Emily looked at her with a worried expression then down while feeling her stomach rumbling.

“Well, I’m sure Falla will find something… I hope,” she said softly.

“Don’t worry, she said she was going to find food for you, she’ll find something,” Luna reassured hopefully. Emily looked around then back towards Luna with concern.

“But what if she runs into trouble, or if those man-eaters find her, is she going to be ok on her own?” she asked nervously. Luna nodded and held the girl gently by the shoulders.

“She’ll be fine, Emily. We’re giant butterflies, if we even sense there’s danger or trouble coming we can fly away, remember?” she reminded gently as she held her close.

Before the child could say anything there was a rustle from a nearby bush, with a bolas being thrown from the thicket towards the two girls in a sharp spin. Luna looked over with surprise to see the rope and three round rocks flying towards them before the throwing trap hit against her, with the rocks quickly spinning around the two girls and binding them together. Emily and Luna screamed as they dropped down onto their sides, both of them struggling to move as the rope held them tightly together.

“What’s happening?” Emily cried out.

“Danger is coming, and I can’t fly away!” Luna whined loudly as she kept trying to move her arms, her wings having been tied behind her in an uncomfortable fold. The girls struggled about then looked towards the sounds of growling coming from the nearby bushes, with Emily whimpering and trying to move still while Luna held her close with a fearful expression.

“Luna…” Emily said nervously.

“It’s going to be ok, it’s going to be ok, Emily,” Luna tried to reassure with a shaky tone. She watched as a figure came out from the bushes, her eyes widening at the sight as she held Emily close.

“I promise, I won’t let you go.”

*****

Elsewhere in the outerlands Daniel’s group had come to a stop along the trail, with Lucky calmly eating some large grass near him as he was still hitched to the caravan. Standing close to the ride Specca was looking from Daniel’s monster guide in her hands to something in front of her with a cautious expression, the nixie going back and forth between the two as she kept turning the pages to find something in particular in the book. Next to her Alyssa was watching something in front of them with a careful eye while holding her staff in her hands, glancing to Specca then back ahead as she kept on guard from something.

“Well?” the witch asked impatiently.

“I’m looking, I’m looking, I don’t remember this one off the top of my head, I’m sorry,” Specca quickly replied while shaking her head.

Ahead of them, struggling to keep her foothold on the grass, was Triska, the teen holding onto one of Daniel’s arms tightly while she held her sword in her other hand. She was sliding a bit from being pulled by incredible force, even with Squeak next to her who was also holding onto Daniel by his other arm, the ant girl having her pickaxe dug into the ground as she used it like an anchor. Daniel however was watching with a nervous smile as long green tendrils were wrapped around his legs and torso, the strong appendages belonging to what was easily assumed to be a monster.

It appeared to be a very large flower blooming from the ground, with colorful red and yellow petals along with twisting vines and tendrils that were dug into the dirt around it. From the flower’s center was the monster’s body, resembling a human female from the thighs up with long green hair. Her skin was a light green texture and appeared silky smooth and slightly moist, her hips and bust were fully developed, and it had a few colorful flowers blooming in her hair like a headpiece. Her dull blue eyes watched as Daniel thrashed around in its grip, the tendrils leading towards the base of the monster’s body inside the large flower petals. The monster had a coy smile on her face while she gently motioned for the boy to come closer with one finger, something that Daniel was trying not to do with the help of his friends.

“Um, like I was trying to say, there’s no reason we can’t… um, could you please stop for a moment?” Daniel called out weakly.

“I don’t think it’s listening to you, Daniel,” Triska grunted as she struggled to keep the boy from being dragged towards the monster. Squeak shook her head while squeaking, the ground cracking from her pickaxe as she held onto Daniel’s arm tightly.

“Seriously, Specca?” Alyssa called out.

“I’m looking, I don’t remember what that one is or if it can be reasoned with,” Specca shot back with a flustered tone.

“I really don’t think it can be reasoned with, just putting in my opinion here,” Triska mentioned loudly as her foot slipped on the grass for a moment. She struggled to hold Daniel back as the flower monster continued to pull with great force, with Squeak and Triska feeling the boy inching out of their grasp. Daniel tried to kick free, doing absolutely nothing to get the monster to let go, while trying to keep a calm and collected mind in which to speak to the creature.

“We’re here… to talk… about… peace… so let go… and we can… talk about it…” he grunted as he was yanked repeatedly by the flower monster.

“It’s not in the mood to talk, Daniel, we have to kill it,” Triska grunted as she clutched her sword. Squeak yanked her pickaxe up out of the ground and geared back to strike before Daniel shook his head at her.

“Stop! Don’t hurt it, we have to try to talk peacefully before attacking like that!” he called out. Squeak stopped and looked at him with surprise then to Triska as the human was feeling her footing giving out.

“Daniel, it doesn’t want to talk, look at it!” Triska shouted out as she tried to hold onto the boy with all her might.

“Specca!” Alyssa yelled out at the nixie. Specca flipped through the pages in the book frantically then stopped and traced her finger along an entry.

“Wait, here, I found it! I found it!” Specca called out enthusiastically.

“Daniel!” Triska cried out as the boy slipped from her grasp, the girl falling back from her feet sliding on the grass while Squeak tumbled forward as the boy was yanked away from her. Daniel was quickly reeled in by the flower monster, the creature pulling him over to her body before her arms wrapped around him. The vines ensnared around the boy’s body before the monster sunk down into the ground through the center of the flower, pulling Daniel down with her while the flower petals closed up over them.

“Daniel!” Alyssa cried out. She started to run towards the closed flower bud before Specca grabbed her shoulder and stopped the witch.

“Wait, it’s ok, stop,” Specca assured while reading the entry in the book.

“What? It’s ok? It just swallowed up Daniel!” Alyssa cried out at her. The two then looked to seeing Triska and Squeak racing towards the bud with their weapons drawn back.

“Wait! Don’t hurt it!” Specca shouted out. Squeak stopped and looked back to her while Triska raced up towards the bud and geared back with her sword.

“Daniel!” she yelled out as Specca gasped and shook her head.

“Don’t, Triska! Leave it alone!” Specca called out. Triska looked back to her with frustration while holding her sword back behind her.

“Are you crazy? It ate Daniel!” she yelled out before swinging her blade across the petals, slicing through them and cleaving one off onto the ground. A high pitched wail was heard from below while a few tendrils whipped up around the flower monster, with Triska furiously swinging her sword around and hacking them apart before striking at the flower petals again.

“Don’t worry, Daniel, I’m coming!” Triska shouted out, with the monster wailing as its severed limbs flailed about around it.

“No! Stop, Triska, don’t cut those!” Specca cried out as she ran towards the teen, with Alyssa and Squeak quickly following after her with confused expressions. Triska swung her blade around quickly and hacked apart the large petals, with a few twisting vines coiling up under where they were as the wailing grew louder.