When Misha felt the strands of long blades of grass catch her mid-air, criss-crossing over each other like some sort of makeshift net beneath her, she immediately tried to stand up on her feet and draw her dagger against the plants. They shifted underneath her and made it difficult to get her footing.

“Are you alright?” Called Veldin’s voice from somewhere in this chamber.

Misha realized the grass was not trying to stab her or strangle her at all. When she looked around for the source of Veldin’s voice, she spotted him across the former wall of grass, now that several patches of it were burned away by the ongoing flames. Veldin’s hand was up, moving to direct a spell, but his attention was towards Misha.

“Is…” Misha looked down at the grass, and it began to gently lower her to the ground. “Is this you, Veldin?” She hopped down onto the ground below once she was close enough.

Rather than answer, not that he needed to, Veldin looked back to the flames and directed them all to join back together. When he did, the grass that had caught Misha fell limp to the ground. Misha saw the plants looked as if they were withering now, and all around her, she saw the damage the flames had done before Veldin had gathered them all together and extinguished them. Scorch marks charred much of the wood, and plants were turned black or crumbling into ashes that fell slowly to the ground like snow. The grass that had made up the wall, or what remained of it, was wilting and left the room clear to traverse once more.

Ahead, Misha saw the form of Limalsa. She lay on the ground, her body twitching. Her arms reached for the arrow embedded into her chest, yet their strength drained too quickly to pull it out. Misha saw the flesh around the arrow undulate as it tried to reform, but with the arrow still buried deep within, there was nothing to be done. Misha had hit something vital, whether a heart or something else in the fey's anatomy, and that became clear as Limalsa ceased moving at last.

Misha allowed herself only that moment to confirm her enemy had fallen, then scanned her surroundings for the safety of her allies. Not far from Veldin, Remerick pulled his sword free from a clump of tangled grass that fell away easily now. But nearby Misha, where she’d fallen during Limalsa’s final attack, was Aliana.

She lay on the ground unmoving, and Misha felt her heart plummet and her throat clench tight. She sprinted towards Aliana and came to a stop next to her. Relief flooded over Misha when she saw Aliana finally move, albeit slowly, and push herself up from the ground with a groan of pain. Moonlight lay beside her, and the parts of her skin that was not guarded by her armor was covered in cuts that dripped with water droplets from the ice she had been struck by. There were no immediate wounds of any further severity that Misha could see, however.

"That... That hurt," Aliana mumbled, rubbing a hand against her head. "Are we safe? There's no more lightn... Oh." Her gaze fell on Limalsa.

"We... did it," Misha said. That it had come to this was... she shook the thought away. Her companions were safe. Misha shifted her position and felt something brush up against her foot as she did. When she looked down, she spotted the wooden pendant of the fortune necklace. The wood had been snapped in half, as had its string, likely cut during Limalsa's last attack on Aliana.

"Oh," Misha said, disappointed slightly. The look on Aliana’s face seemed to match when she saw it as well, but Misha simply said, "I'm glad you're alright. I’m sorry it wasn’t ever of any real help."

"Well… I fell from a flaming grass wall and was shot by ice. And I’m not hurt, just sore and winded, I think. Probably going to have plenty of bruises. The charm was for good luck, wasn’t it?"

Misha nodded. She wanted to say something to that, but decided not to. For now, she would simply hold onto that thought, one that gave her some comfort after all of this.

Aliana took her time to stand up from the ground. Misha turned her attention back to Limalsa, where Veldin now stood by the fey's side, kneeling down to conduct whatever spell it was that held the shard's corruption at bay.

Remerick approached Misha and Aliana in the meantime, looking about the area. Nothing else in this chamber moved. “What’s going to happen with this tree after this?” he asked. “Or the fey that served Limalsa?”

Misha considered that. She expected the plants to continue regrowing after being burned, like that had in the moments before Limalsa’s death. “I’m not sure…” She looked to Veldin, hoping that he would have an answer once he completed his spell.

However, he stood up and said, “We should be leaving. I do not believe this tree was created with ventilation in mind.”

“Ventil…” Misha looked up and noticed clouds of smoke had gathered up at the ceiling of the chamber as the aftermath of the flames. “Oh. Oh, I see.” It was for the best Limalsa had been slain quickly after the fire had spread, in that case.

The group returned the way they had come, descending down the staircase within the tree. “Most likely,” Veldin explained as they walked, “the tree will soon die and rot away. Without the scale shard to supply it with energy for its growth, it will be hard-pressed to obtain enough nutrients from the land here to support something as large as itself.”

“And the fey?” Aliana asked.

“I see no reason that they should having any difficulty surviving, unfortunately. They have been given far more manageable forms. They will not be able to spread their corruption, as La…” Veldin paused, briefly, just noticeable enough to Misha before he continued on to say the name, "Lady Elcevier's research shows that the corruption could not continue on past that. It is the shards that cause it, likely due to the fact that Opal's magic empowers the darkness. A very particular combination."

That was not the most ideal answer Misha had hoped for. It was good that the source of the corruption had been cut off, yes, but what would that mean for their group or the fey of the village if Limalsa’s knights attempted to retaliate?

Once Misha and her companions returned to the ground, they found the the sea of roots still awaited them below. Clearly, the tree’s rot had not reached them just yet.

Misha was relieved to see Grey just where she’d last seen him, and he sat up on his haunches, tail thumping the ground a few times when he saw Misha and the others.

“I told you we’d be back,” Misha said, coming to a stop before the wolf and brushing a hand through his fur. “I… think it’s time for us to leave.”

Remerick cautiously approached the tunnel of roots that had led here in the first place. “Is it safe for us to walk through there again?”

“Personally, I do not consider any of this to be safe until we are well and away from here,” Veldin said. “However, our other option seems to be climbing atop the roots. Aside from the fact that I would prefer not to, I see far too many thorns for that to be any better of an endeavor.”

Grey answered with a grumble, but stood up and began to walk at the slow pace he could manage into the beginning of the path. “I suppose he thinks it’s safe,” Misha said. If it was good enough for Grey, it was good enough for her.

The walk back was strange. The whole time, Misha expected a new threat to appear and attack herself and her companions. Yet, much like on the way here after fighting that fey woman and the “balon” creature, the pathway of roots and thorns was straightforward without a single twist or split. Not a creature moved, and the traveling group made it out to the field without incident. Not a single one of the knights was to be seen, even when they returned to the village. Were they not going to be attacked? Misha would expect to be after slaying the queen they were created to serve.

The last few rays of sunlight were vanishing by the time they were back in the village. Various animal and insect-like fey hurried from one place to another, or gathered together in small groups to talk in hushed tones. A few eyed Misha’s group, though there was no action taken against them. They were stared at more as if something curious to be seen.

Misha stopped in her tracks when she rounded a corner and saw one of them. A knight standing in the pathway between rows of buildings. Grey paused, and out of the corner of Misha’s vision she saw Aliana reach for Moonlight.

“Hold a moment,” Veldin said.

Misha was about to question why until she took in more of the scene. The knight stood in place, and did not seem to move or react to anything. Other fey of the village walked by, hurrying past and looking at the knight warily, but otherwise going on about their business without issue. A couple of the fey muttered something to each other in their language as they passed by Misha and the others.

“’They’re all like this?’” Veldin muttered as if in response to what those fey had said, earning a confused look from the others.

“All of them,” a new voice said. Misha turned around to face where the source of the voice, and there was a small, fluffy creature close to her size trotting towards the group. This was the same creature, Misha assumed another fey, that the knights had been taking to the tree.

Remerick turned to the creature and knelt down to be closer to eye level. “You’re alright, then.”

The fluffy fey wiggled their tale. “Thank you for your help. That was brave of you.” They looked to the stationary knight and said, “They’ve all stopped doing anything since a little while ago.”

Misha tilted her head. “What do you mean, ‘they’ve stopped?’”

The fey answered by walking forward, directly towards the knight. Misha held out a hand, instinctively intending to stop them, but the fey trotted right past her and up to the knight.

“Sir knight, sir knight! There is trouble, you must come!” the fey announced loudly, scurrying around the knight’s feet and wiggling their tail up at the taller figure. Other fey who walked by watched uneasily, clearly equally on edge, but there was no response from the knight. The small, fluffy fey sat on the ground looking rather proud of themselves. “See? They don’t do anything anymore.”

Aliana had shuddered at the display and now said, “Alright, I’ll trust you on that. But, uh… What’s wrong with them, then?”

Grey barked, a single noise, and yet the fey tilted their head and seemed amazed as they said, “Is… Is that true? Have you freed us from her?”

“You understood that from one bark?” Misha studied Grey as she spoke. Grey just stared back at her as usual.

Veldin spoke up now that the fey that had passed by were out of earshot, “I had not intended to announce such a thing so openly, should their be danger in doing so… But, yes, that is the case. And, given the reaction of these ‘knights’ who were so loyal to her, I would assume that they have ceased to act in absence of someone to command them.”

“So… So what are they going to do?” Misha asked. “What orders are they waiting for?”

“Any, I would presume. It’s entirely likely that, seeing as how they were created by her, they have limited independence from Limalsa.”

“But… They spoke to us, they weren’t just puppets, they’re…”

The look Veldin gave Misha was not lacking sympathy, but was unwavering as he said, “Yet you see the results.”

“They used to be people,” Aliana said quietly.

“They were. But that is no longer the case, I am sorry to say.”

“Excuse me.” The fey approached the group once more, leaving the knight behind. “I understand Limalsa hurt mortals, but you’ve done so much for the rest of us. Can I thank you all? Allow me to tell everyone what you’ve done so we can repay you properly.”

“That’s appreciated,” Remerick said, exchanging a look with his companions, “but I’m not certain it’s a good idea for us to have that much attention here…”

“Oh, but our celebrations are wonderful!” the fey said, wiggling their tail some more. They paused, then added, “Although… There are a few of us here who may wish to keep you if they learn of what you’ve done for us.”

“They’ll what?” Aliana asked.

“Alright, then. I’ll repay you all with somewhere to spend the night instead! No one else needs to know until you’ve already left. Is that alright?”

“That sounds fine with me,” Misha said, looking up at the darkening night sky and the stars above.