The wraith agreed to drive them as close as she could to the preserved forest. They drove in silence for the hour it took to get there. “We’re here.” Viri jumped up at the wraith’s shrill voice. She didn’t realize she had fallen asleep, and she could tell from the amount of slobber Alyson was wiping from around her mouth that she had also fallen asleep. The wraith just smiled kindly at them. Viri regained her senses enough to smile back and pay her for the trip. They got their bags out of the trunk and the wraith winked at them before driving off.

“Well. It’s go time.” They did a few stretches to fully wake up and headed towards the forest. The forest was everything she expected it to be. Filled with insects and flying creatures that pestered them every chance they got. The only sounds for the first fifteen minutes were of them swatting themselves to kill whatever was crawling on them, the crunching of twigs and leaves on the forest floor as they walked, and the occasional yelled obscenities after swatting themselves. After fifteen minutes, Viri’s cell signal went out and so did the navigation system. “You wouldn’t happen to have a signal, would you?” She looked back at Alyson who was grimacing at her hand as she wiped residue from it on a nearby tree. “I lost mine ten minutes ago.” Viri sighed. She figured as much would happen. Luckily, she’d always had a great sense of direction in the wild. As long as she continued heading East, they had to eventually run into the marshes, or so all the maps claimed. She pulled her compass out of her bag and they continued on.

Her senses always came alive in the woods, forest, or pretty much anywhere outside of the city. She seemed to see more clearly and hear everything around her, and she felt like she belonged. Don’t get the wrong idea though. She didn’t want to live in the wilderness, and she had no clue how her ancestors survived in the ‘good ol’ days,’ but she loved the breaks away from the madness back home. It was a huge reason why she was so comfortable continuing to work for Morgana.

Alyson slapped whatever landed on her neck loud enough that it startled Viri. She turned around and saw her scowling and laughed. “Well, it’s official, bugs love horses more than humans.” Alyson flicked her off but couldn’t help the smile that tugged on her lips. “I’ll be slapping you next if you don’t shut up and find us a place to set up camp soon.”

Viri offered up a middle finger of her own as she turned around and looked for an open area. They walked a few more feet and found a decent spot to set up their bed rolls. She started unpacking dried meats and bread but stopped when she spotted Alyson attempting to make a fire. “What the hell are you doing?” Alyson looked up at her confused. “What? I’m making a fire. In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s freezing out here.” Viri rolled her eyes. “It is, but that’s what you have layers on for. Fire attracts other living creatures at night Aly. It’s not safe.” Alyson continued setting up sticks she’d found. “So, you mean to tell me that you’ve never made a fire? Ever? Because you’re afraid of the dark.” Viri threw a piece of bread at her. “No, I've never made a fire. My mom made it very clear that they weren’t safe, and it’s stuck with me. And I'm not afraid of the dark. I’m concerned about what lurks in the dark.” Alyson rolled her eyes. “Same difference. Look Vi-vi, it’s only gonna get colder, and maybe you’re used to toughing it out, but I've only been on summer trips with you, so I'm not accustomed to freezing at night because of your crazy superstitions.” Viri sighed. “Fine. Make your fire. But I swear, if something comes after us because of it, you better fight it off yourself or I'm murdering you both.” Alyson stuck out her tongue and sparked a fire. Viri ignored it and finished unpacking dinner for the two of them.

Viri had to admit that it was ridiculously cold. She hadn’t done this in a while, but she didn’t remember the nights freezing like this. They ‘toasted’ with their canteens and ate the sad little meal Viri packed. “Oh, how I've missed the joys of fine dining in the wilderness!” Alyson held up the bread with mock enthusiasm. Viri snorted. “You should be grateful. I could’ve just packed a bale of hay along for you.” Alyson picked up the piece of bread that Viri threw at her earlier and beamed it at Viri’s forehead. “I’m not a horse and you know it, you jackass.” Viri grinned widely. “Would unicorn be more appropriate? Or are you a pony until you turn thirty-five?” Alyson couldn’t help but laugh. “We should get some sleep you jerk. I imagine there’s a lot more walking ahead of us tomorrow.”

Viri patted crumbs off her and laid in the bed roll as Alyson did the same. It wasn’t long before Alyson was snoring and Viri regretted not packing earplugs. She tried to focus on anything else to drown out the sound, and that’s when she noticed the sound of the fire crackling. She hadn’t paid much attention to it while talking to Alyson, but the more she focused on it, the more drawn to it she became. She began staring at the flames and watched as the hues of red and orange danced around each other and grew larger. The more she stared, the more lost in the flames she seemed to become. Before she knew it, she was sitting directly in front of the fire. She didn’t even remember getting out of the bedroll and crawling over to it. She felt the warmth of the flames flickering toward her, but she didn’t feel hot. If anything, it felt inviting. It felt like home. She slowly reached out to touch the fire, only vaguely aware of what she was doing. Swirls of flame began slowly creeping up her arm and it was completely covered in the flames within a matter of seconds. She should’ve been freaking out, but she never felt anything remotely close to burning. It felt like a warm embrace – like the flames were old friends she’d neglected.

As she stared at the flames, the colors began to change gradually. The deep reds and oranges transformed into vermillion hues as if they were mimicking her hair. As the flames crept towards her shoulders, feathers began appearing on her arm, heading in the same direction as the fire. She studied her arm, watching as the vermillion feathers gradually replaced the brown skin she knew should be there instead. She slowly reached to touch the feathers, but before she could feel them, she saw a flash of gold near her fingertips. She drew her attention to her hands and saw miraculously long, golden talons where her fingers should be. The gold was unlike any she had seen before. It seemed almost wrong to even call it gold. The sheer vibrance of it was enough to snap her out of her daze and send her hurriedly crawling backward from the fire back to her bedroll. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to settle herself. She peeked before fully opening her eyes and saw that her arm was completely normal. No signs of the transformation she’d just witnessed. She felt her arm and felt only skin. The only noticeable warmth was the slight heat of her palm resting on her arm.

Reason number two to not make fires at night: weird fever dreams. Yes, you’d actually have to be asleep to have a fever dream, and nothing about what just happened felt “nightmarish,” but she wasn’t ready to deal with the possibility that it wasn’t a dream. So, she laid back down in her bedroll and counted the stars until she fell asleep. The eyes appeared shortly after. The stars must’ve calmed her enough because instead of the flames she expected, there were waves gently crashing around her. She stared at the deep blue eyes with the golden specks that seemed to float in them. Before she could speak to them, they spoke to her. For the first time, she heard the voice behind the eyes. It was deep and echoed through the waters around her. All they said was a single word:

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“Remember.”

They disappeared before she could even ask what exactly she was supposed to remember. As they faded away, a new scene appeared. A lush forest appeared around her. Gorgeous flowers bloomed and birds of all different colors flew through the trees singing. Before she could get lost in the beauty of it all, she heard a young girl crying. As she walked towards the sound, she heard the voices of other children sneering and harassing who she assumed was the crying girl. She began to run towards the sound. She made it to a clearing where she saw a young girl with blonde hair crying into her hands and a circle of fae children throwing rocks at her. Viri saw how hopeless the girl looked and before she knew it, she’d outstretched her hand and sent a wave of red flames to block the fae from further harming the girl. They looked over at Viri and instantly ran away. She dropped her arm and the flames dissipated as she walked towards the girl. She leaned down and gently patted the girl’s head. “I’ll be your friend if you need one, and you can be mine. We can be best friends.” Viri felt the girl stop crying and as she pulled her face from her hands, the dream ended abruptly as dew from a leaf fell on Viri’s head and jolted her awake. She groaned, wiped her forehead, and got out of the bedroll before another could hit her.

She picked up a rock and beamed it at Alyson’s arm, who was snoring loud enough to wake every creature in the forest. As Alyson woke up and started slinging curse words at her, Viri put out any remaining embers from the fire and unpacked dried fruit and cheese for breakfast. She handed Alyson her share of breakfast as she’d finished her complaining and Alyson grudgingly accepted. Alyson looked at the circle of ash where the fire had been. “See, it didn’t bring any creepy crawly creatures of the night our way.” Viri rolled her eyes. “That’s because any that got close enough to hear your snoring were immediately scared away.” Alyson stuck her tongue out and Viri giggled. She didn’t want to discuss what had happened to her last night. Mostly because she still didn’t know if it had truly happened to her. She suspected the weirdness surrounding her the past few days would only increase the further they went on this trip, and she wasn’t quite sure she was ready to let the lid off it with a conversation. Instead, she finished breakfast and they both packed up their bedrolls to head out.

They tidied up the clearing as much as they could. They knew whatever creatures lived in the forest would appreciate them leaving the areas they touched the way they found them. They began walking to continue their journey. Viri noticed a small beam of light as Alyson’s engagement ring caught the sunlight. “You seriously wore that thing on a hiking trip?” Alyson looked over and noticed Viri’s attention on the ring. “This THING goes with me wherever I go. It’s too expensive not to.” Viri gave her an incredulous side-eyed glance. “That’s exactly why you shouldn’t be wearing it in the forest. It’s entirely too expensive.” Alyson waved her off. “I’m always careful. You’re the one who’ll fight anything standing. I prefer to keep my hands clean.” Viri gave her a roguish grin. “Clean? Really? But I thought the things you did with your hands nightly is exactly what landed you that ring.” Alyson threw her head back and let out a howling laugh. Viri couldn’t help but laugh along with her.

Alyson came closer and linked arms with Viri. “You really are the best friend a girl could ask for Vi-vi. I’m nervous about getting married and all the adult changes that come with it, but I know I'll always have you to keep me grounded.” Viri laid her head against Alyson’s as they walked. “Of course, you’ll always have me. Especially since you’re going to buy a three-bedroom house so I can stay with you and mooch off you guys.” Alyson chuckled. “You really should give some poor guy a chance Vi-vi. I don’t want you being the lonely spinster that lives in my guest bedroom and harasses the young girls at the club by trying to dance the night away with them.” Viri let go of Alyson’s arm so she could see the fake shock written across her face right before she picked up a twig and threw it at her. Viri immediately took off running as Alyson realized what she’d done and picked the twig out of her hair. “Oh, you are so dead.” Alyson ran after Viri and the two were a flash of giggles as they ran through the trees. Viri had always been fast so she knew Alyson wouldn’t catch up to her until she stopped running.

They zigged through the forest, dodging trees and woodland animals alike. Alyson hurled rocks from behind as Viri dodged them all effortlessly. They went at it for a solid twenty-five minutes before Viri ran face-first into a large, ancient tree. She couldn’t hear anything above the ringing in her ears and her head felt like someone dropped a train on it. As the ringing subsided, she began to hear Alyson giving a warning growl, which meant she’d shifted. Viri groaned as she opened her eyes to see a wood nymph’s face hovering over hers. The nymph was beautiful. Her skin was as brown as the tree Viri had run into and her long black hair was filled with flowers and leaves of all sorts. Viri’s throat felt dry as she rasped out, “Um, hello?” She heard Alyson growl again as the nymph reached her hand towards her to help her sit up. She took her hand and the world seemed to spin as she moved. “Calm down little karkadann, I am not here to hurt either of you.” Alyson stopped growling but she didn't shift back. The nymph rubbed Viri’s face. She was too confused and dazed to do anything besides ask, “Can I help you?” The nymph smiled. “You look so much like your father.”

Viri picked a piece of tree bark off her forehead. “I’m sorry. I think you have me confused with someone else.” The nymph smirked at her. “One of us is surely mistaken, but it is not me, child. You are the one who is mistaken about your true self. Something tells me, that’s why you’re here. I have already witnessed who you truly are, and you need only listen to the fire in you for you to witness the same. It will grant you the truths you are seeking but be careful on your journey, little one. Not all creatures in this forest will wish to see you survive.” She disappeared back into the tree before Viri could ask further questions.

“What the hell does everyone seem to know about me that I don’t know myself?” Viri stood up to dust dirt and leaves off her. “I mean really. Life couldn’t wait until I was in my forties to give me a crisis like it does normal humans? It just had to hit me with an ‘existential self’ crisis in my mid-fucking-twenties?” Alyson finished straightening her clothes after shifting back and walked over to fold Viri into the tightest hug she could muster up. They hugged silently for several minutes before Alyson pulled back to look at Viri’s face. “Vi-vi, are you sure you want to keep going after this stone? This all seems so much bigger than you. Are you sure you’re ready to be a part of whatever this shit is?” Viri sighed. “I have to. I can’t ignore all the cryptic comments about who or whatever it is that I supposedly am to these people. The only way to do that is to continue to play into whatever this trip is really about.” Alyson walked to pick up her bag where she’d dropped it before shifting. “But can you do this Viri? Can you handle it if what you thought you knew all this time isn’t the truth about you?” Viri put her bag back on her shoulders and squared them. “I owe it to myself to handle it. How many years did I dream about being as magical as everyone else around me? Now that it may be true, I have to do everything I can to confirm it. I love myself and I was perfectly happy being a normal human a few days ago, but now that the lid keeps blowing open on whatever the fuck this weird situation is, I can’t ignore it.” Viri looked at her compass and they started walking in the direction of the marshes. Alyson began throwing rocks at trees as they walked past them.