A few days after the defeat of Grimnir’s Horde, the group found themselves in the next section of the Trial. It was quiet. Unnaturally quiet. The brooks did not babble, the wind did not whisper, and the wildlife was absent. The typical jungle vegetation of thick bushes and plants did not exist, replaced by towering white trees with red leaves. Ryu and the others walked through the quiet forest with unease.

Tam had taken the lead, bow in hand. Ryu held the back. Marshal walked in the middle, a stiffness present in his gait that had not been there before. They had waited three days in the last layer for him to recover, but that was all the time the Trial had seen fit to give them. Grimnir was a Trial Boss, a monster destined to spend eternity defending his layer of the Trial. Although Ryu had killed him, the group had known he would be resurrected. It was decided that they would be better off leaving before that happened. After seeing the threatening white trees of this layer, he wasn’t so sure.

A presence hung in the silence around their group. It hung in the pauses of the group’s words as they hesitated to break the quiet. It hung in their hesitant steps and roving gazes. It was the aura of the unknown, the one fear assignable to every human. It was the feeling of knowing they had stumbled upon a place that wasn’t meant for human eyes. They were in a foreign place wrapped in the tame look of a forest.

Ryu’s hand never left the hilt of his sword, the feeling of being watched sending tingles up his spine. The group did not stop to assess their surroundings, an invisible pressure urging them onwards. He did not like it. Up until now, the Trial had opposed his progress. When he tried to move forward, it fought. To now urge him forward with no opposition… It had implications he was not sure what to make of, and yet he couldn’t stop. He needed to make it out of the Trial. He needed to return home. He shut his thoughts off, clutching at the hilt of his katana. The silence was sending his thoughts into a downward spiral. If he let it continue, he would be overwhelmed.

They stopped their forced march when the sky darkened. None of them wanted to be caught walking in the forest at night. The group didn’t speak, each performing their duties mechanically. Ryu’s own gaze was distant as he unrolled his sleeping sack. He felt hollow, the silent march forcing him to confront the thoughts he’d suppressed before. It was a sad truth among adventurers that all fights caught up to you, win or lose. He just had not realized it would happen so soon. At times, it had felt as if he were fighting the banshees all over again. The sounds had been loud, the colors vivid, and the smells strong. Yet it was all in his mind.

When it was Ryu’s turn to watch over the camp that night, he had not slept at all. Many believed that true genius was in the working of the mind. Ryu disagreed. To him, genius was the ability to shut the mind off. It was easy to think; it was much harder to keep those thoughts and doubts from overwhelming you. He only found that clarity in fights. If it wasn’t for the pain of a fight, he could see himself obsessing over those seconds, searching for every opportunity to find those brief moments where it felt like his head had finally surfaced above water.

As he thought, the presence of the forest seemed to hone in on him. The feeling of being watched increased, and he looked up, his eyes locking with the red pair gazing at him from a grove of trees. His heart sped up. He yelled for the group. They were up in moments, each accustomed to sleeping lightly after time in the Trial, but when they arrived, the eyes were gone. Whatever it was- whoever it was- had disappeared.

“There was something out there, a pair of red eyes,” he explained, voice tight. The others looked at him with skepticism, but none voiced their concerns. Instead, it was written in their pitying looks and tired sighs. It was an offer. If he just admitted he was lying, they would accept it. They would imagine the fear had got to him. That he was just imagining things. Only Marshal listened to him with interest.

“I believe you,” the dark-skinned man said softly. His words were like a strong breeze, dispelling the fog of the group’s suspicion. “Which means there is life in this layer, and it has interest in us. I’d bet it even exposed itself on purpose.”

“It wants us to lower our guards. This Layer is designed to break our will,” Ryu muttered, his thoughts racing. If he were to try to break a group, how would he do it? Fear. Silence. Suspicion. It no longer surprised him that the answer came to him with ease. After all, he was damn close to a broken man himself. Of course he knew what it took.

“Does it matter? We can’t do anything about it,” Keira said. “Chances are that chasing after the stalker would just lead us into a trap. If it didn’t just disappear, that is. Two of our members are weakened already. We just have to keep moving.”

Cynthia’s back straightened as Keira dismissed her. The healer had developed a strength of her own after her injury. It was different from Ryu’s, coming instead from a place of calm. When he had asked, she said that she accepted death. He believed her. If Ryu’s will was iron, the healer’s was something else entirely, a material that would bend but not break. She was able to maintain her compassion without coming off as weak.

“We should sleep on it. Tomorrow is going to be a long day,” Tam said, ever the peacemaker.

Ryu nodded. “I agree.” In truth, he just wanted them to leave him alone. Although he was an outsider, the group had accepted him. They were tied together as if by rope, yet in the days since Marshal and Cynthia’s injuries, that rope had frayed. Tempers were short. Everything was a disagreement. He felt out of place. Marshal’s initiative was in tatters, his role as the group’s leader forgotten. Keira was bitter, unable to deal with the change in her two friends. Tam did his best to maintain a positive outlook, but even his friendliness was wearing thin. The psychological warfare of the Trial only worsened the pall that hung over the group.

The next day was the same as the first. During the night, no more eyes appeared. It almost seemed as if the events of the night before were a fluke, furthering the group’s disbelief in Ryu’s experience. Then on their third night, the eyes reappeared. Except for this time, it was not a single pair of eyes. Instead, there were dozens of gleaming red eyes in the dark. No pupils. No irises. Just red. The group was gathered at the outskirts of the camp, debating what to do. The eyes had not moved.

“I’ll move towards them,” Marshal said, shield held in one hand. Ryu was not fooled by the words. He had seen the shake in the man’s hands before he’d grabbed his sword and shield. As always, Marshal was willing to risk himself, even though he was clearly terrified. Ryu respected it, but he felt it foolish at the same time.

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“No, you can’t. The restorative pills took too much out of you. You’re still recovering,” Tam said, brows furrowed in worry.

“Ryu should go.” The words were simple and delivered in a kind tone, yet Ryu was not fooled. Keira blamed him for the changes in her friends. A line was drawn between them. He was on one side, and she was on the other.

“Nobody should risk their lives. It’s unnecessary,” Cynthia said, looking at Keira like she was a stranger. The witch had changed herself, yet she was disturbed by the change in her friends. Such was the way of emotions.

The arrow flew past the bickering group, heading towards a pair of red eyes. At once, their watchers disappeared. The arrow flew through empty space. Ryu thrusted the bow back into Tam’s hands, shaking his head as he walked back into their camp. The bickering, the emotions, and the tension was unnecessary. He felt that the watchers didn’t matter unless they had violent intentions, and now, it seemed as if they did not. Not yet, at least. Considering the matter settled, Ryu curled back into his bedroll. The group outside continued to talk, but he ignored them, welcoming the bliss of sleep.

The next day, the silence broke. As they walked, there was a ripping sound. From a tree to their right, the upper body of a woman emerged. Her skin was as white as alabaster, and her hair was an unnatural red. She didn’t move except to point her arm to the left and then froze like a statue. The group looked at each other before continuing past the woman. Moments later, they heard another ripping noise. Like before, a woman’s upper body had emerged from the tree, pointing in the same direction.

“I think they want us to head that direction,” Cynthia said.

“Gathered that, did you?” Keira asked in a mocking tone.

“Why would we want to go where they want us to?” Tam’s face was pale, an arrow already nocked.

“They don’t seem to have bad intentions, but I wouldn’t want to see what happens if we don’t head that way.” Marshal was always the most sensible voice. Ryu knew he was probably right, as well. Heading that way would be the easiest thing to do, but if there was one thing Ryu was good at, it was making things difficult.

“We’re here to fight, aren’t we? Do you really think they’re just going to let us go? They won’t. Why would we fight on their terms?” His frustration from the past week boiled over into his words, filling them with a venom that surprised even him.

Keira opened her mouth to respond, but another tearing noise cut her off. A woman of pale wood stood in front of the group, arm pointing to the left. Tam’s arrow cut into her cheek. Ryu looked over to the man, seeing his embarrassed look and shaking hands. They were all startled, so it was no surprise to see that he had acted in haste. The woman did not seem to feel the way. A viscous dark liquid, more sap than blood, leaked from the wound. With slow movements, she pulled the arrow from her wooden skin. The wound healed in moments, the drops of sap like dark tears on her cheek. Roots burst from the ground, entwining around Tam. Before they could react, he was pulled under the ground with not even a shout.

When they looked back at the woman, her arm was pointing to the left once more. Ryu hissed in anger, moving to draw his sword, but a dark hand caught his arm. It was Marshal.

“Don’t do anything we’ll regret. Let’s see what they want first.” It was as if the loss of his closest friend had lit a spark in him. The aura of weakness around him was gone in spirit, if not body. Ryu nodded, letting his hand fall off the hilt of his katana.

The group followed the directions of the tree women, walking in a stiff silence once more. None of them talked about Tam, about if he was dead. Marshal’s hard face seemed to be the rock upon which their silent worry broke. Still, events were spiralling out of their control with a quickness. The Trial was proving to be far from simple.

They arrived in a clearing dominated by a massive tree. Where the others mimicked oaks and birches, this tree was similar to a willow, red leaves almost brushing the ground. A pale woman stood among the branches. She was tall, standing close to three meters in height. Unlike the other tree women, her skin looked like actual flesh. She was stunning, her face a visage of cold beauty, and an elegant crown of thorns and roses rested upon her brow. Ryu felt an invisible pressure emanating from her aura, one that made him feel insignificant in the woman’s presence. At her feet, Tam was bound and gagged by roots.

“Bow,” the woman said, her pressure bending his knees. Ryu fought pressure, standing in a crouch. Only Marshal remained unbent, his back straight under the presence of the woman. Roots carried the woman over to the group, and in his anger, Ryu did not notice her nudity or beauty, focused only on his last shred of willpower. He knew that if he bent here, all the mental strength he had gained would leave him. Some would call it pride. Others might say arrogance. In the end, it didn’t matter to him.

He would no longer bow to any soul, not even the Lord of Ishida. As the strength in his legs threatened, a golden glow shimmered around his form. Strength flooded his body, Cynthia’s newest Skill amplifying his own. He stood to his full height. To his left, Cynthia was on her knees, but her display was not one of weakness. It was a display of strength that was only possible from kindness. Only when one did not value their own pride could they truly help another. Ryu vowed to work for that one day, his gaze focusing on the woman that now stood before the group.

“How insolent,” she said, stroking Marshal’s cheek. To the others, she didn’t even spare a glance. “You have some strength. I can make use of that.”

“Who are you?” Marshal said, looking distressed for the first time.

“Even if I told you, you couldn’t pronounce it. You may call me Willow, however.” Her voice was melodic, trapping the group in its beauty. This was the voice of a queen.

“Can we have our friend back?” Marshal asked.

If her voice enchanted Ryu before, it buffeted him now. “You will get your friend back when you have completed my request.” Each word was a slap in the face.

“What do you want?” Ryu forced out through gritted teeth. He would not let Marshal suffer Willow’s displeasure alone.

She looked at him with clear contempt. “How can the mouse understand the needs of a tree? Listen, and I will tell you what you have to do,” she said, “In the layer past this, the Forest Tyrants rule. They control this whole Trial. It is the way of all things to grow. The Forest Tyrants, however, keep this Trial weak. In a normal Trial, you would need only face one of the three, but for me, you will kill all of them, allowing me to take their place as the head of this Trial. Of course, you can try to disobey, but I… wouldn’t recommend it.” A root stroked Tam’s neck as she spoke.

“Why shouldn’t we kill you now?” Ryu said, cutting Marshal off before he was able to speak.

She laughed. It was a clear, high noise like the clinking of a wind chime. “You’re welcome to try. Here’s some advice for you in the future, however. If you’re going to attack, then do it without warning. The threat of violence should be implicit, not explicit.”

He heard it. Hundreds of ripping sounds echoed through the forest at once, the presence of the tree women overwhelming.

“You would not believe how much leeway the Trial gives us when dealing with groups of five,” Willow said with a dazzling smile. She spoke in a nonchalant tone as if Ryu and the group were familiar pals.

A chill ran up Ryu’s back. Before the Trial, he might have given in at this moment, outmaneuvered. Instead, a fire was lit in his stomach, one that burnt away his chill along his spine. He tried to leap at the woman like a mad dog. A root caught his arm. She stepped into his reach, inches from his face.

“Do you know the power of a Dryad’s kiss?” she whispered, leaning in closer. He tried to struggle, but the roots held him in place as she kissed him with soft lips. His mind clouded in moments. The roots dropped him like a dirty rag.

Dryad… Dryad. He committed the words to memory. No matter what, he would be back, armed with new information. He knew his enemy. That was all he needed. His world went black as consciousness crept away.