I bolt out of the bed and rush halfway out the door before I finish the thought.

And then I freeze when I realize I don't know where I'm going.

All I know is that Jace is in danger. I don't know how I know, perhaps it's a whisper in the wind or a distant groaning in the ground. Perhaps it's the voice in my head, or maybe just a dream.

But the thought echoes with heart-pounding certainty.

Jace is in danger....wherever he is.

I close my eyes and try to remember the context within which I had the thought. There are only two things I know for sure, repeating on a loop. Jace is in danger. He's somewhere and he's in danger.

But where?

“Damn it.” The dreamlike state fogging my mind starts to dissipate and my thoughts are splintering into reality. I try to hold onto the voices, the thoughts, the feelings, the dreams but they're floating farther and farther away as my awareness is stolen to other pieces of the room. The window is open, a chill fills the room, and the insects outside chirp as we sleep.

Jace isn't asleep.

He's…

“Damn it, think Adria.” I curse myself. Why did I think about Jace in the first place? Was I thinking about him before I fell asleep? I don't know but the last thought I had of him was about our conversation. His mother. And then asking about the forest...

And suddenly it hits me with a growing dread.

“Oh no," I mutter to myself. “Jace, you didn’t.”’

But right now, I'm certain he did.

I grab my tunic pull it on and throw on my coat simultaneously. I also grab the dagger Wolf gave me before rushing out the door. Wolf isn't home, I'm assuming, since his room is empty. I also assume he's wherever he goes on nights like this.

As I break out into the cold night, I briefly wonder if it's Genya, if he's meeting her right now.

But I dismiss the thought before it fully forms.

Even if it's true, it's none of my business. I need to find Jace.

Maybe it's not Genya. Maybe it's another woman, one from the Hovel. Would that make it better or worse?

Once again, none of my business.

We don’t have time for your irrational jealousy. You need to save Jace.

The brisk air smacks my face as I run, its scent slightly different in the dark. Slightly wilder, accompanied by a menacing quiet. As thought there are communing spirits and I'm interrupting them.

As children, we were always advised not to come out at night in the north. Old superstition said that that was when the monsters emerged from their forest to explore our world.

I supposed I'll find out tonight.

I bolt down the path back to where we were taken for the third trial. The Dark Forest whips by on my left, and I try not to look at it, too scared of what I might see emerging from it. I keep going, passing by the spot where the Prince and I met, where I reawakened for the last time. It's near the ravine, a still water that has no living creatures inside, with mist that hangs over the surface and seemingly shimmers in the moonlight.

Everything is silent except my feet and my breath. Nothing else makes a sound.

And then I stop.

In the distance I see someone.

I can tell it's him from his size and side profile.

He's facing the forest, one leg about to take a step in, hesitating at the threshold.

“Jace,.” I hiss to him, and he spins around fear flashing across his face.

The fear turns into recognition and then relief. “Oh good. It's just you. I feared it might be a blight."

“It could well have been." I storm toward him. "What on earth do you think you’re doing?”

He shrugs attempting an easy smile that instead, looks like he's going to be sick.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m taking a short trip into the Dark Forest.”

"Yeah, I see that. Why on earth would you do something like that?"

“Because I need to capture another Black Shrewk.”

I stop right in front of him, gaping. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Perhaps,” he says and I notice then how pale he looks in the moonlight and how his easy-going smile doesn't reach his eyes. “But I must do it anyway. You, on the other hand, should leave."

"I'm not leaving without you,” I say firmly. “And you're coming with me.”

“Ha,” he says. “I'm really going to miss your bossiness, Adria.”

“Jace don’t you dare–“

“If anything happens to me take care of my mom and my brother,” he says. “I believe you’ll become an Elite Soldier. Probably the best. And Wolf too he…anyway. I’m glad I met the two of you and I'm sorry to take advantage of your kindness this way.”

“Jace–“ But before I can complete it, he dashes into the forest leaving me in the dust.

I release a string of swear words as I follow him in. He moves quickly through the crooked branches and a few snap twigs as he runs through them. The forest whispers its displeasure.

“Sorry,” I whisper back. “He doesn't mean it.”

Jace stops at a tree, sinking into a crouch.

You shouldn’t be here," he says over his shoulder.

"Neither should you,” I respond glancing back at the moon. “But since we’re both here what’s your plan for getting the birds?"

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“Well it was your plan originally,” he says. “I was just going to call and wait for it to come with me.”

“That worked once! You can't expect it to work again.”

“We have to try,” he says and whistles in preparation before releasing the bird call. He does it once, and then again, but there's no answer.

“The birds may have gone deeper in,” I warn him. “Perhaps they learned from our last excursion. “

“They’re birds. They don’t have intelligent thoughts like that."

I wouldn’t be so sure.

“Listen,” I say. “This is a bad idea. Let’s just go out and talk about–“

“I can’t,” Jace whispers harshly, and even in the darkness I can finally see the desperation on his face. “My mom… the pain is getting worse, and if it develops into an even worse illness, they won't be able to save her at all. She doesn’t have a lot of time left. I used all my funds from the trials to get her a healer but he said he couldn’t do anything for her. There's no potion in his arsenal strong enough to cure her pain, unless it's reinforced with the Black Shrewk potion.”

“Only the royal family is allowed to hunt Shrewks in the forest,” I say. “Even if you succeed you will be quickly executed when it’s found out what you’ve done.”

"You think I haven't considered that?" He turns away, eyes scanning through the branches for a sign of his prey. "If they execute me then so be it. As long as my mother lives."

“This is a foolish mission, Jace,” I say. “Listen, let’s go back. I'll talk to the prince, ask him to–“

Jace snorts. “You want me to trust the man who couldn’t even honor an oath to you? What makes you think you can trust anything he says?”

“Because he owes me,” I say. "I'll convince him that this will be the way to pay me back."

Jace sigh. "I have no doubt you’re convincing when you want to be Adria, but even if you manage to coax the Prince, he will still likely need permission from his father and his council to get a bottle of Shrewk elixir. And once the King finds out it’s for a foreigner, he’s going to reject it.”

"Not if you're an Elite Soldier."

“Are you sure about that?” Jace says wryly. “You know I thought I knew how the Great North was. I thought over here was a meritocratic society, where all that mattered was your hard work and your achievements, your strength. But ever since I've been here, the things I've seen, and that disgusting display at the second trial..." His features twist in anger and disappointment. "You're right. We'll never be one of them, no matter how good we are." The resigned drop on his shoulders saddens me.

I almost regret telling him what I did.

I wish he could once again be the boy who was enthusiastic and arguing with his mother on the way to the first trial, the boy who had skillfully defeated his opponent with aplomb, and the boy who stood in front of the King challenged his decision and declared his undying devotion.

That boy was happy, hopeful.

But that boy is gone, broken under the heels of an unfair system.

And all that's left is this man, shattered by the reality of the prejudices.

And I hate it. I hated the North and what it's done to Jace in such a short time. What it did to me in a past life.

I went much further than Jace did, trying to prove myself to these people, to help them in any way I could.

Only to have death to show for it.

And now Jace has to risk his life just to save his mother.

“Jace...” I can't continue. I have nothing left to say.

He smiles sadly. "You should be silent now. We don’t want to scare away the bird."

I can only nod and crouch beside him, periodically staring back at the moon.

Jace clears his throat and then lets out a new bird call. The sound is louder and reverberates through the atmosphere. We listen for a returning call.

There's none.

Jace sighs in disappointment.

“Maybe you should try,” he says to me.

“Me? I know nothing about bird calls.”

“Yes but the bird was on your shoulder last time,” he says. “It didn't fly away even when we emerged from the forest. It seemed to like you. Maybe it'll come if you call.”

I sigh and try to mimic his bird call, very imperfectly. I do it three more times before Jace winces.

"Stop." He puts up his hand. "That was terrible. Never mind."

I glance at the forest surrounding me and have a stray thought.

Perhaps it's the forest I need to talk to and not the bird.

The forest feels alive, with its changing branches and its tendency to plunge one into darkness. Someone's magic is at play here, a powerful mage, and perhaps the person is still there and will listen to what I have to say.

Please, I prepare what to say in my head first. We mean your bird no harm. We simply want to extract a feather from it, so that we can save a dear life.

What about the life of the bird you captured?

I jerk at the disembodied words in my mind.

The forest just answered me...in my head.

It doesn't sound like the voice I usually hear, and it's certainly not my voice either.

Are you the mage of the forest? I ask.

I am many things. It responds. I take that as a yes.

I apologize for our intrusion, I say. And for us taking the bird last time. I promise you that we will return the bird this time. Actually, we probably don't even need to take the bird. Only a few of it's feathers.

The mage of the forest is silent for a second and then, Just a few feathers and nothing else.

"Yes," I respond out loud and Jace turns to eye me.

You must promise after to never enter my forest again.

Yes. Easiest promise I've ever made. I promise.

I will allow you to enter the forest to seek the presence of the bird but it must give you the feather of its free will. You may not take anything else. Touch nothing.

"Yes," I reply. "Thank you."

"Who are you talking to?" Jace asks, but he's interrupted by a sudden glow on the ground, illuminating the branches and the dirt. It grows, snaking down a thin path, lighting up the way into the Dark Forest.

Jace and I both gape at it and then at each other.

"Did you do that?" he asks.

"I think so,” I say and he stares at me with an amazement and a reverence bordering on worship.

"But it's actually not my power," I clarify. "I think there's a mage in this forest. I just talked to it."

Jace mouth opens and then closes. He shakes his head and looks around as though searching for the answer to his questions.

"Later we’ll talk about this," he says.

I nod. "Let's go. And don't touch anything, alright?"

"Got it."

We start down the path, leaving behind the outermost section of the Dark Forest and entering the inner darkness. I look behind me as the moon disappears behind a branch. The familiar fear seizes my heart, but once I turn forward, I find the forest isn't as terrifying as I once thought. I can see the grey branches of the trees directly in our path and there are no monsters on them. Although the trees farther away are still dark and there could be monsters there, they don't reach for us with their clawed hands nor do they growl.

Maybe because the forest mage permits us to be here.

Whatever happens, we're safe as long as we stick to this path.

And then I start noticing something else. On the ground, near our feet, are glittering and gleaming stones in between fallen branches. The farther we go the more the stones multiply, more plentiful than I've ever seen before.

"There it is," Jace says distracting me from my observation.

I follow his pointing finger to find the Shrewk perched on the lower branch. It sees us and flits its head. It squeaks once as it flies towards us.

“I'll grab it," Jace announces.

“Wait,” I stop him, wrapping my hand around his wrist.

The bird lands on another branch and titters noisily, a happy sound.

It makes me sad and worsens the guilt for what I did to the previous bird.

"Hello," I say to it. “I’m Adria. Adria Elvswick. I’m sorry...I'm sorry that I took you friend or... I'm not sure what relationship the two of you have." Did birds have friends? "Anyway, I'm sorry I took it. I didn't know..." I didn't know you weren’t just birds. But even if they were was it right that we just take them as I please?

I decide to end my clumsy apology there and get to the point. I hold out my palm. "May I have a feather? Please? My friend needs it to save his mother."

The bird extends his wing. And then he shakes it slightly.

Suddenly three feathers fall into my hands.

“Thank you,” I say.

The bird flies to perch on my shoulder once more. It rubs its soft head on my cheek, and I giggle, rubbing the bottom of its chin. When I do, it closes its eyes resting its head in my palm, and suddenly I'm filled with an overwhelming sense of loss.

I miss you.

I'm not sure if the voice comes from inside me or outside me. But it's there regardless.

I drop a kiss on the bird's head and shake my shoulder gently so it flies away.

“Let’s go, Jace,” I say.

But Jace isn't listening to me anymore. He's looking at the floor.

“Is that what I think it is?” he asks and I follow his gaze. After the bird touched me, the light grew wide enough for us to see that the shiny stones on the ground aren't stones at all.

They're gems.

“That's obsidian," Jace points at a large black gem. “One of the most valuable gems on earth. Do you know what it means? Can be used to generate mana.” His eyes are filled with feverish heat as they look at me. “Selling just one of these would be able to buy my mother a house. It would pay for all her medical expenses ten times over. My brother...he would be set for life."

“Yes Jace but we have to–"

But he doesn't listen. He reaches for the ground.

“Jace, don't!" I grab him but it's too late.

He touches the obsidian.

And the forest roars, plunging us into heavy darkness again.