The forest was both familiar and strange, just like the difference I had noticed when hunting in the marsh and then hunting in a normal forest, only this difference was from the normal forest to whatever this was. I couldn't compare it to the marsh yet, since we hadn't been inside of it for very long. I did notice tangling vines, although they were a different color.

I suspected it would have other similarities as well. As long as there were no spiders, we should be fine. The last thing I needed was to try and take on a rogue spider brood while in unfamiliar territory. I glanced around and approved of the spacing of the trees. It would stop any real rampaging or charging animal and would also give me room to manoeuvre when attacked.

No sooner had I thought that, I felt more than heard movement in the trees above me, then I turned and grabbed Victoria before I leapt back about ten feet with her in my arms. A loud plop was heard and a bit of a splash as something like a melon broke open. When we looked back at the spot, a venomous pod about the size of my torso had split open and squirted paralyzing liquid out in a five foot radius.

“Well, one rumor was true.” Victoria said, her breathing a little heavy. “A tentaculous trap pod really does grow in here in the trees.”

As we stood there and watched, the broken open pod shook slightly and slowly deployed several vine like tentacles and felt around the five foot area. Almost as if it was disappointed, it let out a squelching sigh-like sound and pulled the tentacles back. It closed itself and then a hidden tentacle lifted it up from the ground.

“Excuse me.” I said and put Victoria on her feet, then I dashed around to the back of the pod and used my knife to slash at the tentacle. It let out a squeal as it was severed from its retreat and I looked way up to see a much bigger plant, or a series of plants, that were wrapped around the tree near several branches. I quickly went around the tree again and back over to Victoria.

“I hope there aren't too many of them when we go deeper.” I said and we watched the venomous pod break open again and it tried to use its tentacles to pull itself up the tree. The problem it had was that the smaller tentacles were not as long or as strong as its support tentacle had been.

“Yes, if you get me out of the way of one, we could very easily land underneath another one.” Victoria said and observed the pod fail to crawl more than a couple of feet before it would slide back to the ground. “I'd feel sorry for it if it hadn't just tried to kill and eat us.”

“I doubt we would die right away.” I said. “It's only paralyzing, remember?”

Victoria shuddered. “Right. Right.” She said and took my hand. “Don't let go unless you have to.”

I nodded and had to keep even more vigilant of the hidden dangers. Thankfully, we didn't find another pod for half an hour and that meant they were spread out to give themselves larger hunting grounds. We avoided the next pod easily, now that I knew what to look for and saw its scope of attack.

Two hours later, there was a distinct howl and Victoria gasped. She whispered an apology and we slowed our progress down enough that I would have a chance to defend her before we were overrun, assuming this wasn't a lone animal and they were stalking us in a pack.

“The rest area the locals talked about is coming up.” Victoria whispered and she checked her compass. “Ten degrees to the left of center and maybe another half mile.”

I nodded and we made our way in that direction. I didn't see or hear any more indications that we were being followed or that we were of interest to whatever howled. I assumed they were wolves of some kind, just to be safe. I just hoped they were normal wolves and not something odd like the owlbear. If it was something only reproducing the sound of a wolf to give us a false sense of what we were facing, there was no telling what it could be that was coming for us.

We reached the rest area and it was a large clearing in the middle of the forest. In fact, it seemed like another one of those rock outcroppings from that valley we passed through, except it was gigantic. Rock-like steps let us go up the side of the thing and when we reached the top, it was a nice flat area that was covered in short grass, and it gave us a 360 degree view of the forest around us. It wasn't high enough to see over the trees, though.

“According to the villagers, this is a safe haven. There's six of them and they are scattered all over.” Victoria said and took out a piece of paper to show me our progress. “Its dark, so we need to camp here tonight. If we head out at first light, we'll get to the spot right about the time we would normally have breakfast.”

I took out the tent from my pack and quickly set it up. “I didn't see any wildwood.” I said and added our bedrolls to the inside of the tent.

“No, this forest wouldn't let something like that grow here.” Victoria said and looked at the clothes she was wearing. “This might be a safe area; but, we shouldn't bother changing, in case we have to leave in a hurry.”

I nodded in agreement and she took four mage lights on short poles and stuck them into the ground around us in a perfect square. She spoke several chants as she held her hands out towards one. It glowed a different color and she went to each one and repeated the chant. When she was done, I felt something like a mage shield form around us.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Whew.” Victoria said and took several breaths. “I need to practice that barrier spell more.”

I didn't comment and she carried her pack into the tent. I brought mine in as well and I had been right. The tent was small with the two of us and our gear inside. Neither of us were stupid enough to leave the gear unattended or outside of the tent. That was just asking for something to happen to it.

Victoria looked at our bedrolls and saw that they opened towards each other. She didn't say anything as she climbed into hers. I waited for her to settle down before I climbed into mine and laid down on my back.

Victoria turned onto her side to look at me. “David, thank you for protecting me.” She said as she rested her head on her pillow.

“You said you would be relying on my expertise.” I responded and she smiled.

“You're not hoping I'll be grabbed by those strangling vines and have my clothing torn off, are you?” Victoria asked with a chuckle.

“No, if I wanted to see that, I wouldn't wait for some random encounter. I'd do it myself.”

Victoria took in a sharp breath and then she licked her lips. “You always seem to say exactly what I want to hear. How is that possible?”

“You're enamored with the thought that you're untouchable, except on your own terms.” I said and her eyes widened. “You will push the boundaries and tease as much as you can, because you know I won't do anything to break my word to my fiance.” I turned my head to look at her. “It gives you a tremendous amount of power over me.”

Victoria took a deep breath and let it out. “It... it really does.” She said softly. “I have been doing a lot more than I normally would, that's true.” She reached over to me and touched my face. “You're just so easy to tease and you're acceptance of my antics makes me feel very desired... and also safe.”

She used her thumb to lightly caress my cheek and she stared into my eyes for several minutes before she spoke again.

“I hope you don't hate me for being like this.” Victoria whispered. “I spent a good ten years with my husband and I hated every minute of it, even though I liked him. When he died, a huge weight that I felt seemed to disappear. I was my own person again. I had no more family obligations, no more guild obligations, and no restrictions on who I could talk to or associate with.”

“You had a child?” I asked and she nodded.

“It was the very first thing I did when we were married. I haven't seen him in nine years.”

I thought about that. “You don't regret giving him up to the family.”

“No, he looks just like his father and his family whisked him away to be the heir apparent for the matriarch.” Victoria chuckled. “I wouldn't realize until later that I was pretty much treated like a concubine, even though I was his wife.”

“Was that a bad thing?” I asked.

“Oh, no. In hindsight, I very much enjoyed fulfilling the marriage requirements as quickly as possible. It freed me up to pursue my own interests and also let me see how they all saw me and what they really thought of me.”

“I shouldn't ask about that.” I said and she laughed softly.

“You're the only one that's pretended long enough to be interested in what my life was like.” Victoria said and her hand cupped the side of my face.

“I wasn't pretending.” I said and she smiled.

“I know that far away look. You're barely even listening.” Victoria said.

“I was imagining you dancing around naked with your hair down.” I said and she didn't react. “Then I imagined treating you like a personal maid and making you bathe me.”

Victoria sucked in a quick breath and her eyes immediately dropped to where my crotch was under the blanket. “You... you do realize how... insulting it is... to say that to a noblewoman.” She whispered and licked her lips again.

“Yes.” I said as I watched several telltale emotions cross over her face. I smiled slightly as I looked back at the top of the tent before I closed my eyes. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Victoria responded.

The night passed by agonizingly slow. I slept and also remained vigilant. I had been right that being back in an environment that was imminently hostile would reawaken my ability to essentially sleep with one eye open. It also let me feel Victoria's hand as it very slowly touched my manhood over the blanket in the middle of the night. She didn't rub it or tried to play with it. What she did do was rest her hand on it for a while and then she gently traced the outline.

“Is this... because of me?” Victoria moaned under her breath and then her hand was back under her own blanket. She let out little moans for quite some time after that, then her breathing evened out and she went back to sleep.

Morning arrived and I was up and out of the small tent to check around the perimeter. I didn't see or hear anything, then I took in several quick breaths through my nose. Nothing had approached the safe area since we went to bed and I relaxed. I went back inside the tent and Victoria had her eyes open and looked at me.

“Good morning.” Victoria said.

“Good morning.” I said back and motioned to my pack.

“Right, we should eat in here because it should keep the smell contained.” Victoria said and sat up.

I didn't comment about it already doing that with her own smell and pulled out some of the dried foods I had brought. She thanked me and we sat there and ate a filling and yet unsatisfying breakfast. Two drinks of water later, I packed everything up and dismantled the tent and put it away.

After that, we were off in the direction she pointed, just as the sun appeared above the treetops.