Apple had never felt more at home. Castle Moondial was stiflingly comfortable, not at all suited to a monkey. More than anything else, Apple wanted to climb trees in a forest and be carefree, but she couldn't because in the center of Apple's forehead was a gem. It separated her from the wild, strange cave animals surrounding her. But in this underground forest, Apple was free to be an animal again.
Sprigga, it turns out, was a playful tree spirit with boundless energy. When Rowan left to rescue Rafael and Morgan, Sprigga took to caring for Lyn immediately. They played games of tag, hide and seek, and throwing contests until Lyn was finally exhausted again. The young girl was presently sleeping on a mound of soft moss.
Apple was still wide awake. She didn't need to sleep. Another consequence of the gem in her forehead; she never tired. She could sleep if she wanted, but for the first time in her existence, Apple was free and in a forest. She was too happy and excited to sleep. Instead, she chased the bizarre green cave animals, and climbed the tallest tree in the forest. Fully three times larger than any other tree in the forest, its branches were wide and soaked up nearly all the sunlight that broke through from a crack in the ceiling. Apple climbed as high as she dared and took in her surroundings.
Sanctuary was massive, with rows of carved stone separating the forest into four equal parts. Each quadrant was distinct, with unique plants and animals. Two were blooming with gorgeous flowers, while another was dark and deadly with thorny vines and sinister-looking plants. The fourth district was mainly water, and plants that grew underwater. Colorful birds filled the air, and other animals and insects of all sorts lived and died in the cavern, having never seen the sky. Apple wondered which of them was more trapped.
Suddenly Sprigga's face appeared in the bark of the branch that Apple was clinging.
"You should be careful when exploring the forest. Some of the plants and animals are carnivorous," said Sprigga with a voice of a buzzing beehive.
Apple immediately worried about Lyn's safety. "Would anything hurt Lyn? Should I stay with her?" she asked frantically.
"No, don't worry. I can sense everything that happens in Sanctuary. I won't let any predators get near Lyn while she sleeps," Sprigga said calmly, and Apple relaxed.
"Forgive me," Sprigga continued, "but I've never seen a creature like yourself before. I wonder, were you born with that stone in your head?"
Apple touched her gem absent-mindedly. "No," she answered. "This was installed shortly after I was born. It gives me knowledge and energy."
Sprigga's face rearranged itself into a look of surprise and awe. "That's powerful magic."
Apple continued absent-mindedly, "I don't remember anything before the gem. It's as though I woke up for the first time to see His face."
"Whose face?" Sprigga asked.
"The Godfather's," Apple whispered as waves of reverence and dread washed over her. In the back of her mind, Apple knew something was about to happen. Every familiar on the island knew. But Apple couldn't think clearly about it, like a dream from long ago. All the details were missing. But she sensed it. The Godfather was making moves. Apple was so preoccupied in thought that she didn't notice Sprigga's reaction. The bark on Sprigga's face transformed into an expression of deep distrust, fear, and uncertainty. But when Apple looked back, Sprigga's usual mild demeanor had returned.
"I've never seen a creature like you, either," she said. "If you don't mind my asking, what… are you? How do you know everything that happens in the forest, and how are you in a tree right now?"
Sprigga chuckled, and it sounded like wood knocking together. "I am the tree. I'm its hands, eyes, and ears. The roots of this Great Oak touch the roots of every other tree. So I'm connected to every tree in Sanctuary. I hear their thoughts and feel what they feel. And in turn, they see through my eyes. They're even listening to our conversation."
That surprised Apple. It hadn't occurred to her that trees had thoughts or feelings, let alone that they could listen. It made her feel even smaller than usual.
"What are the trees saying now?" Apple asked, not knowing why.
Sprigga was silent for a moment. "They're divided. The vines and thorny bushes are frightened. But the flowering trees are grateful to have guests. It can be a bit boring after a few hundred years with no one to talk to but the birds. The fruit trees ask if you're hungry. They're very proud of their produce. We've been cultivating the sweetest, juiciest pomegranates for centuries."
It had been hours since Apple last ate. Likewise, Lyn would soon wake up hungry.
"Please give my thanks to the fruit trees. It would be good to collect some food for when Lyn wakes."
"Wonderful idea," responded Sprigga. "I'll meet you at the base of the Oak, and we'll go gathering." Sprigga's face disappeared and the tree's usual bark pattern returned.
Apple climbed down slowly, carefully, half distracted. Something was coming, but she could do nothing to stop it. She didn't even know what it was or when it would arrive.
When Apple reached the forest floor, she saw that Lyn had already woken. She was hungry and also distressed at Rowan and Apple's absence. Apple comforted Lyn and tended to her worries; before long, she forgot about her own. Once Lyn was settled and ready, Sprigga guided them through the forest. They passed by one of the carved stone barriers, and Apple saw engravings with what might be names and dates. Then she realized the walls weren't walls at all, but burial chambers entombing countless bodies.
The fruit grove was expertly managed, with orange, pomegranate, pear, cherry, and almond trees neatly arranged with just enough space for each tree to flourish. The fruits looked ripe and full. Somehow the entire grove not only grew but thrived in this underground cavern.
"How is this possible?" Apple asked.
As Sprigga answered, a nearby tree branch lowered a pomegranate into Sprigga's clawed hand, "I told you. My roots touch the roots of every tree in Sanctuary. I collect the sunlight and distribute it to every other growing being here. It's the same with the water. My roots go deep enough to touch the ocean, so I transfer water to everyone else here."
Sprigga opened the pomegranate and gave one half to Apple and the other to Lyn, and the two ate merrily. They wandered the grove and sampled the fruits and nuts. Everything tasted delicious. They were contently fed and laughing when all of a sudden, Apple became paralyzed. She couldn't move or speak or even blink. It was as if someone had flipped a switch and shut her down.
Apple heard a scream from behind her that sounded like the cry of a giant bird. In Apple's periphery, Sprigga narrowly dodged a flying, spinning saw. Lyn grabbed Apple, shook her, and tried to make her run, but not a muscle was moved. Finally, Lyn carried Apple away from the attacker. With her face now in Lyn's shoulder and her eyes drying and painful from her inability to blink, Apple could see nothing. But she wasn't entirely without options. Apple could still think and process what her senses detected, and she had an idea.
The attacker must also have a familiar, Apple reasoned, because she sensed them earlier. She could transfer her perspective to the eyes of the attacker's familiar. Apple reached into the Aether and linked with the nearest familiar, a giant hawk.
Apple shifted perspective.
From the bird's eye, Apple could see the entire forested cavern. The hawk had entered the cave through the crack in the ceiling and circled above them. Secured by a harness to the hawk's belly rode a man with golden hair. The rider wielded four metallic disks, which spun in the air, occasionally shooting in Sprigga's direction and then returning like yo-yos. Sprigga was on the ground fighting valiantly, narrowly evading the rider's attacks. Vines shot out of the forest floor like spears at high velocity, but the rider deflected Sprigga's attacks and cut down the vines with his disks.
Meanwhile, Lyn was carrying Apple's frozen body away from the battle, but neither the rider nor the hawk lost sight of them. The fight lasted mere seconds before one of the flying saws carved Sprigga in two. Sprigga's body fell to the ground and was swallowed immediately by vines and moss. The hawk stopped circling and instead dove toward Lyn and Apple, claws outstretched. It was about to swoop down and fly away with Lyn when out of nowhere, a ball of fire shot through the air and struck the hawk dead in one eye and out the other.
Apple, watching from the hawk's perspective, felt it die. The force and trauma knocked her back into her own body with whiplash. She blacked out and collapsed in Lyn's terrified arms.
Rowan walked toward the giant bird's dead body with a fireball in each hand, breathing heavily, exhausted from running through the caverns, and devastated at having lost Rafael and Morgan. But they had made it in time. Lyn was still alive.
Unfortunately, so was the rider. He crawled from under the hawk's corpse, bloodied and bruised from the fall and looking angry. He wore handsome leather armor and had pale features. The flying disks returned and spun around the missionary. Using two disks as shields, he blocked every fireball Rowan threw at him while using the other two disks to attack. Rowan ducked and dodged as best they could, but his attacks were relentless and precise. Try as they might, Rowan couldn't keep up. More than once, a disk stopped midair, reversed direction, and cut Rowan, narrowly missing a vital area. They would have been cleaved in two were it not for Lyn.
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The young girl was hiding behind a fallen tree, far from the two fighters, but she still had the crystal filled with mana she had gathered in the crystal caverns. Lyn summoned the mana stored in the crystal, and shrunk it into a blinding bright ball. It couldn't hurt the missionary, but it might distract him.
Lyn threw the ball of light at the missionary's face. He tried to dodge and wave the magelight away, but his hands went through it like mist, and still, it shined in his face. The missionary stepped on one of his disks, and it carried him into the air, away from Rowan and Lyn's attacks. The other three disks spun around him defensively.
Meanwhile, Sprigga had collected their nutrients to the Great Oak and stepped out of the giant tree again. With Sprigga recovered, the battle was now three-on-one.
Even with an airborne advantage, the missionary could only defend himself. The fight had turned, and it looked to soon be over. In a desperate act, the missionary changed tactics and flew toward Sprigga. At first, they thought he meant to attack the forest spirit, and Sprigga defended themselves accordingly, but he flew over Sprigga and instead sent all three available disks to see the Great Oak down the middle.
Sprigga's scream was horrible and heartbreaking, collapsing to the ground. Rowan threw fireballs at a mad speed, but the missionary dodged and flew around the Oak. Meanwhile, the disks carved the Oak down, sawing off branches at rapid, sadistic speed while Sprigga screamed in agony. Rowan ran and threw fireballs in a vain attempt to stop the assault, but it was too late. In a matter of seconds, the Great Oak of Sanctuary was reduced to a large tree trunk. Sprigga was on the ground, life fading away, and it was all Rowan could do to reach them in time, to hold their hand as Sprigga's body again turned to dust, this time for the last time. Rowan yelled in anguish and rage, turning to face the floating missionary, still contending with Lyn's blinding magelight.
What neither the missionary nor Lyn knew was Rowan wasn't in their true firefox form. The anthropomorphic shape they allowed certain humans to see was worn for comfort and convenience. Rowan's true self was fire, pure and wild. Rowan's people used to jump into rivers of lava and swim beneath the crust of Eden. The skin on Rowan's body began to melt and crackle away as flames erupted from within, slowly at first but growing in size and intensity. All the while, Rowan stared daggers at the missionary.
The missionary, meanwhile, from his vantage in the air, didn't appear especially concerned until he threw two disks in Rowan's direction. By the time the disks hit Rowan, their physical body had already been reduced to ashes. Only flames remained, in the shape of a giant fox. The disks flew through the flames like leaves on the wind, dealing about as much damage. Once he saw that his weapons were useless against Rowan's true form, the smug confidence left his face. He sent the disks spinning through Rowan twice again, but the flames were only fanned.
Rowan leapt into the air. An explosion erupted beneath their flamed paws, setting the surrounding area on fire. The missionary redirected all three shields to defend himself from the attack, but Rowan spun midair instead of attacking him head-on. Rowan's tails swiped from the side, ignoring the shields and passing through them. The missionary was burned instantly and severely. Agony distracted him, and he lost focus of his weapons. All four disks fell to the cave floor. The missionary also fell, in flames and screaming, until he struck his head on a stone and died instantly; his corpse still on fire.
Rowan landed gracefully and returned to their anthropomorphic shape. Maintaining their true form demanded an immense amount of energy and left them exhausted after. On Inari, the volcano used to replenish a firefox's magic, so Rowan could maintain their true form indefinitely, but with Inari destroyed and the volcano now a steaming ruin under the ocean, Rowan had to rely on reserves of energy, and there wasn't much left.
Rowan looked around and saw the entire Sanctuary was burning. Fireballs were damaging enough, but when Rowan's true firefox form was unleashed, much of the forest was set on fire. It was too late to do anything but flee now. Adam knew where they were, Sprigga was dead, and Lyn was in danger. Rowan ran to her. She was crying in fear, rocking and holding Apple's limp body. Rowan looked down at Apple with disgust and hatred and briefly considered throwing her into the fire. But Rowan was a soldier and had orders to follow. So Rowan picked up Apple and instructed Lyn to follow as they ran to a far corner of the cave.
The flames were growing and expanding, and the sound of cracking wood became deafening as Rowan struggled to find an opening in the cave wall. Lyn tried to stop crying, but the flames were getting closer, and she was terrified. Finally, Rowan found the secret opening, something impossible to find if one didn't know to look for it. Rowan pushed hard against a thin crack in the cave wall and revealed a narrow passage. The three of them squeezed through quickly, and Rowan pushed the wall closed behind them, again trapping them in absolute darkness. This time, Lyn was the first to summon her magelight. A silvery, green, blue, red, and orange swirling orb lit their surroundings, a long, narrow passageway. Lyn's tears quickly dried as she found a way to be useful. Rowan carried Apple's still unconscious body and ordered Lyn to lead the way. They continued walking in silence for a long time until they finally reached what looked like a dead-end. Once again, Rowan found a hidden crack and pushed it wide open.
They stepped out into the clean ocean air for the first time in over a day. It was still the dark of night, but the moon shined brightly above them, illuminating everything with a pale, eerie light. Not far from where they emerged was a small wooden shack, seemingly built on the beach in the middle of nowhere for no obvious purpose, but Rowan knew its purpose, marched over to it, and ripped the door open with the strength and frustration of someone with nothing left to lose. Lyn followed meekly behind, still scared but now of Rowan's rage. It had been a traumatic few hours for the poor girl, and Apple was still unconscious.
Inside the wooden shack was a simple bed and emergency supplies. Against the wall opposite the door leaned a small canoe.
'Come here,' Rowan signaled to Lyn with one hand, the other still holding Apple by the throat. Lyn stepped forward obediently, eyes never leaving Apple's unconscious body.
'Will she be okay?' Lyn asked, on the verge of tears.
Rowan's face took a cold and frightening expression. Their finger fell on the bed with intention and force.
Lyn trembled but obeyed. 'Can I sleep with Apple?' she asked.
Rowan hesitated for a brutal few seconds before answering, 'Of course,' and laid Apple next to Lyn in the bed. The girl put her arms around her monkey and tried to find solace.
Then, just as she had done to the guards outside Morgan's room, Rowan put their hand on Lyn's forehead and said, "Sleep."
Lyn passed out immediately. Then Rowan ripped Apple out of Lyn's arms and carried her outside and to the ocean.
The monkey was still unconscious. It will be easy, Rowan decided. A mercy killing.
But as the waves brushed Rowan's ankles, they stopped to look at the stars.
A moment passed before Rowan turned around and laid Apple gently on the sand. Then Rowan lit a small fire and leaned over the monkey's head.
Delicately, with sharp claws, Rowan pried the jewel from the monkey's forehead. It took some doing. Adam somehow grafted the stone directly into the bone and frontal brain.
The stone came out with a cracking pop, and blood filled the space. Rowan sacrificed some of their quintessence to heal the hole in the monkey's forehead.
Lyn would never forgive Rowan for killing her precious Apple.
After the stone was removed, the monkey was still breathing. A bright scar marked her forehead. The monkey would never speak or sign again. Perhaps she might carry the memories of her time as a familiar, but Apple was now simply a monkey.
Rowan carried her back to the shack and laid her on a shelf where she might heal or die undisturbed.
After locking Lyn safely in the shack, Rowan walked down the beach for nearly an hour. It was approaching dawn, but the moon was so big and bright in the sky it might have been noonday. The cliffside seemed to glow in the moonlight, juxtaposed with sharp, dark shadows carving out slices of inky blackness.
The cool beach wind was crisp and bracing, mist collected in Rowan's fur. Eventually, Rowan reached a modest beach house, one of the many secret homes that Rowan's people built on the Vulpen Islands long before the first human ships landed.
The beach house was a cover. The real house was behind it, in the mountain stone itself. But Rowan had spent enough time in caves for one day. They only needed one object. Inside the modest cabin was a full-length mirror, set in wood, and carved with intricate engravings.
Rowan dragged the mirror out into the moonlight and sat next to it. Rowan held the familiar's jewel in their palm and then placed their hand on the mirror so the jewel and mirror were touching.
Rowan closed their eyes to meditate. Lilith would be waiting.
Traveling through a dreamscape, Rowan came to Lilith's hallway and the intricately detailed and graphic door to Lilith's astral chamber. Rowan knocked, and the door opened.
In the center of a dark, gothic room stood Lilith, barefoot, statuesque, and haunting.
Rowan ran to Lilith, who embraced them in excitement and sympathy.
Lilith kissed Rowan tenderly on the forehead. "My darling, I'm so sorry for your loss. We will avenge them, I swear to you. Adam will pay for everything he's done. Tonight, I show you how. Is everything ready?"
"Yes. I'm at the beach house with the mirror. I'm using the familiar's jewel to fuel the bridge. Will you come to Eden?"
Lilith shook her head sadly. "I'm bound to this place. I can't leave Nod. Not yet, at least."
Rowan sighed softly. "Okay. Then I just need your mirror's location and we can begin."
Lilith caressed Rowan's face gently and smiled. "I know, my darling. I want to feel you truly in my arms, too. Our day will come. That's my second promise to you tonight."
Rowan nodded and tried to feel better despite themself.
"I believe you," Rowan said, and maybe they even meant it.
"Good," Lilith smiled and kissed Rowan again on the forehead.
Rowan opened their eyes and knew where to find Lilith's mirror. The magic flowed out of them and into the mirror. The reflection shifted and came into focus. On the other side stood Lilith, precisely as she had appeared in Rowan's dreams. Next to Lilith was a tall, handsome man with dark features and long black hair tied into a braid.
"Now," Rowan shouted.
The dark man next to Lilith ran toward the mirror and leapt through it. After him came several monstrous flying creatures with large fangs and claws.
As he and his beasties passed through the mirror, Rowan felt the jewel's mana drain. Familiars were supposedly connected to an infinite mana source, but it appeared the jewels themselves were finite. It crumbled to dust after the eighth beastie flew through, and the connection to Lilith's mirror was severed.
Circling all around her, grotesque devils flew and screamed in vicious delight. The man stood nearby. He was smiling like a kid and jumping on the sand as if he'd never seen sand before. Then he ran toward the ocean to touch the water, but he was afraid of the waves, so he ran back laughing.
"So this is Eden," he exclaimed with joyous awe. He wore simple black leather. His brown eyes shined like obsidian in the moonlight. He was beautiful and frightening, not unlike his mother, but he seemed so much softer, almost child-like.
"Hello. I'm Rowan," they greeted him.
"Yes, I know. Um… hello. I'm Samaal. It's good to meet you," he said with a shy smile. He wasn't at all what Rowan had expected.
But before Rowan could reconcile their expectations with reality, a loud blast came from up the beach where Lyn was sleeping. Rowan sprinted toward the shack. Samaal followed, and so did the flying devils, but they arrived too late.
The shack door had been blown open, and thick smoke filled the air and was carried away by the strong beach winds. Lyn was gone. Rowan screamed and panicked. They searched the area, and the devils searched from the skies, but the only clue they found was on the bed where Lyn had slept: a single black raven's feather.