“These things give me the creeps,” Matt said as they set out to explore the next morning.

The sun streamed down through a light fog—an eerie start to the day. Neon plant tendrils punched up through the gravemist and writhed in slow motion towards the sun. Mountains lined the meadow and a hint of two moons were visible. The pink one was gone.

Matt walked by the skeleton of a bush, which had two green tendrils wiggling straight up through its branches. A stunted tree had split its trunk overnight, crown folded over, resting on the ground. A green sprout shot out of the exposed break, squirming.

“Is it just me, or did they get taller?” Kurtis said.

“Taller,” agreed Val. She’d stretched her flight suit over her hands and was batting away the squiggling vines with her sleeves.

Fallyn surveyed the meadow with concern. “It gets thicker down there.” She nodded forward.

Oh, goody, Matt thought.

Matt tried to use his swords as machetes, but no more cut the fog than the plant life. The neon tendrils effortlessly bent out of the way. He stumbled from the effort, blades glinting in the sunshine.

Damn it.

Matt Blood Slashed, streaming faint red lines through the foggy scene. The grasses he hit gave off quiet hissing squeaks, like deflating balloons, as they curled back to the ground. Gravemist flowed over the shriveled vines hiding the evidence. Matt crouched to investigate. They weren’t lootable.

“Feel better?” Fallyn asked, thumbs in two pockets of her black tactical vest.

“A little,” Matt admitted, standing.

He stowed his swords. It wasn’t worth the stamina. Matt checked his Quest Log periodically as they walked but the quest still showed as incomplete.

The plants—if that’s even what they were—kept getting more dense, the deeper they went into the meadow. It was like walking through an alien grass field. It came up to their waists and hid their feet. The sprouts weren’t hurting him, but the feeling of them wiggling against his legs—Matt couldn’t be done with it soon enough.

He checked his log again. Still not complete. Damn it.

“Guys…” Kurtis flared his ears. “I think I hear something.”

Swords back out, Matt stepped cautiously. All he could see was his party, and then the creepy grass and sunbeams illuminating bands of fog. Val swept the area in front of them with her bow, half-drawn. It glinted iridescent blue as she turned.

“Maybe it wasn’t…” Kurtis said, but then his ears flicked up again.

Then Matt heard a giggle. He froze. Bloodshot eyes rose above the neon plant matter. One of the eyes hung out of its socket, dangling over a tan furry snout which ended in saber teeth and a black nose.

Matt hissed as his heads-up display appeared. “Why does it have to be squirrels?”

Bright purple light torpedoed the rodent as Matt ran in. It was Level 10 and rotting flesh drooped from its arms. It clutched a giant acorn all the same.

“Don’t you dare throw that at me!” Matt yelled.

Two more zombie squirrel heads popped up from the neon wiggle like a whack-a-mole.

Matt Blood slashed, hitting plant and squirrel alike. His arms glowed blue and he left trails of red in the fog. “I hate you!”

The greenery shriveled—that deflating balloon sound—revealing more of the squirrels’ bodies. One of their tails was stripped of fur, except for a tuft at the end. It giggled then its two undead companions echoed the sound. Then two more bounced in, making it five versus four.

Blood Slash. Twin pale red lines lingered in the fog.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Squirrel hatred!” Val cheered, midnight arrow thwacking into one’s head.

“Oof.” A decaying acorn clunked off Matt’s front trashcan lid.

Then squirrel that had thrown it launched at Matt with its claws. Razors gouged his biceps.

“Get off!” Matt yelled, health down a third.

Matt activated Shadow Flurry and black shards whipped around him. The frenzied creature ignored them, kept attacking, kept taking damage.

Blood Slash.

Rapid Regeneration.

“Aah!” Val screamed.

The squirrel in front of Matt dropped. Then a sound like a scream through a kazoo blasted from Matt’s left. It came from two zombie squirrels trapped by crystal shards. They had already thrown their acorns and were struggling to get free.

The other two squirrels had run right to the ranged group. Kurtis’ arm fur was matted with blood and Val had a scratch across her cheek. Fallyn had ducked behind them.

“I hate you!” Val screamed and jabbed a squirrel in the head, using an arrow like a knife. “I hate you, I hate you!” She punctuated with stabs.

Shit, I hope she’s never mad at me.

Matt Blood Slashed an X across the two squirrels in front of his friends. Then the one Val was stabbing died. The princess pilot archer stepped back and shot a short-range arrow into the second rodent. The crystal-trapped squirrels continued to struggle in behind.

Fallyn blasted the single squirrel with arcane light. Kurtis whacked it with his staff.

Could he be out already?

Matt Blood Slashed. The beast slumped to the ground. Then he turned to face the two trapped squirrels, just in time to catch two acorns with his side.

“Agh!” Matt yelled.

They regenerate? Fuck, I hate these things. The Level 0 ones didn’t do that!

Matt ran up to them and they giggled, getting ready with their claws. He Blood Slashed. Razor fingers caught Matt’s hands mid-swing. Flesh hung from his knuckles. Matt drew in a ragged breath.

Work faster, he wished as the blue sparks interlaced.

“Left first,” Fallyn called.

Then a fog horn sounded.

Matt backed off the trapped enemies. “What was that?”

No one answered.

“Guys?” Matt asked, searching the neon squiggles.

Then squirrel after zombie squirrel popped its head up like a dog hearing the word ‘food.’ There must have been twenty of them. Half of the beasts were missing parts of their face or had an eyeball hanging down or removed.

The fog horn sounded again. The ground rumbled.

This can’t be good.

Three Level 12 wacky waving inflatable tube men with gold borders around their health shot up from the neon wiggling grasses.

“Run?!” Kurtis yelled.

“Run!” Matt echoed, legs already in motion.

The fog horn sounded again.

A hail of acorns chased them as they fled, followed shortly by an army of giggles and claws.

Shit, shit, shit!

Matt didn’t know where to go. Would they elastic band like the kappa? He couldn’t run for long. His stamina had started at half. He frantically followed his friends.

Please, have a plan!

An acorn hit Matt’s calve; another struck his left hand.

Damn it!

Another acorn—this time to the head.

“Agh!”

Then Fallyn darted left.

“What?” Matt breathed and found himself in a cave.

It was dark. His stamina had run out. He couldn’t see.

“Back here,” Val called in a loud whisper.

Matt high-stepped towards her voice, arms outstretched feeling the air ahead. Then his toe caught some sort of ledge. He stumbled over and caught himself on a rough textured wall.

“Back here,” Val repeated.

Matt felt along the rock face until it ended a few feet to the left. It bent a little more than 90 degrees.

A passage?

The acorns had stopped. He didn’t hear scrapes against the floor. He didn’t hear giggles. But he didn’t dare slow down.

Matt high-stepped cautiously, following the wall. It curved gently and revealed a dim golden light. Val, Kurtis, and Fallyn huddled beside the source. A stranger held up a candle lantern. It said ‘Spelunker Leroy’ in white letters above his head.

“Hello, travelers?” the short man in a white double-pocketed shirt and Tilly hat said. His lantern hung on a chain and it swung a little when he talked.

“Found a friend.” Val thumbed at Leroy.

“They didn’t come in, right?” Fallyn asked.

“I didn’t see any.” Matt shook his head.

“Hello, travelers?” Leroy repeated.

“I don’t hear them,” Kurtis added.

“How did you find this place?” Matt asked.

“Hello, travelers?”

“Should we, uh…” Val pointed at Leroy. “You know...”

Matt looked around at the blackness. The lantern barely lit their party and the man. The wall behind them sparked slightly under the candle’s flicker, but Matt couldn’t see the rest of the room.

“Hello, Leroy.” Matt sighed as a familiar blur rose around him.

“Thank the gods, good traveler! I have been trapped down here. Hazel sent me to investigate the meadow but then the gravemist… If I go out there, it could kill me—or worse! Will you help me, traveler?”

“How can I help?” Matt droned, complying with the call-and-response.

“Oh, thank you, traveler! Before I left, Hazel was working on something, a potion I think. It wasn’t this bad back then. Go see if it’s ready and if you can bring me some.”

Great, back to the squirrels.

“Okay,” Matt said. Then the world unblurred and he noticed Kurtis was gone. Shit, we’re in a cave. Was he okay? “Kurtis?”

“He went to check,” calmed Fallyn.

They waited in the dim glow.

“About half the squirrels are gone.” Kurtis ducked into the light. “More run away every minute. The big tall things are… deflating? Deflating slowly?”

“They had one of those at the dealer where I bought my truck,” Fallyn said.

She drives a truck? Matt would have guessed a practical car, maybe a hybrid.

“They have ‘em where I live too,” Val said. Then sadness crept into her voice and she added, “Or, I guess, where I lived.”

“I’ll check back in a few minutes,” Kurtis said.