Rue and I went to the bazaar, passed through it, and tinued on the old road. He occasionally gave me sideways gnces, but said nothing. I was sure he kly where we were going.

  I kept feeling eyes on me for almost three kilometers past the end of the bazaar, and then the feeling disappeared.

  Is our sneaky sneak afraid of the cursed forest?

  We walked a little more just to be safe, and then I took out the ATV. When Rue hopped into his seat, his head bumped into the ceiling, and he had to stoop a little.

  “Buddy, we o remove your seat so you sit fortably. You’ve grown too big.”

  He wagged his tail like crazy. “Yes!”

  “Find us a good pce to put the house. I need Mahya’s blueprint to ensure I don’t destroy anything.”

  Rue she air and said, “John follow Rue.”

  He took us off the road and led us into the bushes. After twenty minutes, we reached a deep depression hidden from the dire we came by rocks and bushes and, oher three sides, by trees.

  After removing the core, I instructed it to create the most miniature house possible, yet with all the spaces inside. I got a that looked like a tiny room from the outside. I patted the house. “Good girl.”

  Inside, I went up to the library and brought the ATV blueprint. I scrutinized everythied to the seats and saw for sure that if I removed the seat, it wouldn’t affect the funing of the ATV. But there roblem—oal frames of the seats, we had engraved runes for shod kiic absorption.

  “Buddy, if I remove the seat, you’ll feel the bumps of the ride much more. Is that okay with you?” I asked, looking over at Rue.

  “John fix,” Rue replied fidently, his eyes on me.

  “I’m not sure I fix it,” I said, shaking my head.

  “John smart. John fix,” Rue insisted, nodding eagerly, his tone full of trust.

  I tried to think of a solution. I khe necessary runes—I was the one who engraved them on the frames. However, the floor of the ATV had a rubber coating. From my experieh the gas mask in Vegas, I already khat you ’t engrave runes on rubber. After twenty minutes of scratg my head—figuratively, I don’t have lice—I got an idea.

  I removed a sheet of aluminum, cut a piece to fit the floor, made four holes in the ers, and engraved the runes. Just to be sure, I added four of each rune, not two like on the seat frame.

  After finishing the engraving, I checked the blueprint for the copper lines, made sure I wouldn’t hit them and screwed the board to the floor. After attag the board, I covered it with a duvet for Rue to sit on and closed the house.

  “Let’s get back to the road and see if it works,” I told Rue.

  Wheuro the road, Rue got on his “seat,” aarted driving. Everything worked amazing. I jumped in my seat more than he did.

  Rue was overjoyed, stig his head out of the windshield and shoutihusiastically, “John smart! John Mahya smart!”

  I grinned. It was the best pliment I could have received, but I decided not to tell Mahya—no need for her to get a big head.

  After another hour of driving, roached the forest. Just to be safe, I stowed the ATV, and when we were about thirty meters from the first trees, I said to Rue, “I want to make sure everything is safe first. You stay here, and I’ll call you.”

  “Rue e with John. Rue protect John.”

  “Of course, you’ll e with me.” I waved him off. “I’m just going to check the entrand make sure it’s not something dangerous. Don’t worry. I have ralize Curse. If somethiive sticks to me, I’ll cast it immediately.”

  Rue squi me for ten seds before finally nodding.

  I scratched his ears and approached the forest. It was eerily spooky. The darkness inside was so plete I couldn’t see even five inches beyond the first row of trees. No sound came from within—no chirping birds, buzzing is, or rustling leaves. Nothing. It felt like a dead zone in the middle of the world, a bck hole swallowing sound instead of matter. Cold waves radiated from it, carrying a chilliion of dread, sadness, and despair, sending shivers down my spine. I felt tent. Ending a pleasant walk in the forest and tinuing our journey north to Azureas was nice.

  “Let’s go, Rue,” I called to my furry friend, feeling refreshed.

  Rue sat and looked at me with his head tilted to the side.

  “e on, buddy. Let’s tio Azureas.”

  “John not want look cursed forest?” Rue asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.

  I blinked, fused. “What cursed forest? What are you talking about? We took a walk in the forest, and now let’s tinue.”

  “Strange John,” Rue huffed, tilting his head the other way.

  “I’m strange? You’re the oing strange. We took a hike in nature. Now let’s drive.” I gestured toward the road, trying to shake off his weird ent.

  “John strange.” Rue’s eyes narrowed, and his tone was insistent.

  I g him, still not uanding what he was getting at.

  “John do ralize Curse.” Rue pointed his paw at me.

  “Why would I cast ralize Curse? Did someone curse you?” I got worried.

  “No!” Rue stomped his paw. “John cast ralize Curse on John.”

  “Why?” I asked, more baffled by the sed. This dog made no sense.

  He stepped closer and stomped his paw on my foot. “John cast ralize Curse on John!”

  “Ouch!” I wihe sharp pain jolting me, and suddenly, my head cleared a bit. I still felt foggy but remembered something about a cursed forest. I turo Rue, eyes wide. “Is this a cursed forest?”

  He nodded solemnly.

  “Did I want to visit there?”

  He nodded again.

  “Didn’t I visit there?”

  He shook his head.

  Iing.

  Even more iing was how familiar this feeling was. It reminded me of when Mahya showed the balloon’s capabilities before she attu to us with blood. Just in case, I cast ralize Curse on myself but didn’t feel a difference. My mind was still foggy, and it felt like two forces were battling over my mind. One says, “All is well. You came from a pleasant walk in a forest and want to tinue your journey.” The other remembers something hazy about a cursed forest.

  “Let’s try this again,” I told Rue. “If I start ag weird, don’t argue with me. Just bite me, but not too hard.”

  Rue sighed, his rge shoulders sagging as he nodded. I got the feelihought I was crazy. It wasn’t just an impression—I got a definite sense he thought I was out of my mind.

  I split my mind into four, and in each quarter, I ted, “You’re approag a cursed forest. Don’t let it take over you. You’re approag a cursed forest, don’t let—”

  A sense of calm settled over me, and I felt refreshed after hours among all that green. The beauty of nature, the chirping birds, the dew on the leaves, and the fresh smell that only be found in the forest all tributed to this calm. I took a deep breath and smiled, feeling pletely renewed.

  “Ouch!”

  Rue bit me!

  “What are you doing? You’re crazy—” I protested, but something stirred in my memory. Something about the forest... I was in the forest... it was fun... no, that wasn’t right. Something else... I shook my head, fused. Rue stomped on my foot with his paw.

  “Is John back?” Rue asked, his eyes wide with .

  “Huh?”

  “Is John back?” he repeated, tone urgent.

  What was he talking–

  A forest... something about a forest... something wrong with the forest? I shook my head again, struggling to remember. The forest is fusing... perhaps? Yes, the forest is fusing.

  “John cast ralize Curse on John!” Rue barked, almost pleading.

  I did, but it didn’t help. Something about this felt familiar. How did I know that? What did it remind me of? Mahya? Why Mahya?

  Balloon! The memory clicked into pce as my head cleared, and I instinctively moved further away from the trees.

  With each passing minute, I became increasingly curious about the forest. This was no act—I was sure someone had created this effect. The question was how to overe it.

  I turned my back to the forest, spreading my mana sense as far as possible towards the trees, and stepped slowly backward. When I reached the first tree lih my mana sense, I could only feel two trees because of the spherical shape of the sense. I attempted to s the trees, looking for runes, but my mana sense cked the development to detect small, precise things. All I got was a definite feeling of a tree—nothing more.

  Still, with my back to the forest, I moved a few meters to the right, sing two more trees. I then moved a few meters to the left. Suddenly, something “pinged” in my head. I shifted further to the left. Ha-ha!

  I couldn’t reize the ru was too intricate for my current mana sense. But I felt eight small clumps of mana in a row from top to bottom. No matter how hard I tried to decipher the shape, I couldn’t. They were just small clumps of mana.

  Turning around apprehensively, I was relieved not to feel the disorienting effect. I was still in trol of my faculties. Taking out my crossbow and some bolts, I cut my hand and dipped the ends of the bolts in my blood.

  I couldn’t see the runes, but I could feel the mana clumps with my sense. Aiming with that, I fired the first bolt. Nothing happened. I shot the sed oill nothing. Ohird shot—my head cleared pletely.

  The oppressive feeling vanished from the forest. It was no longer dark, cold, scary, or sad. It felt like a typical forest. I could hear birds and the faint growl of some animal in the distance.

  “Give me your paw,” I said to Rue.

  He obediently extended his paw, and I cut and healed it before approag the tree with the bolts. Since all three bolts were stu the runes, I didn’t know whie had dohe trick, so I smeared blood on all of them just to be sure.

  We walked into the forest, and it was just an ordinary forest. Dense green trees, birds chirping, is buzzing about. The air was thick with the earthy smell of moss and damp wood, cool and fresh in my lungs. Light streamed through the trees, creating pyful shadows on the forest floor. Every step felt cushiohe ground soft beh my boots from fallen leaves and pine needles. I could hear the rustle of small creatures in the underbrush, hidden but close enough to knoeren’t alone. A big animal with antlers appeared in the distance, but it quickly disappeared among the trees.

  We tinued walking for another hour, crossed two streams, and reached a tall tower. It loomed above the trees, an old storucture ed in creeping vines and lush green pnts. The tower showed clear signs of abando, as nature had taken it over as its own. The windows were dark, like hollow eyes watg over the forest. Wooden balies jutted out from several levels, their railings weathered and half-covered in foliage. The way the sunlight hit it, with shadows ging to the stone, made it seem inviting and eerie simultaneously.

  I immediately snapped a picture of the tower. No way I could pass up a shot like that. We moved closer, but as roached, somethi off. It didn’t seem as abandoned as it had appeared from a distance. Sure, the vegetation ed it up tight, but now I could see a clear path leading straight to the door. The windows were too , and the door was untouched by the vines.

  Hmm, intriguing.

  I was about to walk toward the tower and kno the door. I took a step toward it, hand raised to knock, when a sudden, invisible force hit me like a sledgehammer. My feet left the ground, and before I could even yell, a sudden, invisible force smmed me against the stone wall. The impact rattled my bones.

  Ouch!

  A sharp crack echoed in my skull—the pain in my old me it wasn’t just a sound. Blood dripped down my face as I crumpled to the ground. Everything spun for a sed, but I forced myself to focus. I blinked, clearing my vision just enough to see what was happening.

  A man stood with his bae, his arm stretched toward Rue. Rue snarled and cwed at the ground as if trying to break through something invisible, his growls growing louder and more desperate.

  I couldn’t let this stand. I split my mind in two—I healed my nose, not taking my eyes off the man. Before he could react, lightning surged through my fiips—he yelped and dropped like a stone. I healed myself again and approached him. He was still twitg, but his eyes were open, wide with shock. He looked familiar. I tried to remember where I’d seen him, a flicker nition tugging at me, but I came up bnk.

  “Why did you attack us?” I asked angrily.

  “I’m tired of the spies Shosh keeps sending! The spy will die!” he shouted, his voice ragged and filled with paranoia.

  That sentence made it click.

  “I’m not a spy, and this is the sed time you’ve broken my nose,” I accused, gring down at him.

  “I saw you spying o Wizard Spire, and now you’re pnning to spy on my tower! I know Shosh sent you! He wants to discover my life’s work and cim it for himself! I won’t stand for it! I’ll kill all his spies! I won’t let him steal my knowledge!” he tio shout, his words tumbling out in a frantic rush.

  “I’m not a spy,” I said, exasperated. “I was looking for the library in Wizard Spire and actally opened your door. And here, I heard about the cursed forest and got curious. I’m not a spy, and I have no idea who Shosh is or what exactly you’re doing. So calm down already and stop yelling.”

  “I know Shosh sent you! He wants to discover my life’s work and cim it for himself! I’ll kill all his spies! I won’t let him steal my knowledge! I’ll kill you and your mutant wolf! I won’t let Shosh spy on me!” His voice was getting louder, more manic. “You’ll all be sorry for spying on me! I’m the great Maxibier! I’ll kill Shosh and all his spies!”

  “Oh, shut up already,” I said and shot him with another weak lightning. He twitched, his eyes rolled backward, and he shut up.

  “What do you think, buddy,” I asked Rue. “Should we spy in this tower to punish him for attag us or head to Azureas?”

  Rue walked up to him, lifted a leg, and peed on him. “Now Rue and John go Azureas,” he said.

  “Don’t mess with my dog! He takes revenge!” I muttered, half amused, half in disbelief at what had just happened.

  The man y there, sputtering, clearly too stuo react. At least the pee woke him from unsciousness.