Theodius then walked back in the direction Saniel was waiting and spoke to me as he did. "Remember, not one scratch. I will be taking Saniel again since you won't be needing him. My advice for this is to stay as still as you can." He left without saying anything else and he was soon gone with Saniel. I continued to look at May as a rose who was delicately moving on her own.
I looked around me and decided to sit by a small stream against a tree. "This'll be easy. I've been protecting you this entire quest, this will be no different." A breeze then filled the trees and swept over us. I noticed that her petals were shaking from the wind and quickly covered her with my hand. The breeze calmed down but I kept my hand there. "Or maybe not..."
The longer I sat there the more I realized just how hard this would be. I started to become paranoid about everything from the wind to the way I was holding her. On the positive side, I could say whatever I wanted to her now. I could do nothing but sit there waiting for tomorrow to come, so speaking came easily.
"Why are you such an idiot? Why would you entrust your life to me so easily? I don't understand you. What do you see in me that's obviously not there? You make my head hurt, you know that?" I sighed and continued to wait for a moment until I noticed that she had started to wilt. I panicked and moved to kneel. "What's wrong? What do you need? Ugh! Of course you can't tell me!"
I then looked at the stream in front of me and moved over to it. "Are you thirsty?" I hesitated on how I should do this. 'If she can become too stressed, I'm sure she's also able to drown.' I then dipped my fingers in the running water and sprinkled the drops onto her from my fingertips. She stopped wilting once the drops touched her petals and she started to bloom again.
I sighed in relief and sat back against the tree again. "This is going to be a long day." My eyes rested upon her as I waited, and her stem continued to hold my hand tightly. I felt myself blush again from just looking at her. "You're enjoying this, aren't you? You finally got the chance to cuddle me, you weirdo." My expression then softened and my voice became quiet. "Still, even as a rose, you're the prettiest thing I've ever seen."
After I finished my sentence, May suddenly bloomed a little more. My eyes widened with surprise. "Wait, can you... Hear me?" Before I could get any form of a response from her, a voice came from beside me. "Hello there." I turned and saw an ogre standing a short distance away. He was only a little shorter than me and had a yellowish color of skin. He had a large nose and ears, and his popping dark eyes were at slightly different levels on his bumpy face. His teeth were big and uneven, and he wore torn rags on his wide body.
He stepped closer to me and his gaze was fixed on May. "That is some rose you have there. You're not planning on eating all of that yourself, are you?" He spoke with a deep English accent that sounded almost fake. I gave him a glare and put my free hand on the hilt of my sword. "If you dare come any closer to her I will make sure your death is painful." He raised his hands as he took a step back. "My, I didn't think it'd be such a big deal. I might have some knick-knacks that I could trade for it if you're that kind of bloke."
I became angrier as he spoke. "This rose is mine! Got that?! Now leave us alone!" The ogre's expression became bummed and he dropped his hands. "Come on, how about just a petal?" He came closer suddenly, making me stand up and draw my sword. I made sure May was far enough from the blade as I pointed it at the ogre, making him stop, stunned. "Back off."
Before anything else could happen I felt a sudden pinch in my neck. Darts made of quills coated with purple liquid then shot into the ogre's arm and I realized that they were shot at me as well. We both started to lose control of our posture and the ogre passed out before I did. My vision became hazy and as I fell to my knees I covered May with my other hand to prevent her from hitting the ground before I fell.
I blacked out and when I opened my eyes again I was inside a cage made of roots and branches. The cage was only big enough to hold one person, and it was hanging above the ground against the trunk of a large tree. I shook my head, trying to get the weird feeling that came over me to disappear. I felt my neck with my hand and felt that the spines were gone. I looked down and saw that my sword was also no longer in its sheath. I could see it below me sitting against the tree through the holes in between the roots, and it was too far to reach.
It was then I realized that May was no longer wrapped around my hand. I began to panic and look around at my surroundings quickly. I saw that there was a camp ahead of me surrounded by weird creatures. From the neck down they appeared like people but with green skin and leaves covering them. Their heads resembled flowers and I didn't know how to respond to seeing such a thing. 'Okay... That may be the weirdest thing I've seen since I arrived...'
A familiar voice then came from next to me and I turned my head to the right to see the same ogre in another cage hanging next to mine. "Don't be fooled by their delicious appearances, they be the work of evil. After they take one of their own they'll fry us up for dinner! The irony is so cruel!" He shuddered in fear and I rolled my eyes as I returned to looking at the flower people.
I noticed that they were setting up some sort of ceremony. One of the flowers approached a small boulder through the crowd, carrying something in their palms. I saw that it was May and she was still unharmed by the look of it. I didn't know what they were planning on doing, but soon another flower that was standing behind the boulder held a knife in the air as May was placed on the stone in front of them.
The rest of them started making clicking noises and my panic only increased. 'They're going to hurt her so she'll stay one of them forever, aren't they?! Oh no they don't!' I then leaned back against the cage and raised my feet to push against the roots in front of me. I extended myself and the roots burst apart, causing me to fall to the ground. I landed on my feet, took my sword from where it was placed against the tree, and ran toward the creatures. "Touch her and I'll prune every last one of you!"