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It took only moments for a root to uncoil itself from the canopy and strike at her with the red-tipped barb. She was so preoccupied she did not even dodge and the barb impaled her in the stomach. Silly Delaney! Always getting into trouble with your affable distractedness. You stupid stupid fucking fuck.

No time for self-loathing! The root yanked back and dragged her with it. The massive hole in her stomach felt so bizarre, a complete absence of guts, most of her intestines obliterated. Painless, of course. Just a weird physical emptiness.

The root tried to pull her into the writhing mass above. Her body had risen halfway when she wedged her staff against the barb for leverage and unhooked herself. She healed the gaping hole in her stomach before she even hit the water, and she didn't hit the water because she summoned a flotilla of bubbles to catch her.

(Chapter 11)