The Bizarre Adventures of a Half-Elf

Fleshies

**There are brief scuffles in this chapter.

Despite it being daylight, Charlotte felt a slight sense of dread whilst reentering the Ghost Wood. She had only just begun to understand the monstrosities that resided in the cruel forest, and already she realized why no one except the bold and stupid traversed its paths. Even the Crimson Guard gave them a wide berth when she told them that was where her group was headed.

"I like this place," Gretta giggled, skipping down the path.

Everyone except for Grom and Tobias gave her a surprised look. "You won't for very long," Türin scoffed, "Just wait until a monster starts stalking you."

The Damphyr flashed him a grin, showing off her fangs, "I'll just stalk them back."

Türin nearly tripped in surprise, and Charlotte caught him by the shoulder. She watched Gretta warily, unsure whether or not the woman was joking or not. But then Tobias came up and kissed the half-vampire's hair. "Don't worry about my little night-fury," he told the rest of them, "She likes to tease."

"She gets blood from the clerics so she doesn't eat people," Grom added cheerily.

"Ah, lovely. Just keep away from me," Timoré said, pulling out a scarf from his bag and wrapping it around his neck.

"How long until we get there?" Red asked.

Lydia looked up from the map Lady Clara had given them. "Not that much further. We just have to go through a clearing."

"Alright, good, I was-" The Human suddenly stopped speaking. When Charlotte turned to look at him, he had changed direction. She went to follow him, until she saw what had caught his attention: A smoldering tree.

Once close enough, Red put his hand on the tree, and the blackened bark crumbled under his touch. "It's still hot," he voiced aloud.

Charlotte looked at the surrounding vegetation, but it seemed that whatever had caused this tree to burn had not spread anywhere else. "What do you think happened?" She asked.

"I don't know." He was staring intently at the tree. Then he picked up his spellbook and flipped through the pages, before calling, "Timoré, does the Heal spell work on inanimate objects?"

The other mage lazily made his way over. "Not inanimate, but it will work on anything that is living. Why? Do you want to heal the tree?" He asked the last question as if speaking to a child.

"Yes," the other Human answered, ignoring the chide, "You heard what the Spriggans said. If the trees here die, everything else in here dies." He gently ran his fingers down the charred bark.

"I say good riddance," Timoré snorted.

"I thought you were a decent healer," Charlotte challenged, "But if you can't even heal a tree, I say it's all bluster."

The mage turned dark eyes toward her. "I know what you're doing."

"Will it work?"

"....yes." He sighed and rolled up his sleeves. "Red, I need you to fuse whatever Life magic you can muster into me. I don't know if the burning is mostly exterior or not. Charlotte, I need you to remove the old bark."

Red nodded, and touched Timoré's shoulder to emit a light green aura. Charlotte began to tear away chunks of dead bark with her hands, revealing the immature green and light brown wood underneath. Timoré placed his palm on the trunk and closed his eyes, and his whole arm lit up from where Red grabbed him all the way down to the tree. After a few moments of magic pulsating into the wood, the darker brown color began to return, and small branches and bright green leaves started sprouting.