Elowen was up bright and early. He watched the sky change color through the woven vines that made up the roof. It hadn’t rained during their stay so far, but he wondered what Willow would do when it came to that.

  Would he tighten the weave? Would he add a layer of dirt on top to make it waterproof? He could also grow a layered pattern of leaves on the vines of the roof to make a thatched pattern. Then again, he could probably use Water Magic to create a waterproof dome around the entire complex.

  He was lost in thought about various ways a Great Tree like Willow could deal with various weather conditions, though he was snapped back to reality when Silvan started to stir next to him.

  The couple went through their morning ritual that consisted of changing, brushing each other’s hair, lighting a monster-repelling candle, and enjoying each other’s company for a few secluded minutes. When they were done, it would be time to grab some food from the dining area and go out for their little walk. They had a lot to talk about.

  Once they were both finished eating, they headed out of a different door than the one they initially entered a few weeks ago and prepared for a stroll. Silvan didn’t wait long before diving straight into the crux of the matter.

  “We need to get Willow out of here. I just can’t figure out the best way to get him to go along with it. Unfortunately, with the amount of mana he has, I highly doubt we can force the matter. The longer we wait to act, though, the more mana water he’ll have stored and the harder it will be to force him to come with us. I also don’t think he likes us. I think our forced initial connection may have left a sour taste in his mouth. He does seem to be opening up a little, but between his control over the Mental Magic he wields and the sheer magnitude of his mind, I can’t get a good read on him.”

  Elowen stayed silent as Silvan listed ways to try and convince Willow to move to the grove under their protection. The truth of the matter was, though, Elowen didn’t think that Willow needed anyone’s protection. From what he heard of the fight with the giant, Willow was just as capable as some of the elder Great Trees of the grove. When he paired his level of resource regeneration and resource gathering, Willow should be perfectly safe out here.

  “Do we need to move him?” Elowen finally asked, much to Silvan’s surprise. She narrowed her eyes at him and demanded he explain.

  “Willow has survived incredible odds out here by himself, all while maintaining an impressive level of situational awareness. He constantly seeks to improve himself; he has the ability to protect not only himself but others; and he even set up a sanctuary for travelers to use as they wish. Granted, we’re the only ones to have used it so far thanks to a well-placed bribe, but he still has shown great hospitality to us despite our rather rough start.”

  Silvan couldn’t rebut any of that, but she was still insistent that they continue making an effort to bring him with them.

  “He’s still a Great Tree, Elowen! We need to bring him back with us! If we don’t, and the humans or dwarves were to get their hands on him, who knows what kind of environment they would put him in?!”

  Elowen shook his head. She wasn’t seeing the point he was making.

  “I’m not saying we give up on him right away. We still have plenty of time to convince him the old-fashioned way to come with us. All I am saying is that if after we lay out all of the arguments we have to Willow and he were to still reject the move, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to just leave him be. We could set up a regularly scheduled checkup on him, make sure he’s safe and sound, and maybe even set up a trade with him. We would still ensure his safety as a Great Tree, but he would just maintain his independence in the world. Besides, if he can take out a giant with a Legendary grade skill, then it’s highly unlikely anything this forest can spawn will cause harm to him.”

  Silvan was still in disbelief at her partner. She couldn’t believe her ears! He actually wanted to entertain the idea of just leaving a sacred Great Tree in the middle of some backwater, human-infested dump of a forest? This was so far outside the realm of how she thought this conversation would go that she just didn’t know what to say.

  The two walked in silence for a few long minutes before Silvan spoke up, just not about Willow. As they were walking, she noticed the smell of death start to get stronger and stronger. It was as if the pair had walked into a graveyard after a flood and all the bodies were uncovered. It smelled of rot.

  “Something’s wrong. I smell death all around us, and it’s only getting stronger as we keep going.”

  Silvan reached into a bag at her waist and pulled out her weapons. They were twin daggers, one enchanted to poison whoever they might scratch and the other enchanted to paralyze its victims. The blades were shaped like serrated leaves and the handles were roots wrapped around each other to provide a supportive grip to their wielder.

  Stolen story; please report.

  The couple tabled their argument for now and advanced. If there was an unholy creature lurking nearby that was causing this, then they needed to be sure it was taken out. If a threat like that was left to persist, then it was likely to cause havoc throughout the entire forest. Even if this was a human forest, it is still a forest, and they had a duty as Grove Keepers to destroy anything that would cause harm to nature.

  The duo kept advancing at a steady pace, but this time they were purposeful with their silence. Silvan took the lead, given she was the main melee fighter. Elowen cast a few buffing spells that increased her physical attributes and enhanced her reflexes. They might be higher in level than this area was, but they were experienced enough to know that even low-level monsters can be a threat if taken lightly.

  Silvan kept advancing and saw that the forest started to thin out further ahead. As they approached the clearing, the stench of death kept getting stronger and stronger. It appears they found the source.

  The pair crouched behind a particularly thick and lush bush and scanned the clearing. It was immediately obvious what the cause of the smell of death was. In the middle of the clearing was a large pile of dead and rotting orc corpses. A few of the bodies had been partially eaten, at least judging by the tooth marks on some of the bones. There were no living orcs in the area, though, so that was a minor relief.

  “We need to burn the pile. If it’s left for too long, they might reanimate as zombies or skeletons.”

  Elowen whispered his judgment into Silvan’s ear. She agreed with his assessment and left to do a quick perimeter search for monsters that might be hiding nearby. Meanwhile, Elowen prepared a few ingredients to make the task of burning such a large group easier. Sure, he could just use Fire Magic to do the job, but his mana pool wasn’t bottomless.

  Elowen scattered a few bright red flower petals around the pile, sending a quick pulse of mana into each one as it fell. Once it hit the group, the petals started smoking, and soon enough, the whole area was a raging inferno. At this point, all Elowen had to do was keep the fire contained to this area and trust his companion to do her part of the job.

  Once Silvan was sure the area was clear, she walked behind Elowen and used him as a meat shield against the heat. Her clothes were enchanted to keep her at a comfortable temperature, but with a roaring fire going on, it was better to not face it directly. While the fire was burning, she kept an ear out for a specific sound. If she was right, then an unwelcome guest should be exiting the flames any second now.

  A critical weakness of all undead monsters in Holy Magic. Even the lowest of spells can kill a mid-level undead monster. But another weakness of many undead was fire. The heat burned off the remainder of the rotting flesh of most undead, killing them with little difficulty. It was a different story if the creature had some sort of Fire Resistance in life, as that would make them harder to burn, but that was hardly ever the case.

  However, there was one very common outlier to the fire weakness rule: skeletons. Skeletons were undead that were practically immune to fire, except when it was hot enough to melt bone. But that level of flame was rare. Skeletons were easy to kill, though, as someone just needs to destroy their skull. A simple strike from most weapons would do the trick.

  As the inferno started to die down, Silvan heard the classic rattling of walking bones and readied her weapons. She opened her eyes and watched as a large skeleton walked out of the flames. The fingers of both the monster’s hands were melted slightly together, a testament to Elowen’s impressive technique. As the monster stepped out of the flame, its eyes retained the glow within. The creature was only able to take one more step after that before its tusked skull was pierced by her daggers.

  Two more skeletons made their way out of the slowly dying flames, but after that was the end of the whole ordeal. They had dealt with the situation easily and quickly, and now could get back to their fight.

  As soon as the fire died down completely, Silvan turned to Elowen and cried out, “I can’t believe you want to leave a Great Tree in the middle of nowhere! We need to bring Willow back! And soon! Especially after this!”

  Elowen took a slow, deep breath and met her gaze. He had originally thought it would be fine to leave Willow as he was, but after having to deal with the beginnings of an undead outbreak, he could no longer support such a decision. It was one thing when the forest only spawned orcs with a possible roaming boss of a giant, but if it was also capable of spawning undead too, then they needed to move him quickly.

  “I’ll send out the message. We need to bring the transport team here immediately. We need to get a proper measure of Willow’s range and depth. If we’re going to do this, then it would be best to do it quickly and without his knowledge. We can fill him in on the details when we’re at the Grove, but until then, I think it would be best if we limit information in his direction for a while.”

  Silvan seemed perplexed that her outburst seemed to have worked, but since they were on the same page again, she decided not to pry. They would have a more in-depth conversation about that later, but for now, they needed to strategize on getting Willow to safety.

  After Elvis and his girlfriend left for their romantic walk, I decided to get back to filling my tank of mana water. As it stood, I had around half of a gallon in the 10-gallon tank I prepared for storage. That half-gallon that I’ve made so far represents a couple of hundred times my current mana pool, so I wasn’t exactly in need of more of it, but it also felt like a major waste of space to just leave the rest of the room empty, so I’ll keep filling it for now. One can never have too much mana, yah know?

  I didn’t notice when the pair got back, but I did notice that they seemed particularly quiet the morning after. I decided to keep making more and more mana water through the night, hoping that the constant movement and condensation of mana would make them uncomfortable enough to want to leave sooner rather than later.

  They were my first guests, and I wanted them to be long gone by the time my second guests arrived. It’s been multiple weeks since the Laughing Vipers left me, so I’m surprised I haven’t gotten anyone else here yet. Not that I’m in a rush, I just find it odd.

  They would’ve made home long before now, right? I wonder what the holdup is. I hope these elves aren’t scaring anyone off.

  Discord Here!