The Staircase was a single, straight flight of stairs leading up into an eerie, inky blackness. Vines and ivy lined the steps and draped down the sheer rock walls that flanked the steps.

Elissa started for the stairs, but Gruff once again grabbed her arm.

“Hold up missy. I didn’t head up there before. This has been too easy, and I don’t trust that the magic isn’t trying to lull us into a false sense of security.”

Elissa crossed her arms. “I’ll wait then. By all means, check it out and come back once you figure out that it’s safe.”

Gruff narrowed his eyes. “I’m not the sort to let ignorant pride get my people killed. If you want to head up into the obviously evil miasma of death, be my guest, but I am not sending my men up there.”

She rolled her eyes. “Nothing has gone wrong, so why are you so tense? In the worst case scenario, something starts going weird and we book it out of here. No harm no foul.”

Gruff’s narrowed eyes widened slightly and Elissa could see his jaw tighten. “Nothing has gone wrong, ey? No harm no foul. Is that right? Well let me ask you something. In your many years as an illustrious researcher, did you ever learn to count?”

Elissa widened her eyes in mock surprise. “Oh you know,” she said in a similarly mocking tone, “I don’t think that in the seven years of advanced galactic courses I ever learned how to do that. You know, maybe I should take the basic courses again, see if they teach it now.”

“Maybe you should. How many of us are there, missy. Tell me that.”

She rolled her eyes again, but answered the question. “Seven. Myself and a security detail of six.”

Gruff glared at her, but didn’t say anything.

After a solid twenty seconds, Elissa shifted uncomfortably. “What?” she finally snapped.

“You’re wrong. Three soldiers up here. Two at the door. You. Count again, genius.”

Elissa’s heart dropped and her stomach tightened. She suddenly felt cold. “W-What do you mean? Did you leave someone at the edge of the forest?” Surely we would have left someone back to guard the transport, right?

…

“Did… did one of them ask to go back home? Did he lose his nerve or something?”

After another moment of silent, steely glaring, Gruff nodded his head towards the stairs. “Have fun up there, missy. Hope you get enough info before you and your little drone get torn to pieces.” He gestured for Clarence and the other soldier to follow him back through the house.

Elissa only had to watch them walk away in silent shock for a moment, because the silence was soon broken by a pair of shouts, which morphed into a single panicked scream.

Gruff and the two soldiers turned and ran back to Elissa.

“Forget about going upstairs we’re getting out through a window right now.”

The screaming hadn’t stopped.

“Wh-what about them? What about… about-” she strained to remember his name, “-Arthur. What about Ar-”

“Arthur is the one you didn’t notice. Now MOVE.”

Clarence spoke up, voice obviously tense, but it did waver one note. “I haven’t seen any windows yet, sir. I think they’re all on upper floors.”

Gruff swore, which shocked Elissa out of her daze. “But, those two could still be ali-” the scream abruptly stopped. “-ve…”

Gruff glanced around and swore again. “Looks like you’ll get your wish after all, miss. Everyone up the stairs.” He took the lead, sword out and at the ready. The other soldier pushed Elissa forward, while Clarence pulled out his gun and followed them backward up the stairs, keeping an eye out behind them.

As they approached the darkness it became more and more evident that it was not natural darkness, sitting as a sort of sheet over the top step to the landing. In order to get out, they would have to go through it.

Gruff didn’t hesitate, stepping into it without missing a beat. He poked his head out immediately thereafter. “It didn’t kill me, so it’s better than whatever’s down there, come on!”

Elissa wasn’t given a chance to think, as the other soldier (I should give him a nickname too…) dragged her forwards through it.

She’d been expecting the darkness to be cold, but it just felt like running through a silk blanket.

The upstairs was even more covered in greenery, leaves crunching beneath her feet with every step, and ivy caressing her face as it hung from ceiling.

“Get a move on!” Gruff shouted from halfway down a hall.

Elissa was pushed along. She turned her head to see if Clarence still followed, but he hadn’t come through yet.

“Wait, we need to wait for-”

“He’d dead or dying, Davis! Move!”

She was dragged along by- (Dead… dying… why didn’t I give the door-guards nicknames either?) -as they followed Gruff through a maze of creepers, climbers, crawlers, and all manner of leafery.

They finally reached a window, the hanging plants stopping a foot or two away from the sill.

Gruff peered down. “Good, there are vines here. Grab on, but don’t hold on too tight. Just follow it down as fast as you c-”

Elissa screamed.

She’d been looking out at the forest. The moss, the dark, dark red moss was dripping, sliding off the trees like- (No!) -a liquid. Running down, surrounding the castle in a moat of red moss.

“Sunev take it all!” Gruff swore, shocking Elissa out of her horror again. But to her surprise, he wasn’t looking at the moss. He had turned back towards the hall and was staring at the ivies.

They shivered with an unnatural breeze, twisting around, slowly moving like a million tentacles reaching out for something to grab.

Gruff turned to look back out the window, but more moss streamed in from the forest. He looked back at the ivies. “Hang it all. Moss can’t strangle you. Out the-”

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“No.” The other soldier pulled his gun and switched his sword to his right hand. “The last research team found that the moss is toxic. That much would kill you just as surely as if I stabbed you right now.” He turned to Gruff. “Sir.”

Elissa could tell that there were leagues being said with that one word, but she didn’t, or couldn’t know what it was.

She glanced back down the hall and nearly screamed again. The ivies weren’t slowly, calmly reaching around anymore. They strained forward towards them. But aside from that, the thick vines that had been climbing the stairs, had evidently finished their climb, because they now slithered down the hall like great, leafy snakes.

BANG!

A loud ringing filled her ears, and several more shots were fired into the thickest of the vines. They didn’t stop, slithering on, despite their fresh wounds.

The soldier pulled a flare out of his bag, lighting it and flinging it amongst the ivy, catching them on fire, before darting forward under the flaming plants, and swinging his sword into the vines. The vines suddenly moved incredibly quickly, wrapping up around his legs and torso, but he lifted his arms above him before the vines could pin them. He set to hacking the vines and ivies above him as well, losing form and flailing about almost like a madman.

Griff grabbed Elissa and dragged her forward, pulling her through flaming ivies and past the coil of vines.

“What are you doing!?” Elissa screamed at him.

“Saving your starving life!” Gruff shouted back at her, opening a door and shoving her through into a surprisingly empty room.

He slammed the door shut, flipping a stone table over and pushing it over to block the crack beneath the door. Unfortunately, it didn’t block the sound of screaming that started shortly thereafter.

The room had no window, which was unfortunate, but it also didn’t have any foliage.

What it did have, however, was a person.

The person lay on a bed of sorts, very old, ratty clothes draped on him like he were a coat rack. He looked rather young, but simultaneously very old and very ill.

He sat up slowly and smiled at Elissa and Gruff. “Hello there.”

“You can speak En-” Elissa started, before Gruff covered her mouth with a hand, but the strange man laughed.

“I’m not really speaking right now. If I were, neither of us would be able to understand each other. You can thank Elthe for this.”

Gruff glowered at Elissa. “Don’t let him waste our time.” He turned to the man. “Do you control the vines? Call them off. Let us go. We won’t come back.”

The man laughed again. “I don’t control the vines. The vines merely are. They are like trained animals, only without the capacity for even the most basic of emotions. They kill only because it is what they were… you might say programmed, to do. But enough of that. You don’t want me to waste your time, so let me answer you. No. I won’t let you go. You understand nothing, and would act on impulse. The magic of this world has a purpose.”

“Death. A grim purpose, but if you let us go, I will make sure that we strike these coordinates and classify this planet as threat level 7. No one within the Galactic Court will come near you.”

“I think not. But if you want your friend not to die in vain, you might want to leave.”

Elissa pulled Gruff’s hand off her mouth. “We’ll just die anyway so tell us, who are you? How are you still alive? What is going on here?”

“We don’t have time-!”

Elissa scowled at Gruff. “We’ll die. You asked me if it would be worth it if we all died. I don’t know, but it definitely won’t be if we get no information.” She turned back to glare at the man.

“Information before death? That I will allow you. After all, the story is simple. A civil war broke out in the kingdom. Duke Augdes and Duke Ieysig joined forces to conquer Duke Cavren. I did not wish for that to happen. Elthe, the Baron Hidness’s wife, gave me a ritual that would protect this land from intruders. All it would take was my life and tie to magic. I thought myself ready to give both. Unfortunately, I did not realize what it meant. Magic took my life and tie, but it didn’t end them as I’d thought. It claimed them. I now protect a land that is devoid of my lord and his people. Or rather, the land protects it, and I stay here, a puppet. The end.” The man shrugged.

“So then, you are Count Keuric?”

“The one and only. Count of Bramblekeep, and kept by the brambles.” The Count smiled. “Was that all?”

Gruff scowled. “No. Tell me this. How do we stop you?”

“You can’t, I’m afraid. I’m tied to magic now. That is why I can talk to you. Magic speaks to anyone, which means it must be able to speak to everyone. But I belabor a minute detail. Magic has settled here. As long as it remains here… the land will protect itself.”

Gruff nodded. “I thought as much,” he said, sheathing his sword.

Keuric looked up sadly. “I have resigned myself to living until this planet burns. A near eternity as… how might you put it? An accessory to murder. A near pity.”

Gruff narrowed his eyes.

Bang!

Elissa gasped.

Gruff scowled, holstering his gun and grabbing the small spherical drone from over Elissa shoulder. He stared straight into the camera. “To the family of David Arthur. Your son did not die in vain. He paid the ultimate sacrifice in service of his country and planet. He was a good soldier, and a good man. You have my personal, and sincere condolences. … To the family of Charles Wingless. Your son lost his life in the line of duty, defending and guarding innocents, in service of his country and planet. He…” Gruff continued speaking, pulling his sword out of its sheath.

Without pausing in his speeches, he handed the sword hilt-first to Elissa.

“I-”

Gruff glared at her without pausing, thrusting the sword at her.

Elissa accepted the sword, confused, and then scared, as the stone table somehow began to wiggle as vines pushed against it.

“To the family of Jason Flemming…”

I don’t even know who’s who. I’m going to die here, not being able to put a name to a single one of the men who sacrificed their lives for this…

The table began to slide, ever so slowly, away from the door.

“-sincere condolences. … To the family of Garth Svelthen-”

Elissa looked at the sword.

The soldier was still screaming.

How long had it been?

“Keuric lied,” she said softly. “The vines aren’t trained killers… they’re trained evil. Assassins don’t torture people.”

Gruff didn’t respond, continuing his messages.

The table stopped moving, the gap wide enough for the vines to slip through.

Elissa gripped the sword tightly, and kicked the door open, slicing down through the vines before they could ensnare her. She tried to pull the door closed again, before bolting down the hall.

Ivy wrapped around her face and pulled her hair, vines wrapped around her feet, unintentionally pulling one of her boots off.

The entire time she slashed the sword through everything she could until she finally got to where the soldier lay screaming.

Blood pooled on the floor around him from his arms and legs, the twisting vines slick and red. She couldn’t turn away, she couldn’t hesitate, she had no time at all.

She wanted to curl up and cry, but the soldier met her eyes, tears running down his face as he couldn’t help but scream as the vines twisted through his limbs. Please.

Elissa squeezed her eyes shut, and went to plunge the sword into the soldier’s chest.

It stopped short.

Elissa opened her eyes.

She had lifted her hands too high. The hilt was caught in the ivy.

A vine wrapped around her ankle. Slow. Methodical. It knew she wasn’t going anywhere. It had all the time in the world.

A moment later she began to scream as well.

Pain like nothing else she’d ever felt, as the vines twisted around her, holding her in place even as they dug into her arms and legs. The ivy brushed against her face, the thin, rough leaves rubbing just wrong so as to leave a million stinging paper-cuts.

How can this be worth it? she thought through her screams.

Bang!

Elissa opened her eyes and, though she was momentarily startled into silence, a vine twisted up through her foot, causing her to scream anew.

But the soldier was silent.

Elissa squinted through her tears to see a figure down the hall.

Gruff. Gun in hand, vines leisurely twisting their way up his legs.

Bang!

A sharp pain hit Elissa, and the world slowed as her vision grew dark and the feeling drained from her body.

She tried to see what Gruff was doing, but the tears, the foliage, and the encroaching darkness all prevented her from doing so.

Her last thought, before slipping into the waiting arms of Death, was, Did those guns have three bullets… or four?

~’~,~~~~,~~’~~,~’~~

The efforts of the good Captain were not in vain, though the effects would not be felt for many years, as it so turns out.

According to the conversation from the drone footage we recorded, Count Keruic had tied himself to magic. As long as he lived, magic would follow him. This may be an explanation for other Magic Puddles. Regardless. Once Keuric was no longer living as an anchor, the magic was free to disperse.

Of course, that took a particularly lengthy amount of time, and never dispersed completely.

While every plant and fiber is no longer seeking to torment and kill any human not part of Cavren’s duchy, there are tales even still.

On dark nights and stormy days, should an unwitting stranger stumble across Bramblekeep castle, some say the vines still give their particular brand of welcome.