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“I don’t have time to waste with another journey,” insists Perilous Jack.

“I will give you the Red Bead in exchange for the Magic Beans, and nothing more.”

The Druid smiles, his grin growing wider and wider until it stretches beyond the limits of a human face. Perilous Jack takes a step back, aghast at the terrible transformation. Suddenly the Druid’s human face tears away and flutters to the ground, revealing the gaping toothy maw of a Stinging Aster beneath. The clothing the Druid wore flickers away, the illusion dispelled. Jack takes another step back – nearly into the poisonous embrace of another Stinging Aster.

The flowers are all around him now, Stinging Asters and Eye Fangs, Death Blossoms and Mandrakes. Did he think the platforms were empty? The Druid must have concealed more than half his plants with illusion, for Jack is suddenly surrounded. He casts a despairing glance at the Warp Portal, but it is dead and opaque. Around him hundreds of flowers open, filling the air with their choking perfume. His head swims and his consciousness begins to fade. His sword slips from nerveless fingers and he plunges down into a well of darkness.

Turn to 87.