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  [colpse]Chapter Seventy-Six - How Droll

  I stopped at the first flower that caught my eye. Or, well, the first flower that caught my eye and that was well within reach.

  The valley was filled with them, as if someone had pnted a wonderful garden in this er of the world where only the observant and lucky would find it.

  A healthy Zoro Aster.

  “Hrm,” I said as I gave the purple, star-shaped flower a sniff. It smelled nice, and looked nice, but that’s all I could really say about it. “I’m going to look at a few of these flowers. Amaryllis could you mark the area on a map? I think that art of the mission too.”

  “Sure,” Amaryllis said. She took a deep breath a out as a tented sigh. Even my prickly bird friend couldn’t resist the allure of so much prettiness in one pce.

  e took three steps forward upon nding on the ground from her peraryllis shoulder, then she flopped onto her side.

  I dropped my backpack dowched my herbology book and fell onto my knees o the patch of flowers.

  Zoro AsterAn unon flower found iches, usually near other flowers and in areas with potent life mana. The Zoro Aster has few uses, though its flowers be used to make a potion that cures one of the afflis caused by ive or so-called evil mana. The flower is otherwise harmless and is prized in some areas as a sign of pead fertility.

  “Cool,” I said as I set the book aside. Reag out, I rubbed one of the flowers, then gave the pnt a hearty pat. “I’m just taking the one flower, okay?”

  When I had a sample pced away I moved on to the flower.

  “Awen, Amaryllis, you two explore or whatever,” I said. “I don’t think this pce will have any mean pnts.”

  “Awa, o-okay,” Awen said. She stepped up, looked at the sea of pnts arouhen with her fists ched and her bravery shored up, she pushed forward and started looking around.

  She squeaked when a bee buzzed by her head, but other than that, she seemed to have the hang of if. More or less.

  “I’m going to go keep an eye on her,” Amaryllis said as she got up and poofed the notepad she had been scribbling in.

  “That might be for the best,” I agreed. Awen was adorable and she had the makings of a truly great friend, but she was a bit... unprepared for the great outdoors. We didn’t need her having a panic attack because she saw a . Even if s were evil.

  I moved over to a patch of yellow flrowing on tall stalks. They had strange pointed petals, like a daffodil, but a little longer and spikier.

  “Hello pretty,” I said. “Insight?”

  A daft o’ dill in full bloom.

  I s the name and looked through my book until I found a page with a drawing of the pnt iion. There was more than one name for it iome.

  Daft O’Dill / Yellow MoronA on flower of the Amaryllis family of pnts. These perennials grow in early Spring aumn and produce beautiful and fragrant pnts. Prized by many for their resiliend ease of care, they are heless a minor threat and nuisao the unwary. The flower produces a sweet, tasty ar around a seed that will attract small animals. The flower spreads by germinating wherever the eater excretes the seed post-ption.

  The ar of this pnt is a nohal poison that will cause a sharp decrease in the er’s mental faculties for a short period of time. Feelings of fusion st for up to a day, depending on the amount of ar ed.

  A on ingredient in many tinctures and poiso to incapacitate.

  I spped a hand over my mouth to hold back a giggle. I had to show Amaryllis the entry about this flower.

  Careful not to get any on my hands, I put some ar on a piece of paper, then folded it up into a small envelope as a sample for ter.

  I was moving over to the flower when I heard a call. “Broccoli!” It was Amaryllis’ voice, and she sounded as if she might be afraid.

  Pig up my shovel and tossing my backpack ba, I ran through the flowery field in seary friends.

  They weren’t difficult to find. The two of them were taller than most of the bushes around and Aaving at me to e closer.

  I hopped over some flowers, because trampling them would be too rude, and nded he girls with my shovel ready and my senses primed for trouble. “What’s going on?” I asked.

  Then I saw it.

  There was a small pond here, probably because this was the lowest poiweewo hills fnking both sides of the valley and this was where any rainwater would naturally gather. o that pond, resting on a little pool of blood, was a body.

  No, not a body, I realized as I saw the faint motion of a chest moving up and down with in-drawhs.

  Amaryllis turhe person over and I gasped.

  They were small. Only about as tall as my waist, with a fur-covered body, except for its big, very human ears and a round patch over its exposed tummy. For all that it was small, the creature was obviously muscur, with bulging forearms and skin that was taut over its exposed calves. They were wearing some clothes, but it was very basic. Pants made from some sort of leather and a jacket with a bunch of crude pouches on it.

  They looked vaguely dog-like, with an elongated snout and a very boopable nose, but when they opeheir mouth to win pain it showed off twin rows of crookedy sharp teeth that looked like they belonged more on a piranha than a dog.

  “Uh,” I said.

  “Awa, it’s a d-droll,” Awen said. She shifted o me, hands w open and closed with nervous energy.

  “Oh,” I said. “Um. Do healing potions work on them?” I asked as I shucked off my backpad reached into my bandoleer.

  Amaryllis leaned over the droll and raalons over his side until she found a rge gash cut into its side. It was a nasty looking cut and was still bleeding quite profusely. “We try,” she said.

  I handed her the potion, my st one. She yahe cork out with her teeth and spat it aside before tipping it into the dog-person’s mouth. When it was empty she tossed the vial up to me and I repced it in my bandoleer.

  “Is it w?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” Amaryllis said.

  The droll coughed, its stubby little arms--which I noticed ended in paw-like hands, curling over its stomach. It pressed against its side, dabbing at the blood there, but also revealing the healing wound.

  “Don’t move,” I said as I kneeled o the little droll and held it dowly. “I’m going to use some ing magi you, okay?”

  The droll heir head and locked brown doggy eyes with me.

  I pressed a hand against their fur and pushed some ing magito them, fog mostly on ing out their wound. It reopened some of it where there had been some scabs f, but it was better than allowing an iion to settle in.

  “Awen, you pass me a bottle of water please?”

  "Awa, yes!”

  I took the bottle from Awen and fell onto my knees o the droll. Carefully, I helped them sit up and brought the bottle close to their lips. “There, drink. It’s just water, but it’ll help you keep your strength up.”

  The droll swallowed a few times, then stopped to pant in a very dog-like way. “Thank you, human,” he said. At least, his voice was deep and definitely mase.

  I smiled. “No problem. How’s your HP?”

  He seemed to think about that for a moment, then his eyes gzed. “Seven paws,” he said.

  “Huh?” I said. It took a moment for that tister. He had five toes per paw, so that was... thirty-five? Or did drolls not t the strange big-toe? That would put him at twe health points. her option was very good. “Amaryllis do you have another potion?”

  Amaryllis nodded and poofed a pen and paper ience from her ring and got to writing.

  “We’ll make sure you are nid healthy,” I said. “Don’t you worry.”

  “Thank you, human,” he said.

  “I’m Broccoli, Broccoli Bunch,” I said with a beaming smile.

  The droll smiled bad I had to hold back a wi how stra looked. “Thank you, Broccoli. I am Barks at Squirrels.”

  I cmped my jaw shut to stop a very inappropriate giggle from esg. “Ah, well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Barks... at Squirrels. Did you run into a monster?”

  The droll shook his head. “No.... yes. A monster, but not ohat should be here. The st, it’s bee all wrong.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  Barks at Squirrels’ answer was deyed as Amaryllis passed me a potion bottle that I hao the droll. “Thank you,” he said before he drank the potion in one gulp. “The gss golems of the shard dungeon, they used to be dangerous, but they would stand their ground. They marked their territory and would stay in it. Now they are broken, and they roam around and attack. It is dangerous.”

  I looked up to Amaryllis. “Maybe we should keep a for those,” I said.

  “For what?” she asked. “You’ve been growling and barking like a mad woman for the st few minutes. If you expect me to uand you then I’m afraid that your sense of observation is g. I’m a harpy, not a mutt.”

  “Oh,” I said. My transtion thing must have kicked in.

  “Awa, it’s very impressive that Miss Broccoli speak Drollish.”

  “Thanks,” I said. It was hardly that impressive. I never worked for that ability, so I couldly be proud of it. “Barks at Squirrels here said that he was attacked by some sort of gss golem? They apparently used to be territorial, but now they’re roaming around?”

  “Ahh,” Awen said. “There’s a duhat has lots of gss things in it he desert. It should be close by.”

  “Well, we’ve healed... Barks at Squirrels, here,” Amaryllis said. “We should be on our way.”

  I gave Amaryllis a look before turning back to the Droll. “Do you need help getting back to your home?” I asked.

  The dog’s eyes widened a little. “Would you do this for me?”

  “Of course we would. What if you got attacked again? We wouldn’t want to lose a friend.” I patted the droll on the head, then realized what I was doing and pulled my hand back as if I’d patted a stove instead of a fluffy head.

  Barks at Squirrels didn’t seem to mind. He groaned as he turned around and stayed on all fours for a long moment before pushing himself up to his feet. He was a little unsteady, and it was clear that his side still hurt, but he didn’t look that badly off. “I make it. The pack is a quarter day’s walk desertwards.”

  I nodded. “Let me tell my friends,” I said before turning to the others. “He says that their pack is a bit of a walk towards the desert. That’s more or less the dire we’re going in, right?”

  “Yoing to make us help this mutt, aren’t you?” Amaryllis asked. She didn’t even wait for me to answer. “Of course you will. You moron. Awen, are the droll dangerous?”

  “N-no? They’re mostly hey might fight back, um, if you try to hurt them, but they’re mostly nice.”

  I smiled at Amaryllis until she crumbled. “Fine.”

  “Did you hear that, Barks? We’re going t you home!”