Fanilly couldn't stop to let out a sigh of relief, as much as she wanted to. But the moment that she reached the base of the tower, it immediately became much more difficult to be directly targeted by the witch's magical assault. She was powerful, incredibly so. Not merely from the display so far, but from the construct she had left at the ruins or the laser that had instantly vaporized a troll when deflected and left a molten hole in the earth. Even with her lack of knowledge when it came to magic, the young girl knight couldn't help but think of this as unreal. What kind of person [i]was[/i] this Beatrice, Witch of Wild Thorns? Was this what she meant when she said she was taught by the Witch-Queen herself?

There were no more orders to be given, now. They simply had to reach the witch as quickly as possible, before she could do much more damage. Taking stock of the tower's interior, seen through the crumbling, rotten oak door, Fanilly was thankful to see the stairway was still intact enough to allow her to make her way up it. Surely, the witch wouldn't target the very tower she was standing atop, would she? With a deep breath, the small blonde began sprinting her way up.

"You spilled plenty of blood here tonight, Iron Roses," commented the witch, "All those orcs, slaughtered! The fields are coated in black blood! It's not as if I expect you to feel guilty, of course."

She waved one hand idly, further magic circles materializing around her. It was as if she could create an infinite number of them.

"Orcs are barbaric beasts that are fundamentally opposed to the other races. Why, I think some of them even planned to eat the town's children! You did excellent work~"

She was praising them? For slaying her minions? By why? Fanilly shook her head, racing up the stairs to try and get closer. She knew Tyaethe was on the outside, scaling the wall.

"You spilled all the blood I needed. Now I'll surely get her attention."

Wait, what did she mean by that?!

"But first... allow me to show you just why I'm called the Witch of Wild Thorns!"

With one raised hand, she snapped her fingers. Immediately, the foliage around the tower began to twist and contort, erupting into thorny vines that started to spread upwards across the tower. Without a moment's pause, they began to constrict on the ruins, tightening further and further as they spread, squeezing the stone... that began to crack...

Fanilly could see the old stone beginning to crumble and crack from inside the tower. Was the Witch mad?! Or... was it possible she had a way off the top of the structure, even if it began to collapse! She was too high up, now, to flee back down it, so the only response was to make her way to the top as swiftly as possible! If the tower fell, that was where she had the chance of escaping with the least injury possible!

[@Raineh Daze][@PKMNB0Y][@TheFake]

[hr]

For a moment, Rissia pouted as she was lifted from Fleuri's shoulders, but her smile returned soon enough as her feet touched the ground. She stood proudly, with her hands on her hips and a smile, as if she had somehow been the one who located the puppy herself, and she was immediately taking the credit.

"What do you mean, what's going on?" she asked, holding her hat on her head as she cocked her head to the side, "The little cutie wanted to find her even littler cutie!"

Clutching her puppy, Mae blushed immediately.

"R-Rissia, that's embarrassing!"

"Fufufu~" the black-haired girl placed one to her lips as she giggled.

Klaus's question, however, seemed to leave Mae at least quite confused.

"Um... If you have business, we're not stopping you! Um, thank you again for finding Ennifer!"

[@Noodles][@Crimson Paladin]