“So this is Rose’s Garden,” Slimantha said, walking backwards upon a gray stone path through the garden. Her beautiful brown eyes were on Samuel. Her black shoes lightly tapped upon the gray stones beneath her. She gestured to her right. “To the right of the path, there are plants.”
Samuel glanced in the direction the chipper slime summoner had gestured. There were, in fact, plants there. Well, it was a garden. His blue eyes went back to the backwards-walking slime summoner. “That may be the right for you, but that is the left for us,” he said. “You’re walking backwards.”
Slimantha blinked and then smiled. “And to the other side”—she gestured to her left now—“there are more plants.”
“You really don’t need to point out that there are plants.” Samuel sighed. “It is a garden after all.” The soft footfalls of Mimi and Black came from behind him. “Could you turn around before you slip or something though?”
“Turn around?” Slimantha glanced at Mimi and Black before her beautiful brown eyes returned to Samuel. She smiled again. “Don’t worry about it. I am quite dexterous.” She thrust her chest out proudly and somehow managed to slip at the same time. She blinked. Her vision skewed upwards. Overhead, large panes of glass set into the otherwise stone ceiling let in light. Apart from the glass panes, though, the ceiling was crafted of gray stone. She blinked again.
Samuel caught Slimantha by her wrists. A soft blush came to his face at the touch of her soft tan skin. “What was that I was saying about slipping?” he said, pulling her up. He released her wrists, and an embarrassed flush came to her face.
“I guess I maybe should turn around.” Slimantha sheepishly put her right hand behind her head and then turned around. A snicker from a certain cat woman, Black, came from behind her. Slimantha’s footfalls then stopped. So too did the footfalls of Samuel, Mimi, and Black.
A squawk came from further down the gray stone path. Long green vines batted at crows. A certain tall green-skinned woman stood in the path, her beautiful pink eyes flitting from crow to crow. She swung her arms, the long locks of her lustrous pink hair swaying with the movement. The vines responded to her, striking at the crows. The tall green-skinned woman was Rose the Plant Woman.
A startled squawk sounded, followed by a caw. More crows came, and they intensified their effort to take out the plant woman. Rose pouted and swung both her arms up. Vines reached out forming a barrier in front of her. The crows pulled back and grouped upon the stone path. Then something big—something big and green—came crashing down. The crows scattered and fled. The vines pulled away.
“Thanks for the assist, Frogleton,” Rose said, her pink eyes on the large green frog in front of her. She smiled.
Frogleton, the big green thing that scattered the crows, turned to face Rose. He gave a pleasant ribbit and then turned to Slimantha’s group. He ribbitted again.
“Hello to you too, Frogleton,” Slimantha said, stepping up to Frogleton and Rose. Samuel, Mimi, and Black followed her over. The slime summoner turned to Rose. “Hi, Rose. What’s up?”
“Oh,” Rose said, her beautiful pink eyes going to Slimantha. “Hi, Slimantha. Frogleton and me were just dealing with some rowdy crows. What’s up with …” Her eyes went to Samuel. A smile flashed across her face. “Did you come to visit me, Mr. Hero?” She stepped up to Samuel. She leaned closer to him.
“I-If you say so,” Samuel said, taking a step back. Rose, the tall green-skinned woman standing barefoot in front of him, wore a gray short-sleeved crop-top and matching hot-pants.
Rose smiled an even bigger smile at his answer. Giddily, she grabbed his left hand in her right hand and began pulling him deeper into her garden. “Come on. I’ll give you a tour.” She pointed at various flowers as she pulled him even deeper into her garden.
Slimantha blinked, her beautiful brown eyes on Rose and Samuel as the pair grew more distant. Beside her, Frogleton ribbitted. She glanced at Frogleton, then at Mimi, and finally at Black. Then her eyes went back to Rose and Samuel, the pair even more distant now. “Hey, wait for us!” she called out, raising her right hand up.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Some time later, Slimantha, along with the rest of her group, had reached the center of the garden. Here, a lovely fountain built of gray stone sprayed water up into the air. Slimantha and the rest of her group—yes, even Frogleton—stood beside the fountain.
Rose pressed closer to Samuel and fluttered her beautiful pink eyes at him. “So what do you think of my garden?” she said. The fountain was at her right, and a few droplets of fountain water made contact with the green skin of her right leg. She leaned closer to Samuel and fluttered her eyes again.
“It is pretty,” Samuel said. He gave her a smile, and she smiled back.
Rose then pulled back. She shifted her weight from side to side, a dreamy look on her face. Her beautiful pink eyes then went back to Samuel. “Why don’t I give you a private tour?” Rose smiled at Samuel again. “Just the two of us.” She reached out and touched Samuel’s left arm with the fingertips of her right hand. “How about a private tour of a big pink blossom?” She winked her right eye at him.
“Big pink blossom?” Samuel blinked. He glanced at Slimantha, who gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up with her right hand. Then his eyes went back to Rose. “What do you mean by big pink blossom?”
Rose smiled. “Just a little something like this.” She gestured to her left, and a large pink bloom sprouted up. A moment later, a pop sounded, and the blossom’s petals separated. She stepped up into the now opened flower. “Care to join me. It will just be the two of us when the blossom closes.” A soft pink blush settled in on her face. “It’s perfect for a private tour,” she said, placing extra emphasis on the word private.
“I-I’m good,” Samuel said, turning the blushing plant woman down. His own face had turned quite red as well.
Rose sighed, her complexion returning to its normal green. She stepped out of the giant pink blossom and then crouched down, a dejected look on her face. “You’re coming on too strong, Rose,” she murmured—perhaps a little too loud.
A ribbit drew Slimantha’s attention to Frogleton. The tan-skinned slime summoner blinked as Frogleton gave another ribbit. “The crows?” She brought her right hand to her chin and closed her eyes for a moment. “They are kind of troublesome currently. You haven’t seen some chick named Latril, have you? She’s their leader. She’s a bird woman with black wings.” Frogleton ribbitted again. “So you haven’t then.”
Rose blinked and then straightened up. She stepped up to Slimantha and Frogleton. “Are the crows trying to take over Bleakfyre or something?” she said.
“Well”—Slimantha’s beautiful brown eyes went to Rose—“it seems like it.” Slimantha smiled. “You two want to join us on our quest to kick the butt of the crow boss?”
“Actually, I think I’ll just stay here to protect my garden.” Rose smiled, and then a ribbit drew her beautiful pink eyes to Frogleton. Her eyes went back to Slimantha. “Frogleton says he will help me protect the garden, so Frogleton and me will stay here. Good luck on defeating the crow boss though.” Rose then turned to Samuel and stepped up to him. She fluttered her eyes at the hero. “You want to help me protect my garden?”
Samuel sweatdropped. “I’m good,” he said. “I’ll be helping Slimantha with the whole crow thing.” He put his right hand behind his head. “Can’t just let these crows run rampant after all.”
“I see,” Rose said. She pouted. Frogleton hopped up beside her and ribbitted. “Well, good luck with the crow thing then.” Rose stepped up to the fountain, Frogleton following her. The giant frog ribbitted again, and Rose glanced at him. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”
Slimantha turned to Samuel, Mimi, and Black. “So should we just go with the old reliable approach of wonder around aimlessly until we find Latril?”
“Well”—Mimi sighed—“I don’t really have a better idea so why not.” The mimic then blinked. “Wait a moment.” Her lovely golden eyes went to Samuel. So too did the eyes of Slimantha and Black.
“Pray tell why you three are suddenly all staring at me,” Samuel said, a drop of sweat rolling down his right cheek.
“You are Bleakfyre’s hero, aren’t you?” Mimi said. “Shouldn’t you have some sort of plan for this?” Her golden eyes were still on Samuel.
Samuel closed his blue eyes. “Well, if you must know”—he opened his eyes—“how about we just wonder around aimlessly until we find Latril?” He got a facepalm in response from Mimi.
“I wholeheartedly approve of this plan,” Slimantha said. “Well, it is my plan too, so why wouldn’t I approve of it?” Determination burned in her beautiful brown eyes. “To Bleakfyre’s roads.” She pointed down the gray stone path whence they came.