The next set of vines came. More than twenty for eight targets. Adrenaline pushed me to use my full speed as I tried to defend Kara, my bonds, and me. Three of the pikemen parried the vines with their weapons.

When the monster pulled the vines back, the pikemen let go of their weapons. I had cut five of my target vines, Kara had defended herself. Sleepy tried to bite a vine but it instead wrapped around his snout, drawing a line of blood.

Then it pulled. Sleepy was yanked into the boss room and I ran to catch him.

“Charge!” The dumbass lordling shouted, a sword awkwardly held in his left hand.

The men obeyed. Fucking shit, couldn't that guy use his brain and follow simple instructions?

Twice the number of surviving vines rose from the ground. I stared at the room. Grass everywhere. The boss didn't even start. Plenty of grass to murder us with.

Sleepy roared and arcs of electricity surged between the nubs on his head. Instead of the lightning bolt the adults with full antlers used, his became a ball, expanding out to a couple of meters, zapping the grass and five vines around him. The whole boss went still for a few seconds, recovering movement from the outside in. The plant matter closer to Sleepy remained still for way longer.

As I ran, the sections of grass I stepped on woke up. I knew it would happen but had no choice. I had to save Sleepy. I hacked with both hands and reached him. “Crate!” I commanded. Sleepy dashed out of the boss room.

The knights ran into the room. They too walked on the grass. A shitty situation was about to become worse. Following them came Hector and the Pikemen.

Glancing behind me, I saw that William had stopped Kara from coming. Good boy. He was the goat.

“Fighting retreat!” I shouted. “Cut all the vines you can!”

“I concede command to George!” Hector shouted back.

More than twenty vines were in the air. That because we cut most of the ones we walked on. They shot like whips at us. Leveraging my full Dexterity, I cut five as I moved backward.

Two pikemen and three knights got entangled by more than one vine. They struggled and pulled.

Thirty vines rose. The already cut vines were just shortened, not defeated. A bulge formed on the ground at the back of the room. Damn. It should have formed after the second assault!

“Cut, cut, cut!” I shouted. The entangled people were dragged back to the center of the room. Every damned blade of grass they were dragged over dealt damage to them. “Cut and then cut some more!”

The smell of petrichor and cut grass was everywhere. Better than blood and entrails even though I didn't believe it would end without.

I heard tales of people whose feet and shins were stripped into ribbons by this dreadful monster. I had to keep my cool. The fear and adrenaline pumping in my veins were clouding my judgment.

We cut and freed the five victims of this round. The severed grass on the ground was inert. It was expected but it made telling where to walk on harder. This wouldn't happen if we stayed outside.

Before we could leave the room, the next round started. Around six vines came for every exposed person. The pikes’ hardwood shafts were sawed into dozens of sticks by the vines holding them.

We cut. And cut. I had to focus entirely on cutting mine before I could worry about others. Two knights and four pikemen weren't fast enough, strong enough, collected enough, or precise enough with their weapons. It was hard to sever a flying root. Without tension, it was more likely to be pushed by the blade than cut.

The only saving grace was that this monster had no HP. Instead, it had hardness, which reduced the damage taken by every attack.

I saw people fly as the root vines dragged them across the door and into the grass. They were dumped on the leaves and dragged toward the back.

The four pikemen left red smears on the grass leaves as their bodies stopped struggling. They had run out of HP. The knights had it better because of their metallic armor. The grass was sharp but it was still grass. Tough grass. And yet, just as roots could crack stone, these leaves would eventually win.

The pikemen were too far to chase. And they were probably dead or dying. The knights, heavier and stronger, were closer.

“Rescue! Advance, cut them free, and retreat!” I barked. The remaining seven knights and I entered. They had discarded the shields and now were dual wielding like me.

We moved as a line, shoulder by shoulder. It would wake a lot of grass but at least the dozens of roots that rose from the ground would be split evenly between the ten of us.

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We freed the two knights and moved back. The next wave of grass root vines came. We slashed and cut some. I got mine and those knights who failed to defend were held by their comrades as another rushed in front with blades waving in front of him like a madman. Cut, cut, cut. The secret to this boss fight was coordination and precise cuts to cull the vines.

“Form up and give ground! Organized withdraw!” I shouted. “Don't ever show this grass your back!”

Our battle line returned to the door threshold. One and a half as many vines as the last time came. That's the way this monster rolled. Each wave had more and more grass root vines, until we were either dead or they were all dealt with. But it was too many.

I glanced at the ground and could only see a few sparse dots of dirt where the former vines were cut off. Each wave had a little delay as the vines who woke up to attack needed to gather energy to strike.

The wave came. We cut them. Our feet carried us past the door. A hundred or so vines rose from the ground moved like hissing snakes in front of us, preparing to strike in the next wave.

I spared a glance at the bulge in the back. It was bigger but not by much. Fuck! The vines were attacking already! Just like a frog's tongue, they just lashed out. They came without warning.

I got one wrapped around my left arm but a sword came from out of my field of sight and slashed it. When I turned my head, it was Kara, standing against the wall of the antechamber, hidden from the grass. William and Hector were behind her.

I wasn't the only one who got vines wrapped around their limbs. Three knights were pulled forward but they braced well. Their comrades cut the vines off. I let a breath out. We were doing good. The veteran warriors were experts with their blades.

The ground rumbled as a hundred and fifty roots burst into the air, sending a small shower of dirt and dust into the air. Now I could see the dirt, something that should be exposed on the third or fourth waves. But the progressive nature of these attacks meant it was going to end soon. One or two waves after this one, depending on how it went. I focused everything on the vines, pushing my body to use its full speed. It was hard and something people only managed to do after years of training.

The grass vines shot. The air rippled with the combined snap of more than a hundred whips. Now it smelled of blood. Several of the vines had patches of red and spread a fine red mist as they flew. The blood of our companions. It made us afraid of what was coming for us.

This wave had fifteen vines for each of us as the monster had little intelligence and always distributed the vines among all moving targets. No, standing still didn't protect one from it. People had tried and died. I focused on the right side one and the knight to my right. I counted on Kara to defend my left. A few vines made contact and wrapped around me but Kara cut them before it could drag me away. The same happened for the other... I was wrong.

Three knights weren't so lucky. They went back into the boss room as if they had jumped, a short stay in the air and then they were dragged back into the room. The blades of grass on the ground, from live or cut vines scratched against their armor, drawing an irritating screech. It frayed everyone's nerves.

Another three knights charged after their companions, eager to save their friends.

“In and out!” I shouted. "Everyone together!" Losing six knights would end the expedition from a lack of fighting force. “Sleepy, come! Get’em boy!”

It was a huge risk. Sleepy would be exposed to the next wave. I was betting that the monster wasn't immune to lightning. Sleepy could buy us precious seconds. As Sleepy passed me, I followed the Wolfertinger.

The knights who were still on their feet could deal with the trapped ones. We needed to buy them time. If the next wave, which would be half of the remaining grass on the ground struck without all of us in formation, it would be a wipe.

Five meters ahead of the knights, I gave the order. “Sleepy! Zap!”

Sleepy's antler stubs shone. The pup took a second or two to gather more power. I remembered that his mother shocked me from far away without any prep time. The little guy would get there one day. Maybe the length of the antlers affected lightning generation.

The sphere of lightning burst out, blinding me even though I wasn't looking at him. The amulet I wore ate the lightning and recovered some of my MP, something I didn't need. The knights' full plate armor was a wonderful mundane protection against Lightning attacks. They could tank whatever their armor let pass with their HP. Yes, it was friendly fire but it was necessary. The seconds Sleepy bought us was the thing that saved our lives.

When I glanced down, Sleepy had cut his paws on the grass leaves and was bleeding. Goddamned grass. My blades went back in their sheaths with practiced ease. I scooped my winged wonder and ran with my back to the vines. “Run!” I shouted to the knights inside the room. “Cover us!”

I ran past the the vines as they recovered from the lightning attack. It was like a wave of animation moved from the edge of the room inward, giving the grass life as it went. A bubble of wind expanding from the epicenter.

Once out of the room, I tossed Sleepy in the air toward the back of the room and the Mantid tunnel. He deployed his wings and flew to the far end. He felt tired the way mages got when they overused their magic. I didn't think he had exhausted his MP pool but more that the used more at once than his body could handle.

I got my blades out. “Get in formation! SINGLE RANK. HOLD THE LINE!”

Metal sabatons struck the stone floor. The knights let out a battle shout.

The vines in the middle shook the paralysis and rose. The second-to-last volley. I assessed the number. Due to a lack of more grass, the last one would have fewer vines than this one but it was close to two hundred vines now.

Blades of steel rose and arms tensed on our side. Two hundred vines with blades of grass, equally as deadly, came. We cut them as they came, not all at once because of their position and length but it was a superhuman feat to knock all of them.

I got four wrapped around my stomach and one caught the barrier around my head. A sixth knocked my sword off my hand as it wrapped my hand. Kara shrieked. William moved to brace me, pushing his horns against my hips. Kara recomposed and slashed the vines.

“Stand your ground!” I shouted. “Only one more volley!”

Of grass vines.

The boss fight was about to end phase one. We still had to deal with... I was distracted and didn't see that people were still trapped.

Four knights were pulled with enough force to crumple their armor as they landed on the packed dirt. One of them lost a leg as the vines caught him in a weak spot next to his groin. The other three were covered in vines. A whiny and terrible sound of metal getting ground and scraped rang as these poor souls were taken all the way to the back. The vines there at the back were thicker and stronger.