the heroes

Sighing regretfully, you pull out of Miera, drawing out a last repressed groan. She gasps for breath but looks triumphant, grinning smugly at you through strands of her wet hair, "Going to punish me? There's nothing you can-Eeep!" You unceremoniously drop her, burying her in your foliage for later. You fully intended to prove her wrong when you did punish her later but for the moment this should suffice: if there's one thing heroes had in common it was an inability to deal with boredom.

A spider scampers into your clearing, "Great one, heroes-" I am aware, return to your post. It bows low and scuttles off without another word as you shift your consciousness. That was one thing you were starting to like about the spiders, if nothing else they didn't talk back.

You were half right about the group being well-leveled, three of the six look like impressive fighters. A female barbarian towered over the rest of the group while two males in armor flanked her. Based on the armor you'd say they were knights but it was hard to tell between the heavily armored classes sometimes. A blue robed figure and an old man brought up the rear, probably a mage and... an alchemist? Niche classes always confused you but the bandolier of bottles was a dead giveaway. Leading the troupe was a lithe figure that never seemed to hold still for more than a second; it was constantly darting this way and that, displaying impressive movement speed and agility, even with your enhanced senses you can't see it clearly in the gloom.

"For heavens sake, slow down Ava! My legs are aching just looking at you." The old man piped up, his reedy voice sounding more at place in a library than a dark forest. The figure stopped for just a moment and its image resolved into... something you'd never seen before. It was a girl, sleek and athletic looking, but as she finally stopped moving several large puffs of fur spread out behind her. Are... are those... tails? They swish back and forth restlessly, as though unable to contain their energy, you count at least five but their incessant movement makes it impossible to tell just how many there are. And are those dog ears?

The girl flashes a smile back at the old man before resuming her erratic movements, her outline almost seeming to blur away. Must be some kind of ability, you think. The barbarian chuckles, "leave her be Lynus, we haven't been somewhere new in weeks. It's a wonder she hasn't run off ahead." The old man grumbles but hobbles gamely along next to his robed companion.

They were around halfway through the tunnel, you figure now was as good a time as any to spring the trap. You open your flowers, dozens of fist-sized blooms glowing white in the darkness and the group freezes. The knights reflexively raise their shields and the barbarians hand goes to her axe. The other members of the party are less apprehensive, "Incredible! Stupendous! Magnificent!" Quite forgetting his aching legs, the alchemist rushes forward to the nearest of your flowers, pulling out a thick monocle to inspect it with. The robed figure also steps forward, reaching a long delicate hand out to cradle one of your blooms. The proximity allows you to make out the face under the hood: delicate but severe features, unmistakably female, sporting the otherworldly beauty of the high elves. Hm... an elf. Haven't seen one of them in a while. You're due some payback milady.

The strange animal girl, Ava, bounds up one of the flanking trees to smell one of your flowers. Apparently you smell good. You might have gloated but the self satisfaction is somewhat reduced due to the man-sized spider hanging stalk-still barely a foot from the girls swooshing tails. If she looked to her left...

Fortunately, she's back on the ground in a flash, dancing merrily between the luminous growths. The alchemist waves her over, "Ava! Give us some light, this is fascinating!" The girl snaps her fingers and a dozen little balls of green-blue light pop into existence, fanning out around her in an uneven circle. What the hell was she? A mage boosted by some kind of speed magic? A ranger utilizing some kind of artifact? Some sort of half-shifted druid? She continued to dance about the party, lighting little glowing orbs at whimsy while the others scrutinized your floral display. Knight A speaks up, "I don't like it. We should leave." Knight B nods in agreement. "Not without getting some samples we're not! I've never heard of such an occurrence in these woods!" the old man happily roots through his satchel, paying no heed to his companions unease. The barbarian eyes the trees but your minions are well hidden in their webs, "Well hurry up, I don't like this either. I feel like we're being watched."