They were on their way back.

  Voysh was up, not talking much but managing to limp along the road. He was carrying his axe, his hand refusing to ungrip the handle. Hari had noticed on of the things before, prompting their departure. Olivia and Hitch were carrying the body, using spears as the basis of their makeshift stretcher, having laid him atop them and affixed other branches to keep them steady.

  No one was talking and there wasn’t much to say.

  The group returned by midday the next day. Fita ran ahead, informing the camp of the situation. They were told to lay the body down to the side of the camp, no longer rigid as before.

  There would be a funeral, but later.

  Mayhe was back up proper, Pallia also fully awake but still only able to work lightly.

  Hitch went to Mayhe, then the two headed to Olivia, who was once again training, angrily grunting at the world.

  “Can we talk?”

  A grunt of assent.

  “We found something. It says it takes three people, and we thought maybe you’d like to join us. It might be dangerous and we haven’t really told anyone else yet.”

  “Sure. When?”

  She didn’t stop moving, Mayhe the one talking, looking at Hitch who shrugged.

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Okay. Just come to get me once you want to head out.”

  They left her to her training, walking off to get ready themselves.

  —

  Hitch led them to the tree, Mayhe placing his hand against the entrance instantly, his name forming over the wood, another line. Olivia put hers there too, the third line getting added and the whole writing glowing intensely for a moment. The gate rose and they accepted the invite, stepping into the tree’s hollow.

  It was brighter inside than it should have been. No lights, but it seemed enough was somehow getting reflected so it was still all dimly lit. Hitch had put the sword back at the camp, having picked up Ponneltor’s knife. Olivia had her spear and Mayhe his sword, the blond boy leading the way inside, Olivia behind him and ready to jump into action.

  The group came into a large room. The smell changed as they passed the threshold, turning from pleasant woody to a sickening sweet odor. There was an orb of light at the top of the room, its pale glow illuminating a large circular area. A gate came up behind them, just like the one at the entrance, bars of wood blocking the way out. Golden letters wrote themselves in the middle of the room, floating and angled for them to read.

  “Allow the Sun, Moon and Flame that guide you to fuel you with this Wood.

  For your trial in acquiring sustenance - defeat the champion of Twice-Marked Tree.

  Your path shall clear once you succeed and grant you ever greater glory.

  Fortune favors the strong and prepared.”

  The letters faded, then a wind picked up, blowing upwards. The ceiling had formed a hole, a large insect falling from it. It was green, four legged with blades for arms, its face repulsive, a large maw and mandibles clicking as it eyed them.

  Mayhe moved fast, dodging to the side as the creature lunged at him, one of the blades digging into the wood where the boy had stood.

  Hitch went the other way, knife sliding against the hardy shell on the leg, scratching but not biting in enough to wound. The insectile giant turned to him, swiping at the boy and hitting only air, receiving a jab from the spear into his side for his trouble.

  The spear wielder was angry. At herself, her lack of power. If she had more time to practice now, to build more muscle. If she’d listened to her mom more and practiced extra, not just when offered.

  If she was better, she wouldn’t have needed to run away. Braver, and she would have stayed regardless, maybe able to take the place of the other spearman.

  Her form was good, a rhythmic flow to the way she stabbed and dodged, using the shaft of her spear to turn away a claw coming for her, stumbling from the force. She saw an opening, trying to hit the thing in the maw as it opened it only to get hit by one of the legs, flickering forward and knocking her against a wall hard.

  The loud thud of the girl hitting the wall was joined by the sound of a sword impacting the back carapace of the thing, Mayhe mounting it, his sword clanging on the hard shell of the giant over and over, each stab digging in deeper. The thing shook, sword deep enough that the blond kid could hold onto it and stay on the thing. Hitch slipped under the thing, then sunk his knife into one of the rear legs, blade lodged in one of the joints.

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  The thing gurgled, then jumped.

  Hitch rolled to the side, Mayhe falling, sword still in hand. The thing was on the opposite end of the room, glowering as well as it could at them. The three stood, Olivia going left, Hitch to the right while Mayhe spread his arms, smiling at the thing.

  “Running away?”

  The boy kept his eyes on the creature as he slowly walked closer. The insect stayed still, then jumped again, launching forward with immense force. Mayhe was a moment too slow jumping to the right, his left arm clipped and shoulder dislocated, clothing tearing at where the thing’s tough outer body scraped against it.

  Olivia turned to the side, launching a powerful stab, the rotation bringing enough momentum for her to pierce through the flank of their opponent. It gargled again, shaking, the spear pulled out. The other boy hopped onto the thing now, his knives digging into the hole left by the sword on the creature’s back, cutting at the softness underneath. It started tensing to jump again, Hitch getting off it with another quick hop right before it sprung up. It landed again, this time favoring its forelegs. It took them in, then repeated the previous pattern, launching itself at Mayhe who managed to dodge in time now. However, the thing did not stop, connecting to the wall, then bouncing off of it and jumping at Olivia, a claw extended. She managed to avoid the worst of it, but it cut through the shaft of her spear and left a long, shallow cut in her side. It then turned, stopping beside her, ready to strike again. The girl stabbed the sharp end of her weapon into the thing’s leg and rolled away, avoiding another strike, the swordsman taking a swing and cutting into one side of the eyes.

  The creature tossed its head back, then started to flail wildly, the two claws threatening to cut apart anything they hit. The trio held back, then the beast slowed, tired out. They approached slowly, carefully, looking for the chance to end the thing, blue blood spurting from its side and back, two of the legs impaired.

  Hitch saw it tense, but was too slow.

  The thing jumped, its hind leg breaking off, the thing raising one claw and bringing it down in a fluid motion, the boy too slow in his attempt to jump away, seeing the impending blade descend. It did not connect.

  He was pushed aside, the other boy’s arm where his body had been, getting severed by the immense force.

  Mayhe was smashed away by the claw rising, Hitch darting in and sinking his knives into the thing's eyes, then twisting. Olivia had her knife in hand, doing the same to the other side of the creature’s eyes, the blades meeting inside the head, turning the insides into mush.

  It rose again, tensing, the two kids leaving the knives in place and running away, Mayhe clutching at the stump where his arm once was.

  The beast flailed wildly, arms and legs all twitching, body spasming. It did not advance, however, eventually collapsing, the twitching continuing for a good while after. The golden letters once more settled at the center of the room, writing appearing in the air.

  “You who have cut this one down, indulge in your victory.

  The Wood of the tree shall forever provide succor.

  Claim your prize now from the heart and leave more whole than you entered.”

  The center of the room slowly dipped, the trio moving away from it, then opened revealing a spiral staircase, greenish lights illuminating the way down.

  “We won?”

  Hitch sounded surprised, Mayhe grinning as he worked to stem the bleeding, Olivia giving half of her spear and tying a makeshift tourniquet around the remainder of the limb, smiling at the boys.

  “Give your stump here, Mayhe. And yeah, guess we did. Good job, even with”

  She eyed the arm, the blond shrugging.

  “I’ll live. Though really, this was far riskier than I expected. I hope it was worth it.”

  “I was worried my knives wouldn’t get past the shell at one point. I- I’m glad we won. You guys did great”

  “Wish it hadn’t broken my spear though. We all did great.”

  Once the arm was as fixed as it could be Olivia picked it up, putting it into Mayhe’s bag and they all descended down the stairs. It was a short climb, leading them into a small room. Three tables were there, each holding different items.

  One had a spear made of dark twisting wood, the point sharper than even the metal one’s. It also held a set of armor made of that same dark wood as well as a pair of glass bottles filled with a yellow liquid.

  Another held a chest piece, gloves and shoes made of hardened leather, a couple small bags filled with some sort of spherical nuts or seeds and a palm sized dark wood mirror.

  The third had a set of armor too, this one made of leather rather than wood, a bottle filled with glowing, white substance and a book that looked very much like a Tome.

  Olivia headed for the first table, picking stuff off it. Hitch took the second, Mayhe moving to the third.

  They tried the armor on, the pieces fitting them perfectly. Olivia lifted her bottle’s and looked them over.

  “There’s writing on the bottom. Says “Speed” on both.”

  “Mine says "Force "."

  Hitch pulled out one of the spherical seeds, then pressed on it in his palm, the thing popping in his hand as dark smoke started filling the room, dissipating fast. He put the bags and mirror into his backpack.

  “These were all made for us, right? They have to be, seeing as how the clothing fits and the spear could be a replacement for the broken one.”

  “It feels quite a bit better than my old spear, to be honest. More balanced, like it was made for me. So I’d agree on that. Does that mean someone’s watching us?”

  Mayhe shrugged, the book in his hand.

  “I’d bet on sorcery of some sort. There were those lights, and this whole place reeks of magical involvement. But I wanted to talk about something - we came here, but we can’t hide what we found or how I lost my arm. So how do we tell everyone what happened?”

  The girl looked at him, face neutral.

  “We tell the truth, right?”

  Hitch looked to the side, then up.

  “I think we do, but maybe we say this was less planned? Like, say I found it when looking around, then you two came to help out. Rather than tell people that this was being kept from them.”

  “I’m not sure I want to lie, but maybe we don’t need a schism. I’m for truth. Mayhe?”

  “I think we should be honest. Tell everyone we found it, it was scary, then when people died we went to see if there was maybe help, since obviously the outside is too dangerous not to take risks.”

  Hitch nodded, then they headed up.