here is some nudity in this chapter. Not to be distasteful but to properly depict the significe of the sario.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Mother of the Forest

  URGENT QUEST:Save the Master, Save the World!UPDATED QUEST DETAILS:The master of the of Stargazers has been possessed by the corrupted spirit of the Red Forest. Free her from possession by exorg the spirit whose ed mind has created an imban the nature of the woodnd realm.“Alright, I’ll say it, this quest system’s mighty intuitive.” Chris was looking at the blue window floating mere feet from his face. “We didn’t make it this way, did we?”

  QUEST REWARD: Earn the loyalty of the [ of Stargazers], ensuring that the great uaking will have enough summoo begin alpha testing procedures, earn the loyalty of the [Fmetail Tribe], f a new alliah a powerful forside the Red Forest, gain trol of the dungeon [Red Ruin], and a ce to earn a rare job lise with the help of the [Fmetail Tribe].“īe, īe,” Hajime waved his hand in front of his face. “All we did was fiune what the Loom already do.”

  “Making sure our people could uand its interface. Everything else is the Loom’s doing,” Bridget chimed in.

  BONUS QUEST DETAILS: Rescue the seven surviving members of the [ of Stargazers] uhe spirit’s thrall to earer rewards.Rowan looked curiously at the s, “‘Tis a strange sort of sorcery with insight to rival even She Who Knows.”

  ALERT! Rewards will lessen with each Stargazer who dies. You risk losing the loyalty of the if all seven are killed during the rescue.Ravi, whom the others had shared the notification with, asked, “What do you think it says about the one from whose mind this system was born?”

  All gazes drifted to the prince.

  “You’re all looking at the wrong person… As Hajime calls it, I’m also,” his face turned ptive for a sed, “a noob when it es to the Loom.”

  Chuckles and giggles spread around the party, briefly lighting up the gloomy atmosphere permeating the chamber.

  Of course, her Scarfang nor Kazem could rete to the versation, but they were surprisingly patient in waiting for the bao die down before they chose to interrupt.

  “Are you going to where Mother waits?” Scarfang asked.

  Bram nodded. “Will you join us?”

  Scarfang shook his head. “We would bee enemies once again should Mother will it… Better that we stay behind and—”

  ‘Boom!’

  The hall shook violently, causing bits of debris to fall on the party’s heads. When the shaking stopped, wary gazes turoward the staircase.

  Just in time, a tall woman with reddish skin and braided hair arrived from below. Her young face was flushed, her amber eyes wide and anxious, when she yelled, “E the entrance!”

  “I expected them sooner…” With a low growl esg his lips, Scarfang rose to his full height. “They took too long tain their nerve.”

  Bram stood to his full height too, and, though not as rge as Scarfang, the priill cut an impressive figure standing there with his wide shoulders and dark silhouette set against the harsh light of the hearth burning behind him.

  “Greed give even a man as cowardly as Ari Galen a bit of ce…” Bram’s right hand balled into a fist. “They think they’re here to plureasure, but they don’t know what they’re walking into.”

  “We will show them,” Scarfang promised.

  “Aye,” Bram agreed.

  The prince made to step forward, but the wearg leader stopped him.

  “My tribe will see to our visitors. Your task lies further in…”

  “ you manage?”

  “We may have been at a disadvaside,” Scarfang raised his hand, and sharp, inch-long nails popped out of his fingers, “but ihe temple, there are no skyships to attack us from above.”

  “We’ll deal with the spirit for you.”

  “If you free us of Mother’s colr, then we discuss an alliance.”

  Once more, Bram marveled at how intuitive the Loom was because it had already foreseen how the Fmetail tribe would react should their quest be successful.

  “Fair warning… Ari Galen may be a fool, but his soldiers aren’t.”

  Scarfang and Bram eyed each other, and though her man had cause to trust the other, a look of faith passed between them. With this silent pact made, the wearg leader hurried dowaircase, and all his tribe followed.

  “I pity the idiots that have to go up against that fel,” Chris thought aloud.

  “Yes,” Hajime agreed, his gaze wary.

  That wary gaze of Hajime’s drifted to the far side of the chamber where another arch could be found. Two bowed trees served as an awning for aryway that was little more than a he enough for Bram to fit through.

  “It’s our tur…” Hajime let out a breath. “We do this.”

  He gnced sideways at Bram.

  “We do this,” Hajime repeated, sounding less certain now. “Right?”

  Despite the hearth warming their bodies, simply staring into that hole at the end of the chamber made him shiver. He couldn’t help it. A malevolence leaked out of that hole like an ill wind on a mountaintop that even the goddess’ hearth couldn’t fully banish.

  “We will,” Bram assured him.

  “It’s do-or-die time… We’re very familiar with those,” Bridget chimed in. “Isn’t that right, boys?”

  “ch time’s how we roll,” Chris chuckled.

  Hajime sighed. “Please don’t remind me…”

  While the three otherworlders relieved their tension through recolles of painful memories, the priuro Ravi and Kazem.

  “Will you be joining the fight?”

  “I will,” Ravi answered, gng sideways at his fellow sorcerer and adding, “but Kazem won’t.”

  The Damas bowed his head. “Like the weargs, I too ot escape Mother’s influe I help give you the time you o save my .”

  He csped hands with Bram.

  “Save them,” Kazem pleaded.

  With his partings given, the old sorcerer turned his ba the party and began limping dowaircase to help the Fmetail tribe fight against the intruders.

  Bram watched the Damas go with a furrowed brow.

  “Your were fools to think they could stop the ing flict,” he told Ravi. “Even without the u in Rhynend, there’s never been a game of succession that hasn’t been bloody…”

  “We realized it too, the reason for our visions… Yet we still chose to try and do something about it… If that makes us fools, then…” Ravi looked determinedly at Bram. “I would rather be one among fools than a man who does nothing while knowing the tragedy that’s ing.”

  Bram ughed. He couldn’t help it.

  “Me too,” he said, still chug. He let the ughter pass before adding, “Let’s go prove your was right to try.”

  Ravi bowed his head. “Thank you.”

  It wasn’t just the vice master. Everyone was enced by the prince’s words because they knew he meant it. And, with determination, they followed Bram into the hole leading deeper into the Red Ruins.

  The trip down the narrow passage was quick, though even with the calming aroma wafting out of the sage torches, a feeling of trepidation still washed over them. Except for Rowan, they were all visibly nervous. They knew what y ahead, a creature that Hajime dubbed a ‘Dungeon Boss.’

  “She used the Stargazers’ fear of possibility to manipute their as, drawing them to her like moths to a fme so they would set her free… This spirit is a devious one,” Rowan cluded. “I ot help but admire her. She has…”

  She tapped Chris on the shoulder.

  “What do you call it again?”

  “es,” the Texan answered.

  “Spunk?” Bridget chimed in.

  “Guts,” Hajime added.

  “Yes, she has all of that,” Rowan agreed.

  “Um,” Hajime gnced sideways, “you sound like you know her.”

  “I do now. So do you.”

  “Eh?”

  “You’ve already heard her tale… Don’t you remember?”

  “W-When?”

  “From the song…Loveless.”

  “Eh…?” Hajime recalled the song he’d heard on Ravi’s sonusgraph a week ago; the one about the nymph who’d been loved by a goddess who ter spurned her after she’d been raped by that goddess’ husband, anod who’d been jealous of his wife’s lover. “Ee~~eh?!”

  “Wait a minute,” Bridget, while ign Hajime’s outburst, raised her hand to ask, “How did you e to that clusion?”

  “The old sorcerer told us the spirit’s tale,” Rowan reminded her. “‘Tis the same story as the one in the song.”

  Bridget’s face fshed with sudden realization. “If that’s true, then the goddess iory would be Brigid.”

  sidering who this temple beloo, her guess was likely true.

  “But who was Brigid’s husband?” she asked.

  “Arawn, God of the Wilds and the Hunt,” Ravi answered from his spot at the rear.

  “Also known as the Father of Weargs,” Bram weighed in.

  “Then…was Arawn the one who sent the Fmetail tribe’s aors to guard the Red Ruin?” Bridget asked.

  “Naturally. Arawn is the pettiest of the gods,” Rowan scoffed, adding, “It wouldn’t be enough for that nasty little fawn to viote the nymph who stole his wife’s heart. He would have wao keep her imprisoned in this temple where their love bloomed, turning it from a pce of fond memories into a prison of misery arayal…”

  “From how they speak of her, the e between the nymph and Scarfang’s tribe seems deeper than a prisoner and her jailors,” Bram added.

  Rowan nodded. “More than likely, these weargs’ aors are the tainted fruit born from Arawn ravishing the nymph.”

  “Sweet Christmas…” Chris, who’d led the way this time, cut down a thick group of vines hanging down from the wall to block their way. “No woheir mother went all cuckoo.”

  No one said it aloud, but they were all beginning to sympathize with the nymph who’d bee the deranged mother of the Red Ruin, although no amount of sympathy would sway their hand. The quest rewards were just too valuable. Besides…

  “It would be mercy to put her out of her misery,” Bram insisted.

  “Yes,” Rowan replied darkly.

  “ you separate the nymph’s spirit from…” Bram’s gaze drifted to Ravi. “What was your master’s name again?”

  “Wilhelmina Weiss…our Master Mina,” Ravi answered just before he repeated Bram’s question to Rowan. “Is it possible to save her…?”

  “I could perform an exorcism…though weakened as I am, it will require my full attention,” she answered.

  “So, we ’t expect you to one-shot Mother for us,” Bridget guessed.

  “You don’t need me,” Rowan assured her. “You have all shown excellent growth during this adventure. A mad nymph shouldn’t prove too difficult a challenge.”

  She fshed her panions with an impish smile.

  “You always e back if you die. Indeed, it might be better if one of you did die. Then we could begin studying the aftereffects of aher dying on Aarde,” she teased.

  “Rowan…” Hajime’s grip tightened on his wand. “I’m not pnning on dying today.”

  “Nor I.” As he said this, Bram’s fiightened around the hilt of his longsword. “We’re here. Be vigint…”

  The path cleared ahead of them, sending the party into a sed hall that was less than half the size of the earlier ohey didn’t need another ‘Sunlight’ spell here. There was enough light filtering in through the cracks in the ceiling for them to see.

  Twin rows of tall red pines domihe regur space, their tips brushing against the vaulted ceiling whose fresco depig a goddess’ achievements with a hammer and thread was barely reizable. Between these rows of pines was a carpet of moss and fallen leaves leading to the end of the hall where a red piood. One se its top broke past the ceiling, through the temple’s roof, and into the open air beyond.

  The red pine’s roots were abnormally thid gnarly. They spread out like loacles snaking across the stone floor. Lounging on these roots, with their naked flesh exposed to the elements, were seven young men and women, eae looking no older than Bram.

  Emotion filled Ravi’s voice when he spoke. “What depravity has been doo them…?”

  The young sorcerers all shared the same expression of bliss.

  Bridget’s brow kogether. “It looks like they’ve been drugged.”

  Bram didn’t think she was wrong this time either.

  For the prihe sight of these young sorcerers reminded him of the seedy drug dens in the capital that he used to frequent. He’d never partaken of the ‘Milk of the Poppy’ himself for he only used such dens as pces to secretly meet with the masters who trained him in his martial studies, but Bram had never fotten the serene faces of those drug-addled youths who’d wasted away their time and lives in pursuit of false happiness.

  Surprisingly, apart from their dull expressions, the young sorcerers seemed unharmed. With their bodies out in full dispy, Bram could see no sign of malnutrition. It made him wonder about what ‘Mother’ could have been feeding them.

  A moment ter, he would know the ao his question.

  Gng to his right, the priiced something odd at the base of the red pine closest to him. The tree had grown out of something lying on the ground. It took him a seore to realize that this ‘something’ was someone’s corpse. More importantly, this corpse seemed freshly made. It also wore the same leather jacket worn by von Galen’s soldiers. There wasn’t just one corpse either. Nor did the dead only lie underh the pihere were many corpses in various states of decay scattered across this hall.

  “It’s like a lion’s den,” Chris whispered.

  Behind the Texan, Hajime bent over and vomited his rations onto the floor. Bridget was quick to help him straighten up though she also looked paler than usual.

  That’s when the ughter started. Unlike Rowan’s pyful giggle, this was a malicious and ptuous sound that brought all sorts of strange desires to the forefront of everyone’s minds.

  The party’s gazes turo the base of the tallest red pihey saw nothing at first, but then, as if carried by a breeze, a host of leaves rose from the ground to form a shape that was both sensuous and otherworldly to all who saw her.

  Her skin, unmarked by age or blemish ale greehough her long hair was of a simir shade to the opy of red needles above. She had a handsome face; curved eyebrows over almond-shaped eyes possessed of an emerald glow, a short pointy nose, and dark green lips.

  “Yōkai,” Hajime whispered in a tohat cked the fear he’d had whe Rowan.

  He wasn’t the only one affected by her appearance. Regardless of gender, all of them felt a sudden burning desire while they looked at her. Even Rowan.

  “Master Mina…” Ravi’s voice dripped with disbelief. “I-Is that truly you…?”

  The nymph who sat on a thick root was tall with ample breasts ling over a ft stomach. Her long, slender legs were parted in a rather vulgar way, easily revealing her womanhood to her visitors.

  “I think she’s, um,” Chris cleared his throat, “um, trying to seduce us…”

  The nymph bit her lower lip while she smiled, and the party couldn’t help wanting to smile back. Surprisingly, only Bram seemed unfazed.

  Inwardly, his desire for this wantoure was at war with the simmering rage ever-present at the edge of his sciousness which he’d often hidden underh the guise of a fool. It was an ahat refused to bend even in the presence of such al desire. Though perhaps it helped that Bram seemed already beholden to another. He wasn’t certain. He only khat this nymph couldn’t hold a dle to the redhead standing at his side. More than his rage, it was his thoughts of Rowan that kept the nymph from mesmerizing him.

  As if she heard his thoughts, Rowan ughed out loud. This caused the nymph’s smile to waver.

  “Go on, My Prince.” She pressed her hand against his bad pushed him gently forward. “Show her that there are mortals on Aarde who aren’t crushed by the weight of destiny’s boot.”

  With her encement, Bram strode forward and said, “Spirit of the Forest — Mother — we’ve e tain.”

  GD_Cruz