Hazel groaned, working themself up into a sitting position. Their body felt as if it had been put through a wringer, crushing all their bones to tiny little sharp slivers. Shudders and twitches ran through their muscles periodically, an aftereffect of the spider venom slowly spreading through their system. Thanks to Guelder's Delay Poison spell, their body had more time to deal with it and a much better chance to prevail in the end, but that didn't make it either pleasant or benign. Even their eyesight was not as it used to be. The short, fluffy grass underneath seemed bluish in colour, and the entire world swam in some strange haze, limiting their range of vision. It didn't became better over time, and Hazel started to doubt it would. A deep exhaustion settled into their bones, not the good kind that came after a day well spent, but the type that could turn life-threatening the moment another challenge showed up. And considering the strange place they were in, that could happen anytime.

  The others, too, were recovering, scattered across the weird grass. Pangur performed a thorough stretch and yawned, making sure that all his limbs were functional and in place. Valerie walked around with stiff motions in search of her shield. Nok-Nok was doing somersaults, enjoying the vegetation. Tristian was checking on everyone's health with a dogged perseverance fueled by some buried fear. Linzi ran a trembling hand along the neck of her lute to check it for damage, which reminded Hazel to do the same with the Devourer of Metal. By the feel of it, the bow was safe and sound, ready for deployment once Hazel's physical state allowed them to hold an object steadily in their hands.

  This had been their worst dungeon run ever. Guelder had ignored her teammates (which had only been slightly better than going for their throats), run into webs, inadvertently activated traps, continually risked her life, gone toe-to-toe with monsters, oblivious of her fragile health, making it extremely hard for the team to keep her safe while trying to follow some semblance of strategy in clearing the dungeon. She'd left them no time to rest or get their bearings or even empty a treasure chest properly. As a result, they all had so much spider venom in their bodies that it would knock out an ox, had run out of antidote, healing potions and positive energy, and were worn down twice as much as in a normal expedition. Not to mention Hazel's nerves, seeing their beloved in constant danger due to her own... lower level of consciousness, to put it mildly. On the flip side, she'd had no further interaction with Lamashtu or her cult. The name of the dungeon had proved to be just a misleading metaphor for the place where the monsters came from. There was no trace of an operational cell of the cult or the strange force field that had previously set Guelder's blood on fire. Not that Hazel wouldn't have welcomed another chance to bring her heat to fruition, but at the moment, survival was top priority. For her, for the team, and most of all, for Nightvale.

  The baroness was back to her normal self, a little disoriented, but able to communicate with Tristian kneeling beside her. Without the power of her curse, the consequences of the dungeon run came crashing down upon her all at once. With her pale face, baggy eyes, dried blood and other types of dirt around her lips, she was a scary sight even compared to the others. None of them was in good shape. The spiders had not been kind to them, especially not to Linzi, who had gone through a panic attack in addition to the venomous bites.

  "Wolfsbane, anyone?" asked Guelder weakly.

  "We are good, thanks," said Hazel, stroking her hair out of her face. "How about you, Lady Bloodlust?"

  Tristian smartly recognised that his presence was not required here anymore, and backed away.

  "Chewed up and spat out," groaned the baroness, apparently not in a romantic mood. "My head hurts. My shoulder is acting up. The list continues."

  "Oh." Hazel carefully felt out the dislocated joint and gently guided it back into its socket again.

  "Serves you right," lashed out Valerie, towering above Guelder. "Perhaps this will teach you to keep track of your ‘periods’ properly and not start a dungeon while you're not in control of yourself."

  "Mind your tongue, Valerie," hissed Hazel. "You are talking to your liege, in case you have forgotten."

  Valerie's bright blue eyes looked straight through Hazel, as if they were made of air.

  "If you have a death wish, you're welcome to sort it out on your own. I'm ready to pick up your banner and raise it high, even though I'm not looking forward to the task. But if you drag half your government with you into suicide, who will rule Nightvale in your stead? Jaethal Frozen Lake? Maegar Varn? Castruccio Irovetti?"

  If Hazel expected Guelder to put Valerie in her place as mercilessly as she'd done to Kesten, they were wrong. She was too spent to assert dominance.

  "You are completely right, Valerie, and I am sorry," she muttered. Then she turned aside to throw up into the soft blue grass.

  "Just leave her be, Valerie, will you?" snapped Hazel. "If you can flawlessly track your periods while your country is burning, well done, I am happy for you. But cut some slack for those who are not as perfectly organised as yourself!"

  "Actually yes, I can and I do. Even though my periods don't involve ripping throats or otherwise putting my teammates in harm's way."

  "Anyway, we have all learnt a valuable lesson. Let us leave it at that." Hazel helped Guelder sit up and poured a bowl of water for her. "Here. Rinse your mouth, wash your face. You still have slug slime on your chin."

  "Ugh... That explains a lot. Where are we, by the way?"

  "We have definitely passed through Lamashtu's birth canal," said Hazel. "Otherwise, your guess is as good as mine."

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  "If I'm any judge," said Tristian, looking even more nervous than usual, "we are in the First World."

  "WHAT?" exclaimed Guelder. "Then we have been hijacked from our objective! We have to find a way back, as soon as possible!"

  Hazel frowned, trying to make sense of her words.

  "You lost me there, Guel. What exactly is the problem?"

  "There is no way a First World flower releases its seeds into a Golarian river! The flower we need to destroy must be on the mortal plane, not here, in another dimension!"

  "Do not be so sure," said Hazel, trying to calm her down. "The draft across the passage was strong enough to carry seeds. Maybe they start out airborne before they get into the water."

  "The bad news is," said Valerie, "we cannot return by the same gateway. Even if we could fight the suction force, the portal spat us out mid-air. It isn't even visible from this side."

  "And the good news is," chimed in Tristian, "that in terms of our mission, we are on the right path, despite all appearances."

  "Huh?"

  The cleric blushed to deep red, as usual.

  "I have a... erm... a theory. Yes. There must be not one flower but two, one in the First World and one on the mortal plane, linked together by an interplanar connection. The First World one captures the monsters, and the Golarian one delivers them to their destination. Both of them must be destroyed, and we are at just the right place to deal with the First World one. All we have to do is find it."

  "That makes sense," admitted Hazel. "But it is still just a theory, until we can prove or disprove it."

  "Exploring the area would be a good start," said Valerie. "We can't stay here, anyway. If this is where the monsters come from, there must be loads of them around. We must find a safe spot to set up camp, get some rest, wait until our bodies get rid of the spider venom, and the like."

  "Let us go, then," said the baroness. "We are wasting time."

  And so the team set out to explore the place. Hazel kept an eye on Guelder, whose condition didn't improve. Quite on the contrary. Usually, she was the one to set a taxing pace for the team to follow, but now she was struggling to keep up, and not only because she missed out on her recovery sleep after a busy night under the full moon. For a few moments, Hazel was distracted by the weird shapes of clouds in the sky, and when they looked around, they realised that they had left Guelder behind. The baroness was down on her knees, immersed in the study of a curious plant resembling a spurge in way too gaudy colours, but Hazel suspected this was only an excuse for her to catch a breather.

  They stood above her and extended a hand.

  "Come, Guel. We must go on."

  "I would not mind staying here for a while," she muttered. "I can finally study these plants in their own natural environment. There is plenty of research material here for weeks, or even months."

  This was bad. Not long ago, she'd been all about pushing forward, and now here she was, watching grass grow. Was she becoming incoherent?

  "You would not last more than hours or minutes," said Hazel, "before some indigenous monster got a fancy to your flesh. Let me help."

  They pulled her up from the ground, then embraced her for a few moments, until she got ahold of herself. Her face felt hot against their neck, and her eyes had a strange, glassy look to them. She gritted her teeth in an effort to hide her weakness, but by now it was all too obvious. Something was going on in her, something worse than what all the others were dealing with, and that frightened Hazel.

  "Guel, if you feel unwell, just do the cat shape and let me carry you."

  "No," she grunted. "They must see me pull my weight."

  "Take my arm, then."

  "Thanks, Hazel. I appreciate your support."

  The two of them set out again to catch up with the team, with Hazel half leading, half carrying her. They had to find a place to rest, sooner rather than later.

  And then they all stumbled into a patch of blue mist.