The first sign of trouble came just before dawn. A sharp, distant howl echoed through the fields, low and guttural, not quite like any animal I had heard before. Thor lifted his head from where he lay beside me, ears twitching, his body going rigid with tension. Loki let out a low growl, eyes fixed on the darkness beyond the town’s walls.

  I didn’t need them to tell me something was wrong.

  By midday, the reports started coming in—livestock missing, fences broken, tracks leading toward the forest but never circling back. The people of Fairhope had dealt with predators before, but this wasn’t normal. Animals weren’t just hunting for food—they were acting with unnatural aggression, attacking indiscriminately and in coordinated patterns.

  Callum found me as I was finishing up in the garden. “Something’s off, mate. We had another attack last night—tore through the eastern field. Crops ruined, animals gone. People are spooked.”

  I wiped the dirt from my hands and stood up. “What are we dealing with?”

  He shook his head. “Dunno yet. Whatever it is, it’s smart. Not just some wild dog or hungry bear.”

  That was enough to put me on edge. The system had changed everything, and I’d seen firsthand how animals could mutate and adapt just like people. If something was evolving out there, Fairhope might not be prepared to handle it.

  I needed more information.

  And I knew exactly where to get it.

  The moment I stepped into my house, I locked the door, double-checked the windows, and took a steady breath. No one could know where I went. Not yet. Fairhope wasn’t ready for the truth—not about me, not about what I was building.

  I closed my eyes and focused on the tether to my Dimensional Shard. The warmth of the connection pulsed through my chest, and in an instant, reality shifted.

  I opened my eyes to the familiar space of the Shard’s core, the air tingling with raw magic. The place had grown since the last time I visited, stretching into vast, interconnected chambers, blending wild nature with structured design.

  And, as expected, Fernando was already waiting for me.

  Perched atop the massive central map table, the fern squirrel’s primary body twitched its leafy tail, while his other forms skittered along the bookshelves and rafters. His small, beady eyes locked onto me, and he clicked his teeth.

  “‘Bout time ya showed up,” Fernando said, his voice carrying that unmistakable Bronx accent. “Ya got problems out there, boss. And I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout no small-time nonsense. The whole forest is actin’ like it’s got a bad case of the crazies.”

  I exhaled, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “I know. That’s why I’m here.”

  A deep, resonant chittering filled the space, and I turned to see Queen Seraphina, the ant queen, watching from atop a raised stone mound. Her form shimmered slightly, her massive black-and-gold carapace reflecting the dim light. Worker ants scurried at her feet, their antennae twitching as they relayed information.

  “The tunnels beyond the settlement have become unstable,” Seraphina intoned. “Something… disruptive has taken hold of the land. My scouts will no longer burrow there. They sense something unnatural.”

  “Great,” I muttered.

  From above, a soft buzzing filled the air, and Queen Regina Apis descended from her perch. The bee queen’s golden wings shimmered, her humanoid upper body poised with regal grace.

  “My foragers report the same,” she said. “The flowers are not right. The nectar is bitter, tainted with something foreign. The balance is shifting, Gavrin.”

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  That knot in my stomach tightened. The land itself was changing. And fast.

  Then, the space darkened, shadows twisting unnaturally at the edges of the chamber.

  And then Gabby arrived.

  The Greater Astral Being emerged from the void, her presence warping the air around her. Starlit tendrils flowed from her form, her gaze shimmering with cosmic knowledge.

  “Well, well,” she purred, floating lazily above the gathering. “My favorite little troublemaker returns. And it looks like you’ve found yourself in another mess.”

  I sighed. “You wouldn’t happen to know what’s causing this, would you?”

  Gabby tilted her head, a smirk playing at her lips. “Oh, I have some ideas. But that would ruin the fun, wouldn’t it?”

  Of course. She was never going to give me a straight answer.

  Before I could argue, the smell of something incredible hit my nose—garlic, sesame oil, and a hint of something distinctly magical.

  Kim Lee stepped through the back door of her Arcane Café, wiping her hands on a towel. Her long apron was speckled with flour and powdered spices, and she shot me a pointed look.

  “You’re late,” she said. “I made kimchi stew. It’s getting cold.”

  I let out a breath and finally let myself relax.

  For all the insanity outside, for all the secrets and threats looming over Fairhope, here, in this hidden space I had built, I still had people—strange, powerful, ridiculous people—who had my back.

  I just had to figure out how to stop the wilds from tearing Fairhope apart before it was too late.

  And I had a feeling it was only going to get worse.

  I took a seat at the large wooden table in the center of the Shard’s main hall, tapping my fingers on the surface as I worked through my thoughts. The situation in Fairhope was bad, but it wasn’t just about me swooping in to fix it. That wasn’t the kind of leader I wanted to be.

  If the people here were going to survive, they needed to get stronger on their own.

  Fernando, perched on the edge of the table with his leafy tail twitching, was the first to speak. “So, ya got a plan, boss? Or are we just gonna sit around waitin’ for the forest to eat the town?”

  I smirked. “I’ve got a plan. And it doesn’t involve me running around solving every problem myself.”

  Fernando clicked his tiny claws against the table. “Smart move. Makes you less of a damn target.”

  I nodded. “Exactly. I want to empower the people of Fairhope. Give them the tools, the training, and the support to handle things themselves.”

  I turned to Queen Seraphina, who stood tall with her workers scuttling at her feet. “Your ants will focus on gathering materials from underground—metals, stone, anything that can help reinforce the town or provide weapons.”

  Seraphina’s mandibles clicked. “It will be done. My workers are tireless.”

  I turned next to Queen Regina Apis, who hovered nearby, her wings softly humming. “Your foragers will gather herbs, seeds, and useful plants from the surrounding forest. I want a full stock of medicinal herbs and whatever seeds we can use to keep the town’s food supply stable. Your bees will also provide some aerial scouting—keep an eye on movement patterns, anything unnatural in the wilds.”

  Regina inclined her head. “My hive shall serve as your eyes and gatherers.”

  Then, I turned to Fernando, who already had a smirk on his little squirrel face. “I need your network to scout the surrounding forests. Figure out what’s really happening out there. If something’s driving the wildlife mad, I want to know what it is and where it’s coming from.”

  Fernando nodded. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll get my bodies spread out, see what’s what. But lemme tell ya, boss—if somethin’ big’s moving out there, you ain’t gonna like it.”

  I leaned back, crossing my arms. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  Finally, I turned my attention to Thor and Loki, who sat at my sides, watching the conversation unfold. “If it comes to a fight, we’ll handle it. But I don’t want to be the one constantly fighting battles for everyone. If Fairhope is going to last, the people there need to learn to fight for themselves.”

  Fernando snorted. “Good luck gettin’ soft settlers to swing swords.”

  I shook my head. “They don’t need to swing swords. They need to learn how to defend themselves, how to hunt, how to use the system to their advantage. I’ll provide training, materials, and knowledge—but I won’t be their protector forever. They have to stand on their own.”

  Kim Lee, who had been listening while stirring a steaming bowl of stew, finally spoke up. “You’re playing the long game.”

  I nodded. “Yeah. If I make myself the center of everything, the town becomes dependent on me. And that’s a weakness.”

  Gabby, still lounging in the air like reality itself bent to accommodate her comfort, gave a lazy smile. “You sound like you’re planning an empire, not just a village.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I just want to make sure the people around me can handle themselves.”

  Gabby’s grin widened. “That’s how it starts.”

  I chose to ignore that and pushed myself up from the table. “Alright. You all know your roles. Get moving.”

  One by one, they acknowledged their tasks. The ants would burrow. The bees would gather. The squirrels would scout. The people would train.

  And when the time came to fight?

  We would be ready.