William awoke and saw a claw reaching out for him. He rolled aside and grasped for his sword. Then he realized it was only a tendril of thorny branches. Massacre approached and chomped a bite out of it, munching on it. Looking around, he saw that Massacre had eaten away most of the surrounding underbrush. She had eaten well last night.

William almost laughed. "Massacre, do you ever stop eating?"

Massacre made a sound in its throats, which might have been a harsh reply. William sighed. "All right, all right," he said, "are the others up?"

"The others are up," said Felix, who was tying his boot laces.

William looked up and saw Felix cooking a rabbit on a stick over a merry fire. Some part of him suggested that it would be very foolish to do this. Another was so tired of rations that he didn't care. He approached Felix.

"Where did you get the rabbit?"

"Massacre caught it," said Felix. "It isn't done yet, so wait."

"Where is Kiyora, then?" asked William.

"Wandering around and communing with trees or something like that," said Felix.

"You let her go off on her own?" asked William.

"She thinks this life or death struggle against nature is a dream," muttered Felix. "If she gets hurt, it may enlighten her otherwise."

"Because of what we've been through, I'll forgive that statement," said William. "Which way did she go?"

Felix pointed with one hand and turned the stick. William made his way in that direction, finding the trees moving around him as he did so. He glanced back, afraid that he might be cut off from the others, and was relieved to see them still there.

Then he came into a clearing.

Kiyora stood at the center, and the winds howled around her. Leaves flowed around her in waves, and her eyes were glowing. Her arms were upraised, and her feet floated off of the ground as magic surged around her. Her bosom rose and fell as the light of her pupils grew brighter.

For a moment, William stared at her in awe.

Then she landed, and the light in her eyes faded. Stretching, she walked up to him. "Oh, hey, Will."

"My name is William," said William. "Not Will."

"Whatever," she said, "anyway, what have you been up to?"

"I just woke up," said William. "Felix is cooking a rabbit."

"Yeah, I know," she said. "I don't eat meat, though."

"Why not?" asked William.

"I dunno, my mom always had me not eat meat," said Kiyora. "So, I don't."

"All right," said William, "what were you doing out here?"

"Communing with the trees of this place, obviously," said Kiyora, "everyone, where I'm from, can do it. I've never been this far north, so I figured I'd get to know them."

"Yes, well," said William. "there are dangerous things out here, and we should get back to camp."

"Why so I can watch you eat some poor innocent animal?" asked Kiyora.

"As opposed to you eating some poor innocent plant?" countered William.

"Don't be silly," said Kiyora. "Plants aren't sentient."

William stared at her. The trees loomed reproachfully, and Kiyora shifted awkwardly.

"That was a joke," said Kiyora.

"It wasn't funny," said William. "Now come on, it's dangerous."

They made their way back to camp and found Felix still cooking the meat. It looked nearly done. William gave Kiyora some of his rations, and then they sat down to eat. Who knew how long they had been eating bland rations? William didn't, but he knew the rabbit tasted heavenly. Between the three of them {Massacre ate what they couldn't.} It was soon polished off.

With that done, they doused the fire and prepared to set out. William felt far better than he had the previous day, and Felix looked far better. As long as Massacre could catch the animals as she had, they did not need to fear to starve.

"Some of the trees over this stream are very unfriendly," said Kiyora. "They don't like us because there have been woodsmen who cut them down. We're very near the eaves of Seathorius' northern border now."

"Good," said William, "it will be good to see my father again."

"And your mother," said Felix. "You know she probably set course for Artarq straight after you."

"Yes, Felix, thank you," said William. "I was trying to forget about that."

They walked along the stream someway until they found some stepping stones. They then began to cross. As William led them over it, he heard a splash and halted. Looking up, he saw a glint of silver out of the corner of his eye. His hand went to his sword as he scanned the surface of the water.

"Come on, Will," said Kiyora, "keep moving."

"My name is William," he said, but he complied.

He made it to the other side, and then Kiyora and Felix came. Then, as Massacre was setting her forepaws on the other side of the bank, there was a flash of silver. Out of the water emerged a giant serpent that wrapped its coils around Massacre. The beast pulled her down into the water.

The chimera grappled with the serpent, tearing at it with her claws. Yet before she could breathe fire, she was dragged beneath the water. William could see her struggling as she was pulled downstream. Racing alongside the water, he drew his sword. Yet he couldn't reach.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"What do we do?" asked Kiyora.

"Get one of the trees to pull them out!" said Felix. "The trees by the stream!"

"Right," said Kiyora before setting their hand on a tree.

The roots on the edge of the water reached out and snagged the serpent around the neck. Dragged into the sunlight, it struggled viciously, while Massacre gasped for air. The chimera bashed the serpent repeatedly. She great marks in its flesh and unleashing a torrent of flame at it. The creature reeled and let Massacre go. The chimera scrambled back onto dry land, before shaking to get the water off her. It walked off, looking at William reproachfully.

"What did I do?" asked William.

"You stopped to look around," said Felix. "If you hadn't done that, we would have crossed without any problems."

"Oh," said William, looking down at his feet. Caution could backfire.

They pressed on for some time and left the water behind them. The day wore on, and it became steadily hotter as they went on. The sun blazed down, even through the leaves, and the air became musty and humid. Sweat dripped down their brows as they went further and further. William kept on hoping they would come out into the open plains of Artarq. Yet this hope was not to be satisfied for this day or the next. It became more and more humid. The ground became wet and marshy. The further they went, the more flies and mosquitoes harassed them. Massacre's tail was continually flicking to swat them.

"Couldn't you have led us by a different path?" asked William, swatting at a cloud of flies.

"It's all like this," muttered Kiyora. "Everything from here to Artarq. Nice view, but not so nice to walk through."

"How can you even know that if you haven't been this far north before?" asked William.

"The trees told me, silly," said Kiyora.

William should have realized that to begin with. He looked around and realized that it was a beautiful view. If he had been walking past this are on the firm ground, he would have seen a scenic lake with many lily pads. A place where red flowers bloomed, and the sun shone merrily. Seeing and doing were two entirely different things.

Then quite abruptly, too abruptly, the ground became firm again. They stumbled into a field of beautiful white and red flowers. Every so often, there were hillocks spaced throughout the ground. There was a delightful aroma in the air. Though William desired to walk through them, a voice in his mind warned him not to go through.

"It's beautiful..." said Kiyora, breathlessly.

"I think we should go around," said William.

"You worry too much," said Kiyora, walking forward while Massacre followed. The chimera was sniffing at the air. "This place is wonderful, its... the sensation, it..."

"Get back, Kiyora!" cried Felix.

She turned around, eyes drooping. "What's wrong?"

"This place..." said Felix, "look there..." He pointed.

William followed his gaze and saw jutting out of one of the hillocks a skeletal hand. Yet Kiyora's eyes were unfocused, and a bleary smile was on her face. "I don't see anything..." she said. "The flowers here are so nice..."

And she wandered forward. Massacre let out a tired yowl and lay down in the flowers. The aroma beset William, and he found himself fighting to stay alert. He felt as if nothing could harm him. He also felt exhausted. This place was safe; he should lie down...

He shook his head and slapped Felix across the face.

"What the hell!" roared Felix.

"Stay alert," said William, "do you still have that rope that the Nakmar gave us?"

"Yes," said Felix.

"Good," said William, "get it out and then wait out there beyond the flowers. I'm going to tie it around my waist, and you are going to yank at me while I go get them to keep them alert."

"All right," said Felix, drawing out the rope.

William took the rope and tied it around his waist. Then he rushed after Kiyora, who was wandering, almost skipping with a sort of vapid joy. He would have gone after Massacre. Yet he judged that the chimera could be awakened after he stopped Kiyora from getting out of range.

Yet in truth, what was the harm in her wandering off? This place was safe, safe, and far away from any harm. William found his eyes drooping and tried to force them open. Then there was an impact on his chest, and he was pulled to alertness.

Pollen was rising around them, and a greenish mist was falling to surround them. The sounds of birds and other creatures became strange to his ears. The sensation of his feet against the ground hurt, and he found that every step became heavier. He forced his way forward.

He saw a vague shadow wandering and made for her. He found Kiyora kneeling on the ground, a vapid smile on her face, her eyes unfocused. She was laughing. William gripped her by the shoulder and pulled her up.

"Kiyora, come on!" he said. "This place is evil!"

"Evil?" she asked. "Such a strange word. Evil..." she burst out into giggles. "evil, evil, evil-"

William grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to drag her away. "Hey, let go of me!"

"Come to your senses!" he roared. "Now come on! We're leaving!"

"No!" she screamed. "I don't want to leave! This place is beautiful, leave me here!" And she began to struggle in his grip.

William gripped her and pulled her from her feet, carrying her over one shoulder. She kicked at him, clawing at his arms and beating him. It hurt. It hurt a lot. But there was no time to snap her out of this revelry, especially with Massacre still to free. Following the rope out of the mist, he came to where Felix was holding the line and set Kiyora down.

At once, she scrambled up and tried to rush into the flowers again. William had to restrain her physically. "Let me go! Let me go, you jerk!"

"Don't you see what's happening?!" roared William. "This place is possessing you!"

"I don't care!" she roared. "It's beautiful!"

Felix dropped the rope, drew his sword, and slammed Kiyora over the back of the head with the flat of his blade. She fell senseless to the ground, and William put her down. He stared at Felix.

"What were you thinking?" he said. "You could have hurt her!"

"You could just heal her later," said Felix as he picked up the rope. "Now go find Massacre! Quick!"

William nodded, drew his sword, and set off in the direction he had seen Massacre lie down in. He made his way forward for a time, feeling at ease with the world around him. Kiyora was right; this place was beautiful, and his feet were sore. He ought to sit down and rest; he was sure Massacre could take care of-

Ow. The rope was jerked, and the pain forced him into clarity. He looked around and could see no sign of Massacre — only a hillock covered in flowers. A hillock that had not been there before.

"Oh no," he said.

He rushed to the hillock, slid his blade underneath the flowers, and pulled upwards. The blade tore the vines with a hiss, and green liquid spilled from them. What was revealed beneath was a lion's shoulder, with many small wounds on it. The vines that fell on the ground spasmed and their lower halves were covered in bloody thorns.

William was sure of his hesitation now. He began to cut away at the vines wherever he found them. Yet they seemed to regrow at a horrible rate. Several times, they grasped at his boots, and he had to cut them away. By the time he was done with that, the vines had begun to regrow over Massacre.

Sometimes, as he cut away the vines, they would slash at him with their death throes. Soon, his arms and face were covered in cuts. And even as he made progress, he saw more and more wounds on Massacre's body. The goat head was uncovered, and then the dragonhead. Then the lion.

Yet he soon had to go to cut away at the vines growing over Massacre's body. He managed to free one of the legs, then another, and another. Then Massacre's tail. Setting a hand on Massacre's shoulder he channeled his healing magic through. The chimera groaned as its wounds closed. William then healed himself, and then he realized his problem.

Massacre was still sleeping, and the vines were trying to reclaim her. He found his head going fuzzy from working, and he realized he only had a little while. Sheathing his sword, he shook Massacre.

"Massacre," he said, "Massacre, you have to wake up!"

Massacre made a noise and shifted but did not otherwise respond. William hauled on her mane, and slowly, she opened her eyes. Massacre yawned and then felt the thorns on her. Arising, it shook them off and roared. Her dragon had unleashed a torrent of flame onto the flowers, which burned away around them.

There was horrific screeching all around them. A raging inferno spread into the distance. The mist evaporated. The pollen was burned away with a display of smoke and fire, which choked William and brought water to his eyes.

Finally, they stood over a barren field of ashes. And it was covered in hundreds of bones — everything from dwarves to birds, to satyrs and other animals. They all lay dead throughout the area. William stared at them in horror, wondering just how many had been killed in this place.

Massacre yawned. She brushed against William with enough force to send him falling to the ground. Then she loped off towards Felix. William followed her and untied the rope around him. Kiyora was still resting. Felix looked none the worse for wear.

"Is it over?" asked Felix.

"Yes," said William. "I would say so."

Appearances could be deceiving. But he'd already known that.