Chapter 28 - Temptation

It was a balmy night out - the air was humid as if to threaten rain, with a distinct warmth that she had come to associate with summer. Holly and Cris met Mick, Rob, and Kat at the eastern hunting ground – a different hunt spot than the one they had been going to for the last couple of nights. Even with the new locale, the process was identical.

“You two have fun?” Kat asked, a teasing smirk gracing her lips.
“Yeah, we got to ride the wheel,” Cris teased back.

The fire cat’s smug grin instantly fell. “What?! No way!” she cried in distress as both Cris and Rob laughed at her.

Holly allowed herself a smile, though it was only because of the mask that she managed it.

There was part of her that wanted to tell Cris to run away with her – to make their time alone last just that little bit longer.

Her eyes fell on Mick’s green tuner; the object that made such a dream impossible. Even if they did try to abandon Maestro society, he could be ripped from her with the simple push of a button.

It pained her. She wished she could do without these feelings.

“Oh, I wanted to pass something by you.” Mick’s horrid voice pulled Holly out of her musings.
“Y-yes sir?” she asked with a sheepish chuckle.
“I think between Rob, Kat, and the two of you we could hunt a big Scherzando. There’s one that’s getting dangerously close to the city,” he explained.

“I see,” Holly replied. She wasn’t sure what to even say. “How many people would it be?” was what she decided on.
“I think based on what I’ve seen you do, the five of us could handle it no problem,” Mick replied.
“Wouldn’t it be safer with more people?” Holly questioned.

“Not necessarily,” Mick replied. “Besides,” he turned his head back to the rest of the line, “I’d rather only share the money with you.”

Holly raised a brow.

“Big Scherzando are worth a TON of money,” Cris chimed in.
“Usually a pool of around five thousand notes that gets split among the participating hunters,” Kat added, balling up her fists with excitement.
“There are squads that try to take them down with the least number of people while minimizing danger to maximize each individual’s rewards,” Rob explained.

That did make some degree of sense. They had told her before that big Scherzando were dangerous and possibly a threat to innocent lives if left alone. It wasn’t like they would just be doing it for the money…

… but the money was pretty enticing. Possibly earning up to ten times what she did in a night was a prospect that felt really good.

However, something inside her was screaming that this was a terrible idea. She didn’t have enough information. Did they even know what they’d be facing out there? All she got so far was that it was big and it was close to the city. That was table scraps of a plan; no that was dirt. Inedible dirt.

Holly opened her mouth to voice her protest but found her voice wasn’t working. It was too smart to plan? This was absurd! Her own mind was stopping her from stating the obvious?!

Something in her cracked. She didn’t care. She wasn’t about to let them all get hurt or worse because of poor planning.

“Actually!” Holly squeaked. “Shouldn’t we come up with a plan first?” she asked.

The way they all turned to her. She felt her heart stop as she suddenly felt oh so very small. Each gasp of air that filled her lungs had to be accomplished manually; her autonomic systems failed her. Sweat began to permeate her form, sticking to her skin. She felt weak and disgusting.

“B-b-but I-I think it’s a good idea if… you all do…” she whimpered quietly. “I-it might hurt people,” she added as an aside.

Satisfied they were all in agreement, Mick turned to the registrar. Conveniently their little group was up next.

“Tuners,” said the booth attendant in practiced fashion.

Mick didn’t immediately hand over his trio of tuners. He motioned for Holly to step up next to him, who hesitantly complied.

“We’re going to hunt that big Scherzando that’s nearby,” said Mick.

The registrar looked between Mick and Holly, then appraised the three Resonators behind the Maestro. “Are you waiting for anyone else?” they asked.

“No, we can handle it.” Mick looked to Holly, who only realized she was being addressed by the long awkward silence.

“Oh! Uh, yeah… the big Scherzando is gonna hurt people if we leave it alone.” She didn’t think she was convincing anyone with her half-hearted platitudes.

But apparently, she was wrong as the registrar nodded with no further questioning!

The four Resonator linked devices were scanned in and the quintet was sent on their way – again no questioning, warning, or the like! What did they know that Holly did not?!

As the group walked, Mick and his Resonators chatted as if nothing was wrong. Was Holly the weird one here?

She tried to calm herself. Maybe the big Scherzando weren’t as bad as people made them out to be. Maybe they were just annoying to defeat with only one Resonator. Maybe a team of four was really all that was needed to take one down.

That small bit of hope was all she had to hold on to as they trekked into the woods.

“Sahji leave me the hell alone tonight,” Holly mumbled under her breath.

“Okay, so the plan,” Mick began, much to Holly’s further relief, “Rob and Kat will be on damage, while the girls will be on support duties,” said the Maestro (Holly shot him a dirty look at the continued incorrect pronouns).

“Oh, what kind of seeds do you have Holly?” Cris whispered, drawing the dandelion girl’s attention away from Mick’s blathering.

“Uh, lightning, healing, fire, mind, water, sound, and that vial of dandelions you gave me,” she rattled off.

“Quite the repertoire. Wanna trade for the night?” he offered his bag to her.
Holly stared at him like he was from a different planet. “Huh, but-”
“I’ve got everything you have except I also have some mint; ice magic.”

Holly felt kind of bad pulling out her small seed satchel in comparison to his grand bag, but he was offering and she did want to try it out. So, they swapped. She liked the yellow ribbon, and the green satchel sat comfortably at her waist. It was the perfect range for her to dip her hand into it and touch the many vials strapped to the inside of the pouch.

Cris grabbed the bag and pulled it open, replacing the dandelion vial in its slot. “There we go,” he looked up to her. “Got this on special order. Let me know if you like it,” he said. “I can give you their contact info if you do.”

All she could do was nod. Maybe his lycoris flowers really did give him the ability to read minds; she certainly had been curious about the bag and she did like it.

The conversation ahead of the two plants came to a sudden halt. There was no need for words. Holly could feel it. Just ahead was the Scherzando.

While she couldn’t see it, the overwhelming sense of dread threatened to bowl her over. It was so intense she briefly considered turning around and running.

Part of her understood why they needed to get rid of it, but there was an equally loud part of her wondering why it had to be them doing this job. Her gaze met Mick’s back – it was because of him. What the Maestro said was law. If any of his trio voiced their discontent, it wouldn’t be difficult to silence that protest.

Kat snuffed her fire lights. They crept closer to where the awful feeling was radiating from. Thankfully the moon was nice and bright tonight which allowed Holly to take in the horrible sight that awaited them.

It was as tall as some of the smaller buildings in Ralevi. It had to be at least three times her height, if not a little more. It was a quadruped, currently resting on its haunches. The element of the Scherzando was obvious. Rocks and crystals clung to the shadow beast – an earth element.

“We’re in luck,” whispered Cris. “There’s plenty of wood aspect seeds around us,” he informed the group.

“So I can run distraction, Rob can stick with Mick, and you two pelt it with your seed magic?” Kat looked to Cris, then Mick for confirmation.

The Maestro nodded. “Should be pretty easy then,” he agreed.

“What do you think?” Cris asked Holly.

She stared at the huge beast. Scherzando were easy. She and Cris had the element advantage. It was surrounded by weapons of its own demise. She nodded hesitantly, pushing down the anxiety that refused to release her heart.

“I think we can do it,” whispered Holly.

Cris placed a hand on her back. “Don’t worry, I’m gonna be with you the entire time – we’ve got this.” He leaned closer. “After we’re done, I’m gonna convince Mick to take that riverboat; if you wanna come with us.”

Holly nodded. “Yeah!”

He wanted to travel with her! This was amazing! She turned her attention to the beast – the only thing between her and more wonderful memories.

She took in a breath, holding it for a moment before quietly releasing it. “I’m ready.”