At the moment, the cart could go no further. The jungle had become too thick and the idea of a road he had been following was impassable with two horses and cart wheels to take care of. He hopped down from it and left it where it was. He didn't think he needed to go much further. He clutched briefly through his shirt at the amethyst medallion hidden underneath and concentrated hard. He glanced over at his bag lying on the floor boards of the cart. He had items in there that might help but he didn't feel it was worth wasting them. He set off into the jungle on foot.
He pushed through a few sets of fronds thinking that the trail should be at least a little bit obvious. It was no good to be completely hidden out here. There was a rustling somewhere above him. Birds? Monkeys? Or...
He didn't see anything but when he reassessed his position he thought maybe there was a faint game trail after all. He followed it. It was hot and humid and he was drenched in sweat when the path he had been following ended in a small circular clearing. The sky was visible straight up. He mopped his face off ineffectually with his damp shirt and took stock of the situation. He noticed the large flower but kept himself from staring at it. It was bigger than he was but it was artfully hidden behind leaves and fronds such that one couldn't be entirely certain it was all one pink flower and not dozens of small ones. He glanced quickly to the other side of the clearing. Were the vines moving? He felt certain if he were to turn around he would find no easy way to backtrack.
Well, this is what he had come for. Time to lay out his gamble. He walked to the center of the clearing, sat down there and faced the flower. He held his hands out from his body trying to look completely non-threatening.
"I would like to talk, if you don't mind, ma'am".
"Ma'am?" he thought to himself. Why had he tacked that onto the end. It sounded a little ridiculous.
Nothing happened. He waited, patiently, several minutes. Then he tried again.
"I know I'm not really supposed to know you're here before you've shown yourself but I have specifically come seeking you. I am no danger to you, in fact I would like to present an offer to you."
Quiet once more but it was broken after a bit by a delicate feminine laugh.
"You are no danger to me? I should think not." The voice didn't come from any one specific direction.
"Would you please hear me out?" he asked.
A persistent creaking noise became suddenly louder and vines around the clearing started to move in different directions. Everything came alive. Most importantly, the fronds in front of him parted and the now obvious huge pink flower tilted forwards towards him.
He remained still. In his peripheral vision he could see the vines had come much closer and he suspected venomous thorns on some of them. The flower opened, the petals peeling back slowly. As they did, they revealed first the head of a beautiful woman. Her skin was green, her eyes were dark green on light green. Her hair was an even darker green.
The flower stopped just shy of revealing her breasts and she leaned forward on one petal with her arms crossed. Her cleavage was obvious and substantial. The scent of the flower was strong and he found himself on the verge of dizziness despite the amulet and his preparations. It was good he was seated.
She smiled alluringly. "Now then. What have we here?"
"My name is Orren. I am a mage, of sorts."
She laughed again. "Of sorts? Of what sorts."
He shook his head, "It's a long story and it's not relevant right now. I need to warn you."
She appeared to take him more seriously. "Go on."
"You had two visitors recently. I think." He paused. Her smile was gone. The clearing was still.
"Perhaps." Was all she offered.
Emboldened he pressed on. "You did and sometimes you release your visitors and sometimes you don't. These, it appears, you did not."
She said nothing.
"One of them was sort of important." He added.
Leaves and vines made a commotion to his right, not far from her and her flower. They pulled back revealing a considerable pile of bones. From this distance, they appeared mostly human.
"And you want him back? I can't say I cared for him"
"I don't.. I didn't care for him either. In fact I would commend you on your choice except it is going to have repercussions. Severe repercussions."
She twirled a lock of her hair in one hand and did a fine job of looking uninterested. "Objectively speaking, that sounds a bit like a threat."
The vines were very close to him. He thought he'd better get to the point. "You ate the son of the Sherriff and the son of the Lord Mayor. People know you exist out here somewhere, they know what happened, more or less, they are coming as a large group to destroy you."
No real reaction from her. "Well... it's nice of you to take such a vested interest in my well-being. Since you are a mage, of sorts, and you did manage to find me, you're probably also aware I could be extremely difficult if not impossible to find, should I desire to be so."
"They have a mage. A real one, not like me. They have a sorcerer. On top of that they don't intend to find you so much as burn this entire section of the jungle down."
She straightened up when he said that, briefly exposing her ample breasts to him. He concentrated on her face as much as he could.
"They're going to try to burn the whole jungle in the hopes of killing me?"
The use of the word 'try' did not escape him. "Yes my lady. They will have quickfire."
"Quickfire?" She repeated, perhaps a little bit concerned now. Then, "my lady?"
He shrugged. "I don't know your name. I wasn't sure what to call you."
"You should ask then." She waited.
Sheepishly, he asked. "What's your name?"
"Ephenome." She stressed the PHEN and the ME syllables. "So why are you here? If you're right and they are really serious there is nothing I can do about it."
"I came once I heard their plans. Partially to warn you, but also because I have an offer to make you."
"Go on."
"Is it true you have some ability to move?"
"I don't think I like the idea of sharing my abilities with an unknown mage."
He glanced around the clearing, which showed him just how trapped he was. "I do not think I'm getting out of here alive unless you allow me to leave. My questions have a purpose."
"I can only move in a very limited range. I am rooted, like all of my kind."
"But you could uproot yourself?"
"As a form of suicide? Yes, I could."
"I could move you."
She laughed. "Preposterous. Do you know how big I am? And where would you be moving me to? I would rather be consumed by quickfire than be on display at some school for mages."
"No. That's not..." She was still laughing.
"Ephenome!" He yelled at her.
She stopped and several vines starting pushing against his back, forcing him to move closer to her. The scent was stronger now, much stronger.
"Please don't do that." He asked
She nodded. "Impressive, you have some resistance. Most men would be drooling on my petals by now."
"I'm..." She was quite close. Her breasts were just above eye level and it was hard to look away. He was finding it hard to think straight. He felt like he was starting to fall towards her. Was he?
Using all his willpower he focused on the amethyst against his chest and it was enough to clear his head.. for a moment at least.
"Stop that. I am serious about moving you to a good location. I know it's high risk, I know it won't be easy and I know you'd have to sacrifice a lot."
