Skadi and Helena finished their makeshift spears, so my undead goblins were now armed. Afterwards we had a quick meal. We still had some boar from yesterday. Once we had eaten, we decided to return to the camp. We did not hunt anything edible yet, but we had two wounded. Torben decided it would be folly to look for another fight in our state.

Pain was not something new to me. I was able to walk at a normal speed. Cassie, on the other hand, was suffering. She was also sweating a lot. She was poisoned.

“Should we give Cassie a healing potion?” I asked.

“They don’t remove poison. They might heal the damage that a poison has caused though.” Torben said.

“Sadly he is right.” Cassie sighed. “The poison would still be there until it leaves the body naturally. Or the body finds a way to destroy it.”

“That is why we only use it if she is in really bad shape.” Torben explained.

“If necessary I could carry you.” Skadi offered.

Cassie blushed. “Thanks but I think I can manage…”

“My goblins should be able to carry your backpack at least.” I should have thought about that sooner. While we had repacked things to ensure she had the lightest load, it would make more sense to have an undead do the work.

As I looked at my goblins I noticed Nyx behind one of them. She was in her large form and staring at his head. I narrowed my eyes. “Nyx, don’t eat the goblins! They can be useful.”

Nyx looked at me, then the goblin, then back at me. She seemed to think about that. Then she shrunk to her smallest size and jumped on the top of my head.

“Hey, you are not supposed to do that during a hunt!” I complained.

She did not answer, but instead of curling up she just sat on my head, looking around. I guess she could watch from there…

“How does she not fall off when you move your head?” Torben wondered.

“I don’t know.” I admitted.

“She is a cat. They don’t obey the laws of the world like us mortals. Have you ever seen a cat fit into a box half their size? They surely have some form of magic.” Helena declared.

“Well, Nyx can change her size…” I admitted.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“See! Cat magic.” Helena replied.

“I am pretty sure normal cats can’t become the size of a tiger…” I countered.

“That is because Nyx is awesome.” Helena stated.

“True.” Skadi admitted.

I heard purring from my head.

At least the silly conversation provided a nice distraction. We kept bantering a bit until the camp came into sight. People were gasping and pointing at us.

“We need to get you to a teacher, Cassie.” I said.

“You too, you look even worse.” She replied.

I looked down. My pants were shredded. You could see the bandages underneath, all soaked red with blood.

“It looks worse than it is.” I assured them.

“Why don’t we let a teacher decide how bad it is?” Helena proposed.

We made our way past whispering students until we found Victoria.

“Ma’am, we could use some healing. Cassie was likely poisoned.” Torben said.

“Poison? What did you fight? A snake? Hm. No, that would not shred pants. Or were you in multiple fights?” She asked.

“It was a plant ma’am. Vines with thorns got me through my boots. They got Koyuki as well but we suspect her death mana might have killed the poison.” Cassie reported.

She looked slightly alarmed. “What sort of plant was that?”

“It had red berries and looked like a rather large bush.” Helena said.

“Inside the bush was a large blossom surrounded by a lot of veins. The bush part seemed like a cover.” I added.

“WHAT? Describe everything.” She said,

We recounted our fight. Everyone explained what had happened from their perspective. Victoria did not seem pleased.

“That was a vampiric nightshade. They are exterminated anywhere near civilization. They are certainly not tolerated in these parts of the forest. The local patrols should have dealt with that. Now, let me check your wounds.”

“Cassie first.” I insisted.

She sat down while Victoria inspected her foot. “Hm. It’s good that Skadi hacked off the vein quickly. They can paralyse and then drain a victim. However, the poison is not deadly. The small dose it injected is simply weakening you. You all got incredibly lucky that Koyuki raised those skeletons and exposed the plant.”

“Are they that dangerous?” Torben asked.

“The danger is in their cunning. Those plants are not sentient, but their hunting instincts are extraordinary. They cover a large area underground and often create a nice grassy field next to them. Something perfect to camp. Their berries are delicious and make people sleepy. But not too quickly. It feels more like natural tiredness. Once people rest they grab them with their vines. Entire caravans have been killed that way. That is why they are not tolerated near civilization.”

“So, if we had decided to rest near that bush…” I shuddered.

“If all of you had sat down you would likely be dead. Unless your undead would have managed to protect you.” She looked at my head. Nyx was still sitting there.

“Anyway, that plant should not have grown there. We teachers only look for monsters. Plants take time to grow, meaning there should not be any surprises. They are the responsibility of local patrols. Either they are incompetent, or have been bribed.”

She finished with Cassie and handed her a potion, then started to examine my legs. Nyx jumped down from my head and sat next to me, watching her work.

“You have a lot of holes in you. How is the pain?” She asked.

“I have had worse.” I shrugged. A slave collar could inflict far worse.

Victoria stared at me. “I see.” She said, “Well, drink a lot of water to help replenish the blood. I will give you a potion too.”

“We also found those gems.” Torben said and retrieved the stones.

Victoria looked at them, then her eyes widened. “The green one is a spell crystal!” She grabbed it. She stared at it for a while, I suppose she was using some kind of magic.

“This crystal was used to hide the plant. That is why the patrols did not find it.”

“Was someone trying to kill Koyuki?” Helena asked.

“Unlikely. That plant is older than her awakening. No, someone is trying something else. It could be an attack on the lumber operation. We need to find out how many plants are hidden in there. I need to tell Peter immediately.”