The Journey Of Alanna Ch. 11

Author's note: An extra long chapter this time to make up for the lack of an update during the holidays. Enjoy!

Alanna had a day to rest up and prepare. Sorcerers would use this time to rest and replenish their mana, Druids would commune with nature and prepare their spells for the day, and Fighters would maintain their gear and exercise to keep their body in shape and their reflexes sharp.

Alanna instead brewed up a few concoctions from Solizzar's handbook. She had taken as much of his lab equipment as she could reasonably carry, so as long as she had a fire she could create whatever she needed. Her room at the Adventurer's Guild came with a small fireplace that she managed to get just hot enough for some alchemy. She had a small box seeded with Glowcaps in her backpack as well. Glowcaps didn't need much other than shade and moisture to grow, so while there weren't quite that many in there, she'd be able to make about one extract a week if she got the right ingredients. Luckily she had a few vials of Glowcap sap that she extracted before she left, so she wouldn't have to tap into her colony just yet.

Obviously she prepared three regeneration elixirs. It was slightly overkill considering how slowly these things worked, but she decided running out was not a risk she was willing to take. Birch trees continued to be common throughout the area (Birchhaven did not get its name for no reason after all) so she used a knife to extract some sap from one of the trees as the primary ingredient for those.

In addition, she made a more experimental mixture that Solizzar had dubbed "Alchemist's Fire," which was something Alanna couldn't help but be curious about. This required one vial of glowcap sap and for her to go out into the nearby meadows during sunset to catch some fire beetles. According to Solizzar's instructions, grinding up their carapace and dissolving it in glowcap sap should create a compound that will combust on contact with the air. Having on-demand fire seemed really useful when fighting monsters, though she made extra sure the cork on that flask was kept tightly in place with some twine. She wasn't about to let her backpack catch on fire in the midst of the quest.

She had a relatively simple job: Use her new abilities to guide this adventurer group to a monster. She wasn't even really expected to fight from the sound of it, but there was a tightness in her chest still. She dared not assume this quest was going to be a walk in the park. She wanted to be prepared, and part of her preparation was to act under the assumption that anything could go wrong.

The next morning she arrived early at the proposed meeting spot just outside the Adventurer's Guild. Prutina arrived first, still munching on her breakfast, which consisted of a handful of small carrots. She greeted Alanna politely, but didn't engage in conversation. Khilseith was next to meet them, exactly on time as he agreed. He looked around in annoyance.

"Of course the newbie would be here before the Sorceress," he complained. "If she wasn't such an asset I would have already replaced her."

Minutes ticked by until Melisandre finally arrived from a different part of town, having apparently chosen to stay at an inn that had better amenities than the Guild. She yawned loudly as she arrived.

"Must you be late for every quest?" Khilseith asked with a sigh.

"Oh don't fret so much, that alraune isn't going anywhere," Melisandre replied nonchalantly. "I'm ready to go if everyone else is."

"We are," Khilseith stated, before leading the party out of town at a brisk pace. Alanna found herself backtracking her way up the road north for a few minutes, before Khilseith flipped open a compass and took them further east into the woods. There was an old dirt path here that had clearly not been used in a while.

"According to the client this part of the woods had been sourced for timber a few years ago, and they wanted to source it again this year, only for his laborers to encounter monsters down the road. Keep an eye out," Khilseith stated. He unsheathed his weapon from his back, a long halberd clearly designed to slice open monsters before they could ever touch him.

Khilseith continued to lead without turning around to face anyone, so it seemed like he was addressing the group, but it was pretty clear who he was informing. She felt a slight tug on the sleeve of her shirt to see Prutina looking up at her, still chewing on a bulge in one cheek.

"Clients often mistake what monster they encountered. The Guild had this area scouted out, so we know there's an Alraune here somewhere, but you never know what you may run into. There could be more than just one of the monsters listed, there could be lesser monsters, or there could be a completely different monster," Prutina explained. Alanna smiled and nodded, thankful for the advice.

"What happens if there's a different monster than the contract stated?" she asked.

"The Guild always pays," Khilseith stated, apparently happy to elaborate on this subject, "But if the monster's stronger than what the client advertised we get paid extra, provided we kill it."

It took about an hour of hiking through the woods before they reached the location. While Khilseith had been leading, Prutina was the one that had steered the party through any rough terrain they encountered. Alanna figured that was natural, Prutina was a Druid after all, so this was her specialty, though she was greatly confused by Melisandre. Not only did the Sorceress look greatly out of place, but her boots had such high heels she wondered how Melisandre avoided tripping on every root or branch that was in their way.

"We're here," Khilseith stated suddenly, stopping the group. The trees here were tall and wild-grown, with maples obscuring the sky with their dense canopies and willow branches drooping down to reduce the party's line of sight. It felt crowded, like a busy street, despite no visible movement. "Alanna, you're up. Lead us in."

Alanna nodded, drew her sword and took position at the lead of the group. She drew a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. Now was the time to prove herself. She focused on her hearing, her keen ears picking up the rustling of the wind through the leaves. It was still daylight, so she was sure no one had trouble seeing, but her darkvision meant that nothing would be able to hide from her in the dancing shadows. Her new tremorsense ability allowed her to pick up on vibrations in the ground as well, though it was less useful here in the forest. The vibrant plant life in the area muted any sensations she felt through the damp soil. Her other senses would have to be enough.

There was also a small tingling at the back of her mind. She wasn't quite sure what it meant, but she blamed it on her nerves. She felt like her whole body was on high alert, and that was a good thing.

She began moving forward, stepping slowly through the undergrowth. The group followed behind. She could tell from the sound of their breathing that they were all focused, ready to react to any threat.

She had heard fluttering, and the pitter-patter of little feet on wood. "I hear something," she announced. She looked around the branches above her but saw nothing. Her sword-arm began to shake, phantom pain rushing through her ankle. She could almost imagine goblins preparing an ambush for her, hiding in the trees for them to pass underneath.

The rest of the party became alert at her warning, but after a few moments passed she heard Khilseith sigh. He unceremoniously grabbed her head and tilted it upward towards a big branch with plenty of lichen growing on it, forming a garden suspended above the ground. That's when she saw it: a flicker of glowing wings, and then a couple of tiny creatures pointing and laughing at her.

"They're just damn pixies," Khilseith stated. "No threat at all. Keep moving and focus on anything that may actually be dangerous, new girl."

Alanna did not appreciate his choice of nickname, but he was right. Pixies are a common nuisance in forests, officially monsters but not genuinely dangerous. She pushed down her frustration and continued to lead the party further into the woods, the nagging sensation that something wasn't quite right getting worse as they moved further in.

It happened as they passed between two large maples that bent towards each other. An alarm bell rang in her head. It didn't tell her what was wrong, just that there was danger a few steps ahead.

"Stop, there's something here," she said. Her eyes scanned the forest floor, but she couldn't see anything. Just moss, fallen branches and leaf litter.

"Again?" Melisandre asked impatiently. "I knew we were taking a gamble with you, but you're already the slowest scout I've ever had. Is there actually something here this time?"

She took a small step forward, then another, and the alarm bell increased in intensity. She stomped her right foot twice. Her tremorsense picked up on something. A void, beneath the ground. She picked up a stick and poked into the undergrowth, only for it to go straight through. She lifted up some of the moss and twigs to reveal a hidden hole.

Khilseith walked up suspiciously, using the haft of his halberd to uncover more of the hole. It wasn't just a deep pit, it was full of crude wooden stakes, all pointed upward.

"Pit trap," Khilseith said. "Good catch, new girl. Go around and keep at it."

Past the pit trap the forest became increasingly threatening. The trees here had grown exceptionally tall, true giants of the forest, with branches that stuck and blotted out the sky, casting everything into a perpetual gloom. There were claw marks on the trees as well, as though something had been sharpening them here to mark its territory. There was a merciful lack of undergrowth to block their movement here, save for some green vines that were entwined with the trees, covered in small purple flowers, and there was a scent in the air that became increasingly potent as they moved forward. It smelled like lavender, but sweeter, like honey.

Alanna became aware of a noise. It was like the wind rushing through the branches, the sound of wood bending, but it was persistent and unrelenting. It was so hard to pick apart from the natural forest noise she wasn't sure she even heard anything at all. She stopped the group.

"There's something-"

She could not finish her sentence before she felt someone grab her by the shoulder and push her aside. She barely caught herself from falling, only to see Khilseith swing his halberd in a wide arc, striking two figures that had leapt towards the group from above.

One half of such a figure fell in front of her. It looked sort of like a very twisted gnome made out of wood with its face set in a sinister expression. It growled and reached out for her with its claw-hands, then fell still.

"Wood pygmies!" Khilseith called out. Within moments more of the creatures erupted from the nearby forest, leaping at the group from the branches, or rushing at them across the forest floor. The air was full of hisses and snarls.

The rest of the group jumped into formation immediately. Khilseith took the front, using the long reach of his halberd to full advantage. His swings weren't meant to catch the pygmies, not unless they overstepped and got into range, they were meant to keep the creatures at bay. Meanwhile, Melisandre and Prutina pelted the pygmies with magic as they came into range, Melisandre throwing bolts of fire that burst on impact, searing and shattering the pygmies with every hit, while Prutina threw long javelins that appears to be made of living wood, each one impaling a pygmy before a new one seemed to grow in the palm of her hand, ready for the next throw.

It was a devastatingly powerful combination, and Alanna immediately understood why these three had teamed up. She noticed one pygmy coming up behind the party, rushing towards them, eager to have found a way past the line of fire and rake someone with its claws.

Alanna wasn't sure if the group actually needed her help, but she was determined not to be dead weight. She got up and assumed her fighting stance, sword held ready to strike by her side and feet wide apart. The pygmy stopped briefly, as though assessing its opponent, then darted forward, stopping just out of her reach.

The familiarity hit her instantly. It was the exact strategy the goblin had used against her: stay out of her reach and wait for her to attack so it could slip past her defenses. She swung broadly, as she did before, and as the goblin did the pygmy jumped over her swing, intent on latching on so she couldn't use her weapon.

This time, she was prepared. She reversed her grip and punched upward with the pommel of her blade, striking the pygmy as hard as she could. This robbed it of its momentum and it fell to the ground. Alanna pinned it down with her boot and swung, hard and fast. The creature's head rolled apart from its body.

By the time she turned the stream of pygmies had been reduced to a trickle, only a few stragglers continuing their assault, though there was little point. With most of the horde dead the stragglers served as little more than target practice.

"Wood pygmies enjoy huddling around stronger plant monsters, so we're getting close," Khilseith said to the group, cleaning his blade of sap with a cloth. "Take a breather, then get ready to keep moving."

Prutina looked at the wood pygmy Alanna had managed to catch and gave her a small smile. "You got one, nice work," she said, though this was met with a derisive snort from Melisandre.

"Nice work would have been if she had caught those first two that tried to ambush us," she stated.

"Enough," Khilseith stated. "Keep your complaints to yourself, we're still in danger. New girl, keep leading."

Alanna nodded and was about to return to the front of the group when, like the ringing of an immense gong, her head was filled with the sensation of danger. It was like the pit trap from before, but all around her, and much more pressing, growing worse by the second.

"Something's wrong!" she stated, looking around. The forest looked much the same and she became increasingly panicked that she knew there was a threat but couldn't identify it. "It's like... Like we're in a trap! But it's all around us, and it's getting worse!"

Khilseith gave her a suspicious look, then pointed his finger upward and moved it in a circle. "Form up! Be ready for whatever it is." The group took position around her, everyone alert for whatever this new threat was.

Alanna felt vibrations through the ground, but she couldn't interpret their meaning. It was like the forest was moving around her, but she could clearly see the trees were as still as before.

She heard a feminine voice in the distance, giggling. Then the forest came alive. The vines Alanna had noticed before burst from the ground and the trees, like a swarm of angry serpents.

The group struck back, though before they had been in control. They knew the enemy was coming and from where, their formation had perfectly blocked any avenue of attack. Now the attack was coming from all sides and each member of the group desperately fought back to keep the vines at bay. Melisandre fired bolts into the green tide, severing vines with every shot, while Prutina had switched to using a sickle, glowing with freshly-applied magic, to cleave the vines as they came too close.

Alanna wanted to help, but her short sword was woefully inadequate for this type of work, lacking the reach to effectively keep the vines at bay. She did her best to keep herself ready to cleave any that made it through the party's defenses, but so far the group did a good job not allowing anything to get near.

"Prutina, is this the alraune's work?!" Khilseith asked, struggling with the effort of speaking while relentlessly swinging his halberd.

"This many? While we can't even see her yet? No way this is a lesser alraune!" Prutina said.

There was a delay. Alanna understood the implication, this was something far above the quest's contract had stated. While the party was holding off the vines now, there was no end to the amount of vegetation that was being sent to attack them, while the three adventurers would certainly get tired sooner or later.

"Retreat!" Khilseith called out. As one the group began to move back the way they came. Melisandre began to focus her mana into her outheld staff, speaking a command word. Then a large fireball shot out and exploded in the wave of green vines coming towards them. The rush of hot air briefly forced Alanna's eyes closed, and when she opened them she saw the three adventurers running towards the gap the explosion had created amidst their attackers.

She began to run, but now that the group was in full retreat their defenses had slacked, and a vine had slipped through and wrapped itself around Alanna's leg. She tripped and fell. She swung with her sword, severing the vine, but three more replaced the one she had just cut.

"Wait, help!" she called out. "They got me!"

"Sorry new girl," Khilseith called back, even as he swung to keep more vines from approaching him. "Change of plans, you're on your own. Better luck next time."

"You really should've just stayed on your farm!" Melisandre called back, not bothering to disguise the contempt in her voice.

Prutina said nothing, instead concentrating entirely on getting out of here.

Before the feeling of betrayal even hit her, the tide washed over her and she felt every limb she had constricted by the mass of vines. Everything went dark, the noise of the battle fading into the distance.

There was no pain, just a lurch of motion. She realized she was being carried somewhere, but couldn't see anything, a vine having wrapped itself around her eyes. She began to wonder if this was the end, her career as an adventurer ended prematurely through a combination of bad luck. She tried to pull using her arms and legs, but the grip of the vines was as solid as iron.

"Well well well, what have we here?" she heard that female voice from before say, much closer this time. The vine covering her eyes moved to reveal a sunlit glade, dominated by an enormous purple orchid with a green-skinned woman in its center where a pistil would otherwise be.

She was magnificently beautiful, with a voluptuous body, thick lips and long eye-lashes, almost as though someone sculpted the definition of feminine charm and brought it to life. Her hair consisted of dark green vines covered in small purple flowers just as she had seen before, and Alanna realized those very vines grew in every direction from the base of her flower, spreading like a web across the ground and trees, and realized that the moment they reached the vine-covered grove they were already within the alraune's grasp. That's what had made her Trapfinding go off so strongly, she realized. The alraune's entire territory was one big trap.

The alraune was also entirely naked, and it took Alanna a moment to look away from the alraune's massive J-cup breasts. The air here was painfully sweet, almost dizzyingly so, and it made it hard for Alanna to focus on anything but those distracting mounds.

She instead turned her eyes to the alraune's face and noticed her striking eyes fixated on her, each similar to the inside of a lime cut in half. The alraune giggled, a smile plastered on her face.

"Hey there!" she asked. "Your adventurer friends left you behind, huh?"

The sting of betrayal returned with a vengeance, and Alanna mumbled some expletives through the vine gagging her.

"Oh, right! Let me get that for you," the alraune said and the vine moved out of her mouth.

Alanna wanted to repeat herself, but realized how futile it was to even express her anger at this point. Her ears drooped and she nodded gently. "Yeah... They did."