For one final night, Elmore was exactly as it had always been. Games were played, sausages were eaten in quantities best left uncounted, and the village celebrated until the early morning sun finally brought the Festival of a Thousand Sausages to an end.
The peaceful morning lasted right up until Mayor Crumblepot’s terrified voice rang through town:
“It’s got teeth!”
Booker, Pips, Rowan, Noctis, and Sol rushed toward the shouting and found the mayor beneath a massive green wolf. Writhing tendrils covered the creature’s body like living vines, while woodland animals scattered through Elmore in every direction—some fleeing the wolf, others perhaps running from something deeper in the woods.
For the first time in more than a century, true terror had come to Elmore.
The wolf was dangerous enough on its own, but its tendrils began tearing free from its body and moving independently. They slithered toward the townsfolk, forcing the newly gathered party to divide their attention between the beast and the people they had known all their lives.
The crawling tendrils were cleaved apart one by one. Then, in a plan that was both highly effective and unmistakably Elmore, the wolf was drenched in alcohol and set ablaze. The green creature burned until its hide was blackened and it finally collapsed.
The mayor survived—though several limbs lighter than he had been at breakfast. As the injured were treated and the village caught its breath, the five adventurers gathered themselves and began searching for the cause of the chaos.
The question was no longer what had attacked Elmore. It was what had sent the rest of the forest running.
CHAPTER TWO
A Recipe for Survival
By morning, the Festival of a Thousand Sausages had become a ruin. Fires burned through shops, a sour stench hung over the streets, and the remains of the celebration lay scattered beneath ash and debris. Elmore’s food stores had been ransacked, trampled, or swallowed by chasms bubbling with green ooze.
The townsfolk gathered amid the wreckage, trying to understand what had happened—and how a village built around food could survive with almost none left.
Then fireworks cracked overhead and bells rang through the square. Fizz the alchemist emerged with a solution only Elmore could have considered sensible: if monsters were going to invade the village, the village would turn the monsters into food.
Fizz and Granny Molasses agreed that something was wrong within the Plover Caves. The creatures that now threatened Elmore were normally drawn deep underground by the Lure. They did not wander into town. If the Lure had failed, someone would have to enter the caves, discover why, and find a way to feed Elmore before its remaining stores ran dry.
Elmore needed chefs. Elmore needed fighters. Most importantly, Elmore needed whoever was available.
Sol was entrusted with a mysterious blank cookbook—and volunteered for the journey before he had much opportunity to object. At his side stood Rowan the Ranger, Pips the Rogue, Noctis the Assassin, and Booker the Seraph. Together, the newly formed party turned the charred remains of the green wolf into their first communal meal and filled the cookbook’s opening page with its first recipe: Glazed Maple Medley.
With favors and supplies offered by the people they had just saved, the five adventurers left Elmore beneath a tired but heartfelt storm of applause.
Their best lead came from Benny Shellsworth, who knew that pudgy, brilliantly colored birds called Sprinkles gathered near the Plover Caves’ ever-shifting entrance. The traveling bard Callen kept a Sprinkle of his own and frequently visited the caves. If the party moved quickly, Marmy believed they could catch him. After weighing the possible routes, they chose the farmlands.
The devastation had spread well beyond Elmore. A sweet-smelling green haze blanketed the fields while bubbling ooze consumed corn, crops, and soil alike. The fog moved with unnatural purpose, parting before the party as though inviting them inside.
Deep within the haze came gurgling, burbling, and the unmistakable sound of something chewing. The party found oozes feeding among the ruined crops. Each creature grew larger with every mouthful, then split into smaller horrors when struck hard enough. No matter how many they cut down, the pieces simply gathered themselves and began again.
Realizing the harvest had produced an enemy they could not defeat by force alone, the party broke away and pressed deeper into the fog. Somewhere ahead was Callen, the wandering entrance to the Plover Caves, and—if Elmore was very lucky—the first answer to what had gone wrong.
The heroes had left home in search of the Plover Caves. Behind them, the farmlands continued to feed on themselves.
CHAPTER THREE
Out of the Frying Pan
Putting distance between themselves and the defeated—but already reforming—oozes, the party crossed the last of the ruined farmlands and reached a steep embankment overlooking Crumbshade Forest. White smoke curled above the trees below, likely rising from the camp of Callen the Bard.
Most of the group made their way down with something resembling grace. Pips and Booker chose another method entirely: Booker tucked into his shell, Pips climbed aboard, and the pair went hurtling down the muddy slope in a wildly effective shell slide.
They reached Callen’s camp just in time. Rats with tails ablaze swarmed among the wagons, threatening the bard and everything he had managed to save. Before the party could finish driving them back, a lumbering figure pushed through the trees, bellowing:
“Who killed my specimens? I want my pantry!”
Farmer Glurp was an oozing mass of sausage, gravy, cooking utensils, field tools, and whatever else he had managed to ingest. Two enormous gravy boars charged beside him as he descended upon the camp.
Noctis struck from a distance with deadly precision. Rowan wielded their fishing rod in ways its maker had surely never intended. Sol hurled magic from relative safety, while Booker channeled divine power through a hammer that flew between enemies. Pips met the danger with deception, trickery, and a degree of bravery that nearly cost him his life.
Together, the five adventurers brought down Glurp, his boars, and the remaining fire-tailed rats. At last, Callen’s camp was safe.
At Callen’s side was his ever-faithful companion, Fruit Loops—a brilliantly colored Sprinkle who served as his guide to the ever-moving entrance of the Plover Caves. When the party asked what waited within, Callen answered as any proper bard would: with a song. Its verses described a journey through the caves and offered cryptic hints of the dangers—and wonders—that might lie ahead.
With no shortage of questionable ingredients scattered around the battlefield, the party prepared Sweet and Savory “Meat” and Gravy Stew. The dish was a surprising success, even if it left everyone feeling a little sluggish. Pips considered swiping Callen’s whip, but wisely decided that keeping the bard’s trust was more valuable—though not before bribing Fruit Loops with leftovers.
Callen told them of Berrytide, a settlement not far inside the Plover Caves where the adventurers might learn more about the road ahead. With their bellies full and their eyes growing heavy, the party settled in for the night. Callen passed around his pipe to any who wished to partake.
Those who did found little rest. Their sleep was filled with visions of Elmore’s citizens boiling together inside an enormous cooking pot while a vast shadow loomed overhead, laughing as the village became its feast.
Can the party truly keep Elmore safe? Or will the hunters themselves become the meal?