The forest was too quiet.
Fog sheeted the ground, clinging low around their feet, and the air was knife-cold against the skin. Ryan moved slowly between the trees, every step measured, eyes combing each flicker of shadow among the trunks. Behind him, Eileen followed closely, a small green light cupped in her palm, its gentle glow guiding their path through the mist.
Ryan stopped abruptly and lifted a hand.
"Wait."
Eileen froze. He tilted his head slightly.
"Do you hear that?"
She held her breath, listening hard.
"I hear… nothing."
Ryan's jaw tightened.
"Exactly. That's what worries me."
No birds.
No wind.
No water.
The forest felt as if it were holding its breath.
Without warning, the earth bucked violently beneath their feet. Roots split apart, soil and stone tearing upward as something massive rose from the ground. Mud and rock fused into a hulking form, its body crude yet powerful, eyes glowing faintly gold.
Eileen gasped.
"What is that?!"
Ryan's grip locked around the wand.
"A forest sentinel," he said grimly. "We're being tested."
The creature charged.
The ground shattered under its weight, shards of stone flying. Ryan leapt aside, wand snapping up as he shouted:
"Freeze!"
A surge of deep violet light flared from the wand. It didn't stop the guardian—but it slowed it, just enough.
"Eileen! Now!"
She reacted instantly. The healing spell twisted under her control, reshaping itself. A clear, shimmering dome bloomed between them and the sentinel just as its fist slammed down.
The impact thundered.
The shield held—but the backlash rattled Eileen's arms. She cried out, stumbling, and Ryan caught her before she fell.
"Are you hurt?!" he demanded.
She shook her head, breath unsteady.
"No… but it won't stop!"
The sentinel advanced again, relentless, eyes blazing brighter with every step.
Ryan closed his eyes for a single breath.
The wand pulsed in his hand.
Something old stirred within him.
"Not now…" he muttered. "I won't change again."
There was no time to hesitate.
He snapped his eyes open and fixed on the creature.
"Open me a lane!"
Eileen thrust her hands forward. The shield parted for a heartbeat.
Ryan lunged.
The wand burned dark amethyst as he drove it into the ground. Light detonated beneath the guardian's feet, cracking the earth apart. Stone split. The creature staggered, then toppled, its massive form breaking apart as it hit the ground.
Ryan reeled back, chest heaving.
"It's… done."
Dust swirled in the air.
Then it began to move again.
Fragments of stone and mud dragged themselves together, reforming piece by piece.
Eileen cried out in horror.
"It doesn't die!"
Ryan's answer was sharp, urgent.
"The forest reclaims what it owns. We can't kill it—only get past it."
Without thinking, he seized her hand.
"Run!"
They sprinted through the trees as the ground shook behind them, the sentinel's roar echoing through the forest. Eileen panted, her fingers locked around his, eyes never leaving his grip. Ryan stared straight ahead, pain burning through his body as his resolve hardened.
After what felt like an eternity, they reached a narrow cleft in the rock—dark, tight, barely wide enough to pass through.
Ryan slipped inside first, then pulled Eileen after him. He pressed his palm against the stone wall and whispered a single word.
A veil of violet light sealed the opening.
They collapsed onto the cave floor, lungs burning, darkness pressing in close around them.
"You… saved me," Eileen rasped.
Ryan lay staring up into the black above.
"We saved each other."
Silence stretched between them, broken only by the faint mutter of rain beyond the ward.
Eileen spoke softly.
"That creature… who sent it?"
Ryan's voice was low, steady, fixed on the darkness.
"No one sends anything here. The forest itself tries you."
Neither of them knew—
that deeper within the woods, shadows were stirring.
A faint whisper slid between the trunks, cold and amused.
"Well done… trial one survived.
The next will break one of you."