We are close. I can see it over there,” Snow whispered as she pointed. It had been easier to find than they imagined because the trees surrounding Garthu Vore were colossal, towering over all the others in the forest. The companions had been silent for most of the trip, but it was an easy silence filled with their shared loss and an eager anticipation of the ancient location they were searching for. Terrin managed to lead them in the right direction with the maps and compass at his disposal. However, as he’d predicted, it took them almost a week longer to reach the void than estimated. This wasn’t only because it was in the middle of nowhere. Their short legs and difficult donkey had made their expedition through the forest more difficult.
Observing the terrain, Snow was positive they’d made it. The trees grew ancient and twisted, and the undergrowth became more and more of a hassle. Abruptly, she stopped.
“We need to tether the donkey. We can’t keep forcing him to get through this, and we don’t want him to experience any ill effects,” she noted as she rested her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath. Terrin nodded wordlessly and secured the animal to a nearby tree.
“We need to go in a straight path, so we can retrace our steps, and we have to return before nightfall.”
She nodded and grabbed some of the adult clothing she’d packed, their water skins, and some food before she started picking through the area again. Everything was eerily silent as they continued. Unlike their journey so far, which had been full of burrowing creatures, birds, and insects, they seemed to be completely alone.
“Funny, the animals don’t seem to think this place is safe, and animals are normally right,” Terrin said humorlessly.
“I bet the advanced aging threw off their life cycles to the point where they could not reproduce properly,” Snow guessed.
Soon, the trees thinned out, and dead or rotting trunk husks separated them from a massive barren area. Unlike her dream, where there was a sizeable buffer of forest between the unaffected area and the crater, there was an expanse of nothing but lifeless dirt now, and the crater was nowhere in sight. They both froze at the edge of the decaying terrestrial remains. Terrin looked down at the compass in his hand to ensure they were still moving in the right direction.
“What was your plan to keep us from dying again?”
Snow paused a moment before turning to the aged trees behind them.
“What do you think the biggest danger here is?” she asked as she scanned the tree line and spotted what she was looking for.
Terrin shifted his weight uncertainty. “You getting us killed?”
Snow sighed heavily.
“The correct answer is getting too close to the crater and aging too fast. But it looks like the farther from the epicenter, the slower the aging speed is.”
She remembered the Guardian from her dream saying something about the temporal radiation closer to the crater. She had no idea what temporal radiation was, but she assumed it was a fancy way to say the area was leaking time.
“Crater? What crater?” Terrin squinted into the distance.
She ignored him, picked up a handful of acorns from under a towering oak, and returned to the edge of the barren wastes.
“Here, eat this,” she instructed as she handed him some dried meat and an apple. “It is probably better if we did this with food in our bellies.” Terrin agreed and munched on the rations as she pulled out a portion for herself. “Now, we want to age, but not too fast, so we need to find somewhere that will gradually make us older without endangering us.”
Terrin followed cautiously behind her. After a few meters, she stopped and threw her apple core. She stared at it for a few seconds before moving forward again.
“What are you doing?” Terrin asked as he walked past.
As soon as they reached the apple core, Snow threw an acorn and repeated the process. He bent to pick it up as they passed it, but Snow hissed at him and dragged him on. She continued throwing acorns every few meters until Terrin finally realized what she was doing. He looked back after the fourth or fifth nut and was shocked to see tiny leaves sprouting out of it in slow motion.
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“Snow, it looks like—”
“I know. Look.” She pointed at the nut laying a few meters ahead. It was slowly sprouting before their eyes.
Terrin stared in shock.
“It’s growing!”
Snow giggled.
“You are too. Look at your hands.”
Terrin looked down to find his nails were slightly longer than he remembered.
“Should we stop?”
She rolled her eyes.
“Not yet. It will take us forever to age if we stay here. We need a good five to ten years, after all. Fingernails and hair grow fast though. I packed a knife for haircuts afterwards.”
Terrin gulped and followed her. He bit his nails, as he often did when he was nervous, but he found it was having no effect because they kept growing out. By the time they reached the next nut, it had sprouted as well.
“I can see the crater in the distance. We are getting close,” she said as she pointed.
The ground sloped downward, and Terrin could see the edge of the hole clearly. He brushed his bangs away from his face.
“Lead the way!”
To his embarrassment, his voice cracked on the last word, and it came out a squeak. She chuckled and looked back at him.
“I might be imagining things, but you look taller.” The nut in front of them was stretching upwards quickly.
“My clothing is feeling a bit tight,” he noted as he pulled at the edge of his collar, which was cutting into his neck.
Snow looked him up and down before her gaze fixated just below his waist.
“They are looking pretty snug on you.”
Terrin flushed and casually crossed his hands in front of him.
“Maybe we should throw on those clothes you brought along before going any further.”
He couldn’t help but notice his shirt was looking rather stretched on her as well, particularly around her chest, where two new bulges were becoming apparent. Blood roared in his ears, but most of it did not contribute to the blush covering his cheeks, and his shorts became uncomfortably confining.
“Great idea,” she said dryly as she threw a pair of Ramer’s clothing at him. Most of his discomfort immediately vanished as he held the familiar shirt and fought back a wave of sorrow.
“Turn around, please.” Terrin did as he was told.
“Hey Snow?” he asked as he peeled off the restrictive clothing. He ignored the throes of anguish shooting through his muscles as he felt himself age. It was agonizing, but he gritted his teeth and bore it.
“Yes?”
“Should I be in pain right now? Because I am.” His voice cracked again. He grimaced and doubled over. Her sigh ended in a grunt of acute discomfort.
“We are…growing. I am going to…guess that…pain is normal,” she managed to get out through clenched teeth.
Terrin’s body spasmed as he fell to his knees, and his insides felt like they were tearing apart. It was hard to breathe, and he realized something was still around his neck. He desperately clawed at it as his vision tunneled. Whatever was choking him suddenly loosened. He took in several deep breaths, attempting to regulate the agony. Behind him, he heard Snow whimper.
Time stretched before him from his place on the ground as he rode the waves of anguish that hit every few moments. Then the agony dulled, and his mind cleared. He shook off the haze caused by his rapid growth to discover he was kneeling in the dirt, completely naked and surrounded by the shredded remains of his tattered clothing. He tried to stand and put his foot in Ramer’s pants—which he had dropped when the transformation began—but he stumbled and realized his legs were longer than he expected, and his hands were larger and clumsier. He was also much hairier than he was before, and other areas had noticeably changed. He awkwardly retried donning the trousers while resisting the urge to explore his new body.
“Snow? Are you alright?” he asked when he heard her whimper and shift behind him. His voice sounded deeper, and it caught him off guard.
“I am fine. That was…a lot.”
He heard her turn around and gasp.
“What’s…oh.”
He turned to see what the matter was, his shirt still in hand. The woman before him looked nothing like the chubby-cheeked little girl he had known for the last few months. Her body fat had vanished, and her stomach and chest were well-defined in one of his mother’s old dresses. Her blonde hair fell to the center of her back, and her pale white skin contrasted strikingly with her full lips and dark sapphire eyes, which were even more intimidating. Her gaze was glued to him. He glanced down to see his torso muscles were visible, and he was much farther away from the ground than he remembered being, which accounted for the pain in his legs, arms, and back. Behind them, the acorn sapling was about five feet tall and was developing branches.
“What are you staring at?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around himself.
“In Lur Alava, no one ever walks around shirtless. It would be a death sentence. I am not used to seeing a man so…exposed.” Her cheeks flushed, and she averted her gaze.
Terrin quickly slipped the shirt over his head and brushed his bushy hair out of his eyes. He was shocked at how awkward and large his hands were, and how wide his shoulders felt.
“We need to go back now, before we age much more. How old do you think I look?” she asked.
Terrin scratched his chin, which had the beginnings of facial hair on it.
“I would say…sixteen? Seventeen? What about me?” he asked in turn.
“Somewhere around there. Maybe a bit older. Let’s go.”
“Should we grab…” he trailed off as he glanced at the remains of what they had been wearing. His brow furrowed when he noticed that quite a few of the clothes near Snow were soaked with blood. “Are you hurt?”
“Let’s go!” she reiterated, her face flushing a deep red. Before he could ask more questions, she dragged him back towards the row of acorns they had left in their wake. “We need to get back to the donkey, and I am starving.”
Terrin’s stomach rumbled loudly to agree with her.