The entrance of the Dark Forest is densely packed, a mystical fog hanging over the grey branches that reach into the sky like dead ashen hands. A draft whispers against my neck as we venture in, reminding me once more that I should not be here. My heart thumps no matter how much I try to settle it. It shouts that it has every reason to be afraid.

I'm flirting with death and madness here.

My knees shake and my feet want to run back to safety as instinct demands.

But I've long since refused to let my fear dictate my actions. I've learned that running away from problems only lands me in even more trouble.

I have to face each challenge head-on. It's the only way I win.

As Jace and I move between trees in the outermost section of the forest, the little light offered by the moon begins to grow dimmer. I stop and look back, making sure I can still see it.

Yes. Still there.

The crunch of feet opposite me has me turning to observe Jace.

He looks a lot braver than me although, even in the dim light, I can see the worry pressed onto his features.

“I can’t see much,” he whispers. “Are you sure we’ll even be able to see the creature much less capture it?”

“I’m sure,” I respond even though I'm not sure about any such thing. I turn to the moon again. "The important thing is to make sure that you can see the moon at all times. And never lose sight of each other. It would be disastrous if one of us got lost.”

“Perhaps we should hold hands.” Jace looks away when I glance back at him and runs his hand through his hair sheepishly. “Not in that way. Just to make sure we don’t lose each other. I mean I know that Wolf probably won’t like it but–"

"There’s nothing between me and Wolf,” I say.

I'm about to continue walking but Jace's scoff makes me pause. Amusement flows out of his tone as he says, “I suppose you're going to tell me that the two of you are simply friends."

"Not even that,” I admit. “We’re more so partners than anything else. “

“Partners for what? The Trials?” As he moves forward, Jace steps on a particularly loud stick and it cracks under him. "We were supposed to form partnerships?”

“It would be the smart thing to do,” I advise. “If you’ve noticed, mini-groups have already begun forming in our coalition. The Prince and his lackeys for one." And probably Savannah proposed some alliance to Tia too, although I'm not sure how that will work now that Tia is not on her team. "And there are likely other partnerships. It's normal. Forming alliances can be beneficial in the rest of the trials.”

“Then can I join your alliance?" Jace asks. “I know I may not be a prince or a combat god or anything but I do have a few good qualities. I’m strong, I’m reliant and I can hold my bowels for an extremely long time. And I mean very long, so long that you wouldn’t believe it. One time–"

"Sure,” I say, just to keep him from explaining. "You can be in my alliance."

His eyes widen. “You don’t jest?”

“I don’t jest. Now, I think we should be quiet for some time.” I haven’t seen the bird yet and I'm worried that our whispering is scaring it away. I glance back at the moon. Still there, but now a dot in the sky. "I don't think we should go any further. Perhaps we should stand here and try to listen for it. “

“Ok. Right.”

We anchor ourselves close to one of the grey trees being careful not to touch it. We align ourselves such that the moon is on our left and the inner forest is on our right so that we can keep the moon in our sights at all times.

Interestingly enough, from this angle, the smog we just walked through doesn't seem to stand still. On the contrary, it moves and shimmers like particles of floating jewels forming different shapes. I briefly wonder what that's about, but then decide I can't deal with that right now.

I need to focus on listening for the bird call.

The forest is quiet, preternaturally so. But even in the silence, I start to hear a subtle hum in the atmosphere. It's nearly imperceptible, but the more I listen for it, the more I hear it.

And then there are other sounds too that start to catch my attention. A pattering, like water dripping on stone. A whisper, like a ghost floating around you chuckling as it attempts to drive you to insanity.

I shake my head to clear it. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Jace says and glances at me. I hesitate to explain, not even knowing how to go about it. Could it be that Jace can't hear what I heard or he simply doesn't know which sound I'm referring to?

But before I answer, I hear something else. A loud piercing screech like the cry of a grieving mother, so devastating that it almost brings tears to my eyes.

“I heard it,” Jace whispers now, excitement glittering in his eyes. “The bird call. That's the Black Shrewk right?"

“Yes,” I answer but I hold him back as he attempts to rise.

“Wait,” I say. “We need to be careful. We can't go much deeper into the forest.”

“I know,” he says. “But the bird sounded like it was close. We'll just get a little closer and we’ll be careful. Make sure we see the moon at all times.”

I bite my lip considering my options, glancing back at the dot in the sky.

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"Fine," I say. "No more than a yard in."

Jace nods. "Of course."

I get up and squeeze Jace's hand as we carefully venture deeper and darker. The soil is getting softer as we go, beginning to drag at our soles. The trees in the forest get denser and denser the more we walk. At some point, they'll obscure the sky and we won't see the moon again.

"Wait." I stop, a bad feeling rushing through me. “I don’t think we should go in any further. It’s dangerous.”

“But…” Jace glances at me, then looks back into the darkness, his voice dripping in longing. "There's still light. We can still see the moon and the bird is close. Merely a few more steps in."

“No,” I say firmly. “That’s the trick of the forest. You don’t realize the danger until you’re too far deeply embedded in it. We won't know when the moon disappears until it's too late."

The conflict skitters across his expression and then he sighs.

“So what do we do now?” Jace asked. “Give up? Wait for the bird to come to us?”

That gives me an idea.

“Perhaps,” I say. “Perhaps you can lure the bird out.”

Jace glances at me. “How would I do that?

“Your birdcalls,” I say. Hakua is often called Bird Village, due to its abundance of exotic creatures of flight. As such, most in the village know a wide variety of birds even at early ages, and some even learn their language. I heard sometimes on covert missions, the Hakuan soldiers communicated in bird calls to avoid being detected by the enemy. "How good are they?"

Jace's shoulders lift in a shrug to answer my question. “Middling at best. My brother's are excellent though.”

“Your bother is not here. Do you think you can mimic the sound the bird just made then?”

Jace considers it for a moment then releases a silent caw, to test it out.

I shake my head. “No, not like that. Stronger at the base and add a little screech at the end.”

He does it again, but it's still wrong.

I sigh.

“Imagine that you just lost something dear to you,” I say. “Something or someone you swore you would always protect was ripped right out of your arms and there was nothing you could do about it. Imagine the sound you would make when you found out they're gone."

I let him muse silently on that for a second.

Then Jace takes a deep breath and releases what I can only describe as a pained, high-pitched wail.

A near-perfect imitation of the bird.

“Good, now louder,” I say.

He does it again, and the sound reverberates through the forest, followed instantly by a creak, like the sound of an opening door on ungreased hinges. The hair rises on my neck. That sound was a warning. It almost feels like we're doing something forbidden, mocking something sacred but we can't stop now.

“Again,” I say and Jace caws loudly.

“Again,” I repeat.

“Are you sure?"

“Yes,” I say. My theory is that the bird was calling out to someone or something. I may be wrong but there was something about the end of the call, that seemed like a question, but also like losing hope. Like the bird was losing hope for an answer.

After Jace does it again, something somewhere draws a breath. Jace and I fall silent, our bodies tense and hesitant, afraid to budge or even have too much hope.

Then, the bird caws again.

“It’s closer,” Jace says, excitement beating in his tone.

“Do it again," I tell him.

Jace released another realistic-sounding bird call, and the bird's next response is accompanied by a flutter of wings. I don't have to tell him to do it again, as Jace keeps up the conversation with the bird, trading calls back and forth, each response bringing our target closer and closer.

All the while, something deep inside the forest rumbles.

Apprehension tightens in my gut.

Instinct tells me that we need to get the bird and get out now.

“I see it!” Jace announces suddenly and points. I follow his finger to find a small black bird with blue-tipped wings settled onto a tree just a few steps away from us. It blinks at us.

"Yes," Jace says, ripping his hand out of mine to pump his fist in the air. "I'll get it."

"Jace wait!" I shout but it's too late. He dashes three steps, just three steps away, and then the trees shift, branches covering his back.

When it shifts back into place, the path he was on is bare and dark. Jace has disappeared.

"Jace!" I scream again but nothing happens. It's no use. I look back at the moon that is now partially obscured by a single branch and turn to the path Jace went in, hoping against hope that he'll just rematerialize.

But he doesn't, no matter how long I stand there hoping and praying.

A stiff wind blows from his path, rustling my clothes. I don't know if the words I hear next are from the wind or from the infernal voice in my head.

But the message given is loud and clear:

Leave.

This is no place for the living.

I take a second to stare at the bird who has cocked its head and is blinking at me. I could probably imitate Jace's call and attempt to lure it even closer. Or I could do the smart thing and call it quits, getting out of the forest before the same thing that happened to Jace happens to me.

But I already know I won't do either of those. Because apparently, I'm not good at making smart decisions.

"Shit,” I mutter, as I dash right in, down the path Jace went. I hear the branches shift again, but I don't look back. I already know the moon is gone.

“Jace!” I shout, glancing around. I can't see much in the pitch black, but maybe if I peer hard enough my eyes will adjust. Maybe I'll see the glint of Jace's short sword or the white of his teeth.

Please. Anything.

I hear the bird call again and when I look up, it's still somehow sitting on a branch in front of me, on the sole bright spot in the dark, like someone put a stage light on it. How is it possible that I can still see the bird in pitch black? Is this a trick of the forest? Is the bird really there?

What do I do now?

"Jace," I shout, desperation sprouting through me and suddenly there's another spot of light under the bird, revealing Jace's hair.

"Jace." I breathe a sigh of relief as the spot expands, revealing the rest of his body. Jace is standing underneath the branch staring at the bird with a dazed expression on his face. He's not touching it or even reaching for it.

He looks like he's in a trance.

Because he probably is.

I don't know what to do about that but finding Jace has given me some relief at least. I glance over just to check if I can see the path we came from, but there's nothing but darkness behind us.

I immediately start to panic. I found Jace but what good does that do? We're both trapped here.

No. Just think, Adria. There must be a way out. You have to find a way out.

And then it hits me.

I turn back to the bird. If it managed to find its way to us, then it means that the bird can navigate through the forest. It can find the way out.

It's currently blinking at both Jace and me and I think back to the call and how it was clearly searching for something.

The bird has sentience I don't understand so maybe it will listen to me.

Or maybe it won't. Because it's a damn bird.

Still, I have to try something.

"I mean you no harm,” I tell the bird. "Please. You may stay in the forest if you like but please let us leave."

The bird turns its head to the other side.

The ground rumbles again in threat and my heart leaps into my throat. I prepare myself to fight whatever monster appears.

And then a surprising thing happens.

The bird flies to me, lands on my shoulder, and stays there. I jerk a little but it merely blinks at me and then reaches out one of its wings to brush its feathers on my cheek.

Suddenly, my vision is clearer. The darkness retreats enough for me to see the path behind us, an invisible light streaming through from nowhere.

I don't stop to wrap my head around what just happened or even wonder if I'm wrong. I simply turn and grabb Jace's hand. “Jace. I have the bird let’s go.”

But Jace's body is stiff and resistant to move in his trance.

"Jace," I call again but he doesn't respond.

So I do the only thing I could think of. I smack him across the face, hard.

"Ouch,” he says dazedly, but that's enough for me to know he at least feels things. I grab his wrist and he doesn't put up any resistance, actually jogging as I drag him out down the lit path.

I hope it's the exit.

I hope I'm not making a mistake and condemning even further into doom.

After all, the Dark Forest has a way of twisting the mind.