The unscarred eye gleamed yellow before us, much like the consuming flames that burned brightly on the Wolf King’s back.

Say ‘ello to my lil friend!!

No matter how badly I wanted to pull out a Tommy gun at this point and start blasting away, that wasn’t possible. So I turned to the second best solution.

The hard yanking motion releases the bottom pouch sewn into my pack.

A small shimmering stone, releasing strangely prismatic colors on its rough surface plops out into a thin line of tilled soil that surrounded the clearing around the cave.

Greenie leaps backwards at the same time I pull on the tab, making sure he was behind the line before the Wolf King could cross over.

Woohoo!

Right on the mark!

Sparkling as it falls, the small stone melts into the ground, right on the line of dirt that was freshly dug up.

Come on!

This time, I wasn’t leaving it to chance. It had to work-!

Watching the stone fall to the ground in slow motion with baited breath, I ignore the cry of the wolves who’d failed to catch us. Meanwhile Greenie continues to dive backwards, aiming for what appears to be a small grass-covered mound of dirt.

Instead of landing on a hard dirt mound, however, the goblin disappears with a poof into the grass, making the wolves rear backwards in wariness.

At the same time, green sprouts begin to sprout up out of the ground along the line of tilled earth. Before the wolves could even blink, the sprouts grew up into long vines, tangled together into bushes, and eventually-

Instead of the line of tilled dirt around the clearing diving Greenie and I from the wolves, there was a wall of green.

A wall of green Siphon Bushes, to be exact.

To the wolves, it would seem to have appeared to them out of thin air.

Paws skid in the ground as they scramble backward out of their forward momentum. They too, knew that the Siphon Bush was a plant you couldn’t mess with.

Hiding in the grass mound, which was a just a pile of long dried vines woven together, I purse my beak.

That was too bad.

Though it would have been nice if they had leaped right on in to their deaths. Made things easier for all of us.

Caïssa’s Tear worked just as we’d rehearsed. After several experiments, it’d been easy enough to figure out. Caïssa Tear worked like a growth stimulant. Her Tear was to plants what sterioids were to a body-builder. They encouraged the mass of plant life to grow extraordinarily quickly. Not only that, the first plant organism the Tear touched and melted into would become larger, stronger, and more flexible (also more vicious, in the Siphon Bush’s case).

By dropping it where we’d planted several freshly cut Siphon Bush vines, we’d created an instant hedge that separated us from the enemy.

Next to me, Greenie breathes heavily, catching his breath after the long hard run.

Thank you, Greenie. We made it!

Now, it should be easy pickings. Taunt the wolves using my skill to attack, and have them become plant food. Or they died of poisoning. Shrugging my shoulders, I watch the wolves circling around the wall of green.

Either way, the win was in the bag.

The bush grew neatly except for the occasional long tendril that curled in and out, pulsing when it sensed living prey.

FOUL BIRD!!! VICIOUS BIRD!!!! THE PLANTS TAKE YOU!!

Wincing at the blare of the Wolf King’s thoughts, I poke my head out from under the horribly woven vine blanket and jump from side to side flapping my wings in a chicken dance.

『Taunt』!

Catch me if you can, stupid wolf~!

I felt quite safe where we were hidden under the blanket of badly woven vines.

Yet the bush, though it’s vines reached outward towards the wolves, never grew inwards towards us.

Yelping, the wolves limp backwards when the long vines curling out of the bush react to their presence and reach out long tendrils towards them, drawing them in.

Waving their large heads up and down, the weaker wolves paw at the grass, blood, this time, their own; dripping out of their mouths and staining their muzzles.

If one were to examine the ground surrounding the newly grown wall of Siphon Bushes, they would find something strange in the dirt surrounding it.

Lines of pale white flowers? surrounded by a ring of red. Looking even closer, one would notice that these were not flowers.

The rings of red with white centers were hairy little circles.

Tufted Redring Mold.

After much cajoling, Greenie had finally given in to let Andvari scrape large, disgusting, flaking pieces of skin off his feet, and ground it up into a fine powder.

Our shield!

A few days ago in the cave, working together with Andvari, I’d happily pointed a wing finger at the mound of dried out white-red flakes of skin that for some strange reason looked like red pepper flakes.

Though the dwarf had seen just how well the mold worked on the leather of the slave collars he’d furrowed bushy brown brows in confusion at my words.

Lady, what good will the skin on the soles of a goblin do in a battle against a wolf?

Now that was a good question! I’m glad you asked, Andvari. It was then, as I puffed out my chest in pride, carefully explained just how we were going to use this mold into a shield against the wolves.

That time too, Crixus had been absent from our cave as usual.

Long story short…

Much like the Spice Bombs we’d created, the Tufted Redring mold that grew on Greenie’s feet like a bad case of athlete’s foot worked as another biological weapon.

It had taken us a couple of days to lay down chunks of vines we’d cut off from the Siphon Bush happily growing in our cave and burying it in a circle all around our clearing.

With me directing, Andvari and Greenie worked together, Greenie with his hoe and Andvari with his sword, to dig out the shallow trench, sprinkling each side of the line of vines with the Tufted Redring Powder.

This powder was what kept the Siphon Bush from growing into a monstrosity that would devour us all.

Caïssa’s Tears were powerful.

Carefully shaving off one fragment of the round tear and testing it on a dying Flare Berry plant had made it burst into life, dead branches turning vibrant and heavily laden with green berries.

Now how much more would one full Tear do to a line of buried Siphon Bush vines~ I wonder~.

Today, Caïssa’s Tear played a major plan in our fight with the Wolf King and his pack.

The tall new Siphon Bush stood as a protective hedge, while the new Tufted Redring mold that had grown from the powder kept the Siphon Bush from growing out of bounds and trapping us inside.

It was all a part of the plan that sounded delicious but was actually more gross than delicious in the details. The Sandwich Plan, I’d named it. Mostly because the way the plants were lined up in the trap looked like a sandwich.

Green Siphon Bush in the middle. Like a crispy lettuce leaf.

With a layer of red mold with white spots on either side. Like a lettuce leaf.

Then the freshly churned up brown dirt from the sudden explosive plant growth. Slices of bread?

Yum.

Wait..

Titling my head to the side, I pause in my train of thoughts.

Maybe I was only being desperate to have a sandwich.

BANG!

A large ball of fire blasts into the Siphon Bush, white-hot flames crackling as it eats away at the shriveling vines.

HOW DARE YOU IGNORE ME!!! DUMB BIRD!!!

ANd I oop!

That's freakin' scary!!!

Hiding my flinch, I tap Greenie on the shoulder with my wing-fingers.

Greenie!

Yes Master!

I pull on the tab again, dropping another Tear into Greenie’s hand from my backpack. Immediately he sets it in his sling shot and launches it towards the gap that had been created by the fireball that blasted through our precious shield.

AWOOOOOOOOO!

Crick-clack.

Again, the vines reconsolidate themselves while the wolves howl in frustration. The plants grew too quickly before they could even jump into the gap their King had created.

Phew! That was close!

Hahaha! Come and get me!

『Taunt』!

『Taunt』!

『Taunt』!

Meanwhile, I laugh loudly at the Wolf King; trying to get him even more worked up. Though I don't go as far as moon him(ladies do not stick out their butts!), I do stick my tongue out at him.

I want to cry right now….

There was no way I willingly taunted the Wolf King like this.

I had no choice. The angrier the Wolf King got, the more off his aim became as he arched his back and launched humongous balls of roaring flames at us.

I’d been lucky to have been able to figure out a way to control the power of the Caïssa’s Tears.

Arwooo!

Awroooooo!!

COME OUT AND FIGHT, BIRD!

The wolves yelp and bark, narrowing their eyes at me

THIS IS WHAT YOU ASKED FOR!!

I was shaken, to to say the least, hearing the Wolf King transmit those words.

He could speak too! So it was him that talking to me back when the wolves caught me. It was so strange to hear a different voice, I'd thought it was only a figment of my nervous imagination.

And he said he’d been looking for me???

Why was he looking for me!!?

Was it because I taunted him back then?

I’m going to have to decline your offer, Mr. Wolf. I respond tentatively.

Maybe this wolf monster could be reasoned with. It was worth a shot. We were pretty safe here behind the wall of blood-sucking vines.

WHY aren’t you coming out, Bird? I TIRE. DO NOT PLAY GAMES WITH ME!!

The Wolf King’s tone changes into a slight pleading, mainly confused tone. Had no one ever turned down a fight with him before?

Why was he acting this way?

Master!!!

Lady!!! The cave is ready!

Andvari calls out through Thought Transmission.

AWOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Baring sharp yellowed canines, the Wolf King lets forth an earth-shaking howl, the other wolves responding in kind as they leap in to surround us. Greenie and I had our backs to the cave, the ring of wolves drawing ever-nearer and tightening around us.

Yelping, some wolves break the ring from time to time, jumping forward and chomping bloodied maws on open air.

Another wolf limps forward, it’s grey fur matted with flecks of red, standing beside the Wolf King, who nudges it with his nose and circles around it protectively. While the Wolf King moved with a ravenous fury, his every step containing power, this wolf was more a calm grace, loping along amiably as it appears out of the depths of the forest. It's delicately shaped features remind me of a wolf figurine I'd seen once in a store. A lonely figure, crying out to the moon, body arched high to the call of the silver moonbeams.

This wolf had a sort of lanky grace.

I’m surprised at the intelligence in the wolf’s silver eyes at it peers at me from behind the Wolf King, addressing me calmly.

You challenged the Leader of the Pack. Why are you not coming out to fight?

COME FIGHT, BIRD!

The Wolf King calls out again.