Theo closed his eyes, but even so it was bright, and his vision glowed pink as it shone through his eyelids.

A noise rang out, clear as a bell, echoing through his mind. It made him open his eyes, and Theo found the light had dimmed (and his vision to not be permanently blinded).

As Theo blinked the spots out of his eyes, he noticed the five coins were simply stacked on top of each other, unmoving.

On top of the stack, however, there was a projection. It was a series of concentric rings, with many small boxes and shapes inside.

Of particular note were four rectangular boxes and a central square between them slightly to the side of the inner ring, as inside one of the buildings there was a blinking light. Another blinking light was outside the circles entirely, off in a bunch of bristles. Those were the only two moving points.

“Any idea what this is?” Esther scratched her head as Theo looked over. She was studying the map intently, unconsciously moving slightly closer to it, her chair scraping across the ground as she nudged forward.

“It’s a map.” Chrys stated simply, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth as she looked off into nothing. Theo’s eyes widened.

Esther grunted, unsatisfied. “But of wha-“

“Us.” All eyes turned to Sparrow, as they continued. “Here. Union City. See the rings?” They pointed to the circles, tracing the outer ring gently with their finger. “That’s the outer wall. And this,” they shifted to the inner ring, “Is the wall around the Inner Districts.”

“Which makes those squares the Colleges. And that blinking dot is where we’re sitting.” Kevin muttered, hand cupping his chin, deep in thought. He leaned against the wall, and some of the intricate machinery clicked and squeaked in protest.

There was silence, as everyone considered the implications and what this map meant.

Theo shifted in his chair, wondering when someone would point out the obvious.

They didn’t.

“What about the other blinking light?” No eyes turned his way, but he could feel everyone’s attention on him. “Should we check out what’s there?”

“That’s The Woods. The protected part of The Woods.” Sparrow slowly, methodically got out of their chair, as it scraped along the floor. They sighed, before reaching into their suit pocket, and pulling out a full-sized machete.

They gave it a few test swings, spinning it in the air, before making it disappear in their pocket again. “Right. Let’s do some pruning.”

---

The sun was setting as they left Union City, and before long they were surrounded by darkness. Thankfully, Sparrow whispered a floating flame into existence, and Theo improvised a tune that summoned a single spot of light in the palm of his right hand.

Chrys muttered something about mana efficiency, but otherwise they walked in near silence, lit by two and a half lights.

In his left, he held the coin stack, which was the other source of light. Frankly, the light in his right was more practice than practical.

The coins were still projecting their map, and as they’d all suspected, the blinking light had moved as they had, and now they were nearing the other one.

The Woods, while enchanting and slightly mysterious during the day, became ominous at night. The stillness that was tranquil when sunlight filtered through branches became eerie, especially since Theo still had the sensation that they were being watched.

As they walked, trees parted in front of them. They also closed behind them, which made Theo worried that they could get lost (or worse, trapped).

Worse yet, the foliage above that was pleasant when it protected from bright sunlight stole away most of the starlight and moonlight that was there, leaving them in near darkness besides their lights.

Theo was glad that he did create the second light. It made him feel a little better, but looking at the group he was slightly surprised that nobody else was even phased for a moment, all just looking around, almost profoundly bored.

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Even so, they were still aware of their surroundings, so Theo tried not to worry much.

“It’ll be up on our right.” Theo squinted at the blinking lights, as they were almost touching on the map now. Given the size of the dots and the map, however, that still meant there was some distance to go.

Sparrow nodded, as Esther stretched and all her bones audibly popped. Kevin sent off a glowing prayer that shot up to the stars, and a moment later he was wreathed in an aura that didn’t quite glow, but somehow shined anyway. Chrys ran a hand across her arms, and all the flowers glowed, leaving a faint trail of mana as they activated.

It was then that Theo remembered that these were all teachers at the Colleges, and there was a very high chance that they had gone on missions and faced things much worse than the resident magical oddity.

Eventually, the trees stopped moving out of their way, and instead formed a deep wall, surrounding them in a ball of wood. The canopy closed entirely, and Theo had to quickly move his feet as the dirt swarmed with roots.

As he tried not to get trapped, Theo heard Sparrow sigh deeply. “We’re not here to hurt you. We’re just looking for something.” Theo looked around to see if there was someone that he couldn’t see that had joined them.

Unless they were invisible, he was pretty sure nobody was there. Theo only counted the four teachers and himself.

“I know we’re heading into your protected territory, but we’re just looking for the cause of this blinking light.” Sparrow pointed to the coins in Theo’s hands.

The woods simply tightened around them in response. Theo wasn’t sure if it was in his head, or if the space was starting to shrink.

Either way, he felt the hair on his arms stand on end, and his breathing picked up involuntarily.

Kevin tapped Sparrow on the shoulder. They shared a look, and a moment later, Sparrow nodded.

Kevin cleared his throat. “Oh Great Woods! We humbly ask to examine your gifts, as we are searching for our own treasure. We do not dare steal that which is yours.”

The shifting trees and ever-encroaching roots paused.

It was at this moment that Theo realised there was never an invisible person that Sparrow (and now Kevin) were talking to (well, technically they were effectively camouflaged but that doesn’t matter). They had been talking to The Woods all along.

If Theo had opinions on The Woods before, seeing his master and a few other teachers treat it in this way definitely made him reconsider a few ideas about how the world worked.

After a few tense moments of Kevin standing almost perfectly still, and everyone else patiently waiting (while his gut brewed up an extra-strong payload of anxiety), all the roots and trees retreated.

Not only did they retreat, but they created a path, guiding them towards their goal.

“I can’t believe that worked.” Kevin let out a breath, running a hand through his hair. Even in the lack of light, Theo could see the sweat on his face glistening under the golden light of the map.

Sparrow threw their arm in front, pointing in the direction The Woods had provided as they started to stroll. “Right, let’s find what we came for.”

---

Theo wasn’t sure if he preferred The Woods being helpful or trying to hinder them. This way they drew ever-closer to what they looked for, but the uniformity unnerved Theo.

It felt like he had been trapped on a path where as soon as he reached the end he popped back out at the start, as things repeated and looped over and over. Of course, that wasn’t what was happening (Theo desperately hoped), it was just very consistent spaced trees and branches.

Of course, if you were a giant sentient forest that could move roots and trees like limbs, you’d probably pick up a habit for organising things neatly after a while (or get lazy and repeat patterns that not many would pay attention to).

Eventually, after a period of time (that could have been five minutes or fifteen hours, either way Theo couldn’t tell), the corridor of branches ended, opening up to a single tree in the centre of a clearing.

From the onset, Theo knew that it was magical. Simply from the motes of mana floating around, and the density of mana in the surrounding area that dusted its branches like snow, the way they cycled in and around the leaves, creating a halo of tiny burning stars.

It looked magical. In the (lack of) moonlight, it was that much easier to see how enchanting this grove could be. It was quiet, but as Theo breathed in the scent of fresh dirt and ozone, he carefully took a step out. Everyone else followed, less enchanted but still looking around with interest.

They kept walking, until they were under the roots of the central tree. Even the roots glowed, lines of mana running across their surface like pulsing veins. He wasn’t sure why, but it felt easier to breathe here, like the air was cleaner somehow.

Theo looked at the stack of coins in his hand, and at the map, which no longer showed two dots almost on top of each other, but instead a single dot that glowed and didn’t flicker. He took that as a sign they were in the right place.

“I guess it should be here?” Theo scratched his head, surveying the ground below them, carefully probing it for give or resistance with his foot between the roots. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“Hang on.” Chrys walked forward, carefully examining the bark on the tree. She muttered to herself, as she looked at what she wore, and pulled out long scrolls of reference images for runes. “Theo, could I borrow those coins?” Chrys asked, eyes focused on drinking in as much detail as possible.

He placed them in her outstretched hand, which snapped towards her face, as she tapped her robe with her other hand. A piece of polished glass dropped down, and Chrys’ reflection in it was warped in a terrible way.

She looked through it, and began tracing the whorls in the bark with her fingers, head regularly turning to consult with the coins.

After a long time had passed (long enough for Esther to start nodding off while standing), Chrys sighed. “Got it.” She whispered. The bark started to glow, as Chrys navigated its surface with her fingers, pushing and pulling the mana.

The bark peeled itself from the trunk, curled up like cinnamon. Inside the trunk was a hole.

Inside the hole was a chest.