They wandered through the woods for a time. Usually, the walk wouldn’t have bothered Ike, but with Shawn’s extra weight weighing him down, he felt every step. His breath came short. He adjusted Shawn’s weight a little, trying to make it a little more comfortable. Damn kid. Should’ve left him on the ground. Made him walk by himself.

Clarina wandered ahead of them. She looked left and right, occasionally darting to either side only to drift back to the center. Ike was just beginning to wonder if Clarina had lost her secret entrance when she clapped her hands and drew to a stop. “Here it is.”

Ike looked around. “Huh?”

She pointed. “Three white birches.”

He turned to find three white birches, as advertised. They were slender and tall, their bark peeling. The trio grew in a tight knot. Their roots intertwined, vanishing under shed bark and accumulated leaves.

Ike nodded. “Yep.”

“And?” Wisp asked.

“This is the entrance,” Clarina stated.

Ike looked around. He saw nothing. No magic circles or trap doors. He extended his aether just to make sure, but he still sensed nothing. He frowned at Wisp, who frowned back and shook her head. She hasn’t noticed anything, either.

“How does it work?” Ike asked.

“Well, you just…” Clarina paused. She looked the trees up and down, then frowned. She knelt, patting around at the leaves gathered around the roots. Her frown deepened.

“You know where the entrance is, but not how to get in?” Wisp guessed.

“No, I—I can get in,” Clarina insisted. She kept patting around, but her motions grew a little more desperate.

Ike raised an eyebrow. Are you sure about that?

As she patted around, she pushed the leaves away from the trees’ bases. Ike stepped forward, his eyes widening. The roots knotted together into a circle. Simple runes were etched into the roots. Others were formed from the roots themselves. He stepped forward, putting a toe on the edge of the roots, and sent a pulse of aether to the circle.

The runes glowed. The circle lit up. Bright green light poured from the runes.

Clarina’s deep frown melted into a smile. “There! Just like I said.”

Ike snorted. “Right. Just like you said.”

She put her hands on the circle and took a deep breath. As she breathed out, mana flowed into the ring. The runes began to spin, circulating around the ring of roots. A shimmering green portal appeared over them. From within, Ike could only make out darkness.

He looked at Wisp. “Go on.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Wisp hopped through, transforming into a spider mid-leap. A palm-sized arachnid landed on the other side and quickly scuttled off.

Ike averted his eyes. I still can’t get used to her spider form.

Clarina gasped. “She’s a monster?”

“Yeah. A good one,” Ike lied.

“Oh! Oh. Yes. I’ve heard tell of them. Is she from Lady Wildhart’s territory? I hear there’s lots of monsters that way who are willing to cooperate with humans.”

Ike shrugged. “I’m not really sure where she’s from. She’s mentioned a battlefield a few times, but that’s it.”

Clarina sighed. “That could be anywhere. There’s been too much fighting in the last few decades. Far too much.”

Ike opened his mouth to correct her, then shut it and nodded. It was better if Clarina underestimated Wisp’s age—and therefore strength—than if she knew the truth. He wasn’t sure he could trust her yet, after all. She didn’t seem to have any ill intentions toward him or Wisp. If she was lying, then she was excellent at hiding it. But he never wanted to rule anyone out. Anyone could cause harm, if they so desired. Even someone low-rank like Clarina could, for example, trigger the guards once he and Wisp were inside. She had no reason to. It wasn’t as if he and Wisp were wanted by the New Republic. They’d literally only gotten involved for her sake. But he wouldn’t put it past her to sell them out, somehow, anyways.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

That’d be funny. Beg us passerby for help, then sell us off to the guards. I guess that’s one way to make a living. Not that he thought she was doing it, but it would be an amusing scam. Though, if I got caught in it, I’d be beyond angry.

Wisp reappeared. She gestured Ike through. “It’s safe.”

Ike nodded to Clarina. “You coming?”

Clarina jolted. She shook her head. “I’d only slow you down. I’ll stay here. Mind the exit.”

“Sure. Be careful. I need you to unlock this ring.” Ike showed her the ring she’d given him and grinned.

“Right. I’ll stay safe,” Clarina promised with a nod.

Ike drew his wolf pelt close and stepped through the portal.

He stepped out into a small, dark, stuffy space. Soft things pressed in on him from all sides. Ike fought his way out as quietly as he could, but every time he pushed on the things, metal jangled against metal. At last, he broke free. Standing in an empty space, he held up his hand and activated Lightning Grasp at a low level, just enough that there was enough flickering lightning to create a steady light.

He stood in a closet. Fine robes, coats, boots, and hats stood on the ground, on shelves, or hung all around him. Jewels glittered at accentuation points. Fine plumes that emanated strong pressure fluttered atop hats. Pelts of beasts he couldn’t dream of killing formed the leather of the jackets.

Ike’s eyes widened. Forget the treasure Clarina mentioned. I could just take the contents of this closet and already have made out like a bandit!

“What are you waiting for?” Wisp hissed. In human form once more, she tore down robe after robe from the hangers and stuffed them into a storage ring. She gestured. “Come on! Get packing!”

“Uh, shouldn’t we scout out the area? Find Clarina’s parents first, and maybe locate the real treasure rooms?” Ike asked.

Wisp snorted dismissively. “Are you kidding? A bird in the hand, kiddo. I thought you, of all people, would understand. Now then. Get cracking!”

Ike chuckled to himself. He followed Wisp’s lead in pulling the robes off the hangers, adding hats, boots, and accessories that caught his eye, too. In a few seconds, they’d cleaned out the majority of the closet.

“What’s going on? I can see a lot of motion… are you two okay?” Clarina whispered.

Ike startled. He looked around and finally located the portal. On this side, it was a small blot of green light on the wall at knee height, barely bigger than his palm. How the hell am I going to fit through that? he wondered, even as he kneeled. “Yeah, we’re fine! Just, uh, had a bit of a tiff, you know?”

Wisp snorted.

“Oh, I see. I’m glad you’re alright. Then, my parents should be in the dungeon. It’s here.” The portal widened, and a scrap of quartz popped out onto the closet floor.

Ike squinted. The hell? He knelt and picked it up. It emanated a small magical aura, but beyond that, he couldn’t identify anything about it.

“Press it to your forehead and put mana into it,” Wisp advised him.

“Oh, okay.” Ike obeyed her instructions.

A map popped into his mind. The winding corridors of the castle spread before him, as familiar as if he’d walked them every day. As he absorbed that knowledge, the castle map narrowed. One particular route zoomed in. He saw the exterior of the closet, down the hallway, around a few sets of stairs, and so on, until at last he saw the dungeons.

Ike pulled the scrap of quartz away and stared at it. “Wow. That’s awesome.”

“Right? I used to really enjoy playing with these things as a bitty spider.” Wisp took the scrap and pressed it to her forehead. “Sometimes they have hidden bonus information if you mess around with them a little. This one…doesn’t seem to, though.”

Ike nodded. “Good to know.”

“I’ll give you the maps to the treasure room once my parents are safely on this side of the portal,” Clarina promised.

“Sure,” Ike said. We can argue the minutiae of who’s handing over what first once we have her parents in hand. He set off. Wisp drew out her wolf skin and vanished. Quiet footsteps followed close behind Ike.

Out of the closet and into the bedroom. The carpeted wooden floor creaked beneath him. His every footstep thumped down, louder than he was used to. Ike grimaced, annoyed. The kid really had to go and add a hundred pounds to my weight right before we snuck in somewhere, huh? He circulated his aether, forcibly using it to strengthen his body even without a skill.

A massive four-poster bed stood in the center of the room. Heavy curtains hung over the windows, letting only a sliver of daylight in. Various personal effects sat here and there. The room was clearly in use—or was in use when its occupants got grabbed by the New Republic, Ike amended. Something on the nightstand glittered in a ray of sunshine. He wandered over, tilting his head.

A ruby the size of a baby’s fist sat there, casually resting in a bed of diamonds.

Ike raised his brows. Without another thought, he casually swiped the necklace. It wasn’t magical, but it’d still sell for a pretty penny.

“So… are we just not talking about it, or…?”

“What, the fact that Clarina’s obviously the young mistress of the ruling Lord, or at least some kind of high nobility?” Ike returned, glancing over his shoulder at Wisp.

She nodded. “Yeah. That.”

“It means her parents are going to be heavily guarded. It means the Unique skill in this ring is almost certainly real. Aside from that…” Ike shrugged.

“Doesn’t change much, but it’s something worth keeping in mind.”

“Do you think she’ll survive out there? Without us?” Ike asked.

Wisp grimaced. “No idea, honestly. We got pretty far from those puppets, and you killed all of them to boot, but…”

“But I don’t want to bring her along, either, because that sounds like a massive liability,” Ike finished with a sigh.

“Agreed.”

He shrugged at Wisp again. “Guess we just press on and hope for the best?”

“Move quickly, is what you mean,” Wisp agreed.

Both of them nodded. They pulled the wolf pelts up again and pressed on, leaving the darkened bedroom behind. Ike glanced left and right at the door, then stepped out into the corridor.

“Ah! There you are.”