“Why did I let you talk me into this?” I said to Cadoc. The latch on the door had already broken. The only thing keeping the monster at bay was the two of us pressed up against a wooden door that looked increasingly fragile. My heart skipped a beat every time the crash came, and the door cracked and groaned.

“Because you’re brave,” Cadoc said, and I wished I hadn’t asked. Because I’m stupid. Because I’m stupid and I decided to follow you, I decided to take your lead instead of realizing how stupid this plan was and leaving.

These might be my last moments, but I’m not going without a fight, I decided. I won’t give them all the satisfaction.

-

Cadoc hadn’t been joking when he said the dungeon was close by. We left early in the morning, and crested the hill near the site that same afternoon.

Cadoc talked the entire time. Most of it is not worth remembering - small talk. “What a beautiful day,” he said, stretching his arms out to the heavens. “And I’m free!” He yelled this at the top of his lungs. Startled birds abandoned their nests in nearby trees, cawing in protest at the noise. “This is the taste of freedom, my friend. How does it feel?”

“I think my skin is peeling. This sunburn is nasty.”

He clapped his hand on my shoulder. “Worry not! Soon, your weak skin will peel off, and beneath, a stronger, heartier skin will takes it’s place. It is through little moments like these that we are reborn, casting off our old selves to be remade into men of strength.”

And on and on like that, the entire journey. I wanted to slip away and ask RENA if she thought he was mental, but couldn’t find the opportunity.

Trying to steer the conversation to something practical, I asked Cadoc what he had in his bag.

“Ah,” he said, turning to me, walking backwards. “Yes, I will admit that my pack rides light. But we will fill it with treasure soon enough! Plenty of room for monster skulls and animal hides, and big chunks of meat.”

I wasn’t sure what he thought I was implying by the question, but I really just wanted to know what we were working with. I asked for specifics.

He had a knife - the one he’d used on himself, earlier - a day or two’s worth of dried meat, a large canteen - lucky, because I had forgotten to fill mine - a couple sets of spare clothes, and a large bottle of what looked like distilled alcohol.

“This is my prized possession,” he said. “To be had at the time of our victory. I’ve been saving it for months, squirreled away ever since I *ahem* found it. As we are partners now, we will share it, after we kill our mark.”

“What is it?” I asked. I didn’t think you could make vodka with medieval technology, but that’s exactly what it looked like - some sort of high-proof grain alcohol.

“This, my friend, is the finest bottle of alchemist’s brew within-“ he looked around “ten miles of here. Twenty miles, even!”

“Is it strong?”

“Is it strong, he says. If you drank this whole bottle, Miles, you would die a comfortable death. But since we will split it, we will both merely celebrate raucously. So yes, it is strong.”

A knife, a bottle of liquor, and beef jerky. Am I traveling with a mage-to-be, or a redneck looking for a good time?

It soon became obvious that we were approaching the dungeon. The grass grew taller, the trees, once sparsely scattered, clung together in gnarled masses, and the air grew so thick with humidity that I almost feared we would drown in it. My clothes stuck to my skin like I was covered in sweat, although it was actually rather cool.

“It’s the dungeon,” Cadoc said. “Its corruption spreads, changing the land around it to match itself. I’m thinking it’s likely to be attuned to some sort of plant mana, and maybe water as well. We must be close. A dungeon this small wouldn’t spread very far in such little time.”

He was right. We peeked over the next hill, and saw it.

“Get down!” I said in a violent whisper.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Ahead of us was a forest, or maybe something between a forest and a swamp. The trees interlocked into thick, impenetrable walls of bark and wood, except in one place, directly ahead of us, where the trunks and branches curved into an arch over a foreboding entrance.

To the right of it was a small wooden cabin. I imagined it had seen better days. It looked like the owners had abandoned it, but it was clearly under new ownership - the forest. The forest was slowly claiming it - vines had slithered over the walls like greedy fingers, blocking the windows. I had the impression that at any moment, the dungeon would close its vined fist, wrenching the house off its foundation and into its maw.

The door was still uncovered, and left slightly ajar, but no light came from inside.

In the dying light of the afternoon, the scene looked incredibly ominous, but that wasn’t why I had made Cadoc drop to the ground. I took in all of the surroundings in a moment, but my focus was on the creature to the left of the entrance, picking at the grass.

For a fraction of a second, I thought it was simply another part of the scenery that the forest had claimed as its own, the interlocking vines signaling to the world its claim. But it moved, and the vines swirled, and I saw that the thing was very much alive.

Holding my breath and laying on my stomach, I watched. It was a swirling mass of vines, like worms or snakes coiling around- around something. Whatever it was, it was roughly the size of a man, though too short and too fat, like the shape of an overgrown spud. I thought maybe I saw glimpses of something pale and wrinkled underneath, like roots, but it was impossible to tell.

“What the hell is it?” I whispered. Cadoc was lying next to me, also watching carefully, with shallow breathing.

“Alone,” he said. “It’s alone. Perfect.”

“What the hell do you mean, perfect?” I whispered through gritted teeth. “You’re not suggesting we fight that, are you? I’ve never seen something so monstrous in my life.”

“It’s a monster, Miles. Monstrous is to be expected.”

“Haha, really funny. I’m serious, Cadoc. That thing screams danger. We’d be better off fighting a coyo- an aryote.”

Cadoc shook his head. “No. This is it. It’s alone, and just look at it. That doesn’t look dangerous to me. That looks flammable.”

I looked again.

“So what, you want me to throw my nails at it? Is that the idea?”

“Something like that, sure. We’re still in the planning stage, but that’s my first idea.”

OK, good. We’re planning. I thought for a second there he was just going to charge the thing. Still, my preferred plan is to run away.

“Assuming it’s flammable,” I started. “Which is a big assumption, I should point out - assuming it’s flammable, that still doesn’t mean a couple nails are going to light it up. My nails are like sparks, like a flint and steel, not like…” I almost said thermite. “Not like pitch or something. Do you even know what this thing is?”

“No,” he admitted. “But just look at it. It’s made out of vines, how could it not be flammable?”

“We should watch it longer,” I said.

“And what, hope it lights itself on fire?”

“Just watch. We need to know more.”

Cadoc didn’t say anything, but he didn’t move. We spent another hour or so watching the monster, as the sun slowly moved towards sunset. My body grew stiff and cold in the wet grass, but I kept watching.

It didn’t leave the spot it was in. The monster just kept picking at the ground with its vine limbs, but I still couldn’t see what it was picking at. There was something there, some mass.

“Can you make out what the thing is next to it?” I asked.

“Huh?” Cadoc said, loud enough to make me jump. I froze, shifting my gaze to the monster. Luckily, the monster didn’t seem to have heard him. Did it even have ears? I thought.

I turned to Cadoc. He was rubbing his eyes.

“Were you sleeping?”

“Perhaps,” he said, stifling a yawn.

“Unbelievable.”

“Have you come up with a plan yet?”

Oh, so this is my responsibility, huh? Great.

“How important is it that we kill a monster? Really?”

“It’s the difference between success, and failure,” Cadoc said, surprisingly alert already. “I will admit that if I’m a body mage, like you, then our chances are still pretty terrible. But if I’m unhindered… think of the POWER, Miles. We would be taking our first step towards greatness. It is imperative that we kill this monster.”

“And next, we get money, right?”

“Absolutely. A deal is a deal. Power for me, then money for you. Easy.”

Am I making a decision, or am I just along for the ride? Would I even be able to tell the difference? But I need Cadoc, and if this is what it takes to win his support… “Fine. Then I have a plan. It’s going to cost me my weapon though, so I’m trusting you that this is worth it. Hand me the bottle.”

“What? Why? Now is not the time to celebrate.”

“How much do you want power? Enough to spill some booze?”

He handed it over without further questions. “Absolutely. You’ve got that same look in your eyes, Miles. When you challenged the guards, you had that look.”

“Well don’t tell me that, Cadoc. That look means I’m about to do something stupid.” I smiled despite myself. I’d thought of something I’d seen in a movie, once. I hoped it worked in real life. “Now hand me a shirt, too.”

He did. I took the bat from my pack, and wrapped the shirt around the fat end. Then, uncorking the bottle, I soaked the shirt with alcohol. I tried not to get any on the part I’d be holding. I used maybe a third of the bottle.

It wasn’t fancy, but it’d light pretty well, I thought. I pulled a few nails from my pocket, and did my best to get them in the folds of the shirt, where I hoped they wouldn’t immediately fall out.

“Alright Cadoc. How brave are you feeling?”

“Brave enough to die. What’s the plan?”

“The plan is, you distract it, and I light it on fire with this torch. What do you think?”

He nodded. “Good plan. Simple. Elegant.”

“Stupid, is the word you’re looking for,” I said. “It’s a stupid plan that is only a hair better than your ‘throw nails at it’ idea. It involves you putting yourself in danger, and then me getting close enough to the monster to give it a hug.”

“You complain too much.”

I pointed my weapon at him. “And you’re too reckless.” I sighed. “Let’s just get this over with. Fucking Tom.”

“Tom? Your friend?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just cursing his name.”

Cadoc’s eyes drifted for a moment before he brought his focus back. He turned back to face the monster.

“I’ll circle around the edge of this hill, so you can get behind him.”

“Him?” I asked. “Did you catch a glimpse of something I didn’t?”

“Him, her, what does it matter? Soon there’ll be nothing left but ashes.”

He started off, crawling on his stomach. The dungeon’s entrance lay at the bottom of a bowl-shape created by the hills, so it was simple enough to sneak around the outside. I crawled in the opposite direction.

We wouldn’t be able to get directly on opposite sides of the monster, but we could get close. As long as the thing didn’t have extreme peripheral vision, I’d still catch it by surprise.

Does it even have vision? I didn’t see eyes, or ears, or anything. Maybe it’s just a plant. A monstrous plant, but a plant nonetheless. Maybe I’m worried for nothing, and this will be as easy as attacking a tree.

I’d gone about as far as I could, and looked across the little valley, unable to see Cadoc.

We hadn’t agreed on a signal, so Cadoc didn’t wait for one. I jumped as his shout rang out, shattering the silence of the twilight hours.

“Prepare to be slain, foul beast!” He charged out from behind the hill, knife in hand. “Your day of judgment has come. Know that your conquerer is I, Cadoc!”

Almost before he had finished the sentence, a bolt of vines shot out from the monster, covering the yards between them in a flash.