Grim immediately moved, her eyes fixed somewhere far away. Diana was the one to help me up. She locked eyes with me without issue, and no longer showed any sign of hatred for my earlier betrayal.

  Still, it was awkward…

  I mumbled thanks and avoided her gaze while I ran off after Grim. Making sure to pick up my gun on the way. Tabitha was already up ahead, and Diana was just behind me, but quickly catching up. We moved with purpose. Every obstacle in our way was cut down by Grim casual ease.

  Her blade left all in its wake naught but ash. It didn’t matter what it was. A mechanism, a shade, or even a heavy gate or wall. Whenever we hit a crossroads, she would raise her nose into the air and sniff. She would take a moment to listen. Her eyes still fixed in a single direction.

  We made incredible progress. She carved through groups of shades that we had struggled without even breaking a sweat. Her blade cleaved through armor and flesh like it was nothing. Leaving only smoldering bodies quickly being reduced to burning ash.

  Soon, the flowing water I had grown used to hearing, stopped. Mechanisms sat still, unmoving. Silence reigned above all else. Water pooled at our feet, leaking from above.

  We continued, or rather, we followed Grim in her pursuit, only slowing when we came across a sight. Flowers. Flowers blooming atop withered corpses. The lighting here was poor, many of the lights hanging from the ceiling or imbedded into the walls were flickering or off.

  The flowers though, glowed with an oddly ethereal light. It made me think of the tree, of the beating heart, that tunnel… A large pile of flowers shimmered under a lone yellow port light. I kneeled down, the flowers looked oddly familiar, like…

  “Spider lilies?” Diana muttered and stepped closer for a better look.

  “Looks like it…” I replied back, my hand brushed aside a flower to reveal a withered corpse underneath.

  There was a heavy cloying scent in the air. It wasn’t sweet. More like the smell of pollen in the spring. Tabitha said nothing, Grim only paused for a beat before continuing on. Forcing us after her.

  The air grew heavier. Pollen clung to the walls. Bodies littered the sides of the corridor, the channels where water flowed were now filled with roots. The further we went, the more prevalent those roots became. Not only that, but it occurred to me that since encountering the flowers, we had yet encountered a single shade.

  I wondered, what had happened to them?

  As if to answer my question, something moved. Out of a pile of corpses, a corpse came out, no… it wasn’t quite dead. It still breathed. Roots ran through its form, sucking the life out of it like a parasite, a single flower bloomed from one of its eye sockets. Perhaps it was a parasite. It moved forward, shambled towards Grim with a low groan.

  Without a second thought, she swung, bisecting the parasitized shade in an instant. What remained swiftly burned away, until only a pile of ash was left. Grim, still did not speak. None of us dared too.

  We continued forward, more of them appeared. None of them looked healthy. Most, if not all shambled, on the verge of collapse and death. Puppeteered by the roots digging into their bodies. Each had the fame flowers blooming from their bodies like sores.

  Grim slowed her pace as we continued. Still, she moved with purpose.

  It didn’t take long for us to arrive before a larger area. Where once had sat a room with a large body of water at the center, was now a massive plant. A flower bud, ready to bloom. Thick roots and vines dug through the stone, laced into the surrounding mechanisms to greedily reach the source of water.

  The large room was filled with flowers. Mound after mound of piled bodies with flowers blooming out of them. Some of the mounds even reached the ceiling. A veritable mountain of bodies hiding under a veneer of crimson spider lilies.

  The sight was breathtaking, beautiful, and harrowing.

  “That’s the thing, right?” Tabitha asked quietly. Grim stood before the opening, a frown on her face. Her eyes were taking in the scene, and she didn’t immediately respond. When she did, it was not with good news.

  “No, I don’t think it is. It’s too young. The roots don’t quite pierce up towards the sewers, if anything, they look like they’ve been digging deeper towards the catacombs. It’s entirely possible the roots have reached the depths through the waterways as well…”

  “Shit…” Tabitha swore. “How bad is it?”

  “It’s a high gold at least. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s a normal boss type monster that spawns. If anything, it might be a mistake.”

  Mistake? For some reason, that word reminded me of something, something the Sheep said, ‘What was life without a few mistakes?’ Or… something like that.

  Was that relevant here?

  It had to be based on Tabitha’s sour look.

  “Is there nothing we can do?” Tabitha then asked, Grim, shook her head.

  “No, not at this stage. Probably an Alraune, could have managed to sneak in here and took root. Surviving off water, consuming unlucky shades. Instinctively, they’re probably digging deeper, regardless of the consequences.”

  Tabitha nodded along.

  “Makes sense… but is there really no other way?”

  “No. not like this at least. If we wait too long, she might become a real threat.”

  “…Can you handle it?” Tabitha eventually asked.

  “Yes. It shouldn’t be difficult. They’re a nature type, and I’m fire aligned. It should be fairly easy.”

  “Got it, we’ll hang back. You do your business.”

  “Understood, and as discussed, I get the gold coin.”

  “Yup. Just don’t make too much of a ruckus.”

  “I’ll try not to.” Grim finished, her eyes then flitted to me and Diana.

  “I suppose neither of you have ever seen a uniform, have you?” Grim asked us.

  I shook my head, “Uniform?” Diana asked.

  Grim smiled. “Watch and you will see” She closed her eyes and extended her hand. Her breathing evened out.

  The sight of it, confused me, but I kept my mouth shut. Tabitha took a few steps back, and once clear, Grim moved, her extended hand clenched, something in the air stirred. Then, Grim exploded in fire.

  Like she was doused in gasoline, she burned. Having instantaneously combusted, she burned. Not a single scream or shout left her lips, even as her skin flaked away. As the muscle and bone underneath burned away to a simple charred husk.

  I counted the beats of my heart. The second ticking. A shout died in my throat as her charred flesh burst out into a swirl of ash. It swirled around her, the ash consolidating into a new form, piece by piece. Forming into what I could best describe as armor. Black, shiny like coal. This continued, until her statuesque form was entirely clad in that coal black armor. Her eyes obscured within the helm she wore, only simmering red eyes, like ignited coal beamed out.

  She exhaled a puff of burning ash. Her hair was pitch black, the tips on fire and slowly burning, swaying behind her like a cloak. The ground sizzled as she rested the tip of her broad blade, a blade that I now noted was blunt, without an edge. The blunt edge though, glowed orange.

  I could smell ash. I could smell smoke, almost as if I was standing next to an open grill. Despite my best efforts, I inhaled deep, taking in the smell. Let the ash into my lungs. It was familiar. It felt safe. I could feel it burning at the lingering ice inside me. Melting it away, until I could feel my wounded heart beating in my chest.

  Nostalgia, pain, agony. Emotions long buried, meant to remain forever buried surfaced.

  “This… is a uniform.” Her voice rang out, as if from inside a kiln. Her entire presence shifted. She felt so much more than she had just moments prior. Her entire being radiated heat. Burning hot ash swirled around her, the surrounding flowers wilted and burned away. The water hissed and evaporated.

  No longer was she just Grim, but a calamity. A being whose sole purpose was to reduce all to ash.

  Without further ado, she walked forward nigh silently. Stepping into the large room before us.

  Her every step left ashen prints behind. The flowers and withered bodies she stepped on burned and smoldered in her wake. Halfway across the room, the flower stirred. Long vines swept out in a lazy arc. Relying on brute force to simply brush her aside like a pest.

  Grim, was not brushed aside. Her sword cleaved through the thick tendril, a tendril, a tendril nearly as thick as she was tall. Her blade carved through it, and the creature screamed. Ichor did not spray out. The limb slowly burned away like a cigarette butt. The cut off portion writhed and quickly was reduced to ash, whereas the leftover limb was slowly burned until it was plucked off and thrown away.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Sensing danger, the flower rose up, nearly reaching the ceiling. A torrent of vine-like limbs shot out. For the first time, Grim picked up the pace. Breaking into a running jog. Sword at her side. She moved and ducked under blows, slashed what she could not. Quickly, she made progress towards the main body.

  She quickly reached the edge and leapt forward, blade raised high. Only to be slapped aside by a larger, thicker limb. The loud snap sent a shudder down my spine. Having been airborne, unable to dodge, Grim was sent flying, she crashed with a meaty thud into the stone floor and bounced, only to hit the floor again and again. Each time with a horrific thud of breaking bones and rupturing organs.

  Yet, despite the damage to her body, in an instant, she had her feet under her once again. With an exhale of fiery ash, the edges of her armor aglow, her arms snapped back into place. Blood, that had spattered was swiftly turned into ash and flowed back into her. The fire sticking to her hair tips flared for a brief moment, the fire slowly changed color.

  After getting back on her feet, her movements were faster. She dashed between vines and tendrils, swinging and cutting. She didn’t aim for the main body this time but focused on trimming the vines down. It appeared to be working as larger limbs mobilized and tried to crush her like a bug, but her blade bit deep, leaving large smoldering gashes in the thicker limbs.

  As more limbs were cut, more limbs were plucked, the plant soon began to vibrate, shift. The floor beneath our feet crackled. Water flowed between newly made cracks, pouring onto the floor. More limbs were pulled out of the walls to join the assault.

  So far, if this was it… Grim had it in hand. Only, was it really so simple? The fight reminded me of the heart and yet… it had been considered a low gold, had it not? What rank exactly were those white things? What of the variant zombies? Had they been bronze? Silver? Were they low or mid? What did those classifications even mean?

  While we watched, I turned my head and asked that very question. “What does it mean that’s it’s a high gold? Just how strong is it?”

  “Strong.” Tabitha said, her eyes fixed on the fight. “I wouldn’t be able to handle it, and neither of you could ever hope to contribute in this fight.”

  “And what rank would we be?”

  “Gold, low at least. I’m mid, as for Grim, she’s definitely a high gold as well.”

  “Then, does that mean their equal?” Diana chipped in.

  “Hardly. Monsters tend to have better physicality. Much larger bodies, which allows for much more magic. Something like this would be considered a raid boss.”

  “Raid… boss?” I ask, confused at the term.

  “Yeah, normally to take something like this down, we’d need at minimum a dozen to handle it.”

  “And can Grim really handle this all on her own?”

  Tabitha barked out a laugh. “I’d be more surprised if she couldn’t. Grim’s rather infamous for being one of the strongest hunting dogs in the city. Some call her Ruin, or the Dog of War. She specializes in hunting big targets like this, so she ought to be fine.”

  “Ought too… huh…” I muttered and stared. And honestly, it did look like Grim had it well in hand.

  Together, we watched, mesmerized, up until I saw something move. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but it was too late.

  Grim, after having just dodged a tendril limb, was open. A hulking figure slammed into her. A small mountain of flowers… No. A grouping of bodies all held together by countless roots. Bodies that still moved, jaws opened and closed, eyes blinked and focused on Grim and Grim alone.

  It had burst out of a larger mound of flowers that Grim had been corralled towards. The moment she had closed, it had leapt out with a surge of speed.

  Its fist, more like a bunch of bodies wrapped around roots, slammed into her. Sending her flying, where more tendrils slapped out like whips. Each snap elicited a wince. Each snap slapped over her armor, denting it in.

  In an instant, dozens of whips cracked down, a larger limb slapped her into the wall, where she seemingly slumped over, only to once again stand. Her armor glowed red. She exhaled what looked like a stream of fire, the fire on her tips of her hair climbed up, making it look like she had a cloak of fire on her back.

  Her blade was bright red and with a shout, she leapt into the fray. Every move she made left smoldering ash in her wake. Every slash left an arc of burning ash that scorched whatever it touched. Her fighting style grew more vicious, more animalistic. Even as the number of bodies grew, slowly crowding in on her.

  She leapt and moved, less like a human, but more like a hound on the hunt. Her blade scything through tendrils and more bodies as they extricated themselves from the surrounding mounds.

  She cleaved through them, but their numbers were exceptional. They just kept coming, seemingly without end, and whenever Grim went towards a mountain, larger tendrils would bar her way.

  “We should probably move back a bit.” Tabitha spoke up. “I’d rather not get caught up in this.”

  “We’re not going to help her?” I asked, despite myself.

  “Help? We’d just get in the way. Plus, she’s a hunting dog, this is her job. I’m sure if she can’t handle it, she’ll be able to escape.”

  I couldn’t refute that. Even as I saw Grim take another hit, the heat around her growing in intensity, her black armor now glowing with heat. Even then, I knew, I just knew she would be fine… and yet…

  “I want to fight.” My mouth moved on its own.

  Tabitha gave me a look. A look I know all too well. “Are you crazy? Do you think you could even do anything?”

  Just as I opened my mouth to answer, Diana cut in.

  “How does this benefit you?” Diana asked. I considered, even as the fight grew hairier by the moment as more of those glower giants came out, along with parasitized corpses. “How will it benefit us?” She presses again, eyeing me with a look I couldn’t quite pace.

  “Experience.” I finally said, putting a word to it. “I don’t want to just sit here and watch. I want to get involved and experience what it’s like to fight something like this.”

  Diana and Tabitha both had a contemplative look on their faces at my words. Eventually, Diana looked at Tabitha and Tabitha, she began to chew her lip. Her eyes on the growing enemies.

  “It’s not a bad suggestion to be honest… and I know Grim would leap at the idea, only… what can you even do?” Tabitha asked. “You’re undead, though useful, lack power, and take way too much out of you to make. As for getting involved, your rifle will just barely be able to damage the mistake, and its fire rate is far too slow to be of any use against those numbers.”

  She wasn’t wrong and yet…

  I considered for a moment…

  “I could mass raise them instead. Most of the undead I made earlier were for more, long-term purposes. If I focus on creating an army of cheap, disposable enemies for the moment, I can do that much at least.”

  She considered that.

  “Possible, but… even if you did, you lack both the magic capacity and the oomph to do that.”

  “Would these help at all?” I ask, presenting the coins I’d earned up to this point.

  “Well…” She considered. “Maybe… if you used them all, you might be able to push yourself up to mid rank at least, just enough to hold back the horde… Only, you’d have trouble with the golems, unless…” She looks over to Diana.

  “Unless I want to join in, is what you’re saying?” Diana asks. Tabitha nods.

  “I don’t imagine I could hurt them though, not with my current power.”

  “No, you wouldn’t be able to… Well, not unless you use all your coins as well.”

  Diana frowned at her words. Her eyes then flicked to me. It was only now that I understood the looks she was giving me. It was almost like the look someone would give a dog that found a fox on the hunt, or a pig on the trail of truffles. Like I was on the trail of something valuable.

  “I don’t think Prima’s wrong, in this instant. Having experience here, would be valuable, wouldn’t it?” She asked, not me, but Tabitha. “Why else would you even be entertaining this idea.”

  “You’re not wrong. It isn’t just valuable because you can get experience, but also because it will accelerate your growth. We rabbits grow through adversity, not just that, but rabbits have terrifying growth. Fighting something like this, would grant all of us a huge boost.”

  Perhaps Diana wasn’t wrong to be looking at me like that.

  “Alright, I’m in then. What do I do?” She asks, then looks to me, “What do we do?”

  “First, use the coins. Each coin gives roughly a ten percent boost in power. With what you have, it should be enough to bump you up to mid-rank. Then, Prima, you’ll focus on raising undead. Assuming you can raise enough, Diana will focus on the golems.”

  We nod, though, “And you?” I ask.

  “I’ll play overwatch here, and if any silvers show up, I’ll handle those. For clarification, the regular plant zombies are un-tiered, the plant golems are bronze, and the big plant is obviously gold.”

  We nod. “Now, any further questions?”

  We shake our head, though, “How do we use the coins?”

  “They have two uses. First use, if you crush them in your hand, like so…” She demonstrates, grabbing a few coins and crushing them in her hands. At first, they seemed unyielding, yet, under a certain amount of pressure, they pop and all at once, her presence seems to grow.

  “Just the intent of crushing them should be enough.” She said. “Secondly, if you swallow them, the coins will restore your magic.”

  “What are the consequences?” I ask, eyeing her as wind whipped around her.

  “The more coins you use to enhance yourself, the less control you have over your magic and no matter how skilled you are at control, you will lose energy passively. The effect lasts until you run out of energy, or until you collapse. As for eating the coins to restore energy, it creates a deficit that you’ll need to recover over time.”

  We all nod.

  “Now, whenever you’re ready Prima, we can start.”

  I nod and focus on the coins in my hand. The moment I clutch my hands around them with the intent of crushing them, all too easily they break apart into flickering lights. Those very same lights flood into me.

  The air around me suddenly dropped in temperature. I felt my blood frost over, cool clarity came to the fore. Oddly, despite how stupid this plan was, Rationality didn’t dissuade me. If anything, as I sunk deeper into the ice. I could feel it baring its fangs, eagerly awaiting what was to come.

  I exhaled, adjusted my clothing and stepped forward. I ran through what I needed to do, and I made a wish. A prayer and slammed my palms into the ground.

  The floor, long soaked in water, froze over. Ice traveled towards the larger mounds. My magic flooded into the withered corpses. Eagerly, they drank in my magic. As if their empty husks welcomed the chance for revenge. A cacophony of noises rippled out. Pops and cracks, snaps and creaks.

  Out of the mounds they crawled, withered corpses, coated in frost. Once blooming spider lilies were now white and covered in hoarfrost. Their bony hands were frozen stiff, almost like knives. Their sunken, empty eyes held a faint blue light within. As one, they crawled, as one they stood, and as one, they answered my call.

  “GRIM!” I shouted. My voice carrying out. A thick limb smashed into the stone, barely missing Grim as she turned to face me. her eyes burning like an open fire from within a furnace glared at me and I glared back with my own frozen eyes. For a second, hot and cold clashed. For a brief second, I felt something flicker, a connection.

  Then it snapped into being. My mind dove ever deeper into the ice. I didn’t just sink under the surface but sank right into the black depths. However, a single chain kept me centered, a single line held me from sinking too deep, from losing myself.

  A line that trailed through the ice, and up into the sky, a blazing star over a frozen wasteland.

  That star, was Grim. With a shout of her own, she became fire. Her entire being ignited and she shot forward. Stone cracking under her. My hordes of frozen dead rushed and clashed against those parasitic puppets. Frozen claws dug into withered flesh, freezing flesh and blood on touch. Frozen teeth dug into vines, ripping them out.

  It was chaos for a brief moment. A single moment. Only to be broken as figures pulled themselves out of the mountains of bodies. Their bodies were made up of vines and leaves, they were distinctly feminine in shape. Flowers covered them, almost like clothing. Their very presence seemed to excite the parasitized bodies. The roots in their body writhed and crawled over their bodies, granting them armor and claw like weapons. With a wave of their hands, roots rushed out, piercing and entangling my undead, aiding their allies.

  I pumped more energy into the undead. Their bodies hardened with ice clashed with the parasitized bodies as I tried to push back against the onslaught.

  A swear broke through the noise of tearing bodies. The voice clearly belonged to Tabitha, I could hear her steps coming up from just behind, her voice continued to cut through the din.

  “I’ll handle the silvers! Diana, stick to the plan, and cull what you can! Prima keep doing what you’re doing!”

  “On it!” Diana cried back, both of them ran past and joined the fray. I merely grunted and focused on keeping the undead together and moving.