It was not pretty. In fact, when I finally got to see what the tentacle like vines were attached to I could safely say it was downright fugly.

Twin rows of overlapping petals coloured in the brown and greens of rotting vegetation fanned out around the hole like mouth two feet off the forest floor. Thick viscous fluids looking black in the fading light dribbled out of the hole to coat each petal and dripped down to the forest floor in a steady stream. The horrid stench was coming from the drool or saliva or sap or whatever. The vines, including the ones pulling me ever closer, sprung out of the ground surrounding the mouth.

It looked so out of place, surrounded by all the vibrant greens and browns of the forest, with its mottled green and brown flesh and dark pulsing veins. Although size wise, it fit right in. I could be swallowed whole. Well, almost. I’m a big fucker.

Overclocking to about 50% I got my feet under me and braced. Twin rows of mud were dug up as my heels dragged and I leant back to counterbalance the pulling vines. The light given off from my veins dyed the area in a warm glow as I pushed my overlocking to 60%. I just couldn’t get the right leverage or friction needed to halt my forward momentum and the cannibalistic plant just kept right on reeling me in.

I was close enough that I could see down its throat now. The mottled green and brown faded to a bruised purple further down its throat before being swallowed by darkness. The smell coming from in there was more than enough to make me want to upchuck the chestplate I’d had for breakfast. It smelt like bile and infection and rotting meat.

I stopped overclocking, best to save my energy.

The tentacles lifted me off the ground, keeping me upright through sheer luck. There were now so many of them squirming all over me I was feeling a tad violated. I doubted the digestive juices of the...whatever it was, could truly hurt me, but I wasn’t willing to go diving down its gullet head first to prove myself right.

I considered my options quickly as the green peace enforcer moved me slowly towards its mouth. I could thrash around like mad, hope I got all the vines surrounding me, and then dig through the ground until I found the things main body and start with the beating. I could let it swallow me and then just burrow down through its body until it died or I got digested. I could yell for help, get found in an embarrassing situation, and never live it down.

Not the greatest of options. I wasn’t willing to go with the last because...well, It would be embarrassing if I kicked werewolf and arachnid ass only to be found struggling with a pot plant. The second option, while doable, wasn’t great because I did not want to smell like the inside of that thing. So looks like I was going with the first option.

I was just about to flood myself with energy when there was a hiss so loud and sudden that I got a shock and looked up in time to see a brown blur fall from the branches above and dive bomb the cluster of vines surrounding me.

Tima, god bless her scaly ass, slashed with those long wicked talons of hers, severing the vines with ease. She hit the ground with a solid thump, throwing up leaves and dust. Still hissing like a demon and with her long serpentine tail lashing the air behind her she skipped back and forth from vine to vine her forelegs a blur.

I sagged in the air as the tentacles around me loosened now that they were separated from their body. Each long limb sliding off me to fall to the forest floor.

“Yeah! Go Tima! Scratch that plant! Bite th-oh crap!” The last tentacle was severed and I feel the short distance to the ground, my knees buckling slightly on landing.

Tima gave one last hiss to the monster plant before turning around and coming to stand behind me, her tail and head encircling my body protectively. The venus fly traps great grand father's petals rose off the ground, each large petal seemed to flutter in the breeze, fresh mucus dropping from the edges in long viscous strands.

“You know, I really think It wants to eat me.” I said conversationally to Time. She just flicked her tongue out, her eyes slitted with anger.

With Tima here a new plan started to form. If she could keep the vines off me long enough to approach the main body, maybe I could do some damage, especially now that it was pulling itself free from the soil. Mud rained down around the plant as it pushed through the dark soil, vines thicker than I had seen so far twined around each other to form octopus like legs that braced against the ground and heaved. A bell shaped underbelly was releaved, coated in mud.

Tima and I both leant back so we could watch the stupid thing grow.

On second thought, maybe Tima and I should just leave. It only tried to eat me. I can understand the urge to break of a little piece of Haha...Alexander...I am tasty afterall. I opened my mouth to tell Tima just that when a whooping battle cry filled the forest.

Nel rushed towards us, her dark hair and cloak streaming behind her as she jumped over a bush, her spider legs flashing out when she hit the ground to launch her through the air again. Her hands fumbled around inside the satchel at her waist as she sped past the giant lizard and I.

I overlocked, preparing to race after her and dive head first into that things mouth if I had to when I saw her pull a cloth pouch from her satchel and pull at the string holding it closed. With one fluid motion she stopped, all her legs bracing to stop her forward momentum, and she twisted slightly, lobbing the pouch through the air.

Overlocking as I was everything moved in slow motion. I saw the pouch open as it twisted through the air, a fine black powder spilling from it in a fine cloud. I saw Nel open her mouth and shout “NOW!” even as a vine came lashing towards her from the side.

Rima entered my field of vision as he twisted through the air high above us. A torch was held in his hands, the flames dragging out behind him as he turned upside down. His body twisting around more vines that snaked through the air towards him.

I flared more power and pushed off. Dirty exploded behind me and Tima hissed as the force made her fall sideways. I rocketed through the air as the cloud of black dust fell into the gaping maw of the plant and Rima threw his torch down its throat.

I intercepted the vine before it could take Nel’s head off. My body smacked into it hard enough that the appendage just exploded and I went right on flying. The ground was soft though and I bounced and rolled for a good ten feet, twigs and rocks poking into me. Using the momentum from the roll I twisted back onto my feet and turned back towards the very hungry vegetable only to pause in confusion.

“Uhh..what the fuck?” I asked.

The plant was frozen. Literally. Its rotten looking flesh now had a sheen of fine ice covering it and gentle wisps of vapour wafted through the air. I gazed around at the dozens of vines still sticking out of the soil and shook my head in wonder. Each had the same frosted look.

Rima slid down the trunk of the tree and rushed over to Nel who stood in front of the main body of the plant, her hands on her hips. Tima slunk over and curled up around them. I made my way over, feeling one of the vines as I stepped around it. It even felt cold.

“This is wrong.” I heard Nel mutter as I drew close.

“But it looks so right.” I said, stopping next to her and dusting myself off. She turned and her look of concern melted for a moment as she reached out to touch my arm.

“Thank you for stopping the root.”

“Root? I thought it was like a vine or something. You actually know what this is? Is it common around here?” I started looking around just in case more green tentacles sprung from the bushes.

“If I’m right it’s a Grove messenger, and those are indeed roots though they may seem like vines. The whole plant travels underground and the dozens of roots pull it through the soil with ease.”

“Sister, I have seen a Grove messenger and this is not one.” Rima scoffed.

“What makes you say that?” I looked around Nel at him but it was the woman herself that answered.

“The size.” She stepped forward and ran her hand along the bottom curve of the frozen creatures bell like body. Its mouth still towered above us. “A normal Grove messenger is no bigger than your palm. The dryads take a seed and sing to it in the old tongue, their words wrapping power and life around the little pod until it grows big enough to burrow. They then whisper into her mouth and the petals close and the newly born messenger digs its way down deep using its roots and travels to wherever it is meant to. Once they have reached their destination the petals unfurl and the words echo back out.”

“A very effective way of communication.” Rima grunted as he folded his arms across his chest. “Hard to intercept.”

I’d say.

“Do they normally have those black veins?” I pointed to one of the tree trunk like mass of vines. The black veins, now a dark frosted blue, were still clearly visible, though once the sun set completely in a few more minutes they wouldn’t be.

“I have no clue what those are,” Nel said, her voice shaking a little with worry. “But I fear for the Grove. The Dryads are a private, secluded race, but they are peaceful and have never been enemies of the Brood. If this messenger was meant to reach us but succumbed to some dark infection I can only imagine it originated in the Grove.”

“Or is was created by the Dryads and they sent it to attack the Brood.” Rima growled. His hand falling to the pommel of his sword. I wondered where his spear was.

“I doubt it,” I said, adding my two cents. “Or they would be more. You guys handled this one pretty easily...I had it all under control by the way.”

Nel gave me a look that said she wasn’t buying what I was selling and grinned when I winked at her. Rima bowed his head and said with so much sincerity I thought he might have been joking.

“Forgive our intrusion Champion, we were only hoping to be of some assistance. If we had known it was an official challenge I would have insisted we allow you to test your prowers of combat against this abomination, and I would have been the first to raise a tankard of ale at your inevitable victory.”

“Kiss-ass” Nel coughed into her hand. I just rolled my eyes.

“Talking about assistance, what did you do to it? What was that powder?”

“Saza calls it Mimic Powder,” Nel shrugged selconciously at the name before explaining quickly. “She says it’s a compound that tries to take on the property of an added stimulant. When Rimatrastorama threw his torch into its throat the powder tried to mimic a fire and pulled heat from the only place it could.”

“The plant!” I said, catching on. I was impressed. Saza would get on well with Sandy.

“Yes. The plant. Saza is the only one who knows how to make it and only ever has a small batch. What you just saw was all I had.”

“So, what do we do with it?” Rima asked. Tima hissed from behind us.

“Smash it.” I said. They all turned to look at me. “What! Don’t tell me I'm the only one thats thinking it?”

“You are indeed wise.” Rima said, bowing his head.

“You have a very one track mind don’t you Alexander?” Nel smiled fondly when she said it though so I didn’t take offence. Okay, I took a little offence, no one likes being called simple.

Tima gave a hiss and stuck her head in the air. Back to acting like she didn’t like me. Sassy old girl.

In the end we went with my suggestion and smashed the fucking thing. I thought it was going to be fun, like in the funny holovids where you punch something frozen and it just shatters. Turns out ice is hard and the sheer size of the thing made it a long exhausting process.

By the end of it my power levels were dangerously low, Rima was panting like an old Earth steam engine and Nel was looking gorgeously disheveled. The sun had set some time ago and Nel had used a tinderbox from her satchel to light another torch made from a nearby branch and some weird jelly like substance she had scooped out of a jar. The Jelly burnt slow and bright.

The bits and pieces of the mutated messenger were starting to thaw and the horrid smell was back. I pressed the back of my arm against my nose to try and filter it out but it still made my eyes water. Rima wasn’t faring much better and Tima had disappeared.

Tip toeing through the semi-frozen mush Nel made her way to all that remained of the main body. A chunk of the bottom that now looked like a giant bowl. She peered over the edge, one hand pinching her nose shut while the other reached inside. She pulled out a little green gem, about the size of a pea, and held it up for us to see.

“The original seed.” She told us.

Prize in hand and carnivorous plant defeated we made a hasty retreat back to camp. I was not the one leading of course. Turns out I hadn’t actually gone that far, that's how they had gotten to me so quickly.

Tima was already waiting when we broke through the last bush and walked into the small clearing. Her large body was curled up around our packs and she barely raised her head. I gave her head a quick stroke of thanks for her help earlier and she hummed deep in her throat before she remembered that she didn’t like me and turned away.

Nel got the fire going while Rima showed off his catch. Surprise, surprise, it was the giant cricket thing that had jumped on my face. I even think it was the same one.

Needless to say, I found a great deal of satisfaction in eating it. It tasted a little like processed soy-chicken...but juicier. Rima had pierced it with a stick and held it over the fire until its green shell had turned a soft brown colour. Cracking it open was a bit of a chore but other than that...yum yum.

“Should we head back and tell the Brood?” Rima asked as he gnawed on a leg. Juices smeared his face and covered his chin.

Nel considered it as she picked daintily at her food, the shelled abdomen balanced on her knees like a plate as we all sat around the fire. I, having a fear of fire, sat a little further back but I don’t think they noticed.

“The Grove is not that far from the Pack. We could check on them once we are finished with Blackpelt.” She looked at Rima and I, expecting an argument, but we just nodded along. It didn’t make much difference to me. I was eager to go human hunting but a day either way didn’t make much difference. “I doubt the messenger was meant as an attack on the Brood, it was never meant for battle afterall.”

“Could have fooled me. Those vines..sorry, roots...were annoying to deal with.” I said, picking at a bit of meat stuck in my back molar.

“The messenger used it to catch bugs and worms and other small lifeforms when not travelling. I I imagine its dietary intake once it became so large changed to larger mammals and you were just unlucky enough to become a replacement.”

“Great. I’ve been relegated to be an Earthworm replacement...though I guess it’s an Aerisworm here.”

“And that was the last mistake it ever made Champion.” Rima said, holding up a fist and shaking it.

“Thanks buddy.” I said. It was nice of him to say, considering I hadn’t done anything in the brief fight.

Nel rolled her eyes at our weird bonding moment and continued. “Even if it were not, the Brood is more than capable of defending itself without us. I’m sure Zavanrosiphra can handle any threat they may face.”

Rima nodded vigorously at the mention of his mentor.

“You’re thinking Saza would want more information don’t you?” I asked Nel.

She nodded, a dark lock of hair bouncing at the movement and her red eyes flashed in the firelight as she leant forward.

“Something strange is going on. First the Forgotten and now this. Saza will want all the information we can gather and it makes more sense for us to gather it all now rather than make trips back and forth to the Brood whenever something comes up.”

‘Works for me. Rima?”

“My sister is wise and I will follow your lead Champion.”

“Alright. I’ll take first watch, then Nel, then Rima?”

Getting nods all around we finished our meal in companionable silence and the two Denvii curled up in their hammocks to get some rest. Tima remained curled around the fire for warmth, snoring softly.

Feeling strangely at peace for someone who was almost eaten by a plant a few hours ago I settled down with my back to the fire and powered up my vision and hearing augments. The forest around me brightened and new sounds drifted around me.

-

Our second day of travel started a lot more sober than our first. We broke camp early, the first weak rays of sunlight barely making it through the thick tree cover, and set off at a steady pace. Each lost in their own thoughts.

I shook off my morose mood the quickest and worked at the other two. Rima was easiest. I just had to mention how impressed I was with his quick actions in the fight and he just about glowed under the praise. Tima’s scales ruffled as I heaped praise on her also. The same strategy didn’t work on Nel though but I found what did.

I just had to point at something and say “Wow! What’s that?” and off she went from there.

I think by the time we bedded down for the night I knew more about the local flora and fauna than Rima who showed absolutely no interest in our conversation. He did stop to mention that throwing a rock was not the best way to hunt an Akripa (the cricket thing.) “Break shell and spoil meat.” was his reason.

None of us were particularly interested in hunting fresh game that night and instead had a simple meal of some seedy bread roll (Actual seed. I don’t mean that the bread roll looked seedy) and dried meat that Nel had packed for us.

True to Nels estimate, on the early morning of the third day we reached the border dividing the territory between the Brood and the Pack. The trees just stopped. That was the border.

One second I’m walking along, hopping over Tima’s tail as she kept trying to trip me, surrounded by the skyscraper sized trees and the next second I was blinded by sunlight.

I hadn’t realised how truly gloomy it was inside the forest until I was out and under direct sunlight. A gentle breeze tickled my skin and I squinted out over a sea of rolling green grass that led to a river far off in the distance. Sunlight bounced of the waters surface in crystal like sparks. Trees, normal sized and more bushy than any I had seen so far, dotted the field.

“The Pack’s lair is across the river.” Nel said, an arm raised to cover her eyes.

After a quick break so the other two could rest and drink some water we set off again. The grass came up to my waist and I ran my palm along the pointy tips, smiling as they tickled and ran along underneath my touch.

“Don’t really have grass back home.” I muttered to Nel as she looked at me quizickly.

It was a lovely day and I spent as much time looking up at the blue sky watching the clouds float past as I did admiring the carpet of grass. The long stalks were pressed aside as Tima slithered through it and I laughed at her unintentional imitation of a shark in deep water.

The day turned hot as the sun settled overhead and Rima removed his shirt. I was not impressed. When Nel removed her cloak and loosened the straps of her top around her neck so the neckline dipped low I nearly swallowed my tongue.

More than once I found my eyes tracking a bead of sweat as it ran down her neck and over the upper swell of her full breasts. Her darkly tanned skin glowed in the sunlight and her eyes sparkled mischievously when she caught me looking.

The river once we reached it was a slow moving affair. It was roughly fifty feet from bank to bank. I was impressed with the crystal clear clarity of the water; a far cry from the dirty grey liquid of Earth. I could see the multicolored river stones and the occasional bright flash as the sun reflected off fish scales as they swam by. Tima eyes the water suspiciously from the bank, her eyes slitted against the reflected glare.

With a whoop of joy Rima ran and jumped off the bank. His body seemed to float in a beautiful curving arc through the air as he twisted about and dived head first into the water.

“Rima!” Nel called out before letting out a sigh of relief as her brothers head broke the surface and he wiped water out of his eyes. Then his shoulder emerged and then his stomach, until he was standing up to his waist.

“Champion,” he called out, rubbing his head. “The water is shallow around these parts and are suitable for you to cross.”

“That had to hurt.” I muttered to Nel, not taking my eyes off her brother.

“Luckily he has always had a hard head.” She muttered back and I laughed.

Sliding down the river bank she pushed aside the reeds the ran along the edge and ended up in water up to her navel, the slowly running current sent little waves against the bottom curve of her breasts and she hissed, her arms raising out of the water. I could see her flesh goosepimple.

“Cold. Cold. Cold!”

I could tell. Her nipples, hardened into twin nubs from the cold, pressed against the fabric of her top and I tried not to stare to openly. Theres' a difference between appreciating and creeping.

Tima let out another hiss and started to back away slowly and I just about followed her. The temperature wasn’t my problem. The water was. Let’s just say I’m not a big fan of drowning.

“Alexander! Tima! Come on.” Nel called over her shoulder as she started to wade across.

One day a pretty woman was going to tell me to jump in lava and my stupid hormones were going to kill me. I guess I should be happy I still had them though. Thank you Sanderson!