A few minutes after exiting my mindscape I was speeding through the library. I'd changed the active position of the central pillar a few times to make sure nobody would find the Librarian's tome by accident, but for the rest, I'd left my stuff there. Each of my arms was adorned with a Thorncaster, and I had my now almost empty backpack and my ax with me.

I wonder if everything is alright, I thought as I pulled up my map and looked at the map with long lines through the fog that covered most of it. Even with all my running, I had barely revealed an appreciable percentage of it.

I examined the door that would lead to the Crouhal's temple. Should I go there? I didn't really feel like it. I'd been gone for more than a month, so Laurel and Haltir would have long since left, and although I didn't really think Nimron had attacked the temple again, it was still a possibility.

I guess it's time to see what Rathica's been up to, I decided.

Rathica! You still alive? I roared through the connection that had been silent for weeks, if not months. I thought I sensed something for a moment, but then it faded, and the connection remained quiet.

I continued a few more times, but there was no reaction, and eventually, I stopped looking at the map.

"Don't really want to go to Crouhal," I said with a sad sigh. I had hoped to ask Rathica for the door that would lead to Steadfast, but that plan was dead in the water now. So, what then? I scanned the map noting the dozens of exits I had on it. I knew some, the one to Dursic -too dangerous, the one to Orlion -too far. None would be helpful.

"Fine, Crouhal it is," I muttered. It felt like a dangerous option, but I couldn't think of a better course. Taking a deep sigh, I started my track towards the far-off door.

Every once in a while I tried contacting Rathica until halfway, I realized what might be the problem. Was the training I found through Fnip blocking her from contacting me? The idea that the tome was that powerful wasn't odd, but it did give one more option. I came to a halt, pulling up the map again, and located the door closest to the one to Crouhal. One I had gone through that was, as I wasn't dumb enough to attempt a new one. Looking at it, my eyes widened. The closest door beside Crouhal was the one that led to Rathica's old temple, a place I hadn't been in a long time.

I'll just go there, try to contact her, and come back to Crouhal if it doesn't work, I promised myself.

Many hours of effortless sprinting later, I reached the familiar door. It was closed, but I saw nothing that would suggest it was barred somehow. With a grunt, I checked the Thorncasters, a useless thing as they were magically crafted and couldn't misfire from what I had found, then raised my ax. It was the one Rathica had gifted me when we reached the Shallow Gale mountains, and it showed the wear and tear I had put it through; long scratches and nicks in the incredibly hard and tough wood.

As I placed my hand on the door handle, a small burst of static came from it, jolting my hair erect.

What the…? I turned around, looking for anything dangerous, but there was nothing. My status showed nothing either, and after a moment, I frowned at the oddity. Perhaps it was due to the lock of Fnip?

With a grunt, I pulled open the door, looking at the dark temple beyond. It was as quiet as when I'd left it, and as I saw nothing dangerous, I stepped through. Right at the moment that my second foot passed the threshold, my status-window pinged in rapid succession. Then, there was a massive uproar from far behind that sounded like someone screaming in fear and denial. Before I could react to either, the door slammed shut behind me, and the handles faded, soon followed by the door. Within a moment, the door was gone, and I was left in the dusty, dank temple.

A steady surety and calmness came over me, showing I was back under the influence of Rathica. Still, even it couldn't stop the feeling I had as I looked around the temple, then at the door. A wary, dangerous feeling, as if something had gone terribly wrong.

"What?" I muttered.

As if in response, a rumble shook the temple around me. Dust fell from the ceiling, and the massive stones that made up the walls began moving. Instinctively I ran towards the exit, the one I had once made and had crawled up through. It was where I had left it, but mud and sand had clogged it.

"Harlot, minx! I'll leave none of what you are and where. Everything that stinks of you will be destroyed!"

The voice seemed to vibrate through the temple, and the soil around it, oozing with malice and anger. I'd never met him, and I had only sensed his presence from far away, but I recognized him nonetheless. It was Nimron, and him being here could mean nothing good. How he wasn't finding me was a marvel in itself, but I wasn't going to wait around. I pushed myself through the clogged tunnel, digging the filth, sand, and branches out and pushing them below.

It had cost me much longer the first time, but likely due to my increased power and because the tunnel wasn't as clogged as before, I surged up through the soil quickly. Even then, below me, I sensed thick vibrations and shocks as if something massive was crashing down on the temple, which was probably exactly what was happening. As my arms reached out of the earth, I pulled them back, took a deep breath, and looked out and around. It was dark in the woods, and if not for my night vision, I would have been blind. I saw no moon or stars, nor even clouds through the holes in the thick foliage, just a curtain of black fog that covered the forest.

Nothing moved, and I dug myself out, then sprinted between the trees and far from the temple.

I couldn't understand any of the roars that came after, but the shocks in the earth became worse instead of better the further I went, and five minutes later, an earthquake knocked me off my feet. The trees around me were swaying dangerously, doubly so as most I recognized as being poisonous, chaos at that. I dodged left, deciding to get away as fast as I could. Loud screeching of animals and worse came from all sides, and I heard a horde of things approaching from the direction I was now facing. On all sides, there were dangerous trees, except an odd bramble to the right. I was about to dodge through it when I recognized a tree, ruddy and shiny as if slick and wet.

Demon-bile wood, I thought as the words of Agga, so long ago imparted, bubbled to my mind.

"Heed them, for even those with demon resistance, can get sick from their touch, and you have none yet!"

Thanks, Agga. But between the bad options, I think this is probably my best option, I thought as I jumped towards the tree. Its bark was slimy as if covered in bile, and as I touched it, I felt a tingling sensation. Nothing else happened, and I climbed up its many branches, quickly up and hopefully out of danger.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The branch swayed dangerously, and I saw a large group of six-legged brown shapes rush by below. They had bone-white spines on their backs, angled forward. The tree swayed and creaked dangerously like one of the creatures hit it. It screeched in pain, the thick fur on its side seemed to melt away, and to my dismay, I saw it slump as blood bubbled from its nose. Mere moments were all that it had taken to die from a single touch. I looked at the goo covering my hands, noticing that my hands were slightly colored as if I'd sat below the sun too much, but besides that and the tingling, I seemed fine.

The animal's sounds silenced after a while, but the rumbling continued for long minutes. Eventually I held on with two hands and summoned my status.

> A Primal Chaos born entity has willingingly taken you as its master

> You have gained a secondary mindscape status

> Sentient keeper

> Your mindscape has grown due to this

> The Primal Chaos born entity has begun it's transition to match your mindscape

> Transition will be finished in two days, three hours and twelve minutes

"What…" I almost roared in anger. Did Fnip trick me afterall?

I linked my arms around the branches, and took a huge risk as I closed my eyes and entered my Mindscape.

The white room around me had grown almost doubled, now resembling a tennis court in size and in the middle hovered a yellow and black heart. Trickles of steam rose from its slick surface, while drops of black blood dripped from it, hissing as they hit the ground, quickly disappearing. The smoke that lifted up seemed to easily pass through the barrier disappearing inside the horrid chaos around it.

"Par," I hissed, swallowing as a short burst of terror came from the heart. It stopped right away as a bright light began shining from the surrounding barrier. A pained groan came from the heart.

"Ugh, stop it. I won't do it again," Par growled as the heart shuddered

"How the hell did you get in here," I roared, forgetting my predicament, and all the other things outside. My entire focus was on the evil deity that had somehow managed to enter my mindscape.

"You left me no other choice," Par roared. This time there was no fear, and the heart hovered lower to the ground.

"Get out," I said, feeling disgusted with the idea of the black drooping thing hanging in my mind somewhere, staining it.

"Yeah," Par muttered softly. "Now that's not something that will happen."

I grimaced and focused on my mindscape, trying to forcefully boot the interloper out as I had the first time Fnip had come. There was no feedback, as if there wasn't anything in my mindscape that shouldn't be there. This, and the thought of Fnip made me halt, as I shook my head in confusion.

"How did you get in here?" I snapped.

Par sniffed, and the heart bled some more. Just looking at it revolted me, and I wished I could change it to look like something less gruesome. A ping came from my status, and to my utter surprise a small version popped up in the top corner of my vision. It only showed a single message.

> Your Sentient keeper has not fully transitioned

> Customisation is only available after transition has completed

I blinked at the message and tried to close it as I did the status-window. It soundlessly disappeared, leaving me to stare at the heart.

"How…" I asked again.

"You think you can just block me out? I am Raparion, one of the few Deities that came to this backwater universe instead of being born here…I have lived for-"

I couldn't take it anymore and jumped out of my mind-scape. My hands were painfully tight around the branches, and the shaking of the world had stopped. No, not just the shaking had stopped, all of the oddities had! Starlight filtered through the black, uneven canopy above me, and the normal sounds of the forest were sounding out around me again.

Nimron must have finished whatever he was doing. I thought about calling Rathica, actually wanting nothing more than talking with her, but I refrained. Nimron had just been here, and who knew if his attention was still on this place. It was obvious now that Rathica wasn't able to fight him head-on, and that made it a dangerous and dumb move to call her now.

No. What I needed to do was get the hell out of here, and… and what? I thought as I remembered how the doors to the library had faded. My means of fast travel were gone, and if what I'd heard and learned was true, I was now on the edge of one of the most dangerous forests on this continent. One that spanned the breadth, and split it in two. Taking a deep, calming breath, I lay my back against the tree. As soon as I did, I heard something bubble and snap behind me, and I shot forward. There was nothing behind me, but then I felt the bag lighten on my back and something dropped between the branches to thud on the ground. I grabbed my bag in a rush to find that the leathery material had melted, and a hole now sat in the middle where I had leaned against the tree.

Shit, my gear isn't immune, I groaned as I jumped out of the tree. As I fell down, I noticed there was cool air reaching places it shouldn't. Then, as I landed on my two feet, and immediately knew I'd forgotten something incredibly important. The soil, branches and sharp points poked in the soles of my feet and as I felt myself, I found there were holes in my entire attire. Even one of the blades of my ax was malformed, having warped like steel that had melted.

Staring around the dark forest, I felt like roaring in anger. Instead I dropped my bag and began inspecting the damage. As I did, the anger solidified, and I kicked a rock away, hurting my toes.

My pants had a hole in the back, in the sides and on the knees and the remaining material was having difficulty holding itself together. My top armor was in slightly better order, as my bag had taken the brunt of the damage. My ax was barely usable, the balance now all off, but I guess I might be able to straighten it if I used Soften Wood until it became malleable. Maybe. My bag was my biggest concern. Most items had fallen out, and no matter how I tried to pull and strain the remaining material, it wouldn't be able to hold anything for long.

Shit, I thought in disgust as I tossed the bag to the ground. Putting my ax down, I pulled off my armor and my shirt beneath it. Looking at the armor, I shrugged and put it back on. Then I made a knot in the shirt's arms, turning it into a sort of fanny pack around my waist and stuffed the little remaining food I had and could find into it. I also took a few seeds. That left an assortment of objects I'd gathered over the last few months, and after a slight thought I brought the small carving of the whale I'd made what seemed like years ago. I buried the rest, a futile act, but I wasn't willing to just leave it lying around.

Finished, I looked at the fresh patch of mud, wiping my filthy hands on my legs until I realised I was ripping more holes in my pants. With grit teeth, I pulled up my map. A lot of areas were visible now, far more than I'd had when I first came to this place, but I still saw the line I'd followed towards Ulderion's temple. It was angled northwest through the forest, in an almost straight line.

Go there? I thought, then I shook my head.

Ulderion had created a new temple in the Harrowing Hills, and the chances of the old entrance still being there seemed small. Besides, it would be a dangerous journey even now that I was stronger. The trail would take me past the Fin'r Goblin camps. What I really wanted to do was get to Steadfast, but I was half a continent away from it, and that meant moving through the entire forest. The west side of the continent was the thing I had the most information on, with Sart far to the south and Orlion more north, just above the forest.

I scanned across the map, zooming in on spots and feeling less certain where to go than ever. After a while my eyes kept returning to the same spot, the Harrowing Hills. It would be a long journey, but I could quicken it by making myself a suitable Vengeful Mount. There I could find Ulderion, who would probably help me, and perhaps on the way I could contact Rathica.

Fine, back along the same path it is, I decided.