“What is this place?”

Those are the first words I utter.

For the past however long, we’ve been lying on the grass by the lake in silence as I enjoy the sound of Wolf's heartbeat beneath my ear. His hands traced circles on my back the whole time as I’m savored the soothing quiet.

I’m unsure how long we’ve been like this but I know it can’t last. Even now, images of the monster racing after me, falling on top of me, threaten to permeate my brain no matter how much I try to fight them back.

Just for one moment, I tell myself. I want to be in peace for just a moment longer.

But I already know that’s impossible.

My friends and I are in a forest fighting for their lives. We’re besieged by monsters, and trees, and time. We need to get out of here, before we either grow old and die or become driven to madness like so many others have.

So despite my reservations, I pushed through anyway and asked the dreaded question that will awaken both of us from this peaceful reprieve.

Wolf fingers run down my back and then up again.

“Lake,” is his predictably short answer. I almost smile at him as I sit up.

“You know, talking to you would drive the wrong girl mad,” I tell him. Now I understand why Savannah would get so frustrated with him and his lack of explanations. She used to accuse him of having the emotional bandwidth of a log of wood. Of course, we both knew that wasn't true. Wolf had plenty of emotion, just had some difficulties showing it.

The thought of Savannah pierces me as I consider the betrayal I’ve just dealt her. I reassure myself that at least Sav doesn’t seem to have any feelings for Wolf right now. She was honest when she told me she was glad Wolf had me and I saw it in her eyes. Not a single trace of jealousy.

Wolf also doesn’t seem to have any special feelings for her. Their relationship might develop in the future, in which case I will kindly step aside to let them have their happy ending, and simply support them from the sidelines if I’m still alive by that time.

But for now? For now, I will have this.

Wolf’s eyes regard me softly, now back to the color of warm amber. His lip kicks up like he's about to smile.

His large hands come to the side of my face and I don’t flinch when he pushes my hair back. It seems I now feel completely safe around him and do not have a single urge to flinch.

“It’s an oasis,” he explains finally. “Breaks the forest into two parts.”

“Two parts?”

He gestures to the other side of the forest with his chin. “That is another part of the Dark Forest. Over there, leads to the Griffin mountains.”

"Of course,” I respond.

The Griffins are known mostly by fable as a race of savage warriors, even just one of whom can take down the toughest magical beasts. Some claim that Griffins are half beast themselves, and possessed by demons, although that is a more unkind explanation for their strength. Either way, I've never seen a Griffin before and neither have most people, I think. They stick to their mountains, comfortable with being legends.

Back when the magical monsters escaped the forest and wreaked havoc on our village, long before I was born, it was said that Griffins were hired to kill them or drive them into the Dark Forest. Some say a few Griffins settled here and married Northerners. Others believe that the original Northerners are descended from Griffins, and that's why they tend to be physically stronger than most other nations. The same people claim that's also why the North have Chiefs rather than Lords, just as the Griffins do.

“I never thought they were that close to us,” I murmur.

“They’re not,” Wolf says. “It only looks that way.”

"I suppose that’s another trick of the forest,” I say. “Appearing smaller and more compact than it is.”

He grunts in agreement.

I relax to lie fully in his arms, enjoying as it wraps around me.

“How do you know so much about the Dark Forest?” I ask. Savannah and Errila told me some of the stories, about how Wolf would often wander off into the forest as a child, sending his mother into a panic. He kept on doing this, no matter how much she scolded him, but eventually, Errila relented, because Wolf would always be back by nighttime. “Is it because you spend so much time here?”

“No.”

When nothing else happens, I ask, “Do you want to elaborate?”

“She tells me,” he says softly.

“She? As in the forest?”

“Yes.”

"You have conversations with her?" Of course, it would make sense. The forest talks, but for me, it only spits out threats and warnings. “What other things does she say to you?”

He shrugs. “It is dependent on the day. Occasionally, she likes to rant about the disgusting injustice of humankind and laugh about how they’re destroying each other.”

“Oh.”

“On some occasions, she cries."

"She cries. Why?”

“For her lover. Her children. Her friends.” he says. “She has lost a lot because of the humans.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

He says it matter-of-factly but I'm still not sure if it’s meant to induce pity. Regardless, it’s hard for me to feel pity for a creature that has caused so much destruction and pain to innocent villagers. A creature actively trying to kill me and my friends.

If that beast hadn't shown up last time, Jace and I would already be dead.

“I’m sure she’s killed just as many as she has lost," I murmur. "She should be proud."

Wolf does an odd thing then. He chuckles.

“You remind me of her.”

I glance up at him, insulted at the insinuation. “Excuse me?”

He runs his hands down my shoulder. “Both fierce. Intelligent. Protective to your friends and dangerous to those that oppose you. And you enjoy playing little tricks on people.”

“I do not–” But then he raises his eyebrows and then I realize that Wolf has been privy to most of my schemes. Even approaching him was part of a larger plot and could be seen as a type of trickery.

And yes, a part of me did enjoy those schemes. While it was terrifying at the time, there is something strangely thrilling about being able to pull it off.

“I don't just play tricks to hurt people," I say, a tad defensively. "I do it for the greater good."

“In her opinion, so does she.”

“How does killing people amount to the greater good?”

“There are casualties in every war,” he says smoothly.

“What war is she fighting?”

He gives me a level look. “A war against the humans.”

“Why? It's not like we're battling against the forest.”

“Not yet.”

I cock my head and furrow my eyebrows, confusion plaguing me. “What do you mean?”

He's quiet for a few seconds mulling over the words in his head.

“Why do you think we’re here?” he speaks. “Why do you think the King keeps sending us into the Forest to take things from her? Do you think he needed the Shrewk? Or the Boar?"

“Yes?”

He shakes his head and for the first time, I consider that Wolf could be yards ahead of me in knowledge in this timeline too.

How arrogant of me to think that I knew everything simply because I’ve lived in the past before. How foolish of me to never have asked for his view of things till now.

“Wolf?”

He doesn’t answer, still lazily tracing my skin.

“What do you think is happening here?” I ask. “What do you think the King’s intention is with all these tasks?”

“We’re tests.”

He is silent after the quiet words. An alarm springs through me. I raise an eyebrow. “For what?”

“I’m not sure. The King may be trying to do something with the objects he collects from the forests, but more than that, he’s trying to see if we survive the multiple journeys here.”

“If we do?”

His eyes are fathomless. “Then he’ll know it’s possible.”

I sink back onto my elbows, mind heavy with thoughts.

I recall the first time I wandered in here, how the forest nearly killed us when we took the bird. The light from the bird showed us the way out.

Then the second time, when I ran from the bandits, the forest did not punish me. Instead, it seemed to almost lend me strength.

The third time, it made me promise to never come back.

And now that we're here, it still hasn't killed us.

Why didn't it simply choke us all out? Why did it simply cast illusions and play tricks with time?

Is she trying to kill us, or simply trying to protect herself?

I remember the jewels I found scattered over the ground and the countless magical creatures and demons that we encountered.

The Midland Pirates were said to have a way of taming magical beasts they caught in the wild and curtailing them onto ships so they could be used for entertainment. The North occasionally buys one of those tamed beasts for our arena games too. It was against one of these beasts that the Prince Caster showed his prowess.

If the beasts can be tamed...if they can be controlled...

Then they could become weapons in the war.

Suddenly, I have a dreadful thought of what the King could be up to.

"The second time I was in the forest," I start. "There was a beast there..."

I don't see Wolf's face but I feel his body stiffening.

"It saved Jace and me, dragged us out. Did you know what it is?"

"Don't ask me about that beast."

Now I'm even more curious, but I don't want to push against his set boundaries.

I hear a distant rustle and stiffen, immediately on alert.

Wolf doesn't stir. "The monsters won't find us here. We can rest some more."

"But what about our friends?"

"You gave them the sight. They'll be fine."

"I did that? I thought...I used your technique."

"My technique was only supposed to work on you, and even then there was only a small chance of it working. You making everyone else see as you did...that's from you."

That's from me? Something swells in me at his words, some pride and awareness that I've never experienced before.

I'm especially aware that I don't feel the same as when I walked in here. I thought it was just the adrenaline that was making me feel different but no.

I feel more... whole somehow. More of myself.

It's strange to understand and even stranger to explain but I know something has changed.

I have some...power now that I don't understand.

I need to understand so I know how to use it.

"When I saw Savannah, she looked older," I say. "Like she had been here for at least a year. But when I touched her she was herself again."

Wolf hums noncommittally.

"Is that one of the things you can't tell me?" I ask.

"No," he says. "It's just difficult to explain."

"Try. Please." I'm hungry for more knowledge so I know exactly what we're facing here.

"The Forest has some...power to affect time and space," he says. "But not all the way."

"What do you mean?"

"It can give you the illusion of time moving faster or not moving at all. It can also make your body feel the effects of time changing or not changing, but not to the point of killing you."

"How?"

"That... I don't know."

I release a sound of frustration. "So right now, we can't tell how fast or slow time is moving?"

"Yes. But at the lake it's different. Time does not work the same way here. It’s an oasis."

I try to understand what he's saying. "So we're...frozen in time?"

"More or less."

That doesn't sound definitive but I decide to move on.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"To heal. The lake has healing properties?"

"Ah. So this is where you were? You were healing?"

I feel him nod and then a sudden thought occurs to me.

"When Jace and were dragged out by that creature..." He stiffens again but I don't take the question in the direction he probably expects. "I felt like you kissed me and put water in my mouth. Was that from the lake?"

He hesitates, then nods "Short of dousing yourself in the lake that's the fastest way to get its healing properties."

"That's amazing." And it also explains why he expressed disgust when I told him to do the same to Jace. "Could it help Pearl?"

"No. It's healing is limited. Mostly, it heals cuts and bruises by stopping the bleeding process. It can't do much more than that."

"Oh." Still it's incredible. "That kind of thing could be bottled and sold."

Wolf makes a sound in his chest that may be a protest, but I have another question on my mind.

"That first monster did you fight it? Did it hurt you?"

"Yes, but it’s dead now."

He says it in a flat tone, but I get the feeling he isn't as unaffected as he tries to be.

I wonder if he felt bad about killing the monster, in a similar fashion to how he refused to capture the bird and the boar for the King.

And then he confirms it with his next statement.

"The creatures here," he explains. "They're trapped by her. Just like us."

"Ah." It makes sense. "The monsters are just tools she uses to defend herself."

"It hurts her to use them." He says. "The fights wreak havoc on the forest. And it drains her mana to keep them under her control so they don't cause too much damage. It's much easier to keep them asleep."

"Does it drain her mana to cast illusions on us too?" Maybe that's why when it was just Jace and me she could easily suffocate us, but when there were more of us she resorted to playing time tricks

So many questions so few answers. "And about the True Heart Gem? It's here, isn't it? Do you know how we'll find it?"

He's quiet. "It's better if you forget about that."

"Why?"

He opens his mouth but then we hear a sound and someone else bursts onto the oasis.

Three people actually.

Savannah, Jace, and Tia are staring at us.