I hope I can find that flower!

She summoned a dozen eyes to search as she ran. They were able to keep up, and unlike her eyes, they could somehow tell colors in the dark. That wasn’t really needed at the moment because the sun had just come up.

She ran and ran, spreading the eyes out in all directions. She didn’t look through each one. Instead, the eye would tug at her if it spotted something like the flower.

She ran deep into the forest but didn’t find a thing. One of the eyes pulled at her, and she ran to it. She looked through the eye and spotted a strange clearing full of flowers.

I don’t see what she described, but I might as well look.

She reached the clearing. It was huge and full of flowers.

It has to be here!

She sent her eyes away, not needing them to search the field. She walked into the field and was hit with a strangely sweet smell.

Wow, that’s a strong flower!

She took a few more steps in, and a weird little butterfly flew up in her face. She waved it away and kept searching.

Oh, wow! That one’s glowing! I know it’s not what I’m looking for, but I should take it anyway.

She crouched down and dug it up carefully. She learned from Barika that a lot of the time, other parts of the flowering plant could be used and often were more useful that the flower itself. She stuffed it in her back pouch and kept looking.

Oh, a Trina flower! Those are super useful! I should take it too!

Another one of the butterfly things hit her in the head. She batted that one away, sending it flying into the flowers.

“Come on. I’m just gonna take a few. You can have the rest!” she said.

She took the Trina flower and a few others. More and more of the butterflies buzzed around her. One of them twitched, and then its wings unfurled farther.

A butterfly person? I didn’t know there were butterfly people! I guess if there are spider people, there could be butterfly people, but, wow, they are so tiny! Hey, why are they casting a spell?

More and more of the butterfly people unfurled and sparks started to float off them and swirl around her. She snatched one of the butterfly people out of the air and shook it, breaking the spell.

“Stop! Don’t hurt her!” another one said.

“Wait, you can talk?” Anna asked.

“Yes, and let her go!” yet another one said.

“Why were you trying to do something to me?!” Anna replied.

“No, we weren’t!” one said.

“I can see mana,” Anna replied.

They all scattered, leaving her holding one of them. She looked at the delicate creature. Really, all creatures were delicate compared to her, but this one was exceptionally so.

“What were you trying to do to me?” Anna asked.

The butterfly person tried to wiggle loose, but that wasn’t going to happen, so it just went limp.

I don’t have time for this!

“Just tell me where I can find a flower that has five orange petals and three red stalks coming out of a deep middle!” Anna said.

“Let her go, and I’ll tell you,” a butterfly person with bright colors said. Anna tossed the one she was holding away, and it flew off.

I knew you were faking!

“Go that way till you find a stream. Follow the stream that way until you find a pond. It should be there,” it said.

Anna trotted off out of the clearing and headed for the stream. She swore she heard giggles as she ran off, but she was moving too fast to be sure. She resummoned the eyes and sent them off to search while she ran.

She found the stream soon after and then started to follow it in the direction that the colorful butterfly told her to go. The banks of this stream were covered in flowers. It was a pretty sight, but none of them were the ones she was looking for, so she kept going.

She reached a large pond that was surrounded by flowers.

Okay, I don’t see the flower. Did those things lie to me?! I’ll fucking squish them! Wait, no, I have to save my friends first!

Unsure of what to do, she paused for a moment.

A woman giggled.

“Who’s there?” Anna asked. The woman giggled again.

Anna looked around and didn’t see anyone.

Well, that was weird. I mean, I’ve heard whispers and stuff before, but never giggles. Oh, well. Time to go.

She turned to leave.

“Wait, don’t go. I’m so lonely,” a woman said.

She turned around quickly. In the middle of the pond stood a nude woman. She was waist deep in the water.

“What are you doing in the pond?” Anna asked.

“Please, come here. I’m so lonely,” the woman replied, holding her arms out as if she wanted a hug.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Sparks floated from her mouth and surrounded Anna. Anna took a step towards the pond, grinning in a most unsavory way.

“Yes, that’s it. Come to me,” the woman said. Anna stopped at the edge, still grinning.

“I’ll keep you company,” Anna replied.

“Please, come here. I need you,” the woman said.

A tentacle erupted from the water and wrapped around the woman, lifting her into the air. She screamed louder than a human should be able to scream. Anna squeezed her and then gave her a good shake.

“So, you still lonely?” Anna asked, laughing hysterically at the look on the woman’s face.

“What is this thing? What’s going on?” the woman asked. She looked panicked.

“That’s my tentacle. I’m giving you a hug. You said you were lonely, and you needed me,” Anna replied.

“What are you?” the woman asked.

“Maybe you should have asked before you tried to put a spell on me,” Anna said.

“I wasn’t going to kill you, I swear!” the woman replied.

“Right, look, I’ll throw you back if you tell me where I can find a flower with five orange petals with three red stalks coming out of a deep well in the center,” Anna said.

“I’ve never seen a flower like that before, but there might be one in the Grimgrot grove,” the woman replied.

“What’s a Grimgrot?” Anna asked.

“They look like butterflies, but they aren’t, and they’ll put you to sleep and eat you, so be careful,” the woman replied.

“They sent me here,” Anna replied.

“Those little shits!” the woman said.

“Anywhere else?” Anna asked, not really caring about the Grimgrots.

“The dryads might know. They live in a grove towards the sunrise,” the woman said.

“Thanks,” Anna replied before tossing the woman back in the pond. She cartwheeled away, skipping a few times before sinking. Anna bolted off, heading east, hoping to find the flower soon.

It didn’t take her long to find the grove. She had the eyes searching for it as she ran. The air was still when she walked into the patch of oddly shaped trees. There were no animals save for a few birds. She walked deep into the grove.

“Hello,” she said, but no one answered. She sent a few eyes out to explore and leaned against one of the larger trees.

Where is everyone?

A person walked out of one of the trees and looked at her.

What in the fuck?

“What are you?” the person asked. The person morphed into a vaguely woman shape, though she looked like a woman made from the forest itself.

I wonder what wooden boobs feel like?

“Do you speak?” the wooden woman asked. Anna’s eyes darted up to the woman’s face.

“Yeah, sorry. I’ve never seen someone like you before,” she said.

“My name is Alcea, and I am a dryad. Why are you in our grove?” she asked.

“Oh, I’m Anna, and I’m looking for a flower that has five orange petals with three red stalks coming out of a deep center,” Anna replied.

“Why do you seek this flower?” the dryad asked.

“Oh, my friends were all poisoned, and Barika, she’s a healer, she told me to go and get it to save them,” Anna replied.

“Follow me,” the dryad said.

Anna followed the dryad deep into the grove until they reached a large tree. She walked over to the tree and touched one of the huge roots that arched up from the soil. A flower just like Barika described sprouted from the root.

“How’d you do that?” Anna asked.

She’d never heard of magic that could grow things before. The dryad walked over to her. Getting very close, she put her arm around Anna’s waist and leaned in as if to kiss her.

Wait, what is she doing? Does she really want to kiss me? Why would she want to kiss me? I’m not a plant person or whatever?

The Dryad pressed her lips against Anna’s, slipped her tongue in between Anna’s lips, and started to roll it around in her mouth.

Gross! It tastes like a squishy wet leaf, and it’s warm!

The dryad kept kissing her for far longer than Vincent had before pushing her away and looking at her as if confused.

“What are you?” the dryad asked.

“You just stuck your tongue down my damned throat, and now you ask?” Anna replied.

“I thought you were beautiful, so I wanted to kiss you,” the dryad said quickly.

“Thanks, I guess. So, can I have the flower now?” Anna asked.

“What flower?” the dryad asked.

“That one,” Anna replied, pointing at the root.

“That’s a root,” the dryad replied.

Anna turned and looked at the root that the flower was sprouting out of.

Wait, where did it go?! I needed that!

She turned to look back at the dryad, but she was gone.

“OH, COME ON!” she shouted.

She walked over and ripped the root that used to have the flower in it out of the ground and threw it into the air. She heard what may have been a pained screamed but didn’t really care. She just ran off out of the grove, hoping that she’d get lucky and find the flower.

She sent out even more eyes and had them look for more than just the flower. Now they would tell her if they came across any people living in the forest in the hopes that anyone living out here would know where the flower grew.

It was late in the afternoon, nearly evening, when she found a village deep in the forest.

There’s no way anyone could have gotten out here in a day.

The village was primitive with huts made from raw sticks and mud with mossy roofs. The inhabitants of the village were a type of goat beastmen she’d never seen before. She sent her eyes back to her dream world so as not to disturb the villagers too much, and then walked into the village.

A few of the goatmen sprang out and started to play strange instruments that were a series of pipes tied together. The pipes were different lengths, so when the goatmen blew in them, they created different sounds. A few of the goatmen started to dance around her. They were all laughing and smiling.

“Have you seen a flower that has five orange petals and three red stalks coming out of a deep well in the center?” Anna asked. One of the goat men slid next to her and placed his hand on her rear.

“I have,” he said, giving it a squeeze.

“Can you take me to it?” Anna asked.

“I will, but you have to play with us first,” he replied.

“Play with you?” Anna asked.

He pulled her in, squeezing her rear. His other hand slid up her side and groped her breast.

I’M NOT PLAYING LIKE THAT!

Before she could say no, he laughed.

“DANCE WITH US!” he shouted before pushing her into the arms of a goatwoman who took her by the hands and spun her around.

Drums started to play, and more of the goatpeople joined in. They danced their way to the village center which was filled with even more goatpeople. She was passed around from goat person to goat person as they all laughed and smiled at her.

A goat man poured wine into her mouth from a large wine skin. He poured it into the mouth of a goatman next to her when it gushed out of her mouth and down her dress. The goatman who had grabbed her rear when they first met pulled her to him again. His hand went right back on her rear.

“I need to get back to my friends,” Anna said. He laughed and smiled.

“Follow me. You did what I asked you to,” he said.

They slipped out of the dance and off into the forest. He led her to a small brook where the flowers were growing on the bank.

“Take all you need,” he said. She went over, dug up a few plants, and stuffed them into her pouch.

“Go now, and if you ever need more, come back and see me. You have a very nice ass,” he said.

“Uh, thanks,” Anna replied.

She darted away, running as fast as she could, back to her friends, hoping that it wasn’t too late.

When she reached the camp, she was hit by a powerful stench. She found her friends sitting around the fire stark naked. They all looked a little pale but otherwise fine.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Oh, good, you’re back. We were starting to worry,” Barika replied.

“I found the flower you asked for,” Anna said.

“Oh, well, your potion worked,” Barika replied.

“It did? But you said to get this flower to save you,” Anna said.

“Yes, child, we would have needed that, but your potion cleared us out just as well as that would have,” Barika said.

“Boy did it clear us out,” Voekeer added.

“What do you mean cleared you out? And what’s that smell?” Anna asked.

Her friends all just looked at each other. She could tell they didn’t want to say out of embarrassment more than anything else.

“Best shit I’ve had in decades, lass!” Thokri said.

“Oh,” Anna replied.

“So, where have you been all day?” Elaine asked.

“The flowers were really hard to find,” Anna replied.

“I realized that after I sent you out, but I couldn't get your tentacle or eye to contact you,” Barika said.

“Oh, that’s my fault. I set them to only contact me if they couldn’t stop something from hurting you,” Anna replied.

Barika nodded. Anna sat down with her friends. Lyreen sniffed the air next to her.

“Why do you smell like wine?” she asked.

“It’s a long story,” Anna replied.