James stopped and held up his fist as he heard some rustling in a nearby bush, sending the image of the bush and the sound to his team that followed behind him. Patty squinted at the bush, mana rushing in to her eyes as she used her skill.

“Who are you?" Patty called out. ”Show yourself.“

The group stepped back from the bush as a young woman walked out from behind a tree with skin as pale as the sky and eyes redder than the brightest ruby they’d found poking through a stone mask with carvings of flames licking at her ears. Dressed not in armour or any clothes fit for the dangers that dwelled in the forest, but a well fitted blue dress with frilly ribbons that dangled along the sides. Dark red level one hundred three mage, a little low for this neck of the woods, especially if she was alone. Even Lilith was at one fifty, and they were in a group. Something was amiss.

James sent another message to his team, one of caution and a detailed look at the path they’d take if they needed to flee. If the woman proved too dangerous, he’d give them all their own routes to take but even if she was a monster, she was only level one hundred. He struggled to imagine her being a threat to their party.

“I’m Zoe! Who are you?" The woman smiled.

“We’re the Grayed Chains. What do you want?” James asked, pushing mana into his skill to dig into the woman’s mind. If she lied, he’d know.

“I’m a bit lost, I guess I’d like to join you all? Or maybe directions to a nearby town?” The woman asked. James sent a sense of approval to his team, she was truthful.

“Nearest town is a four day’s journey that way,” Lilith said, droplets of blood dripping from the tips of her daggers and searing into the blue grass as she swung one of them in the direction of Krol.

The woman nodded. “Four day’s journey, huh? Seems a bit long.” The woman chuckled, a half truth. “Any chance I could come along with you all for a bit? What are you doing out here anyway?”

James squinted at the woman and pushed more mana into his skill. How could she not know what they were doing? This was the Frambling Woods, there was only one reason anybody would come here.

“What are you doing out here?” James asked.

“Mmm,” The woman hummed as she scratched her chin. A nervous tick, perhaps? “Just exploring. That’s alright though, I’ll try and find my way to this town on my own then if you’re not comfortable with me. That way, you say?" The woman pointed towards Krol.

James sent an unsure feeling to his party, with a question of what they should do. If the woman was dangerous, bringing her with them could be a death sentence. But if she was just a feeble level one hundred, then sending her wandering through the forest for days, without knowing where she was going would be as good as killing her.

He just couldn’t get over how she got here in the first place. What brought her here? Why was she here? What purpose did she have in approaching their party? Did somebody send her? Was she an illusion? Were they being tricked?

James took a deep breath as he looked at his party to ground himself. A panic attack right now wouldn’t solve anything, anxiety won’t help. A healthy dose of fear would keep them alive, but take it too far and he wouldn’t be able to react in time.

Lilith and Patty nodded at him, while Krang whispered to him from his spot on a nearby tree to tell him it was his decision. Damn, James thought. Sometimes he loathed being the leader, the level headed one who was saddled with the responsibility of other people’s lives.

If he brought this woman with them and his team fell because of it, he’d never be able to forgive himself. If he even lived. But if they found this woman’s mangled corpse on the way back, ravaged by imps and wolves then that regret would stay with him.

James sighed and called out to the woman who was walking away. “You can come with us, but I can’t promise we’ll keep you safe.”

The woman smiled, full of glee and ran back up to their team. “Thanks so much, I’ll make sure you don’t regret it.” A truth. Curious, James thought. Either his skill was broken, or she truly intended to follow through. A difficult promise to keep, James knew.

“Zoe you said, right?” James asked.

Zoe nodded. “Yup, that’s me.”

“I’m James. This is Patty, and this is Lilith.” James said, pointing at each of his teammates as he introduced them. Krang would stay hidden for now. “What can you do?”

“I’m a healer,” Zoe said. A half truth. “But I can hold my own in combat.” Another truth. A combat healer? That could explain how she’d survived in the Frambling Woods on her own, but it wouldn’t have been pleasant.

“What kind of combat abilities do you have?” James asked. If she could be useful at range, then he might be able to find a use for her. Whether he could trust her to follow through was another story, but in a pinch, she could be better than nothing.

A black bow with streaks of flame coursing through it appeared in her hand, along with a matching dagger. “I’ve got a couple skills to help with these bad boys.” Another half truth. She was hiding something about her abilities, but James wasn’t sure what.

James nodded. “Anything else?"

The woman shook her head. “Nope, that’s about it for me. I can heal and I’ve got a couple weapons.” She laughed. “It does well enough for me though.” Lies. James messaged his party to let them know. Lilith stiffened when she received it, and Zoe smiled at her.

“I’d like to spar. See how good you are with that dagger.” Lilith flicked her own blood red daggers out of their sheaths that hung at her waist.

“Hmm, I guess that’s alright. I don’t think I’ve ever sparred with somebody before though, so go easy on me alright?" Zoe chuckled as a black dagger appeared in her right hand. A truth. She’d never sparred with somebody before? Or she had and forgot about it?

Patty and James stepped back from the two of them and Lilith jumped into action, rushing at Zoe with her two blood red daggers. Zoe stepped back, just dodging the tip of Lilith’s blade but that wasn’t the true danger of Lilith’s weapons. The thick blood that poured from her daggers splashed across Zoe’s face and she grimaced from the pain.

Lilith swung again, but Zoe blocked her swing with her own dagger then stepped away from the splash of blood and wiped off the dark blood from her face. There wasn’t a blemish to be seen on her face. No scars, no burn marks, nothing. How powerful was this woman’s healing?

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Zoe stepped forward and grabbed Lilith’s other arm as she swung her second dagger, the acidic blood splashing onto the forest floor just behind Zoe as she rammed her head into Lilith’s face. Lilith recoiled and spat blood at Zoe, forcing her back as she tried to clear off the blood that seared into her skin.

Lilith took the opportunity to leap at Zoe and knock her down, pinning her against the ground with one of her daggers up against her neck. Blood dripped from the tip and sizzled on the floor next to Zoe’s face.

“I win.” Lilith said, putting her daggers back in their sheaths and standing up. She held a hand out for Zoe who grabbed it and pulled herself up. “You’re not bad.”

“Thanks,” Zoe said, wiping off the remnants of Lilith’s blood from her body and clothes. Her well fitted blue dress was mangled from the blood splatters that burned into it.

“Sorry about the dress.” Lilith said. “But I’m not sure why you’re wearing a dress out here in the first place.”

Zoe laughed. “It’s fine.” In a brief flash, her clothes were pulled away and replaced with something somewhat more sensible. Hefty looking red pants and a long sleeved black shirt that clung to her skin. “I’ve got spares. And I don’t really like armour for myself. Some cute clothes are much more comfortable.” Another half truth.

“Well, we better get moving. Nightfall is coming in a few hours and we’d better get camp set up before we lose our light.” James said.

Lilith and Patty nodded and fell into formation behind James, while Krang stayed in the back hidden in the trees. Zoe looked a little confused as she looked for somewhere to stand.

“Walk between me and Lilith. We’ll do our best to keep you safe, but if I have to make a decision between you and either of them, then I’m sorry you’ll be on your own.” James said.

Lilith stepped back to make space for Zoe to walk, and she stepped in line as they paced through the eerie purple trees. The Frambling Woods were never a comfortable place to be, but the riches it promised were all too tempting.

“That’s fine. I think I’ll be fine on my own no matter what so you can just ignore me.” Zoe said, looking at every tree and every plant with an intensity James couldn’t quite understand. Another truth. Overconfident, James wondered? Or was her healing just that potent?

The group wandered through the forest for a while, avoiding the tracks of imps and wolves whenever they stumbled into them. They weren’t the targets on this trip, there was no reason to waste time on them. After a few hours, they found a comfortable place to setup camp. A couple very old pogur trees with roots large enough to cover them.

James set up a simple camp and started a fire. When night fell, they’d have to put it out lest they invite the shadows to their camp but they had at least another hour of light to finish their day.

Zoe sat down on one of the roots and rubbed her hand along its dark purple bark.

“You ever been to the Frambling Woods?” James asked, sitting down on another root nearby. Lilith and Patty were both off hunting for their dinner while Krang hid away in the trees at camp to watch over James and Zoe.

“Frambling Woods?" Zoe asked. ”Is that where we are?" Another truth. She truly didn’t know where she was?

James nodded. “How’d you get here?”

“It’s a long story, really.” Zoe said as she reached down to run her hands through the blue grass. “I’m not from around here.” Another truth, though James would have guessed as much anyway.

“Where you from?” James asked.

“Flester? You ever heard of it?” Zoe asked.

James shook his head. The name didn’t ring any bells for him.

“The Injellar kingdom?” She asked.

“Sorry, I’ve never heard of them. You’re from quite far away then, I take it?” James asked.

Zoe nodded. “I guess I am, yeah.”

“Well as long as you don’t mean us any harm, we can help you get to town and maybe you can find your way home.” James said.

Zoe laughed. “Town sounds nice, I don’t think I’ll be going home for a while though.”

“Bad home life?" James asked.

Zoe shook her head. “No, it’s great. Just enjoying something new, is all.”

James nodded, and the two sat in silence for a few minutes before James felt a rumbling approach them from the direction he knew Lilith and Patty to be in. He glanced at Zoe who seemed to notice as well but seemed apprehensive about something. Was she involved in whatever was happening? Or was she scared?

James sent a message to Krang, telling him to find Lilith and Patty and bring them back while he watched Zoe.

“Is everything okay?” Zoe asked, anxiety seeping through her voice.

“I don’t know.” James said.

The seconds dragged on like hours as the rumbling continued growing, before James spotted Lilith and Patty in the distance, sprinting through the trees. Moments later he saw what pursued them. The hydra. They’d found it, or rather it seemed to have found them.

Wood erupted from the forest floor in an attempt to block the hydra’s pursuit, but it smashed through them like flimsy sheets of paper. Logs and branches sent flying as Lilith and Patty lured the hydra straight to James and Zoe. Blasts of fire and water rocketed out of the hydra’s many heads, buffeting the forest floor in destruction as Lilith and Patty desperately tried to avoid a fatal strike.

“If you want to run, now’s the time. We won’t be able to protect you.” James said.

Zoe almost seemed to smirk as she looked at the hydra chasing after his members. Did she do this? Was she responsible for this mess? They had a plan, dammit. Traps they were going to set up when they found the hydra. Powerful enchantments they could have used if they had the time to prepare. Did she plan this?

Fighting the hydra on a level playing field would be impossible for them. Maybe they could flee, if it tired out. Or if they let it have a distraction James thought, looking at Zoe with a feeling of shame welling up inside him.

It wasn’t his fault. She was the one who came into the Frambling Woods unprepared. James sent a message to his party. They would lure the hydra to Zoe and escape while it ate her. This would be a hunt they would never forget, but at least that meant they’d be alive to remember it.

James pushed mana into his skill, bombarding Zoe’s mind with mental images that would destroy a normal person’s brain, but she did little more than flinch and look at him with an intense sadness that filled him with guilt, and a rising terror.

“In your shoes, I might have done the same thing.” Zoe sighed. “I would have liked it to have gone differently, though.”

An incredible amount of mana rushed from Zoe as a small green leafy creature with stubby legs appeared next to her, and then she vanished. A moment later, the ground shook as the hydra was split in half and crumpled to the ground, toppling several trees over in the process.

Lilith and Patty ran up to James, panting and covered in blood. Krang appeared a moment later, looking no better.

“What the hell happened?" Lilith asked as the green creature reached out to touch her. Mana rushed out from it, mending her wounds faster than any healer James had ever met.

“I have no idea.” James said, staring at the mound of flesh that had plagued them for years. “I have absolutely no idea.”