Surprisingly, the first thing that hit my nose was the smell of roses. The floral scent came from my right, and I looked over to see a steaming pile of animal droppings.

No… No!

To my horror, Alice produced a glass vial and used a stick to scoop up the grey pellets into the glass. Once done, she capped it and tossed it over to Devon, who hid it away in his pack.

"W-why? Why did we just collect that?" I asked.

With a serious expression, Alice turned to me and pointed to the air. "The droppings are used in a few potions. Whenever we come to this world, we try to collect them."

If I found I'd been slathering on rosy animal dung, I'm gonna flip.

"And where exactly are we? I didn't get much of an explanation."

Devon motioned for us to move, so we did. After we settled onto the path, he spoke up. "Fourth World. Veridomis. We're near one of its major cities. This continent only has one kingdom, and for the most part, the city and the surrounding villages live in peace."

"Then why are we here? What resources do we care about in this forest?"

"Alice?"

"This is the Malkar's forest, right?" Alice asked.

"Correct."

"Is it a Sealed One?"

"A what?" I cut in.

"Before, on the last hunt, I talked about older beings who hold dominion over the forest."

"Yeah?"

"Sometimes one of those beings doesn't play nice. And while we boast of our ability to hunt monsters, sometimes they like to come back. To prevent that, one of us sealed them in and kept them locked away. Those seals we check every half-century to make sure they are intact."

"So, we're doing a routine inspection?"

Devon shook his head. "No, the seal isn't due for inspection for another twenty years."

"Then there's another reason?"

"We got sent a letter from another Grimm currently investigating another incident in the city nearby. A report came in last week about the disappearance of women and children from the village. Supposedly lured off by a dark figure."

"That's not a lot to go on."

"Better information than most. Now come, the village is a few hours away."

Conversation ceased after that. I questioned why we didn't portal directly to the village, and apparently, the answer was simple. The nexus point that we use to anchor the incantation is the only one nearby.

After that last question, Devon clammed up, even when Alice asked. It wasn't directly obvious, but he seemed tense.

It only took one look to see what made him act as strange as he had been. Alice looked oblivious to my mentor's unease.

By the time we reached the outskirts of the village, the sun stood high in the sky. Like the last village, tall wooden walls guarded the homes within, but this time, I saw four tall buildings towering beyond the wall's height.

They sported grey brickwork that narrowed as it reached the top. It gave off a strange castle feel to the otherwise plain-looking village.

For the first time in over two hours, Devon called for a stop and pointed to the spires. "Those are the anchors to the seal. Do you remember my words, pup?"

I frowned at the usage of 'pup' when Alice got called by her name.

"Yeah. Do enough to catch the prey, not show off," I answered.

"Good. We'll be heading to the church."

The gates were open despite the large walls. We continued forward, but no guard came to greet us. I looked to Devon, but he didn't stop, so we kept walking. With no guards to impede our entry, we walked up to the gate and moved through.

Devon sniffed the air, and his expression turned dark. Once we were on the other side, I started to pick up the sound of grunts accompanied by something slapping together. Alice also scrunched up her nose and stared at our leader.

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He shook his head and moved to the small shed on the right side attached to the wall. It had no windows but a single door, currently shut. The sounds got louder, and I began to make out the pounding of rhythmic grunts followed by moans.

The smell of sweat and body fluids hit me like a wall, forcing me to physically recoil. I covered my nose, but not before a mixture of leather and grease shoved its way into the olfactory barrage.

Aagh! I did not need to smell that!

Alice stayed in her place as Devon approached the door and gripped its handle. He pulled it open, and the metal shrieked under the force. When he let go, the door sat tilted on its hinges, a nail threatening to fall out.

The intimate couple inside screamed and jumped apart. While the woman clamped up and began to cover herself with the dress bunched around her hips, the man had a look of pure horror as he kept screeching until he reached a shrill pitch.

Devon stood menacingly in the doorway, silently staring at the man, unamused.

Busty, bless her heart, smacked the man on the head to shut him up. His mouth slammed shut, killing the scream.

"Inform the village leader that we've arrived," Devon commanded, his voice like sharpened steel.

The man saluted, and the rest of his clothes slipped to the floor. His eyes glanced down in terror, but he kept the salute, both from above and below.

Devon turned around and walked away, leaving full view of the covered woman and the shaking guard. I shook my head and turned around, following Alice, who had already left.

"Does he even know who we are? Do all villages know what Grimms are?" I asked as I heard the start of an argument coming from the shed behind us.

"If he doesn't, the village leader should."

"They should get a new guard," Alice added.

Agreed. Only one person and he left the village wide open to three mysterious strangers. Not a good look for a place in charge of a monster's prison.

Several villagers walked through the streets, and many were setting up stalls for the day's hustle and bustle. When they spotted us, they'd have the same reaction: to point and stare, but they lacked the fearful responses I expected.

A few kids turned their heads around and pointed to our cloaks. Some held tightly onto the back of their children's shirts, while others openly smiled as we passed through.

"Devon, is this one of the friendly places that like us?"

"Yes. To them, we're living legends. Only the church will react differently."

I wanted to ask more, but he stared hard ahead, ignoring the peaceful crowd of villagers. His constant flux of being willing to talk and not frustrated me to no end, but right now, he was the leader on the hunt.

The church wasn't far, maybe another ten minutes of walking through the busy streets. Unlike most of the wooden buildings, the church boasted smooth white stone that stood tall amongst the crowd. The entranceway and road looked well-maintained and clean of pebbles and debris.

"Clean building."

"Very," Alice said.

Devon stayed silent, and we continued into the building. I looked up and noted the long line of runes etched into the archway. I recognized none of them, but they looked familiar, script-wise.

The sound of rustling cloth pulled my attention, and to the right, I saw a shaking priestess staring at our group. She clutched tightly onto the metal symbol around her neck before she bowed and raced off.

That's… not good.

A few villagers were seated inside the grand hall, conversing in low whispers as they sat on benches made of stone. Things looked normal, except for the visibly spooked-looking clergy scrambling about.

Devon ignored the rest and pushed on until an old priestess wearing green robes came rushing out of the side hallway. She looked around her fifties, aged but not old. Her auburn hair lacked the same youthful luster as the priestess chasing her skirt.

As the priestess neared, she slowed and grimaced upon noticing Alice and me standing to the side. "Hunters, you've arrived."

"We have. I take it you know why?" Devon asked.

She nodded grimly, the priestess behind her looking like a frightened child as she clutched onto the older woman's dress. It made the young adult look more petite than she really was, even as she stood about a head taller than the other.

"Indeed. I'm afraid we did not realize it at first. The first disappearances were written off as bad luck." She sighed and grabbed the amulet with the picture of a carved tree dangling from her neck. "Then we got wind of one of the people who saw the creatures."

Discussion in the hall ceased, and the villagers shushed themselves into silence. The head priestess noticed this and motioned for the hallway she came from. "Please, it's best not to scare the masses."

Alice glanced around the room and pointed to the seven murals on the ceiling. While preoccupied with the people inside the building, I failed to notice the intricate paintings above. The artists preferred bright colors and simple silhouettes with detailed backgrounds.

Seven women with either thorns or flowers looked to the middle mural where a taller woman stood up straight, her silhouette full-bodied, with swirling roots wrapping around her limbs. Behind her stood a tree similar to the one on the priestess' amulet. On her head, sticking out from behind her ears, was a set of antlers close to a stag's in design.

Plant people? Dryads?

The knowledge flared, but I couldn't recall any stories from Earth involving them. All I remembered was people who bonded with trees and stood as champions of nature.

But this is a church, so do they worship them? Are they gods, or is the one lady a god?

My eyes tore away from the designs as we crossed the plain hallway. The pair led us to a heavyset wooden door.

The older priestess turned around to face the younger. "Felana, dear. Go fetch the journal in my study, please." She unhooked her necklace and placed it into the girl's hands. "Be swift, dear, but do not run."

Felana nodded solemnly and, not quite sprinting, moved swiftly down the hall and to the other side of the church.

The head priestess opened the door and led us inside.

We sat on different chairs next to a table that had steaming tea and thin-looking cookies placed in a bowl.

She gestured to the table. "Please, partake of our food. I'm sure you could use some refreshments after walking here."

Devon remained sitting, but Alice grabbed a small plate and took a stack of cookies. I glanced between the two and decided to join Alice in trying the food. Unlike her, I accepted a teacup filled with hot brew from the older lady and smiled.

"Thank you," I offered.

She didn't smile but nodded before sitting in her own chair. Her breath came in slow, rhythmic beats that I could hear clearly over the crunching of cookies coming from Alice.

Her eyes sunk, and she lowered her head into a stiff bow. "Please… Hunters. Save my grandchild."