Night had fallen. Bleakfyre Forest had grown dark. Slimantha stepped over a vine as she continued following Samuel. “Maybe we should head to Bleakfyre,” she said. “It is getting kind of late.”

“I must push onward,” Samuel said. “What kind of hero will I be if I forsake the magic sword the goddess blessed me with?” He continued wandering about in front of her, his movements growing more erratic as the moments ticked by. The bird he had been chasing, the bird that pilfered his sword, was long gone.

Slimantha stepped over some more vines. She glanced around the darkened forest. Vines and lovely pink blooms were scattered about. She cocked her right eyebrow. Why did the pink blooms seem so familiar? She crouched down to get a better look at one of the pink blooms. This bloom had sprouted from the forest floor. She poked it, and it responded as a pink bloom would.

She looked up to Samuel, who stumbled about in the darkened forest. “Be careful of the vines,” she said.

“What vines?” Samuel’s question was too little too late. His right foot stomped down on one of the vines. The vine writhed a bit and then wrapped around his right leg. He yelped as the irate vine heaved him up into the air.

“I tried to warn you.” Slimantha stood up, her brown eyes on the currently inverted Samuel. “They don’t like getting stepped on. It makes them mad.”

“Would you mind getting me down?” Samuel flailed his arms. He stopped flailing after a moment and instead started pulling at the vine holding him up. The vine did not want to let him go though.

Slimantha brought her right hand to her chin. Her eyes were still on Samuel. “If only I had something to cut that vine with, something like a magic sword that was not stolen by a bird.” A giggle slipped out from between her lips.

“Stop trying to be funny and just get me down already.” Samuel stopped struggling and just hung there at this point.

Slimantha scanned over the vine holding Samuel up. Sure, she could use her slime summoning to solve this. She could form a dagger out of slime and then use the slime dagger to cut Samuel free. Should she though? She glanced to one of the pink blooms. Why did the pink blooms seem so familiar? Her face lit up as an answer came to her. “Hey, Rose, you there?!” she called out.

Yet another pink bloom appeared. This pink bloom grew larger, grew larger until it reached human size. A faint pop sounded as it blossomed. Its lovely pink petals separated to reveal the upper half of a beautiful green-skinned woman with long pink hair. The woman, Rose, opened her pink eyes and looked at Slimantha. She wore a gray crop-top with short sleeves. “Hi!” she said, a smile on her face. She looked up, looked up to the dangling Samuel. “Who’s he?”

“That is Samuel. He is a hero from another world,” Slimantha said, pointing at him.

Rose’s pink eyes grew large. “A hero from another world? I will let him down.” The vine holding Samuel loosened, and he came tumbling unceremoniously back to the forest floor. He groaned as he stumbled back to his feet.

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Rose separated from her large pink bloom and stepped down to the forest floor. The tall woman’s bare feet pressed into the lush grass. She wiggled her toes, enjoying the feeling. Gray hot-pants clad her lower half. She walked up to Samuel, a big smile on her face. “Hi, Mr. Hero. I am Rose the Plant Woman,” she said. She leaned a tad closer. “Could you do a favor for me?” She fluttered her eyes.

“What did you have in mind?” Samuel asked. A soft rosy tint settled in on his cheeks, and he glanced away from Rose.

“Just a teeny favor,” Rose said. She stepped into Samuel’s line of sight and fluttered her eyes again. “There is a flame spirit who is causing me trouble. Could you get him to stop?”

“It is Bill again, isn’t it?” Slimantha interjected.

Rose turned her attention from Samuel to Slimantha. “It is always Bill,” she said. “He is burning trees again. Can you and that dashing hero get him to stop?” She looked at Samuel and winked her right eye. She then placed her hands together. “Please! Won’t anyone think of the trees!”

“I will help,” Slimantha said. She looked at Samuel. “You want to come along?”

“Well, I can’t just ignore her plea,” Samuel said. He glanced down at his empty sword sheath. “Too bad I lost the magic sword the goddess blessed me with.” His shoulders drooped. “Wait.” His blue eyes went to Rose. “Ms. Rose, you didn’t see a bird carrying a magic sword, did you?”

Rose brought her right hand to her chin as she thought. “I saw a bird carrying a carrot. Does that count?”

Samuel blinked. “Was this carrot gray by any chance?”

“No, it was orange,” Rose said.

Samuel sighed. “No, it does not count.” His vision drifted down to the grass below.

“I will take you two to Bill,” Rose said. She motioned for Slimantha and Samuel to follow. Slimantha took position at Rose’s left as they walked, and Samuel took position further back. Rose looked back at Samuel and fluttered her eyes. “You sure you don’t want to walk a little closer?” Samuel kept position, and Rose hung her head.

Slimantha looked at Rose. “Do you have a thing for him?” she whispered. She glanced back at Samuel.

Rose glanced back at Samuel too and then looked at Slimantha. “Well, it is not everyday I meet a dashing hero,” she whispered.

Slimantha giggled. “Did you know a bird pilfered his magic sword right out of his hand?”

“You don’t say?” Rose glanced back at Samuel. “How did that happen?”

“He was holding his magic sword up, and the bird swooshed right over him, swooshed away with his magic sword.” Slimantha giggled again.

“What are you two whispering about up there?” Samuel asked, his eyes on the two women.

Slimantha looked back at him. “Just a bit of girl talk,” she said. She looked forward and stretched her arms. A faint smell of smoke hung in the air.

“Bill should be in the grove just up ahead,” Rose said. She looked at Slimantha and then at Samuel. She smiled. “I look forward to seeing you in action, Mr. Hero. Good Luck.”