Cannon Fodder To Villainess

🏮53. The Smell of Death

Amber continued along the heavily worn down trail with Alina riding on her shoulder.

As she walked, the trail gradually became lighter. It was obvious that the majority of people who came into these woods were just doing a bit of light mana training and looking for a nearly harmless pet. Amber continued to walk into the forest until she was starving and then continued to walk further until her legs ached.

When she started feeling grouchy with the prospect of continuing to walk, she veered over to the right of the trail, where she could hear Serpent River. Right past the first half of the Shadow Forest is the head of the Serpent River. She very well knew that there was no way to hide her presence forever among their group. So she decided that the best course of action was to ingratiate herself into the party by appearing useful, but harmless.

Amber walked into the Shadow Forest, carefully keeping an eye on her surroundings. Although she didn't think that any of the mafau would look for trouble with her at the moment, it was best to be cautious. Nearly all of the mafau were hunkered down, hiding from the strong mana signature of the Celestial Yin-Yang dragon egg. By no means was the dragon egg supposed to be down here, it belonged in the Celestial realm in the land above the clouds, or so the legends told. Most people didn't believe that place even existed, because no one still living had ever been there. However, the royals were secretly looking for the entrance to the Celestial Realm and had been for a very long time.

Amber avoided some sharp thorns on a bush that were half the length of her middle finger. Nothing in this forest wanted you here and the deeper you went in, the more dangerous it became. Out of everything she had done up to this point in this life or her previous one, this was by far the most frightening. She even had to keep a close eye on the plants here. Some of them were quite poisonous while a great deal of them further in, were carnivorous, and large enough to easily swallow you whole.

There was one plant in particular that had frightened her in the book. It released a toxin that put a person or mafau into a relaxed state and tricked their mind into thinking it smelled their favorite scent. Amber's favorite scent was the spiced pumpkin pie that her great grandma from her previous life had made. She had died when Amber was just three years old. The memories that Amber had of her were vague at most, but she remembered bits of warmth and love from that freshly baked slice of pie that was given to her covered in freshly whipped cream. The softness of the cushion on her seat and warm light coming in from the window above the sink and bathing her in a comforting embrace. In this short memory, she watched her great grandma's back facing her while she hummed and made tea on the stove.

That simple memory stuck with her as the only time in her previous life that she had felt love, peace, and happiness. She replayed that simple memory over and over in her mind up until her early death as a form of comfort, which eventually turned into sadness. By now, she wasn't sure which parts of the memory were authentic and which parts were the embellishments of a lonely child. She wasn't even sure if all of that memory was real or if her mind had fabricated part of it to protect her. Regardless, it was very clear in her mind what her favorite scent was and that there was no possibility that someone would be baking her great grandma's special spiced pumpkin pie in the Shadow Forest. It's unfortunate, but true, that if she's able to smell that familiar and comforting scent once again, death is near.

That plant was called a Lapsilian. It has a large white flower that is said to be so beautiful that it's entrancing. It glistens in the light and reflects rainbows around it while releasing an intoxicating fragrance. The scent not only relaxes you, but dulls your senses. Once you approach closely to the white flower, green pods on vines shoot up from beneath the surface of the ground, and then the pods slurp you up whole. Down the vines it swallows you until you end up in a large round room underground. There you sit until it's done swallowing down all its prey. Finally it releases acid into the room until it slowly fills up. The acid liquefies its prey which it eventually absorbs for nutrients. The process of melting it's prey can last anywhere from a day to a full week of slow torturous death. This is one of the many plants in the second level of the Shadow Forest. The forest can become even more frightening further in. There are a great many treasures in the Shadow Forest, but very few brave or foolish enough to venture in.

[What are you doing?] said Alina as she watched Amber pull a long silver needle, the length of Amber's middle finger, out of a tiny pouch.

The needle was longer than the pouch was tall, it didn't really make much sense on a number of levels. Aside from the size incompatibility, who carried around ginormous needles with them? Is she the grim reaper? Does she have concerning hobbies? Why would Ena choose this strange person as her master? What has Ena gotten the both of them into? Does Ena even know that her master is this scary?

Because of the dangers in the forest and how dangerous Amber's current plan was, from the moment she started down the path, after running into Jessera, Amber had started forcefully shooting large needles underground using magic. These needles were soaked in a few of her concoctions.

Amber turned her head and smirked at Alina, while holding another large needle by her thumb and pointer finger. Her hand flashed silver and then she flicked her wrist downward. The needle violently pierced the ground and buried itself beneath the surface, as if it were alive. Amber could still feel a connection with the needle even though it was no longer in her sight. She flicked her wrist again and the needle flipped around underneath the surface to point upwards. Although she could no longer see it, she could feel that the needle had done her bidding.

Then she walked off with a smile still on her face, periodically shooting out one needle after another. She was so cheerful as she released needles, that it gave the impression of a young delicate maiden throwing out flower petals, until you got a closer look. A shiver traveled up Alina's spine. Seriously, what has she gotten herself into?