Like the cougars, the Flesh Munchers were much larger in real life than they had been when I’d seen them inside the creature cores. I could sense the very limited intelligence of their one-track minds. Well, it wasn’t really intelligence. The only thought they had was about how to find their next meal.

“Can you make them move?” said Astrid curiously.

“I doubt it, but I’ll try,” I said.

I gave the command to the Flesh Munchers to move toward the center of the arena, but the command seemed to ricochet back at me. It was a weird feeling, as if I’d thrown a ball into thin air but had it unexpectedly hit an invisible force field and bounce back at me.

I shook my head. “They’re not able to move. I don’t think they’re disobeying my commands, though, I think they just can’t.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense, they are plants after all,” Astrid said with a laugh. “ just thought it would be worth a try.”

I chuckled. “Sure. Experimentation is what we’re here for. So I guess you can treat them like obstacles? Maybe try to get past them without getting grabbed?” I paused as I thought through what I’d just said. “Wait a minute. . . what happens if they do catch you?”

“Not gonna happen.” Astrid grinned.

“But what if it does? You could get injured.”

“Health potions,” Astrid said. “Kyrine can make a bunch of them. Not that she’ll need to, of course.”

I nodded. If I felt that it was necessary to bring the exercise to a swift halt, I could just command the Flesh Munchers to disperse, and that would solve the problem immediately. I kept that thought to myself, however. Somehow, I didn’t think Astrid would appreciate it.

“Don’t worry about it, Jeremy,” she said. “I’ve faced worse than this in the field. Come on, let’s do it.”

Since the Flesh Munchers couldn’t move, they were stuck in the position in which they’d been summoned, each approximately twelve yards away from the next. By my estimation, they had a reach of a little less than six yards, which meant Astrid had only a fraction of space to maneuver through them.

“Tell me when I can go.” She bent over into a crouched position like a sprinter at the start of a race. In her skintight suit, I could see the outline of her ass but no panty line. “Jeremy?” she asked.

I shook myself into focus. “Go!”

Chapter 19