Alfread and Asa talked for the next two angles as they journeyed toward Mirrevar. Zander observed from a distance as their friendship to root, growing from a seed into a sapling. He hoped it would one day grow strong, bearing the fruits of love.

They reached the heavily guarded Impwood Landbridge by midday. Peacewatch sentries questioned them, but Asa got them through with ease. The “bridge” was nothing like Old Iron. It was formed by ancient redwood sequoias, petrified and toppled over the Bear River at a narrow bend. Asa explained how cognitive-affectomancers caused the trees to fall, but the real magic that kept the Impwood Landbridge together was Celegan in nature. Queen Alexia Leveria had brought a group of Celegan women home with her from her travels across the sea. It was these women that used Celegan magic to persuade the trees that becoming a bridge would give them purpose and power. Zander couldn’t debate it; standing as trees, they’d have been magnificent, but as a bridge, they were immortal, with a strange beauty.

Unfortunately, the bridge was high over the river, and looking down made Zander want to retch. Only Workhorse trotted across confidently, like he was racing on solid ground. Nora and Paladin needed constant urging, with both Zander and Asa dismounting to lead them unwilling over the strange construct. Zander had to steel his own resolve; Peacewatch heckling him from the western ridge and Workhorse hee-hawing from the eastern landing. Fighting on this bridge, especially if surrounded by foes, would be a nightmare.

Zander exhaled a long sigh of relief when his feet touched the landing, placing him in Mirrevar for the first time since he was a babe fleeing war in his mother’s arms. Yet, these weren’t the famed flowery fields of Mirrevar; the Impwood and their glowing mushroom trees were not the home he dreamt of.

Asa stretched and smiled. “We made it. Air fills my lungs,” she said, taking a deep breath, “and I can finally breathe again.”

Alfread chuckled, but Asa quickly regained her focus. “Stay on guard,” she ordered. “The Impwood is dangerous, and Sapphire forces may try to infiltrate. No talking until we reach the encampment. If you see danger, whistle.”

Alfread whistled immediately, his eyes twinkling as he glanced at Asa. She rolled her eyes, grinning, and Zander couldn’t help but think of Mirielda and Evan.

Zander led the way through the dim, eerie forest. The dense canopy blotted out the midday sun. Most of their light came from Asa’s guiding glow. The silence was deep, making every snapping twig sound like thunder. Zander’s skin prickled with the sense of being watched, and the abandoned watchtowers dotting the landscape didn’t help. He wasn’t a tactician, but it made no sense that these would be abandoned this close to the bridge.

Mushrooms, glowing and massive, dwarfed the trees in places, and Zander marveled at the alien beauty of it all. The white tail of a stag bobbed through the woods, making great, leaping strides away from them. Zander barely had time to react when Paladin reared up.

A hulking, hairy beast lunged from behind one of the giant mushrooms. Zander raised his shield in time to catch the creature’s powerful blow. The impact knocked him off balance, and Paladin bolted forward, leaving him to tumble hard to the ground. He rolled and sprang to his feet as the beast charged again, despite an arrowing slamming into its skull.

It was even taller than Zander, but with a hunched back and less solid sinew. The beast stood on two legs, covered in coarse brown fur, with claws like knives. Zander sidestepped its next attack and slashed across its gut. The creature’s intestines spilled out like bloody sausages.

Despite the arrow in its head and the emptying of its guts, the beast didn’t slow. It swiped sideways with immense force, tearing into Zander’s shield arm with razor claws.

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Zander growled, enraged, as he pulled back from another swipe, tossing the shield aside and gripping his blade in both hands. As he readied for a counter, two more arrows found the beast: one in the head and another in the heart.

The beast staggered, collapsing to its knees like a man pleading for mercy at the visage of Meladon. Zander wasn’t feeling merciful. His sword fell in a savage arc, severing the creature’s head in one clean stroke. “Finish strong,” Zander muttered, chastising himself for letting his guard down.

Asa approached him quickly, her staff glowing. “Hold still,” she said softly, focusing on his bleeding arm. Warm blue light enveloped the wound, and Zander felt a rush of affection, like his mother’s embrace or Alexia’s kiss. The pain vanished, replaced by a deep sense of peace and a brotherly fondness for Asa. He wanted to wrap her in a bear-like hug.

When Leverith’s spirit faded, his arm was whole again. The beast’s claws had ripped through the leather, but no mark remained upon his flesh. He gaped at this incomprehensible wonder, his heart swelling with more affection.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Amazing!” Alfread exclaimed as he rushed over, examining Zander’s arm. “Better than any medica I’ve ever seen. And your poison arrow to the heart took the fight out of the sasquatch!”

Asa’s aura illuminated the dark forest like a midday sun. She studied Zander’s arm, caressing it with a touch as warm as a ray of light. “You’ve got a strong arm,” she said, squeezing the bicep and gazing into Zander’s eyes.

Zander pulled away.

Asa knelt beside the beast. She closed her eyes and whispered a prayer, “Meladon have mercy on your soul. Leverith return him to those he has lost.”

Frowning, Zander asked, “Why pray for a beast?”

“Sasquatches are peaceful creatures,” Asa said. “They blend into the trees and avoid humans at all costs. Most people ignorantly deny their existence.” She sighed. “What drove him to attack you? I can only pray that it was not the Celegans. Yet, in this I cannot be naïve. They would’ve killed me like they did Master Cerzein and Adept Shaela.”

As Zander moved to gather Paladin, a gust of wind stirred the leaves, carrying them into the forest. He watched their lazy dance until the peaceful scene melted like ice in warm water. Blood. Pools of it.

He stepped off the path, his breath catching as he found the mangled remains of several men and a horse. Limbs were scattered, flesh torn apart by the sasquatch’s claws. The sheer carnage made it impossible to tell the original color of the horse’s coat.

He called for his companions with a calm voice that didn’t seem to belong to him.

Alfread and Asa arrived, their faces draining of color at the sight. “Broken body of Gidi,” Alfread whispered, shaking his head. He picked up a blood-soaked parchment, torn beyond recognition. “They were headed to Urzport before the sasquatch got them.

Asa’s expression hardened. “We need to reach the encampment. Now.”

“What about these men?” Zander asked, not wanting to leave the dead unburied and unguided to Paradise.

“We’ll send people back for them as soon as we can. But right now, I fear for the encampment’s safety.”

They pressed on, their pace urgent. With each empty watchtower and the felt absence of patrols, Asa spoke aloud Zander’s feelings of ominous wrongness.

Emerging from the forest, the wooden walls of the Ruby encampment waited ahead. A dour squire looked over the battlements. He disappeared for several turns before the wooden gate slid open, revealing the same boy.

“I am Master Asa of Ferrickton, court witch of the Bearbreakers. I have orders from Archlord Wayn Bearbreaker the Sixth to assist Sir Daven Brighton in the defense of Mirrevar.”

The squire released a hollow, broken laugh that filled Zander with dread. His stomach roiled uncomfortably as the laughter continued, drifting into madness. He reminded Zander of some of the knights that came home from their enlistment, broken by battle, shells of their former selves.

“They’re all dead!” The squire sobbed. He fell to his knees, not unlike the sasquatch just before it died. “And we’re next!”