The edge of the strange woods glowed from the myriad of lights of the insects flying about. The cacophony of life brought me comfort, as my powers opened a bridge between my soul and the habitants of this place. On the other side of it, a pleasant melody made its way to me. One that I knew well, it's memories accompanying me since the start of my journey on the Path.

An insect answered my call, setting himself on a finger of my outstretched hand.

"Heyyy buddy~~" My habit of softening my voice calmed my own nerve, as my new companion folded its wings. "Tell me what's it's like here."

He didn't answer, I knew he couldn't. I searched in his soul, grasping at the different sounds of its symphony. My task was possible thanks to the familiarity I had with this species, a beautiful eastern firefly. Many noises made me second guess myself, but it only showed the strangeness of this place.

The melody lacked the unrest of hunger, the pull to procreate and other drive that should lead the music. They were subdued, existing yet on the background. The two currently taking charge were usually heard in sentients. Idleness and...

"What got you so distressed little guy? And..." I hesitated. "...why are you just waiting?"

I wished he could speak, or understand my words, but I knew it was futile. Even the command I sent was only felt as an instinct for him.

The lights slightly parted as the crisp sound of gravel made its way to me.

"It won't answer not matter how much you try. Come on, we have to go."

My mood soured at her voice, yet the smile stubbornly tugging at my lips kept it from falling too low.

"It's alright buddy, I'll keep you safe."

"There is a lot of it ahead, you can play on the way." She said, her steps abruptly getting fainter as gravel made way to hard dirt.

My voice lost its sweetness as I answered. "I get it."

As we departed with mild strides, I couldn't help but look back. The separation between the shore and the dirt was clean, handmade clean. No dust on the shore's edge and no loose gravel on the woods side.

The snaking trees made me aware very soon that not looking ahead was a foolish mistake as a bundle of leaves and branches embraced my face. I struggled, the leaves seeming to stick on my skin and the branches slightly veering my way.

I coughed a bit from the embarrassment, trying to catch the eyes of Helia. Thankfully, she wasn't even registering my existence or the few seconds of shameful display I showed.

Despite how prepared and purposeful she seemed, I couldn't see any bags big enough on her to hold supplies. Only a small pouche, which I knew contained scraps of the calm inducing leaves, and a... waterskin? Made from the same leather as her mysterious book.

How barbaric, she found clothes but no bottles? Even the army issued ones, made of steel, would have been fine. Despite the taste they gave to the water inside.

In any case, we shouldn't have to walk for too long if we only needed to drink. I wasn't sure if I was glad or worried about that fact. I've grown used to control in the recent years and it's absence frustrated me more by the minutes now. Or it was anxiety, I wasn't sure.

First it was with this mission, where I was important enough to be chosen, but not important enough to give orders. Then here, where... I was lost. No amount of thinking about what to do helped, I evaded any shady dealings through my life for a good reason. Even the thought of not having brewed coffee at the simple touch of a rune brought me discomfort. And the wilderness... I liked it only when I knew a hot shower inside a nice hotel waited for me in a few hours.

I tried to bring respite to my wandering mind by focusing on our surroundings. Which, it turned out, was not reassuring, but at least it kept me busy on something I could understand.

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The subdued rays of the sun, filtered by the mist, made the fireflies more apparent in the tempered light. Pale white trees bringing their vivid green foliage in random places created a peaceful atmosphere, while the absence of wind brought a silence that made it easier to hear the melody of the fireflies accompanying me, with the slow tempo of our steps in the background.

"Can we stop for a moment, I want to check something."

Helia paused and turned around, looking at me for a few seconds, before doing a slight movement of her chin.

I nodded and approached one of the trees, its foliage high enough to not bother me. I begun to bring my hand closer to its trunk, yet hesitation made me flinch just before I could touch it.

I used to think I could handle stress well, but these days I was reminded time and time again how untrue it was. I cursed, though I couldn't even do it out loud, caging my frustration inside my head where only myself could hear it.

'It's just a tree, no claws or... I don't know. Just do it idiot.'

My hand touched the trunk, despite my action making me feel like finally jumping in a pool I knew was cold.

The smoothness of it confirmed its lack of bark, the wood was ready to be used after just drying it. No bumps or shards revealed themselves not matter where I swiped my palm.

"Do you ha-"

An open palm carrying a knife suddenly appeared in my vision.

"You don't want to change career and work for me?"

"Hurry."

'Well, it was worth of shot.'

I took the knife with both hands and used all of my strength to plunge it into the trunk. I was prepared to do this a few times, already anticipating sore arms. To my surprise, the wood offered a weak resistance as the blade almost fully embedded itself. I took it out and waited a few moments before putting it back in. It came out with liquid, translucent sap on it.

I passed my fingers on the blade, the sap was slightly thicker than water but not viscous. I rubbed some on my inner wrist and gave back the knife. She turned around and begun walking immediately, reminding me of students late for class yet not authorized to run.

I followed after her, dodging a few leaves that dangled close to my head. Smelling my fingers and the sweet scent they now had would have been pleasant if not for the realization I now had sticky fingers on my right hand.

Helia didn't ask what I was doing, or was even remotely curious about it. Which was fine but a bit...strange.

The ground was devoid of any bushes, moss, insects or any kind of life. There wasn't even fallen leaves or sticks laying about. I was worried that the trees were poisonous or acidic, or anything that could cause this. My knowledge on flora only came from the basics and the few thing I learned to get closer to one of my exes.

Fireflies avoided the trees, if the leaves were a problem, I would soon find out when my face will react to my previous mishaps.

I planned to wait a few hours to see the effect of the sap on my wrist before trying it on my tongue. If I needed to flee or found myself stranded, maybe I could use the sap to stay hydrated. Some people did that in stories I read as a child. I hoped it would help, but truly I felt lost on what to do if it happened.

"Hey Helia." She turned her head slightly. "What should I do if I get lost? Not that I will just run away but...you know...just in case."

'That last part was unnecessary dumbass.' I tortured my brows in embarrassment before cursing myself when they now felt sticky too.

She swiftly answered. "If you are lost just follow the light in the sky and don't stop until you are out of the woods."

"You mean the sun?" I asked.

But she didn't answer, only marching forward.

She took a twisted pleasure at making fun of me, but at least her attempt at playing the old cryptic wizard didn't prevent me from understanding her words. We were on a time limit for whatever they were doing, large enough to just walk but thight enough that we could not wander about.

I was wary of following whatever plan they had, only the lack of any communication devices coupled with the unrest of my little companions didn't give me much choice. Any predator would make a quick meal out of me, even if I had my stuff. Carrying weapons was hardly useful when you didn't know how to use them and I didn't have a permit for Spell accessories.

'Wait you can't even use spells here.'

But what did 'here' meant? Is it the dome of mist? Or something else? It wouldn't be surprising if a new weapon caused it, we made more technological advancements in these last 30 years of war than in the last four centuries.

More concerning was that most of our devices worked on the same basis as spellcasting. This might mean returning to a bygone age as long as this phenomena persisted, something I wasn't too keen on experiencing.

What about sickness and food. Even for our basic needs we used spellwork to go by. I didn't sweat like humans did, and didn't need nearly as much food, but I didn't know how this situation would last and my last bath now seemed more of a luxury than a commodity.

As my clean hand played with the leaves crowning my head, enjoying their softness, a detail caught my attention. Amidst the festival of yellow wisps around me, a brown light stuck out further away. A single black firefly, seemingly launching itself violently at his kin.