I awoke the next day, realizing I wasn't just tired. My entire body felt bruised and sore in places I didn't even know I had. My muscles were stiff, and my bones felt brittle. The feeling was familiar, yet this was even worse than anything I'd experienced before.

It was far from the first time I'd woken up with aching joints and a throbbing headache, but this was something entirely new. It was like a truck had run over my soul several times.

I glanced over to my side. The sapphire in each of the bracelets was cracked and broken, and the large scroll that held the spell I'd used was burned, water-damaged, and frayed. They didn't seem totally unsalvageable, but the discharge of mana had overwhelmed the capacity of the gemstones or something. I let out a very soft, frustrated groan - Alice had these gems for a reason, but they were probably valued at thousands of dollars of purchasing power.

Dinah was still blissfully unconscious, lying on her side and breathing raggedly. I looked down at her and felt a pang of guilt and sadness. My companions were still soundly asleep, except for Lori, who was missing.

I sighed, rubbing my temples as a splitting headache tore through my skull.

I hadn't slept well last night because I kept seeing the faces of the mortally wounded as I helped with the aftermath. Seeing their frozen expressions as they passed on. I'd tried to block it out, but I couldn't. I'd just seen too much death in one night. Too many bodies. Too many shattered lives. We didn't have an accurate body account by the night's end, but at least eighty adventurers had breathed their last, and who knows how many succumbed to their injuries overnight.

Bile rose in my mouth, and I felt like I was going to throw up, but I forced myself to take slow, deep breaths. In through my nose, out through my mouth.

I sat up slowly and then stood up, stretching my arms above my head. I was in a daze and blinked several times, trying to shake it off.

It was late morning, and the camp was quiet, apart from the sounds of nervous animals and birds chirping. Everyone was either asleep or tending to the wounded. I went to a small fire pit and poked it several times, ensuring it was fully extinguished. Thinking about our smaller blessings, I was grateful that everyone's travel animals were untouched. No matter how the Knave's dimensional magic worked, it seemed to only pull in people of a certain amount of strength. We still had enough of those giant black and white birds - the struthids, to get everything home.

Rummaging through my bags, I drew out a foreign-looking pen, a notebook, and the damaged scroll.

Stepping out into the campsite, I took a seat near the edge of the clearing and sat down on a damp tree stump. I closed my eyes to try and get the thoughts out and relax.

It didn't work.

I felt sick to my stomach, and I could feel the frustration bubbling up inside me. I felt the urge to lash out, and I had to fight it down. Had to keep it together.

I was still thinking about it when a soft hand landed on my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see Lori standing over me. She looked concerned, but I noticed her expression was almost as dark as mine.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly.

Biting my lip, I responded, "Yeah. I'm fine... Just a little tired."

Lori sat down with me and gave my shoulder a squeeze. "You look terrible..."

I shrugged, setting the writing materials aside before running my hands over my face.

"What...what happened yesterday?" she whispered. "...Out here?"

Her question made me pause for a second before I answered. My shoulders felt tense, and I could still see the world around me twisting and distorting into wrongness.

Then, I took a deep breath and told her about the masked mage sneaking up to me, asking me for a 'Ring of the Honest Dreamer.' About how everything had suddenly gone to hell after Haigha decapitated him. I spoke about how terrified I was, but I came back anyway and dug up one of 'my' scrolls on sealing localized dimensional refraction phenomena and used it to stop the Knave of Hearts.

Then, I rambled away at her, pouring out my heart and soul. I told her how I thought I could've saved everyone if I'd just studied spells like these more, about how the thoughts had spiraled in my head, eating away at me all night.

Lori listened quietly, nodding along. When I finished, she just sat there somberly for a second, basking in the quiet morning with me.

My chest tightened, and I found myself staring at the ground, unable to meet her gaze. I still needed to study and understand the nuances of what I'd done, but for some reason, I'd jumped on Alice's Truth Anchor ritual spell as the solution. It was an original spell created by Alice and scribbled messily onto a document that looked awfully like a formal academic research whitepaper on pocket dimensions. Thankfully, it worked better than I could have ever hoped for.

I jolted in surprise when Lori hugged me, burying her face into my hair and squeezing me tight.

The hug caused me to freeze up, unsure of how to react. Tears began to leak from my eyes. I didn't understand why I was crying again.

After a moment, she pulled away, looking at my face with a strange smile. Reaching down gingerly, I returned the gesture and gave her a soft hug.

"Sorry," she said with a giggle, sounding embarrassed. "I'm... I'm just glad you're safe."

I shook my head, blinking a few tears out of my eyes, and smiled weakly up at Lori. "I'm glad you came out in one piece too."

I looked her over, taking in her appearance. She was in a navy blue shirt and pants that resembled sweatpants, and her light blue hair was a mess. Lori came out of the whole ordeal with some bruised ribs, a strained shoulder, and a couple of scratches on her face from near-misses. It was honestly a miracle and very lucky, considering she was in the thick of the fighting for so long.

We stayed silent for a minute or two, and I was strangely happy to just sit and listen to the birds chirping. Just having Lori next to me was really comforting.

"Look... I know you, sis. And I know you won't internalize it right away, but I'm proud of you," Lori whispered soothingly. "You couldn't have known that last night would happen, and chances are you wouldn't have had that spell ready. You were amazing, and you did your best. I can't stress that enough."

Her words made me tear up again for a moment before I looked up at her. Her expression shifted, and her eyes crinkled into a smile.

"Thanks..." I mumbled, sniffling.

She squeezed my hand gently. "Don't worry about it. We'll figure things out later," she said.

I nodded, and we sat in silence for several minutes as she hugged and comforted me.

Finally, after a few minutes, she cleared her throat. "I... should go check in on Dinah," she muttered. "Make sure she's alright, you know?"

Lori leaned in close again and gave me another quick hug. She tapped the tip of my nose with a finger, then paused and picked up my scroll, book, and pen before walking away.

I let out a heavy sigh and rubbed the back of my neck while taking a deep sigh. As much as I hated to admit it, I appreciated that Lori had taken the book away.

Then, I turned to look out over the forest, watching the shadows cast by the trees lengthen with the coming sun.

The night before had been so bleak, filled with darkness, death, and suffering. But - the day ahead seemed so strangely bright somehow, so full of potential.

I thought about the mental spiral I'd gone down last night and how I'd lost control of my emotions. The guilt still haunted me at the back of my mind - I had the power and means to save everyone. If I had just been more prepared. More clever.

But now that I had some time to calm down a bit, I understood that wasn't entirely true.

I still wasn't feeling great, so I decided to take a walk to clear my head.

I stood up slowly, brushing myself off and stretching my arms overhead. Then, I glanced over toward the riverbank. A couple of nets were tied up there, and a small group of adventurers waited patiently and quietly for their turn to try and fish some massive carp-like fish swimming upstream. I watched them for a moment, then continued walking up the riverbank as my mind wandered off.

When I really thought about it, I couldn't have seen the Knave's attack last night coming.

Who could have known the masked mage would come for me like that? And - what happened immediately after was the stuff of surreal childhood nightmares. This was a huge wake-up call for me... that I couldn't just bury my head underground like an ostrich and forget everything else. It's been scarcely over two weeks since I'd woken up here, and I think I've yet to learn even a tenth of what I need to navigate it. We still have our finances and family to worry about, which definitely took priority. However, I realize now that I can't be complacent.

I'd stolen this girl Alice's identity, and like it or not, she was set up to be someone. Was someone, in fact, from all the context clues I've gathered. If I were someone completely and utterly powerless before an abomination like the Knave, I wouldn't have beaten myself up so badly and accepted it. That I was just another victim. The reality is that I do have power that I can't fully control right now, and with that power comes a ton of responsibility. It's something that I can understand very well now, and the guilt that so many died because of my ineffectiveness would continue to eat at me on some level.

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I focused my thoughts on the moment the masked mage had captured me at knifepoint. Who was this Dreamer that the masked mage was rambling about? Did I lose an item back there at Rivershire Crossing that was more important than I could have conceived of? Alice has so many little magic trinkets and complicated texts just lying around. I'd put sorting through it all off and shunted it into a corner to focus on the 'easier' task of mass-producing simple items because it's so overwhelming. I hadn't even given a golden ring I'd seen hanging from the branches a second thought when I'd stumbled into those thieves hung over. What else did I have that I didn't understand? That would be worth hurting me over? The past week had restored most of my sense of security, but I suddenly felt vulnerable again.

So much had changed in such a short period that it was hard to believe that any of this was real. I looked down at my small, cel-shaded hands resting atop my knees as the autumn wind swooshed around me. They felt tiny compared to my surroundings but big compared to who I'd once been. I had to accept that I was no longer a regular muggle from earth.

Even if I wanted to return home, I knew I probably couldn't anymore. Not without a lot of help from people who understood a lot more than me. Maybe someday. For now, though, I needed to stay strong. I needed to learn as much about this new life and world as possible.

I looked around me, taking in the scenery of the mountain forest.

The sound of rushing water echoed softly behind me. The breeze blew lightly across my skin, and I shivered slightly, feeling a chill despite the warm sunshine. A gentle, pleasant sensation ran up and down my spine. This place reminded me strongly of the forests and creeks of New England in Autumn, which was nice. This mountain forest was actively forested and mined, so trails were cleared for those who typically worked here.

After walking for a while on the trails, I spotted a large oak tree growing out of the center of a clearing. Its trunk was wide enough to fit four grown men side by side. The tree's leaves rustled in the light breeze, and a small flock of squirrels scurried between its branches, making squirrel noises. I smiled at the sight - they looked like ordinary earth squirrels, and the scenery was something to behold.

As I approached the tree, one of the squirrels turned to look at me before making a loud, surprised, squeaking noise. It hopped out of sight among the roots, and the other three stopped their chittering and stared intently at me. The squirrel that disappeared popped out of the roots, holding a nut in its mouth. It scampered it over, offering it to me. Then, I noticed it was bigger than the other three, and its fur was...green.

Huh... that's pretty interesting.

I stared at it as the creature dropped the nuts it held in front of me. It looked at me expectingly with big anime squirrel eyes.

That's...weird.

I didn't know if it was a bad thing, but little anomalies like this had honestly stopped surprising me.

I shrugged nonchalantly, then bent down, kept my distance, and stared intently at it. I tilted my head and squinted at the thing, trying to make sense of it. It looked like a walnut, except instead of a brown shell, it was green. Instead of a ridged surface, it was rounded with a smooth texture across its exterior. I didn't know if it would explode, sprout tentacles, or spit out mind-controlling gas or something, and it was better to keep my distance.

Is this edible? Is this food? Does it taste good? ...Is it a trap?

The squirrels started chittering amongst themselves, pointing to each other and me with their forepaws, then jumping up and down excitedly. Then the green one scurried up to me.

It made a gesture with its forepaws as if it were holding both hands out placatingly to me. The movement almost screamed, 'It's okay' to me.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, then pointed a finger at it and floated it into the air.

Okay. Fine. Let's see what this is all about.

I carefully approached the nut and drew my wand from my belt before poking it like I was using a stick. The squirrels on the ground stared at me expectingly, almost amused.

Well, it didn't explode after a few pokes, nor did it seem overtly malicious.

Gingerly, I reached out to touch it. It felt soft under my fingertips, like a pebble, but I could tell it was smooth and firm. My fingers pressed against it experimentally, and I heard a faint click. When I pulled back my hand, I saw a small hole in the top of the nut. I reflexively flung it out, leveling my wand against it.

There was a tense moment in the clearing as I pointed my wand at an alien walnut floating in the air. Then I relaxed as the nut didn't sprout tentacles or explode in my face.

Amused chittering came from above me. I glanced up, seeing the green squirrel staring down at me from a tree branch, apparently entertained by my actions. I laughed nervously and waved at it. The squirrel chattered happily, waving its tail back and forth, then jumped down onto the ground, landing in a crouch next to me.

"Hey!" I said hesitantly, looking down at the creature with a curious gaze, "You're um, pretty cute, I guess? Still suspicious beyond belief, though."

The squirrel flicked its ears in response and then held up a paw to me while doing an anime squirrel smile. I scowled distrustfully and shook my head.

It shrugged, nodded almost in understanding, and gestured again, motioning for me to take the nut where I floated it.

Oh... okay. Sure. I nodded, reaching out to grab the nut. The squirrel giggled and hopped onto my shoulder, holding itself on its hind legs.

This is strange but kind of cool too?

I reached out and took the walnut before inspecting it closely. Upon closer inspection, it was etched like the core of my staff or the sapphires in the bracelet I'd overloaded.

I stared at it, wondering what it meant. Then, I shrugged and channeled a telekinesis spell into it while holding onto the nut.

"Harumph..." I jumped in shock as I heard a young girl's voice echoing around the clearing.

Huh?!

I looked up, startled as the ghostly apparition of a teenage girl appeared in front of me, standing on nothing but air. She seemed to float in midair with her arms crossed smugly over her chest. Wild green hair cascaded down her shoulders and flowed gently along the floor below her. Her body was clad in a long, flowing brown dress that perfectly clung to her slender form, accentuating her curves. The girl wore wooden high heels with green ribbons dangling from them.

She grinned mischievously at me, showing off a row of sharp, sharklike teeth and mischievous green eyes.

Her presence filled me with a strange sense of familiarity, and I instinctively leaned forward to stare at her.

"Ah! There you are..." she stated casually as she floated closer to me like she was sizing up her prey for dinner before attacking...or something like that? She seemed friendly enough, for now anyway, and she didn't seem deranged like that mask-wearing mage had been.

The girl tilted her head curiously at me and then reached up and ran a finger through her hair before glancing around the forest. I followed her gaze and noticed a pack of cute fantasy slimes and what looked like moose-deer and birds crowding around the clearing. It looked like there were even some fish swimming and crowding near the riverbank. More and more animals came pouring out of the trees, seemingly excited to see us together. Raccoon-like creatures, foxes, even a bear.

What on earth is going on here?!

More squirrels scurried and hopped around my feet, making the ghost girl giggle lightly. The squirrels squeaked cheerfully, chittering amongst themselves.

I looked at them, puzzled. What was this? What was happening? Why was I surrounded by all these creatures? I'd never seen such a large variety of animals before in the wild! They seemed friendly enough, but what exactly was going on? I looked up at the green girl in front of me.

Then, she spoke up, interrupting my thoughts.

"Greetings, scion of House Liddell," she said politely with a small, mischievous smile.

Huh? I thought to myself before narrowing my eyes suspiciously.

She stared at me with amusement, her eyes glittering like she was up to something. She seemed friendly enough, but I knew not to trust her yet.

Then, she lowered her head and bowed, and every animal in the clearing began to either roll back on their bellies or make a similar bowing gesture.

What's going on?!

I frowned, glancing over at the animals surrounding me. Wait, are they... are they bowing to me or something?

The girl smirked at me while continuing to bow. "This Smallwood has paid witness. That Alice Liddell, in the Halton Hills, a dominion of the Oscast Greatforest, vanquished a Herald that would defile the winding roots of the Greater Wood. Juvenile and young, the woods are all here, fall under the dominion of the Greatmother. Those who fall under the banner of Hers are your friends and allies; till the days you would relinquish this privilege through deed or word. Should your heart stay righteous and true, safe refuge and passage in the Greater Wood shall now be yours, forevermore."

"Whoa, wait, please slow down a second!" I exclaimed, my confusion growing.

Her green eyes twinkled, and she smiled and gestured to me with a hand wave. "Young and mighty sorceress. Loveliest of saplings, most stalwart of branches, you have brought justice to a wicked and ancient blight. The Forest Mother looks upon you with the highest expectations, and her smile falls upon you with a blessing."

I blinked at her, feeling confused and overwhelmed. "Hold on. What exactly is going on here? Could you explain to me what any of this means? What does this blessing entail?"

The girl smiled brightly at me before she vanished in a flash of light. I felt a slight breeze, and the animals around the clearing scattered in different directions. Leaves swirled around me as I stood there, blinking, trying to process everything that had just happened.

I was still standing in the middle of the clearing, but the animals were gone. Feeling a tingle of magic, I looked down at my hand. Then, I realized that I was still holding the green nut in my hand. It glowed a bright, sparkling green in my hand, which captivated my gaze until it suddenly stopped and returned to normal.

I looked around, confused, before noticing the green squirrel was still sitting atop my shoulder with an amused expression.

"What was that?" I asked the squirrel.

The squirrel looked at me and tilted its head before chittering. Its eyes gleamed with a strange sagacity in the morning light.

I furrowed my brow, trying to understand what it meant.

"Sorry, could you please translate to human, erm, friend?" I asked aloud, tilting my head in confusion.

The squirrel cocked its head again, happily this time, and then pointed at my belt. It wanted me to keep the walnut? I raised an eyebrow in surprise before I picked up the nut and slipped it into my belt pouch.

"Thank you," I said, and the squirrel chittered in response. Then, it jumped off my shoulder and ran back into the woods.

I frowned, then turned and walked away from the clearing. I didn't know what was going on, but for some reason, I had a strong, nagging feeling that I would be safe here. The air in the forest just felt significantly calmer to me, all of a sudden. Friendly, even.

As I walked through the trees, I noticed that the ground was covered in thick moss. It made for easier walking than stone, and the dense undergrowth provided a buffer between me and the rest of the world. I wandered through the woods for another hour, taking note of my surroundings and breathing in the cool mountain air. The forest seemed to stretch on forever, and the air felt comfortably crisp. The silence of the woods was soothing, and I found myself smiling as I walked to a clearing and just listened to the woods around me.

I sighed wistfully before heading back in the direction of the base camp. My nerves from the previous night had settled down out here.

A gentle breeze blew past me, carrying the scent of flowers with it. A warm sensation washed over me as I breathed deeply, calming me down further.

There was no sound except for the rustling leaves overhead and the occasional bird call. A soft breeze ruffled my hair, sending a pleasant chill across my skin. The sun suddenly shone brilliantly around me, illuminating the path ahead as if it was calling me towards the correct path.

My mind drifted to last night when I cast the spell. And then....and I saved everyone.

And then, my mind flashed through the image of the masked man and the horrible abomination he'd transformed into. He had been terrifying. I shuddered involuntarily, recalling the terror that coursed through my veins.

But despite that fear, I hadn't run away. I'd stood my ground, regained my composure, and used my magic to defeat to shut down his reality-bending power.

What was next, though? I had to brush up on my self-defense magic, and then what? Find Alice's parents? Hunt down that ring that I'd negligently left in Rivershire? Why did the Knave of Hearts want it? Was there a grander, more sinister plot at play here? How was everything connected?

I shook my head, trying to shake those troubling thoughts loose. There would be time to dwell on that later.

For now, it was time to get back to base camp. It was time to attend to both the wounded and the dead. I had a feeling the half-day's journey back to Halton would be an exhausting one.

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