It was a five hour hike to the druid grove, but with their renewed spirits the Myth Seekers made it in closer to four. The morning weather was mild for a summer day, and local beasts decided to cooperate and leave them in peace.

  Thea announced they were getting close and asked to take the lead. Evidently, [Druids] can be even less accepting of trespassers than the halfling clans. Raith had been scouting all day, but hadn’t seen any indication that they neared their destination.

  “I thought I was getting the hang of this, but I don’t see anything.”

  “The plants are more content,” was all she offered by way of explanation.

  A short time later, they could make out a circle of huts in a clearing ahead. Each hut was built from woven branches, packed earth, and moss-covered thatch. They blended so seamlessly into the surroundings Raith didn’t notice until they were nearly on top of them. An enormous oak dominated the center of the grove, its gnarled roots sprawling outward to form natural benches and pathways. Its vast boughs seemed to drape protectively over the entire clearing.

  “They live in huts?”

  Thea looked at him curiously.

  “What did you suppose they lived in?”

  “I don’t know. The earth or a tree or something?”

  She scowled and led the team closer, but stopped after a few steps.

  “Something isn’t right. There’s no movement, not even animals.”

  Raith gave a nod to Tolliver, who darted off in bat form and did a quick aerial reconnaissance. The noble wore a look of concern upon returning.

  “No sign of people. There’s a chicken pen on the other side that was a mess of feathers and blood, but nothing else.”

  They all got a sinking feeling in their stomachs and turned back towards the grove.

  “Thea, what was the message you were supposed to deliver?”

  He watched the internal battle of competing loyalties play across her face before she responded.

  “I only divulge the message because at this point, it seems possible there’s no one alive to receive it.” She met his eyes to make sure he understood that she wasn’t going to make this a habit. “I was to tell the Rootmother that the need for the cure grows urgent, and ask if she required additional resources.”

  “Cure for what?”

  “That I wasn’t told.”

  Raith puffed up his cheeks and blew out a long breath. This was less than ideal. They were out of healing potions and ill-equipped to deal with some weird druid poison or disease or whatever this was.

  “Tolliver, do you have any healing potions left?”

  The noble flinched from the question with a scowl. Raith tried to placate the man, but did not have a lot of patience for this right now.

  “I want you to allow each of us to carry one until we either complete this [Quest] or decide to abandon it. Assuming we don’t need them, all the potions will be returned.”

  Tolliver thought about it a moment before allowing a brusque nod.

  “Very well, however, I have only three. I will not relinquish them all.”

  “Give one to Nyhm and one to Thea.”

  They both began to object and Raith cut them off.

  “If I need healing, you’re both perfectly capable of getting me the potion. I don’t want to argue about this, just do it.”

  Neither of them looked happy about it, but accepted the noble’s expensive greater healing potions without further complaint. Raith put a hand on the [Mage]’s shoulder.

  “Thank you. You’re a good teammate and we’re lucky to have you with us.”

  He was surprised to find he actually meant it, and wasn’t quite sure when the feeling had shifted. It was obvious that the poor noble had rarely been sincerely thanked or appreciated and blushed furiously at the compliment.

  “Well, we all must do our part.”

  Thea threw Raith a thumbs up, and he wondered if he may be getting the hang of this leadership thing. Much like Tolliver was learning how to not be a selfish, arrogant prick.

  “Alright, here’s the plan. Thea, Nyhm and I are going to sneak into the grove and take a look around for any clues as to what happened. Tolliver, I’d like you to maintain an aerial lookout for anything scary approaching while we look around.”

  Thea activated [Mosshoof], and the three of them silently approached the grove while Tolliver flew off. The stillness and silence grew more eerie the closer they got, and as one they found themselves pausing at the threshold to the circle of huts. With an exertion of will, Raith took the first step into the grove.

  Sadness hit him like a physical blow, and tears streamed unbidden down his cheeks. He looked to see that his brother and Thea had followed and were in a similar state.

  “The Great Oak weeps,” Thea whispered. “It's almost more than my heart can bear.”

  They stood wrestling for a moment with a grief that wasn’t theirs, and it thankfully began to subside. The feeling remained saturating the grove like a humid day, but was no longer so debilitatingly direct and personal.

  At the base of the oak sat a stone altar covered in lichen and carved with ancient druidic runes. There were ashes from some burnt offering, and a stone bowl filled with some unidentifiable liquid. Raith counted twelve huts, one of which was three times the size of the others. He whispered to Thea.

  “How many people lived here?”

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  “A conclave is always three by three. Nine [Druids]. But many of them had families.”

  She pointed to a small area of grass nestled between the giant roots. A pair of dolls sat next to a neatly piled collection of sticks and rocks in the back of a small wooden wagon.

  Shit.

  Thea placed a hand on a nearby root that tapered away from the Great Oak. She closed her eyes for a moment, then ripped her hand away and collapsed to the ground in uncontrollable sobs. Raith rushed over.

  “Are you alright? What happened?”

  She nodded and wiped away the snot and tears.

  “I’m fine. The Great Oak is mad with grief. To it, this disaster has only just occurred. But trees see time much differently. It could have happened months ago.”

  That was decidedly unhelpful. Raith looked up at the sunlight streaming through the leaves of the magnificent oak. The weather that had earlier marked such a beautiful day seemed mocking now, and he realized that he really didn’t want to go inside these buildings. He took another deep breath.

  No use in putting it off.

  Raith nodded at the nearest building and crept over next to it. He pressed his ear to the wall and held his breath to listen. Nothing. There were two windows, but not made of glass. A decorative board covered each square hole, and after carefully pressing on them, he determined they latched from the inside. A pair of torches on sticks framed the walkway up to the front door, and the trio silently crept towards it.

  “I’ll go in first,” Nyhm mouthed silently. The others gave a nod.

  Carefully turning the door handle as quietly as possible, Nyhm quickly swung it open and rushed in. Thea followed close behind, with Raith right on her back. If an enemy lurked inside, they would try to overwhelm them before they had a chance to react.

  The scene was grim. The hut was spacious and comprised of three rooms. They first stepped into the common room. A round table sat in the center, surrounded by chairs. The back held a small kitchen area, and two comfortable chairs sat by a fireplace near the front door.

  Dark, dried blood coated the table and surrounding floor. A leg bone, complete with foot, sat on the floor next to one of the chairs. Everything holding the joints together had decomposed, but the scattering of pale bones was still plainly identifiable.

  There were other parts strewn around the kitchen, and Raith couldn’t tell how many people they had belonged to. He thought maybe three, but then realized there were only two skulls. One of them was far too small to be an adult.

  He felt sick.

  Nyhm checked the other two rooms while Thea and Raith took in the scene. As the elfling rejoined them, it belatedly occurred to Raith that one of them should have gone with his brother, in case he encountered a problem.

  “Two bedrooms.” He pointed towards the one he just came out of. “One big bed.” Then at the other. “Three smaller beds. No more bodies in either room.”

  Three missing bodies. That’s either a good thing or very, very bad.

  The trio made their way from hut to hut, and Raith remembered not to let anyone search a room alone again. Refining tactics as they went, they also decided it was smarter to let Thea’s shield lead each room entry. Every structure had a scene similar to the first, with the occasional animal thrown in. And not pets, but things like a stag with a massive rack of horns and something that might have been a mountain lion.

  “Do you think these forest creatures went crazy and killed everyone?”

  Thea shook her head.

  “No, these animals are almost surely [Druid] familiars.”

  Raith found himself keeping a tally of the unaccounted for bodies. They were up to eleven so far.

  Two buildings over from the largest structure, they found a single occupant hut with one of the bedrooms converted into an office and herbalist apothecary. There were no bodies present.

  Virtually all the equipment in the room was scattered and broken, but the desk was relatively unscathed. Thea was the first over there to inspect the paperwork. Raith came up behind her and read over her shoulder.

  “What’s it say?”

  She jumped, then shut her eyes tightly and pressed her lips together in irritation.

  “Don’t fucking sneak up on me. I’m not sure yet, but this is the Rootmother’s home. It says something about spores, which makes sense because she’s a [Mycelial Druid]. Just give me a minute.”

  Raith gave her some space and looked around the room more carefully. A cabinet sat against the wall opposite the desk and paused before opening the door. It was probably big enough to hide a person. He put an ear against it and there was nothing but silence. The smell of herbs and stranger things emanating from the gaps in the door reminded him of home.

  Satisfied there wasn’t some horrible creature waiting to leap out, he opened the door and some horrible creature leapt out.

  “Shitfuck!”

  He fired off [Acrobatic Evasion], flipping clear to the other side of the room next to Thea. She screamed and the paperwork she was reading flew everywhere as she desperately grabbed for her shield. Nyhm, who had been watching the front door, came rushing in wild-eyed.

  Veil stood in the center of the room and held both of his hands up in the air.

  “Where the hell have you been?” Raith hissed.

  The daemon shrugged, then scrambled around and began gathering up the papers that had been strewn around the room. It got an armful together and presented them to Thea apologetically. She let out a short laugh that was mostly tension relief and accepted the papers. Nyhm just shook his head and went back to his post. Veil scrambled up to perch on Raith’s shoulder.

  “Weaver’s tits, Veil. Don’t ever do that again.” He turned to Thea. “So, did you find anything out?”

  “Aye, but you’re not going to like it.” She frowned and shuffled through the out of order mess in her hands until she found the one she was looking for and held it up. “They were researching a cure for the Grins.”

  A sick feeling rose in Raith’s stomach, and he froze as she continued.

  “She says that it’s a spore that gets in your brain and takes over. Drives the host to spread its blood around, which spreads the spores.”

  He thought about all the dried blood they had been walking through for the last hour and almost threw up.

  “How long does it take to show symptoms?”

  “Half an hour or so. Anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days before your mind is completely gone. My mother talked about it a little bit. There were more cases outside the city than people knew, but they didn’t want to start a panic.”

  “And the cure?”

  The satyr shook her head.

  “The Rootmother was excited about some kind of progress, but I’m no [Herbalist]. The specifics are beyond me.”

  “We need to get out of here. Now.”

  “Hold on, help me gather this stuff up.”

  Thea started shoveling everything on the desk into her new pouch of holding. Raith made trips from the herbal cabinet and dumped it all in, including everything he could recover from the floor. There was no telling what might be important.

  After cleaning out the apothecary, they briefed Nyhm on Thea’s discovery and told him they were leaving the grove. The elfling crossed his arms and gave Raith a steady look.

  “There were kids.”

  Raith hung his head.

  Please don’t do this shit right now.

  But his brother was right. They couldn’t leave with the possibility that there may still be children alive and in danger. He looked at Thea, and she gave a solemn nod.

  “Ok, but we’re not here to clear the entire place of slavering spore-possessed maniacs. Just to check if any kids need help.”

  The trio stepped back out into the sunlight. The building next door was a communal kitchen, and strangely clean after seeing so much dried blood and bones. All of the food stores were moldy and rotted, but nothing appeared to be otherwise disturbed. They quickly left to find themselves standing in front of the twin doors of the main building.

  Raith filled with dread at the thought of opening those doors.

  “Veil, can you slip in there and let me know if people are inside?”

  It nodded and climbed down from his shoulder, squeezing through the gap in the double doors of the entrance. The daemon was gone long enough that Raith was beginning to worry when Veil returned.

  “Is there anyone in there?”

  Veil nodded, then placed his palms together and rested his face on the side of his hands.

  “They’re sleeping?”

  Again with the nod.

  “Where in the building are they?”

  This time, Veil scrambled off to the left and disappeared around the corner. The team followed, and the daemon stopped at the back corner and pointed.

  The team moved back around to stand in front of the entry doors. There were two more huts past this one that they hadn’t searched because of their starting point. He had a compulsion to skip this one for now and check those first so he could get a full count of the missing bodies.

  “Fourteen.”

  Thea gave him a sidelong glance and looked quickly back towards the twin wooden doors.

  “What?’

  Raith shook his head and took a deep breath. He was just procrastinating.

  “Nothing.” He nodded to his teammates. “Let’s do this.”

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