Rep and Zalan were held up by a half dozen guards, carried like bags of flour. They were completely at their mercy. The duo were barely able to crane their necks enough to look at Ma. The guards gripped them with immense strength, leaving no room for Rep or Zalan to be able to shake themselves free. Even in the case that Zalan decided to imbue himself with lightning, the first moment they received a zap he was sure they could punch a hole through his stomach. The sheer difference in Strength was enough to terrify him into looking at Ma as his only way out of this.

“Go on, then. What kind of favor can you do me? With utmost loyalty?” Ma asked, sounding genuinely interested. It seemed she wasn’t often offered such sincere favors. Especially when those approaching her were asking for a favor.

Zalan looked between the guards, then up to the ceiling of flowers. Rep trembled in the guards’ arms, not able to think of anything to say.

“Flowers!” Zalan said desperately. “We can get you flowers!”

He felt stupid, but it was the only thing he could think of. There were flowers all over the mansion, surely they had to have some hold on Ma’s heart. Ma looked passively interested. She waved a hand at her guards. They released Zalan and Rep’s legs, allowing them to stand. But their arms were still subdued in a tight lock. The negotiations were progressing well to Zalan. There was no more talk about having bones broken.

“What kind of flower?” Ma asked, raising an eyebrow.

Zalan immediately ran out of ideas. He didn’t know varieties of flowers.

“Poppyville!” Rep jumped in without much more of a plan.

“Right, we can go to Poppyville and get whatever kind of flower you want!” Zalan promised.

“I have no need for Poppyville’s variety of flowers,” Ma dismissed. But she didn’t order her guards to take them away. She was still interested in Zalan’s proposition. Even the darkness of the room had backed away a fraction. Zalan was too focused on saying the right thing to figure out what that meant.

“Any flower! We can get them all!” Rep promised in a panic.

“We can get you whatever it takes to fill that beautiful vase on your desk,” Zalan said, indicating with a stretch of his head to the vase with the dead flower.

Ma snapped her fingers. For a second of pure dread, nothing happened. Zalan couldn’t tell if that snap meant their legs were to be broken. A moment later, both Rep and Zalan were released, falling to the floor and catching their breath.

“You can get me Nightbloom?” Ma asked, the darkness in the room entirely dissipating.

Rep looked up nervously. He looked confused and began to ask a question.

“What is Night—”

“Yeah, we can get you Nightbloom,” Zalan answered before Rep made them sound incapable.

“You can?” Ma smiled. Zalan would have sworn she was unable to do it until he saw it himself. Her eyes shined with glee. “This may sound hard to believe, but I have the means to keep it alive. Unfortunately, none of these buffoons working for me can get me a living sample.”

Zalan swallowed hard. Why would it be difficult for people three times his Level to get a flower? What was guarding it?

“We can do it,” Zalan assured her, regardless of his hesitations. Anything to be set free.

Ma looked over Rep and Zalan curiously.

“Very well, I suppose that is a fine negotiation for me. Get me living Nightbloom and I will both forgive you and grant you McKittrick and his vessel. Free of charge. Fail to get me Nightbloom, and I will take that as an act of disloyalty. Your name will be sullied in the streets of Oriton. I will have your original punishment carried out. If your face is seen anywhere in Oriton by any of my men, your legs will be broken and you will be cast out to sea. Does that sound fair?” Ma asked, eager for them to proceed.

Zalan and Rep were too terrified by her tone to respond.

“Of course it is fair. I am never unfair. Now, go on. Get the Nightbloom,” Ma said, dismissing them excitedly.

“Thank you,” Rep said, polite even in the face of fear.

Before Zalan and Rep could think to say anything more, they were half-dragged, half-pushed out of the room. Rep and Zalan stumbled a dozen times as they tried to balance themselves upright. The doors to the mansion were pulled open and they were pushed out harshly, landing on their sides.

As soon as they were forcefully removed from the entrance, the majority of the guards returned to Ma’s inner room. Only Oshrad remained outside, looking over the two friends. Zalan and Rep were trembling, grateful to escape without more pain than a few scrapes and bumps.

“You know what a Nightbloom is?” Oshrad suddenly asked.

Zalan and Rep didn’t move. They didn’t even want to look at one another and indicate the fact they knew nothing of the flower. They stared numbly at Oshrad. The looming man scoffed.

“I am not going to hurt you, I promise you. I simply wish to know what you know,” Oshrad suggested, sounding sincere.

Neither Zalan nor Rep believed him. They remained silent. He reached his hands out and the duo scrambled away a few inches. He left his hands hanging and they realized he was offering to help them to their feet. They hesitantly took his hands and were pulled quickly to their feet.

“Boys. Listen. I want Ma to be happy. And I know a Nightbloom would make her happy. So, I will tell you where to find them,” Oshrad said.

Zalan and Rep looked hopeful, but still said nothing.

“Do you know where the Cliffs of Shadow are located?” Oshrad asked.

Again, he received no response.

“Come on now, do you know where it is or not?” Oshrad demanded, his caring tone gone.

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“Yes, I know of it. South of Oriton,” Rep nodded.

“Good. The flowers are just under the peak. They prefer darkness. Thrive in it, in fact. Be careful about picking them, they are incredibly sensitive plants,” Oshrad explained. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the Homeseeker and Reversal Stone. Zalan picked them up carefully, glad to have them back in his possession. The guard also returned their weapons.

“Ummm, what do the flowers look like?” Rep asked, finally revealing they didn’t know of Nightbloom before offering to get them. Oshrad didn’t seem to mind the admission.

“They have thick stems and are a faded pink color. They have a faint smell of ripe fruits. And you will find them in darkness,” Oshrad said.

“Thank you,” Zalan said, for both the Artifacts and the advice.

“Ma has been blinded by your mention of this flower, granting you immense mercy. But I am interested in the scars across your form, Zalan. Makes me believe you’re capable of pushing yourself to limits beyond what others might imagine possible. Regardless, I have my reservations about the two of you. Do not disappoint Ma. Or I will deliver your punishment personally. I may be inclined to break more than just a few legs,” Oshrad said as though it was a casual conversation.

He gave a quick glance at their feet and Zalan realized he was threatening to break his toes. It would have been amusing if Zalan wasn’t so shaken up. Rep and Zalan had no response for him, swallowing hard instead.

“Go on then, do not delay,” Oshrad pushed the two of them in their chests.

Now tasting freedom, Zalan and Rep spun around and bolted away from Ma’s building. They kept running until they were back at the other end of the docks, far away from Ma and her people’s watchful eyes. They leaned over, panting hard after the run and looked up at one another.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more afraid of someone in my life,” Zalan said as he panted.

“Captain Buttonwillow was being honest when he recommended not to offer any money!” Rep said. “My blunder almost cost us dearly.”

“He also made it sound like visiting her would be so casual! She was ready to eat us alive!”

“It took less than two minutes for her to decide we were not worth our legs!” Rep said, gasping for air.

“And now we have to get a flower that not even people three times our Strength could manage?” Zalan asked.

“Indeed,” Rep said, standing at full height. “Well done, Zalan.”

“Well done? How are we supposed to pull that off?”

“I do not know. But not knowing how to retrieve a flower is much preferable to having my legs destroyed and my mutilated body thrown into the sea,” Rep said confidently.

“Right. Well, at least you know where the Cliffs of Shadow are, right?” Zalan asked.

“Indeed,” Rep nodded.

“And I take it you also want to get moving as soon as possible because you don’t want Ma changing her mind while we’re still in town?”

“Indeed.”

“Great, me too. Let’s move.” Zalan nodded.

They made their way back to the alley between the port and the town. The darkness of the alley invited more shady characters to watch them as they made their way through. Zalan looked closely to see if his robber was among them, but couldn’t find him. Then, he had an idea.

“Listen up! We’re on official business for Ma. Anyone who disrupts our work is going to be reported directly to her,” Zalan announced.

The eyes watching them widened in fear and recognition. They slinked away without another word, no one willing to challenge them in the case they were bluffing. Zalan felt like a toddler informing a bully his older sibling was just around the corner, but couldn’t be upset with the results. Rep smiled, impressed with his friend as they continued totally undisturbed.

“Are the Cliffs of Shadow far from Oriton?” Zalan asked.

“No. In fact we should be able to make it there before the end of the day,” Rep ventured.

“But that’s just the time it takes to get there. Do you know if there are any monsters that live on the cliffs?” Zalan asked.

Rep shook his head.

“Not only do I not know the creatures on the cliffs, but we will be traveling off any safe paths. We may come across any number of creatures between here and our destination,” Rep said, sighing.

Zalan thought hard about his next question before asking it.

“Should we wait for Nold? It would probably be a lot easier if we could rely on his help,” Zalan suggested.

To Zalan’s surprise, Rep didn’t immediately reject the idea. He mulled it over in his head for a few seconds, chewing the inside of his lip lightly.

“No, I do not think that is the best course of action. Regardless of my hesitations toward Nold, we could be waiting a long time. What if he does not come directly back to Oriton and makes a stop on the way? Even if he were coming directly, he is still at least four days away by my estimation. I do not wish to look as though we are doing nothing for four days. I do not even want to be doing nothing for four hours,” Rep said.

It seemed Rep had come to the same paranoid conclusion that Zalan had. Ma didn’t give them a time limit. There could be an arbitrary amount of time in which she decided they had failed the task required of them. What if Ma had informants in the city, watching out to make sure her favors were done expediently? Zalan didn’t put it past her. She already felt like the equivalent to a mob boss that owned the city. And the fact Rep seemed to share the sentiment made Zalan even more confident.

“Yeah, that makes sense. In that case, let’s just get food and get going,” Zalan said.

They purchased enough food for a few days from a nearby vendor. Making their way to the southern gate of Oriton, they were stopped by two guards at the exit. Zalan recognized one of them as the one who saved his life when he was running from a Flamestriker in his first minutes in the realm, Sir Kilile.

“Look who it is! Tired of your hometown yet again?” Sir Kilile asked Rep, grinning.

“I think it is good to see Journey House guild members constantly on a journey. Very fitting,” the other said, nodding with approval.

“We have a pressing matter that requires that we leave immediately,” Rep said, though he smiled back at his former mentor.

“Oh, of course, pressing matters. Where did this esteemed guest you’re guiding everywhere come from? Zalan seems to either be cursed with adventure or addicted to it,” Sir Kilile winked at him. Zalan blinked, stunned that the guard even remembered his name.

“I’m uhhh…” Zalan scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. “Just trying to make sure Ma stays happy.”

Sir Kilile’s grin was gone in an instant, the other guard looking grave.

“What have you gotten yourself into?” Sir Kilile leaned in and asked, his voice low.

“Do you need our help to escape?” the other guard asked.

“I am grateful for your offer, Sir Rolcoth, but we are fine. We have made a deal with Ma. Flowers for a voyage across the sea,” Rep said.

Eyes narrowing, Rolcoth assessed the words.

“She does love her flowers.”

“You really should stray away from Ma,” Kilile added.

“We were rushed into it by her guards,” Zalan said.

“And you could not fight your way out? I thought you entered the Elemental Rage Tournament! How did you fare?” Kilile asked.

“I made it to the Quarterfinals and Zalan to the finals, but we both lost,” Rep admitted.

“I am proud of you for trying, regardless,” Kilile said, to which Rep beamed.

“A finalist and you could not find your way out of Ma’s guards’ clutches?” Rolcoth asked.

“We only saw the Level of one guard, and he was Level 17,” Zalan explained.

Kilile and Rolcoth went quiet, a shocked expression passed between them.

“I think it is best you did not try to fight back,” Rolcoth said in a small voice.

“Go on and do Ma her favor before they decide you are taking too long,” Kilile encouraged, ushering Rep and Zalan outside the gate.

Together, the duo made their way onto the path south of Oriton, ready to take on the dangers at the Cliffs of Shadow.