Rustle.

Erin stood facing down Miss Glory in the gardens. Behind her, Captain Drake was wrapped up in a series of vines, his eyes closed due to the sleeping spores Miss Glory had used on him. Erin would have been in the same situation if she hadn't accelerated her metabolism to burn through the spores' effects.

A single dagger line cut through the black bulb that formed Miss Glory's head. Erin had managed to get a good cut in on it, but she was otherwise at a loss. Miss Glory wasn't going to be an easy fight. Her curse gave her control over plants. Erin's curse primarily involved plants.

A problem, to say the least.

"You're going to regret that." Miss Glory's vines came up to her bulb, running across the seeping cut across the black surface and spreading the green goop that bled out. "I know Miss Malone said not to kill you, but I may have to make an exception."

Erin jumped back, her dagger at her side as she raced through her options. Her first thought was what she always did in a similar situation. She could spray out seeds from her arms, scattering black thorned vines across the battlefield to trap her opponent.

If she did that now, would Miss Glory just take control of them? She didn't know. She grimaced, raising her arms as she retreated.

"Seed Spray!"

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Thorn Garden!"

She shot out a torrent of seeds in Miss Glory's face, and the plant woman raised her vine arms to block the flow. Erin reached out to each of the seeds, imbuing each with accelerated growth and sending them shooting up over Miss Glory. Black thorned vines crawled up Miss Glory's green legs.

Erin didn't control her pants. She was able to put them in the right place and allow their natural reactions to unleash on the target she wanted. If she threw two modified lashing vines near a target, they would react on their own once they reached maturity. If she threw out her black thorn seeds, they would wrap around anything in the area that they could touch, and the thorns would take care of whatever got caught in them.

Rustle.

The vines turned away from Miss Glory like they were bent by a solid wall. Erin watched as they curled away before finishing their growth, pointing toward the ground. The block vines formed a thorny floor around Miss Glory's stump-like feet.

"You can't be serious." Miss Glory chuckled as she stepped forward, her feet crashing down through the vines and forcing them to bend away from her own vines. "You thought you could use plants to fight me? I don't know where you got the idea, but you must see that I am a plant. I control all plants. You would have a better chance of fighting a volcano with flames."

She reached out one hand, and her tendrils stretched wide.

"Pop Lashes!"

From the ground around Miss Glory, lines of black thorn vines shot toward Erin. Erin tucked tight and jumped to the side. She hit the ground rolling. Wet grass stuck to her cloak, and several seeds from the various plants covered her pants when she found her feet.

Thwack. Thwack.

Erin continued to run, holding her dagger tight. The vines lashed out behind her, slapping into the ground like whips and sending dirt flying as they cut through plant and dirt with the power of their strikes. She needed a way forward.

"You can't run," she gasped out.

Her old self would have seen that as the first option. She would have considered how she could get away and maybe come back to the fight or continue on with the real objective. However, she knew better now. Sometimes, it may have been necessary, but she needed Captain Drake if she wanted to fight further into the keep. If she just left him, Miss Glory would hunt her down once she had the captain fully captured.

Thwack.

One of the vines cut in front of Erin. She slid to a stop, turning with her dagger and spinning it out in a lashing horizontal motion. The gambit paid off as she cut through the vines coming down on her, cutting them and sending them flaying into her shoulder with less force.

Erin stopped and watched as Miss Glory followed after her. The plant woman kept herself between Erin and Drake, making sure that Erin couldn't get a line of sight on him. It was smart. Erin needed a better plan than just running in circles around Miss Glory.

"What are you going to do?" Miss Glory asked as she approached.

The good across her bulb was already starting to dry. Her anger seemed to be fading as the bulb healed. The bulb must have been a weak point. Erin just needed a way to exploit it.

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"I don't know," Erin said, judging the distance between them.

How long did it take Miss Glory to gain control of a plant? How quickly could she turn one that was targeting her? These were the questions that Erin needed to answer if she hoped to take Miss Glory down. She had expanded her repertoire of plants since Aherlow. One of her new techniques might be what she needed to turn the fight around.

Two seeds sprouted from Erin's palms. She took a deep breath. She would need to run immediately to get out of the plants' range. She also needed to pay attention to when Miss Glory took control.

"Vine Whip!"

Thump.

She threw the seeds into the air, and they followed the arc over Miss Glory. Erin reached out to the yellow seeds as they slammed into the ground. She called on them to grow, even as she ran to the side.

One second.

Miss Glory turned, her bubble absorbing the two erupting green vines behind her.

Two seconds.

She raised her hands as the vines grew and wrapped around her arm, ready to tear her apart.

Three seconds.

The vines withdrew, flopping to the side and lying against the ground.

"I think it's best if you just give up." Miss Glory stretched her arms out, and the surrounding greenery responded. Flowers parted, and a few of the remaining vines stretched across the ground to Miss Glory's feet. They stood ready to take Erin down.

However, they were her own plants. Everything else in the area seemed to be naturally occurring plants. The sleeping buds on the vines were a part of Miss Glory's body. The vines, Erin had introduced.

That gave Erin pause.

Erin could modify plants, which was part of her curse. Her body allowed her to take in seeds and combine them with others, thus creating new plants. Miss Glory didn't seem to have the same capability. Some of the plants were of her own body, while others were just the ones that occurred in the environment.

Erin narrowed her eyes.

She needed a moment, a single distraction. Miss Glory was overconfident. She wasn't taking Erin seriously because, in her eyes, Erin could do nothing but give her more power in the fight. Erin needed to use that.

She had three seconds.

"If I give up, what will you do?"

She knew the answer but wanted to keep Miss Glory confident and talking. Miss Glory played into it, her hands falling to her hips and bulb tilting. As she did that, Erin tucked her hands into her cloak.

"I think that would be obvious, but no one in your crew has ever seemed very bright." Miss Glory shook her bulb. "I will take you to Miss Malone, where she will strip you of your memories again. I would have killed you, but my bulb is healing, and I find myself less angry with you. I may have to give you a scar before I turn you over, but that will be enough."

As Miss Glory talked, she shambled forward. Erin couldn't back away, though. She was already drawing two seeds she hadn't used in a real fight yet. They were brown and large, almost shaped like an onion. They plopped into her hands, ready to be activated as she lowered her hands from her cloak. She kept her palms away from Miss Glory. She needed every second.

"Oh, don't go on with the fight." Miss Glory raised her tendrils. "You already know that you can't do anything to me. Anything you send at me, I'll either deflect or use against you."

"Hah."

Erin shook her head as she reached out to the seeds in her palms and forced them to grow. They didn't have nutrients, but her curse overrode that fact. The roots reached into her palms as the stems rose. On both sides, the stems stuck out from her hands as the flowers bloomed. They felt like wound rope in her hands. The stems were odd ones, and how the plant reproduced before her modifications was what drew her to it.

"What's so funny?"

"You control living plants, right?"

Thwack.

Two vines rose beside her as Erin asked the question. It was obvious, but Erin took that as an admission. That meant that she likely had no control over dead plant matter. Erin forced more growth through the two stems in her palms, and the yellow petals began to harden as she did. As they did, the stems began to unwind, spinning petals in a circular motion beside Erin's hand.

The plants in her hands would send the bloom out into the world around it, carrying the seeds far away from where it had started. It did that by creating little flying disks. Without modifications, the flowers were hardly a threat. With modifications, they were sharp whirling knives, ready to fly through the air.

"Flying Stars!"

Fwip. Fwip.

Erin drew the two flowers across her body before flinging them out. As she did so, they reached the end of their lives, releasing their seeds out into the world, though hardened thanks to her curse. They formed two sets of spinning four-sided blades, not that different from throwing blades. She flung them in a circle, the two spinning blades cutting through the air in two wide arcs.

Miss Glory raised her arms, and the black thorn vines around her responded. They formed a barrier around her as the two knives cut toward her. It was a good idea. She could still control Erin's plants, and the black thorn vines resisted cutting.

Unfortunately for Miss Glory, Erin hadn't planned to cut her from the beginning.

As Miss Glory focused on the attack, Erin charged. As she did so, she drew two more seeds into her hands. Yellow seeds formed in her palm, and as she reached the vines, she threw them high over Miss Glory's head. They weren't for Miss Glory, though. Instead, they targeted Captain Drake.

"Vine Whip."

Erin slid to a stop, her hands crossing as she focused on throwing aether into the seeds. Two massive green vines erupted from the ground, wrapped around the nearest object, ready to slam it to the ground. The two flying blades slammed into Miss Glory's vines as it did. She hadn't the time to notice Erin's second plan. Three seconds. That was all the time she had. Three seconds before Miss Glory could take control, once she noticed the vines.

Rip.

The blades sliced through the vines, but they were enough to turn them away. In seconds, Miss Glory knocked the two blades away, sending them tumbling to the ground. With a wave of her hand, Miss Glory sent the remaining black thorn vines after Erin, wrapping around her arms first to keep Erin from calling on more plants.

"You're an idiot, I see it now," Miss Glory said as she pulled the vines tight and raised Erin. "What was your plan there? What did you hope to do?"

"I—" Erin gasped as the thorns cut through the skin on her arms. "It was the only way."

Rip. Thud.

She smiled as the vines finished wrapping around the unconscious Drake, ripping him away from their grip and slamming him headfirst into the ground. Too late, Miss Glory followed her gaze.

Miss Glory froze. The distraction had been enough. Now, she could deal with an angry dragon.

"That hurt," a deep voice grumbled.

From the ground, rubbing his head, Captain Drake rose. Smoke spilled from his maw as yellow eyes searched the surrounding field. It didn't take long for him to lock his eyes on Erin and Miss Glory."

"I see," he said, a line smile crossing his jaw as he flashed his teeth. "I think it's time we burned this weed."

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