able to pry myself off her body.

"I'm not the one with a dryad's boon, am I? Your presence alone heightens every bit of the alraune to its peak quality," Eudora said.

No part of me was melting. That was a good sign. It could be the alraune was producing a different kind of liquid, but cape sundews were known to secrete digestive liquid. The only pain I felt was my ass and pussy, though that was normal considering the railing I'd been given.

Eudora waved a hand in my direction. My body was enveloped with a layer of warm water, lifting all the secretion and gunk off me. She pulls the water away and drains it into a jar at the corner of the room. I whistled to my robes which slipped right back on.

"Does the alraune really have what you need to help Abstinence?" I asked.

"No, but it will buy us time until I find a permanent solution. Goodness. The problems just keep stacking," she groaned, then began to create a new alchemy cauldron since the alraune was occupying the previous one. Eudora seemed different than usual. Not like her usual cocky self. She noticed me staring and asked, "What? Has my youthful body caught your attention?"

"We've been taking orders ever since we broke bread, but it feels like we'd become your lap dogs instead." I thought back to the very first meeting. She 'gifted' a minotaur that almost killed me. Then saved me after I naively swallowed the soul stone of pride. But later threatened both me and Mira until she had a change of heart. Her actions have been— to say the least— inconsistent.

Eudora threw her head back, laughing. Not her taunting, shrill cackling. This one sounded lighthearted.

"I needn't remind you we share a common enemy, and she threatens all life— Edith Percouli? Or did the first letter of the first name, 'E' confuse you?" she joked.

"How do we know for sure you won't replace her after she falls? We know, at least suspect, what Edith wants to achieve. What's your endgame?" I asked, but Eudora didn't answer right away. She was focused on creating a new alchemy cauldron. I became an afterthought. 

The new cauldron bubbled to life. She stared into it as though searching for something that had dropped in. Worried, I was about to check up on her but she suddenly started speaking.

"For years we are kept caged in a glorified jail cell they call an academy. Then we graduate, and are sold to the highest bidding monarch who has us leashed like dogs. All the while being told to fuck and screw whoever we'd like as if that's supposed to keep us placated." Eudora cupped her hands into the alchemical waters and drank deep. Her whole body glowed, radiated with magical energies. The signatures inside her lit up like beacons— I sensed six in total.

"Is this supposed to precede some profound speech you're about to give? You're getting close, but without the seventh soul that body will continue to decay. Just like the last," I warned.

Though, she knew that more than anyway.

"Tell me, Ellori Farrowghast. How happy were you to live those fleeting, private moments with Miracella? To craft alchemical concoctions few could ever hope to taste? Free to explore the unknown, unfettered by prying eyes?" she asked, almost like she watched every step I took when I came to the Weeping Expanse.

"Of course, I was incredibly happy. I'm still happy. Mira and I are going to be mothers!" I exclaimed to Eudora. I didn't know why I did. It felt like she deserved to know, so I said it.

Eudora turned her head just enough that I saw her crack a smile. Maybe she intended for me to see it.

"My endgame is this world. I shall say nothing more, nothing less. Go on, out with you. The girl must remain here and kept in stasis; tell Parabelle she may visit, if she likes." She flicked her wrist, causing a burst of wind to push me towards the door.

As I reached for the doorknob, another question gnawed at my head. It never made sense to me how she had become this way. Where did it start? At High Saquin? During the trial? 

"You must have known. When you were given the order to destroy High Saquin, you must have known something was wrong. Why did you go through with it?" I asked.

Eudora didn't turn around to answer, "It doesn't matter now, does it?"

Left with the cryptic final answer, I departed from Eudora's tower and back to Ellowyn. The village was still an eyesore from a distance, a cluster of large forest trees raised in the middle of Parthun's smaller eucalyptus and pine. Hundreds of saplings had sprouted since I last came by, likely due to Cammy's presence. Given enough time, this land would become indistinguishable from the Weeping Expanse.

Long term consequences due to changes in the biome, but it might be for the better. Parthun thrived on lumber export, the many mills across the kingdom had now gone unused as a result of the recent invasion by Juna and Piety knights. People would soon go back to work, but what nation would buy from a nation now ruled by witches?

When I returned to Ellowyn, I decided to pay Cammy a visit. She was supervising a group of kobold and orc farmers loading half a dozen wagons full of harvests. Carrots, potatoes, cabbages, fruits, anything that had been grown here was loaded on.

"Cammy!" I shouted.

"Oh, Mama! I saw Mira come back and wondered where you were." My dryad daughter flew into my arms and snuggled into my chest.

No matter how much like Flora she looked now, the time we shared didn't change that Cammy was her own being— my daughter. And eventually, I would have another child.

"Eudora needed a hand. In retrospect, I should have said no. What's going on here?" I asked, shifting my attention to the wagons loaded with food.

"We're getting ready to deliver food into Lotherain. We heard from Alira that the city had been running low. With all the fire that had been set to farms across the countryside and being cut off from imports, many in Parthun are starving," she answered.

I stroked the thick roots of hair on her head. Cammy gasped and leaned into my touch, she flashed a goofy smile, like the one she used to give me as a child.

"When did you become so grown up?" I asked, returning the smile.

"The wagons have been loaded to capacity!" an orc ran up to inform Cammy.

"Good. Let's not wait any longer," she said. In spite of her determination, the worried expression on her face told a different story. I suspected what the problem might be, and figured it best to tag along.

"I'll go with you," I said.

Cammy and I sat at the front of the six wagons. Four orcs to a vehicle pulled us into the city. The city guards let us through, but it wasn't until we got inside did the trouble begin.

"Get out of here!"

"You're not wanted in this city!"

"Monsters!"

The streets emptied in a matter of seconds. People hid in their homes and between alleyways. The vocal ones booed and threw rotten fruits at us, but I had our caravan surrounded by a thin barrier of ice to keep from being pelted.

"Does this always happen?" I asked Cammy.

She nodded. "Everytime. They may not appreciate us, but I still want to help. All we have to do is drop the wagons off in the city square and leave."

A mob of people came out with pitchforks, hammers, butcher knives, brandishing it in our direction. Unlike the citizenry, most of the city guards who had become acquainted with witches, and recognized the hand we offered during the siege, came to our defense in the square.  It helped that they saw me as an ally after I avenged the death of their guard-captain Jerome.

"Lady Ellori, it might not be safe here any longer. It might be best if you leave," one of the guards warned.

My magic faltered for a moment, and an apple struck Cammy on the head.

"Damn it… aren't they ashamed?" I bit down on my lip and strengthened the barrier.

Cammy put a hand over mine and lowered my staff.

"I can feel their fear and desperation. Many of them lost their homes and came here seeking refuge. It isn't their fault," she said.

"You grew up a lot kinder than I could have taught you," I teased her.

As we were about to leave, a tiny voice cut through the crowd of hecklers. A young boy and girl pushed past the wall of people.

"Ellori!" the girl shouted, but she tripped and fell to the ground.

"Wait!" I ordered the guards who had begun moving towards the exit.

Someone in the crowd threw a cluster of rocks. I rushed to the children's defenses and erected a barrier in time before they were hit. As the rocks clattered to the ground, silence befell the city. All at once, the jeering and hurling of spoiled food stopped when they realized they almost hurt their own.

Hot anger bubbled within me. I wanted to lash out, scold them, but I felt Cammy speak to me through our shared bond telling me that it was fine.

A man and woman I recognized emerged from the crowd and fell to their knees clutching the children.

"You're Eaton, aren't you? Then these kids are…?"

"When they saw you, they took off running. My wife and I couldn't stop them," he said, embarrassed.

"I just wanted to say hi… I didn't mean to trouble you," the girl said, her eyes cast to the ground.

Cammy put a clenched hand under the girl's view, and then opened her palm to a flower. The girl took the flower and offered a smile, another goofy one only someone as young as her could give.

"What do you say, Yesenia?" Eaton ushered her daughter to face Cammy.

"Th-Thank you!" Yesenia said, clutching the flower to her chest.

I leaned in to whisper to Cammy, "Isn't there something else you're here to offer?"

"Uhm… If you'd like, we brought food for the city. You're welcome to take as many as you like!" Cammy stuttered over herself from being put on the spot.

It seemed to be all it took. Eaton and his family were the first people to take from the wagons. The orcs helped bring the barrels and crates down, and cracked them open to take from. Slowly, but surely, others came forward asking for food.

I saw people who had become pathetic enough to listen to their stomachs instead of their fear. Yet Cammy wanted to help them. Even now she was handing out baskets of food to people who were harassing her moments ago.

And with a delightful grin on her face.

I knew then what Eudora meant. What I wanted to preserve and protect. The sacrifices and lengths I must go in order to do so.

Eudora. I wondered what it was that you lost?