“She’s boxed us in!” Orion began moving again, but around the edge of the clearing instead of out of it.

“What do we do?” Arika asked.

“She’s playing with us, so let’s give her some entertainment.” Orion tried to give his friends a confident smile, but it felt hollow on his face.

“Now that, I can do.” Honeypot’s smile was genuine.

“Don’t get too close to the Thorn-Spitters,” Orion said. “I think they shoot based on proximity. We still have to kite the three-headed creatures, we just have less room to do so. Arika, can you guess where they’ll be by the time you finish your cast?”

“More or less, but we need a bit more space to be safe.”

“Alright, let’s go then. When you have enough room to cast safely, pull the trigger. We’ll protect you.”

They ran for another twenty-seconds around the giant clearing before Arika planted her feet and began casting her Explosion. The party surrounded her defensively and Orion started looking around for a surprise attack from the Queen.

“Shall I taunt them, Daddy?”

“Not yet…” Orion answered. “Save it for when we really need it. Another wave of monsters could emerge at any time, and you’re our trump card.”

“I am needed and respected for my skill, yet I am denied pain.” Gizmo hummed in consternation. “I am conflicted.”

Orion ignored his familiar as he continued to focus on the perimeter of the clearing. The Thorn-Spitters remained in their positions, and he couldn’t see anything approaching other than the mass of Flytrap Hydras still headed their way. Time seemed to speed by as the plant-monsters approached.

“Their position should be perfect. Ten-seconds left,” Arika said, just loud enough for Orion to hear.

Orion had been counting the seconds too, but he was glad to hear the position was good.

Now we just have to hope for no interference…

“You stand and cast, mage?” The inhuman voice of the Queen of the Forest abruptly laughed, sending a spike of fear deep into Orion’s soul. “What can you hope to do with a single ability, pathetic human? Do not worry, I won’t allow my children to kill you—straight away, that is. We will enjoy and savor your demise.”

“Oh. That is good,” Gizmo said with sincerity.

“I had hoped to have a lot more fun with you,” the Queen of the Forest continued, “but if this is the extent of your resistance, well, maybe I—”

Arika’s Explosion roared into being, and the collection of three-headed monsters before them was consumed by a fireball the size of a house. The flames quickly dissipated, leaving a pile of lifeless, burnt plant-matter.

The Queen hissed loudly and screeched, causing the party to glance around in anticipation of her arrival.

“Fire? You bring fire into my forest? Oh, I will truly enjoy killing you slowly, foul, disgusting mage. Hmmmm, that must be a powerful spell. I wonder how long it will be before you can use it again?” The Queen let out a chittering laugh. “I wonder if you can live that long?”

Another rumbling could be heard, and the party’s watchfulness intensified. From the forest only one-hundred meters from the party, another group of hostile plants emerged. Where the other group was comprised of only the three-headed plants, this one had three different types. The approaching mass contained three-headed Flytrap Hydras, the faster, single-headed Whip Gnashers, and a handful of the Thorn-Spitters. The new group was over double the size in sheer mass.

Almost immediately, the speed difference of the monsters made itself apparent. The single-headed Whip Gnashers were much faster than the Flytrap Hydras, and were taking the lead. The Thorn-Spitters were also running out in front of the main mass of three-headed monsters, but not quite as fast as the single-heads.

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The size and variance of the horde left them with only one choice: hit-and-run tactics.

They let the creatures reach them one at a time, and would then quickly dispatch them via Shadow’s or Honeypot’s blade. Arika’s Explosion still had an hour-long cooldown—which was exactly how much time they had to waste while slowly picking away at the creatures.

A few times, more than one creature reached them at once, their relatively small kiting-circle not allowing for perfect management of the mobs. In those situations, Arika would send Femera out in her flaming-form, Honeypot would use his stun, and in only one truly desperate situation, Orion had simply swapped a creature away. All-the-while, the Queen of the Forest was intermittently laughing and cursing at them.

When all the single-headed plants were slain, Gizmo was sent out to draw the attention of the approaching Thorn-Spitters. After they shot their poisonous-barb out at the robot, it would take them thirty-seconds to form another—they were rarely given the chance, however, as within seconds they were usually decapitated.

When Arika’s cooldown only had five-minutes remaining, every single monster that wasn’t one of the three-headed monstrosities was slain. They calmly kited for the five minutes, then Arika chose a spot and began casting her Explosion. Once again, the party prepared for a surprise attack.

They arranged themselves around Arika in a defensive ring, and everyone waited for an attack from the Queen.

“So scared or a few plants, are we?” the Queen taunted. “Pathetic. You use cheap tricks to slay my minions, but what will you do when I attack? Do you think yourselves able to trick your way around overwhelming power? Ohhh, I cannot wait to pounce.”

The party remained still and continued looking for the Queen’s approach. The attack didn’t come, however—not yet. Arika had once again judged the positioning perfectly, and the Explosion engulfed the slowly approaching monsters. They were annihilated completely, down to the last vine.

The queen laughed again. Orion thought that this time, a hint of frustration joined the mirth. He realized then that they weren’t playing into her game; they were being too competent.

They were under the effect of the stimulant food-buff for another twenty-two hours, but she had no way of knowing that. He quickly shot his team a message, hiding the fact that he opened his interface by going down to his knees and pretending to rest.

Orion: Show signs of fatigue, make it worse with every wave. If we don’t play into her game, she might attack with all her forces at once.

No one responded to Orion, but they all made similar movements to hide that they were checking the message he’d sent.

Honeypot dropped to a knee, letting out a tired sigh. “How much longer can we go on? This forest is hell. We never should have come here.”

Orion struggled not to roll his eyes at his friend’s theatrics, but apparently, the Queen of the Forest wasn’t as good at spotting the subterfuge.

“Ohhh, do you tire, little one? How long can you last? We shall see!” Her chittering laughter oozed from the trees.

Orion smiled to himself as the rumbling of another approaching group started.

We’ll play her game… right up until the moment we take her head.

They took out the next twelve waves over as many hours. With every defeat and the party’s apparently increasing fatigue, the Queen became more excited. She could barely contain herself as fire and heat consumed the fourteenth-wave, and Arika dropped to a knee, making her greatest show of exhaustion yet.

“Ahhhhhhhh! The key to my minion’s execution begins to falter! What will you do now, I wonder?”

“Your minions… cannot… last forever,” Orion said, making a conscious effort to breathe heavily.

“In this, at least, you are correct. My minions cannot last forever. The good news for you is that this will be the last wave of creatures I’m willing to sacrifice for this little game of ours. The bad news is that you will soon face me.” She hissed in anticipation. “I. Cannot. Wait!”

The rumbling started, and the final wave approached.

Orion’s jaw dropped as he saw the sheer amount of approaching monsters—there had to be hundreds of creatures in total. He let his shock show, hoping to encourage the Queen’s view that this was all a game for her pleasure.

“Yesssss!” the Queen of the Forest said. “You see just how futile your efforts have been. Do try to survive, though. I would be ever so disappointed if I didn’t get the chance to kill you myself.”

Ignoring her taunts, the team advanced.

Now that everyone had a better understanding of the range and movement of the different types of monsters, they carried out their plan flawlessly. It took more than an hour to cull the faster creatures safely, after which they were left with a gigantic group of just the three-headed monsters.

Arika chose a position and began casting Explosion once more.

The rest of the party watched in the same defensive formation as before, but it seemed as though the cast would finish with no interference.

“Ooooohh, I cannot wait any longer!”

Orion looked all around, unable to spot the Queen despite her proclamation. Suddenly, he felt power welling up from a gap in the trees. He looked there, focusing all of his attention on the spot, but he still couldn’t see anything.

Without any warning, the power detonated and advanced—flying directly at Arika.

Without thinking, Orion used his Portal ability. He appeared behind Arika and shoved her out of the way of whatever the Queen had done.

He felt something hit the back of his leg, and he looked down to see what had happened.

Shock, horror, and pain warred within him, all trying to take control.

His leg below the knee was completely gone—severed cleanly by something he hadn’t even been able to see.