The man was lost.

Taking the advice of another traveler, they went into the forest. The stranger claimed it was faster that way, and that the main road had been the target of bandit attacks for weeks. Although the company wasn't sure, according to their map, the route was indeed faster. The traveler approved this change. He thanked the stranger. He couldn't recall the face of their advisor. It was always changing in his memories, not because he had a bad memory, but because the face would not stay the same for a second. In hindsight, he realized why.

'You are welcome, dear traveler,' the stranger said. 'Embrace the change, for it is the only constant in your life.'

When the company got to the forest, nothing seemed odd. The trees were normal, sunlight cut through them. It was serene. But when they got deeper, they noticed the lack of any trace of animals. No birds were singing, no animals ran to their shelter, nothing. They did not even see as much as a single spider web. Wolf raised his concerns.

'I don't like this place,' the man recalled. 'Something is not right here.'

As soon as he said this, giant walls erupted from the ground, separating the group. Leaving the man, for the first time in a good while, alone. He tried to shout, calling out his companions' names. No answer came. But if he was certain of one thing, it was that they all were alright. There was no way a trap like that would be enough for seasoned adventurers like they were. And of course, the Hollow would never go away this easily. So he started to look for a way out of this mess.

The walls constructed a giant maze. One that the man could not find a way out of. The maze was too high, with smooth surfaces so climbing was not an option. He tried his best, but every time he felt like he could get closer to the exit, the walls got in his way, blocking his path. The walls were constantly changing. He tried to use his sword at first. Maybe he could cut through. He aimed Anger at the giant walls, striking them with all his might. They weren't even scratched. But he noticed a weird symbol on them. A sphere, bracketed by a strange, twisted sigil. It looked familiar to him.

He stopped for a moment. Patiently, he started to listen to the sound of the walls moving, looking for a pattern. Maybe if he relaxed for a moment, he could figure out the way they were changing and find the way to get out. But the sounds were totally random. No rhythm could be found, nor pattern to recognize. There was a realization in the silence though.

'Everchanging walls,' he muttered to himself. 'That symbol. By the love of God.' The man opened his eyes in realization. 'It's a trap of a cultist mage!'

The cult of change was an organization known to most people. There were others like it. They were zealots, sacrificing people in traps like this to their deity, who (in their minds) had planned everything in the known universe. Every simple action taken by anyone was a part of its plan. Therefore, by serving it, they believed that they could gain the knowledge to see and change destiny. The wanderer had heard about them, but to him they (and all the others for that matter) were nothing more than blinded men and women, who got used by some people who offered a chance to not feel that helpless about their lives. It was easier than taking responsibility for their choices, after all.The realization was one that came too late, since the trap was sprung, but the traveler knew how to get out of it. All he had to do was find the way to handle change in his life.

'The cultist chose the wrong sacrifice,' he thought. 'My life was nothing but change since I set out on this journey. It will be a simple matter to get out of here.'

He started to concentrate on every change he had undergone lately. Everything he could not imagine before that had become a part of his life. Everything he had learned since embarking on this journey. Having companions while traveling. Facing the creature in that forest. Switching his pride for self-respect, learning to control his anger, taking the time for rest. Starting to face his failures of the past. All this would have been an outlandish fantasy a year ago and yet here he was with all these changes. With these thoughts and a confident smile, he started walking.

And yet, hours later, he was still lost. The walls always changed but led him no closer to the exit. The warrior was exhausted, irritated. But most of all, disappointed in himself.

'I thought I had figured this out already,' he said to himself. He sat down, at the base of one of the walls, and pulled out a pouch of water. While drinking, he looked to the sky. The trees blocked the light out almost completely. It was like dusk had already settled on the forest prematurely. Why could he not find the way out? He had so many changes lately and yet he could not handle it? 'That doesn't make any sense. If I could not handle change, how can I still be around? The amount of things that have disappeared and taken another turn in my life would have crushed me by now!' he thought. And yet, had they not?

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'What if the problem is that all these changes came from me? I chose them to change. I made these things a part of my existence. What if there's more to this?' he asked himself.

He started to wonder. How many things have changed? How many friends, places, mindsets have come and gone throughout his life? How many were his choice to let go and how many happened outside his control? (He did not like the answer to that one). And in what way did he handle them? Did he think about them at all? Or did he just go with the flow? All these thoughts, all these questions in his head made it hard to think.

'What would Scythian say?' Even though the old fighter was somewhere else, his teachings were not.

'Oh my lad, change is nothing to worry about. Just accept it and move with it. It maybe takes you to wonderful places,' he tried to mimic his voice the best he could.

And although he valued his older mentor's advice, he was sometimes overly positive. True, he can't fight the change. It would be like someone trying to fight the setting of the sun or the flow of a river. It was the only constant thing in life; he had no doubt about that. But letting it completely take over his life? It did not sit right with him. Wouldn't it be like letting the ship control itself? Letting go of its wheel and giving up trying to lead his life the way he wanted? Is it possible to give that up? What would Wolf say?

'You stupid boy! Of course, you can't give up the control of your life! You just stand there, unwavering, with the full power of your will and smack down any bad change that's coming your way but does not serve your goal!' again, he tried his best to mimic the veteran's voice.

He could not help but chuckle to himself at how poor it was. When he sought him out, he knew that the old war hero was rough around the edges. That was one of the reasons why he wanted his help specifically. Still, sometimes he could be too blindfolded by just going forward. He was right that he should be careful about what changes he let influence his inner self. He had the power over what events could shape him and what could not. He had to have the will for that. Still, he did not agree that there would be such a thing as a bad change. Only through a person's perspective could a change be bad and even then, through another person's view, it could be a good change. Change just is. There's no good change or bad change. It does not care about one's mind or one's need for it. Not even when it should happen. It just does, and the person is just left to deal with it. And the only way to do that was too...

The wanderer sprang up from his seat. Suddenly the pieces came together in his mind. He started to walk again. The walls were shifting and changing still, but this time, the sigils seemed brighter on some than they were on others. He started to follow the brighter ones. Not fighting, not looking for a way out. Just going with the changes. And sure enough, this time, they did not lead him to a circle. From what he could tell, he moved further out from the center than before. But deeper into the forest. Suddenly he saw the end. The way out was just ahead at last! He had to move quickly. The traveler started running with every inch of strength he had towards the exit. He knew what probably waited for him at the end.

'Nice try,' he shouted to the cultist. He did not know if he was listening, but still, he had things to say. 'But I will not be a sacrifice in your ritual! Every change, wanted or not, will lead you down a path. You have to go along with it, but the only way to deal with the change is to adapt!'

He saw a wall just emerging on his left. With haste, he changed his direction and jumped as high as he could. He managed to reach the top of the wall just enough to push himself through the edge, and to land on the other side, outside of the labyrinth but avoiding the trap at the end.

'Sooner or later another path will emerge. No change of your way is permanent.'

The walls started to crumble first. Then they cracked and fell apart. The entirety of the maze came apart. The trap was destroyed.

When the dust settled, the wanderer reunited with his friends and told them what happened and how the ritual was broken. Wolf was in a state of rage.

'I think we have a cultist to find and make him break, just like his walls, to make him pay!'

'He's probably long gone, I'm afraid,' said Scythian. 'When his plan fell apart, he must have fled. Chasing him would not help anyone.'

'So what, we just let him get away with it?' snarled the old warmaster.

The man understood the rage his mentor felt. He looked for the creature but there was no sign of it. 'Maybe it fled as well?' he hoped for a moment. Until he saw it coming out from behind a tree. It was disappointing but somewhat calming as well.

'Wolf, you are right, but right now we have a bigger problem. Look.' The traveler pointed at the set of walls behind them.

They did not crumble like the rest of them, and their end wasn't visible in either direction. 'Well, change is only going forward, never backward,' he thought.

'The way to the road is blocked. We have to find a path out of this forest first. Then we can decide how to go forward.'

The berserker wanted to shout at first, but then he realized that the young warrior was right. After a moment, he spoke.

'Alright. But if we do find him, I strike him first.'

Scythian chuckled.

'That's not fair. If you strike him, what will be left for the rest of us?'

They all chuckled a little at that thought.

'Alright, everyone,' said the man finally. 'The trap was to the west, so I would say let's try to go east.'

The company agreed, and they started to make their way in hopes that they could leave the forest soon, not knowing that it would be more difficult than any of them thought.