The village couldn't come any sooner.

With both arms reaching over the final ledge, I dragged myself up onto the platform. Once my chest was on solid ground, Mim climbed up my back and then pulled me up the final stretch.

My claws fizzled away and I lay on my stomach wheezing, catching my breath.

"Mim!" a voice came from ahead.

I craned my neck up. There were hundreds of Treefolk gathered around us. Some sat overhead on walkways suspended by ropes, some watched from their spot perched on a branch, but most were crowded around on the main level. One man in particular stood in front of the rest. Mim ran to him.

I let out a groan of relief.

"Stand up," a woman barked from my left.

I flopped my head to look up at her. "A little patience—"

"Silence," another said.

"Stop that!" Mim yelled. "He saved me, what are you doing?"

"Did you not see this man? His arms they were… they were not normal."

"That why you shot at me?" I groaned and struggled up onto my elbows.

"Don't move!" The woman who spoke stood forward and the rest of the crowd backed away. "What are you doing here?"

"I'll be on my way shortly," I said. "Just dropping the little one off. I was hoping to rest too but…"

The woman looked at me cautiously. Her hair was tied up, the only one that I could see who kept it off her shoulders. She didn't look all that elderly, but she certainly commanded respect.

"Rest under supervision," she said. "We will escort you down when you can move."

I nearly scoffed out loud. "Thank you for the kindness. But if you could show me the way up, I would greatly appreciate it."

"Do you think we allow monsters who climb up the side of our home to reach the peak?"

Pushing myself to my feet, the crowd of people backed away another step. "Well, that's sort of what I was hoping. I did bring Mim back from, if I could guess, what you all assumed was certain death."

There was a general murmur in the crowd.

"He's telling the truth!" Mim stepped forwards.

The man she'd run to grabbed her by the wrist. "Quiet! We do not interrupt when she speaks."

I eyed the woman. "If it does well to soothe your worries, I mean no harm. As it stands, I have permission from the high priest of the Order. I am here to pay my respects to the life force of all things."

"The circle of life is far more powerful than you realize, outsider. The life it gives to our tree is life it gives to us. It is our food, our shelter, the very air we breathe. If you so much as touch the artifact, you doom all of us to death. The young ones included."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"You are a bold one, aren't you? You do not travel the main entrance. You have no band of prayer. Your arms are that of a Nightmare's. But you are a devout follower of the Order? Do you expect us to believe that?"

Band of prayer? Keeper never warned me about paperwork.

"If you leave now, without further resistance, and return with proof of holy pilgrimage, we may consider allowing you passage. In my eyes, you are nothing but a monster who does not care for the taste of our young. I can't allow you to continue upwards." She glared at me. "My hospitality wears thin."

As much as I was inclined not to bother the tree people, Keeper's words kept repeating in my head. I need something extraordinary to show the Seers.

"That won't work for me," I said. "Now, you're going to be a kind bunch and let me through. If not, I suppose the Seers will be hearing of a village in the Skypiercer where they give their children Names."

I could sense the rage building in the woman's eyes. There were more murmurs from the crowd, a man in the back yelled something that I couldn't quite make out, but it opened the way for further jeering.

"Stop this!" The woman thrashed an arm in the air, shooting a disapproving glance at her people. "There are ways we deal with those who wish not comply."

"That so?"

I held my arms up, ready to summon forth my claws, when there came a deafening screech from behind the woman.

"DON'T!"

An intense glow pierced through the cracks of the crowded mass and lit the entire platform in a uniform wash. A delayed panic broke out and the Treefolk scattered, spreading away from the source of light.

Hanging in the air before me was Mim. Her skin too bright to lay eyes on. As if pulled up by a string attached at the chest, her head tilted back and her limbs dangled lifelessly. Then, the light grew more intense. I brought my arm in front of my eyes only a moment before the hairs on my neck stood. The pressure in my ears shifted as if I'd been plunged into water, and a loud crack shook the platform. I stumbled to one knee, clenched my eyes shut, and covered my ears.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

My chest convulsed at the noise. It reverberated in my bones and slammed against my ears even harder. And then, as swiftly as it had come, the noise was gone, and the ringing in my ears began. Muffled through dull tone was a voice. Mim's voice, I could tell, even though I couldn't make out her words.

My eyes blinked open. The light was gone. Mim stood at the center of hundreds of scattered bodies, turning frantically, mouthing something wildly. No, not mouthing, of course. She was screaming.

Slowly the words coming from her mouth regained their clarity, but when they did, I wished I hadn't heard. I scanned the bodies strewn out from the explosion. They're moving. Not dead.

My legs forced me up, and I ran to the panicking girl. Her wild eyes settled on my face, but she didn't react, it was as if she couldn't process what had happened.

I held her face in my hands. "Mim, calm down. They're alive, they're going to be okay."

She tried to nod but my hands held her still. I dropped them, not having realized how tightly I was holding onto her.

"What… what happened?" The girl only stared at me.

"I don't know, but you're going to be alright." I think. Would her own people turn against her for something like this? Is it normal? Mim certainly doesn't know what she did, so it can't be too common. Wait. Everyone's on the ground, still stunned from the blast. I could…

Mim's desperate eyes told me exactly that I could not leave her behind. Gods, they're all going to think I kidnapped her.

"Why don't you come up with me, to the peak of the Skypiercer?" I asked.

Worry settled on her brow. "But what about—"

"They're fine, Mim. They'll be okay, but if I stay any longer I'm convinced they'll all kill me." And I'm worried they'll kill you too. "When we come back down, they'll have calmed. I can talk to them then."

I definitely wouldn't be able to talk to them then, I'll have taken the orb. I cursed myself for lying to the girl, but it would have to do for now.

She nodded.

"Alright, do you know the way?"

"It… uhm. It's a ladder, somewhere in the trunk. I don't remember," she said.

"That's fine, let's just—"

A man to my left groaned. Another past him began to stir.

"Come on, we'll find it if we circle the perimeter." And I set off running.

But the Treefolk village was confusing, to say the least. Pathways, all made of wood, blended into the environment. They led in every direction, upwards and downwards included. Some routes led to dead ends or huts built from dry foliage, others simply twisted back in on themselves.

Confused yelling and the barking of commands started to sound out from the distance. We were running out of time.

"There!" Mim pointed at a spot on a lower platform. I couldn't see any indication of a ladder, but I didn't have the time to doubt her.

"Can you jump the gap?" I asked.

She eyed it reluctantly. "I think so."

I exhaled sharply, then sprinted for the edge. My foot pushed against the last bit of solid platform and I sprung up into the air, floating for a brief second, before tumbling down against hard wood, breaking my fall into a roll. Mim emerged by my side. I blinked. How did she get there so fast?

"You alright?" I asked.

There was a strange look on her face, but she still nodded.

The ladder was right there. Same as the one Mim had dug, only it looked a lot less makeshift. "Come on, Mim. You go first."

She zipped right up, faster than I could ever hope to keep up with, and I set off after her. I was expecting another long climb, like the one from Mim's shelter, but this ladder only lasted a few minutes. We climbed up through a small hole in what looked like an overhead platform, but it was really a set of stairs spiraling around the trunk. The city's staircase.

We raced up the steps at a full sprint. There was no railing to keep from falling, but it didn't serve much to slow us down.

We soon came up to the end of the staircase. Panting, I looked over to see Mim without a hint of exhaustion. What kind of stamina…

A massive opening led inside the Skypiercer Tree, a hallway carved into the trunk.

"Have you been here before?" I asked.

Mim shook her head.

"No time to waste."

And we plunged into the dark passage. It wasn't long until we spotted an ethereal glow down the hall and it opened up into a courtyard. A courtyard inside a tree. Small bushes lined the outer circle, the floor was covered in smooth gray tiles, and statues of various animals dotted the perimeter. The ceiling was a dome that I recognized instantly. The sky. Not the actual sky, but a painted rendering of my own sky back home: the familiar blue sheen, fluffy white clouds, and a brilliant sun shining through from behind them. The painting wasn't the source of light though, that belonged to the orb floating in the middle, above a simple water fountain.

"Wow." Mim's eyes were transfixed on the thing at the center of the court.

Before I knew it, I was smiling. Then, a sudden realization took all that carefree joy away. I have to take it. This ornament. Mim believes it keeps her alive. Would it really kill her, to reach out and touch it? Even if the chance is small, is this really my only option?

Mim's gaze turned to me. "Now we can go back, and they'll know you weren't trying to steal it. They'll forgive you now and you can…" Her expression shifted. "What is it?"

A deep voice came from the shadows. "Indeed, what is it? Will you take the orb, or leave empty-handed? Such a fascinating dilemma."

Instantly, I went alert. My claws grew from my arms. "Who are you?"

The voice let out a cackle. "Quick to ask questions, are we? I suppose, if I were to choose, I am the guardian of this place. Though you misunderstand if you think I'm here to stop you. I'm only curious to see what you'll do."

"What's he talking about?" Mim asked.

"Nothing." I continued searching for the source of the voice. "If I did take it, what would happen to the Treefolk?"

It spoke from behind me. "What would happen? Oh, nothing in particular."

I whipped around, but there was no one there. "What about the tree itself, would something happen to it?"

Then, from somewhere else. "Oh, that's a difficult question to answer. I presume it would continue on living as a normal tree would."

"You presume? Stop the games. What do you know?"

A shoe emerged from behind the statue of a bird engulfed in flame. Then, a dark figure. "Well… It might kill me, if you took the orb." He gave a casual grin. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I see you've brought me my map."