The forest opened up before me like it had just remembered how to breathe. The trees shifted aside, polite as hell, as if the world wanted me to feel welcome.

  Here was a fact: never trust hospitality in a nightmare. That was Day One stuff. But I stepped forward anyway.

  The rain stopped the moment I crossed the line.

  It didn't fade out; it was just gone, as if it had never been there to begin with. I tilted my head back.

  Nothing above me but dark sky and gnarled branches, all twisted in impossible spirals.

  The surface beneath me was not dirt but a dull, pitted expanse of metal, resembling the weathered plating of an old truck. My boots thudded against it, producing a solid, echoing sound.

  The air had transformed as well, becoming thick with the scent of ozone mixed with a hint of paint—neither fresh nor warm, just a memory of what it once was.

  And the light was closer now, still flickering like a candle trapped inside a glass lung. I resumed following it. With each step, the path under me groaned. I mean it groaned, long and low, as if the metal remembered screaming.

  Up ahead, the trees widened and descended into a clearing. Not like the one with Emma. That had felt… stolen from peace. This one was stolen from a battlefield.

  The moment I stepped into the clearing, the air changed again. It was thicker. Not just with mist or cold or even the stench of rotting vegetation—but with presence. Like the trees weren't just watching, they were waiting to judge.

  The sound of the rain softened behind me, dampened by the unnatural hush beneath the canopy.

  Here, color had abandoned the rules. Leaves shimmered between hues that had no name. Bark pulsed. Roots twisted of their own accord, as if stretching from dream to nightmare and back again.

  And still, I pressed on—because if this was the path out of GamaGen's trial, then forward was the only direction that mattered.

  I didn't expect the squeaky voice.

  "HALT, abomination!"

  I blinked, startled, and turned toward the source of the sound—only to spot what I could only describe as a critter of doom floating above an arcane globe, arms outstretched in accusation.

  Creature: MereShaman

  — Species: Merecritt

  — Faux Nym: [MereShaman]

  — Sobriquet: "Mere Critter"

  — Evolution Stage: [Dominant]

  — Variance: [Elite]

  — APU: ["500,000"] Particle Units

  — Attributes: [Beast], [Psion], [Spatial]

  — Zeldritch Traits: "[Barrier Expert]", "[Geometric Scholar]", "[Arcane Resistance IV]", "[Sanctum Invocation]", "[Mindlock Psalm]", "[Divine Audit]", "[Reverent Reflection]", "[Oblivion Edict]"

  Yes, another Merecritt…

  A small, fluffy, vaguely rabbit-fox-like creature with tiny horns hovered in midair on its glowing orb, resplendent in sweeping robes that probably weighed more than he did.

  A skull mask, resembling that of a rodent, covered his face, though it did nothing to muffle his incredibly loud, self-important tone.

  "You dare slink through the sacred veil of the Eldgloom Wilds with your grotesque, bipedal form on full display? Have you no shame, two-legged creature? This forest has standards!"

  I blinked again. "I… excuse me?"

  "You heard me!" he snapped, puffing out what I assumed was his chest. "Your pitiful limbs offend the very soil. Your upright gait? An affront to nature itself! And that—ugh—nose! Such horrid symmetry. Were you hatched or assembled?!"

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  I opened my mouth. Closed it. Then sighed.

  "You've got to be kidding me."

  "I never jest about blasphemy!" the creature huffed. "Now state your designation, vile beast! Speak your name so that it may be recorded and promptly discarded from the annals of history!"

  "I'm KiAera," I said flatly, pinching the bridge of my nose. "And for the record, this is just how I normally look."

  The creature recoiled as if I'd just said I routinely bathed in acid. "Merciful stars, you chose to look like that? A tragic fate indeed." He sniffed dramatically—though from where, I honestly had no idea.

  "I, on the other hand, am the Great and Illustrious High Priest of the Merecritt, Grand Mystic of the Sacred Lands, Keeper of the Arcane Secrets, Arbiter..." and I tuned him out as he kept going. "But you may call me… the MereShaman."

  Of course. Of course that was his name.

  He extended a tiny paw with the gravitas of a king bestowing a knighthood. "And I am here undertaking a Trial of Cosmic Insight, one that your noisy footsteps have most rudely interrupted. I should hex you into a toad and call it a mercy."

  I stared at him. Then, wordlessly, I stepped back and let my form shift.

  The change swept over me like a tide—limbs compressing, fur sprouting, vision warping subtly until I stood before him not as KiAera the human, but as my previous Merecritt form—small, fluffy, and four-pawed. I even gave my tail a little flick for emphasis.

  "Better?"

  The MereShaman froze mid-rant, one paw lifted, beady gaze lidding behind his mask.

  "…Sufficient," he sniffed at last, adjusting his robes with great importance. "At least now your visage is no longer actively offensive to the sacred flow of the forest's aura. You may continue to exist in my presence."

  "Wow," I said dryly. "I'm honored."

  "You should be," he declared proudly, now orbiting me in slow, floating circles like a very self-important moon. "Now, since you have the barest hint of taste, I shall grant you an audience, young initiate of the Trials. Speak! Why do you encroach upon my chosen realm of cosmic attunement?"

  I let out another long-suffering breath. "Looking for the way out," I said. "Pretty sure it runs through here. And unless you've got a magical shortcut you're willing to lend, I'll be on my way."

  "Hah!" he barked, floating directly in front of me with a swirl of wind that kicked up fallen petals and loose leaves. "If only it were that simple, young one. The Eldgloom is not merely a path. It is a crucible. Every branch holds secrets, every shadow a trial. And those with weak wills…"

  He trailed off, raising both paws as if the forest itself would finish the sentence.

  "…They get eaten?" I offered, raising a fluffy brow.

  "No! Worse. They get corrected," he said gravely. "Re-shaped into forms more pleasing to the ancient essence of this sacred place. You're lucky I spotted you before that happened. My divine guidance has likely saved your life."

  I stared, then started walking past him.

  "Wait—wait! Where are you going? I'm not finished bestowing my wisdom!"

  "Yeah, well, I'd rather be shaped by ancient forest shadows than listen to another of your titles," I called over my shoulder. "Thanks for the help, 'Supreme Guardian of the Cosmic Whatever.' Try not to explode from your own ego before I see you again."

  I hadn't made it fifty paces deeper into the forest before the air shifted again, and this time it felt wrong. A pulse of energy thrummed through the ground, humming under my paws like the warning beat of a drum. I stopped, sensing that something was about to happen. Then, I saw a flicker of light, followed by another.

  I didn't even get a full breath in before it snapped into place around me: walls of glowing, mirrored energy slammed together in perfect geometric sync, cutting me off from the forest entirely.

  A cube.

  A freaking magic cube.

  "Really?" I groaned, spinning slowly to take it all in.

  Each wall shimmered faintly, laced with whirling runes and shifting patterns that looked like someone had fed a mandala into a caffeine-fueled arcane engine. I tested the nearest one with a paw, and it didn't give. It was cold as obsidian and hummed like the soft static of a microphone.

  "You dare to scoff at my wisdom and walk away from the Supreme Guardian of the Cosmic Balance?!"

  Oh no.

  The cube flared again. And there, floating on his levitating orb, was the MereShaman.

  "I should have known," I muttered. "Trapped by a glorified pillow."

  "Behold!" he bellowed. "The Arcane Cube of Supreme Containment—a construct of divine geometry, unparalleled precision, and my own personal design. None have ever escaped it. Not rouges, not beasts, not even that disgrace of a brother I once trapped for three lunar cycles!"

  I flattened my ears. "Seriously? You trapped me for walking away from your monologue?"

  "You dared turn your back on the Grand Mystic of the Sacred Lands!” he thundered. "You showed disrespect to the High Priest of the Merecritt! You—you insulted my titles!"

  I banged my tiny fist against the cube again. "You have too many titles!"

  His floating orb shuddered with rage.

  "That! That right there! Blasphemy!" he shrieked. "This is why the forest tests fools like you. Arrogant, impulsive, and clearly in need of reeducation!"

  "Pretty rich coming from the guy who just stuffed me into a glorified glitter box."

  His tiny horns twitched. "This is not a glitter box. This is a masterwork of magical engineering, inscribed with the fourteen laws of multidimensional restraint, harmonized to the ancient frequencies of Merecritt soul-forging—"

  "—And still shaped like a cube."

  The MereShaman choked on pure indignation.

  "You dare mock the Cube?!"

  I sighed and slumped to one corner, tail flicking with pure rebellion. "What, are you going to give me a lecture from out there? You gonna monologue me into submission?"

  "...I was, actually," he said, tone suddenly unsure. "But now I feel like you’re not appreciating it...”

  "Welcome to my world."

  He hovered in a slow, smug circle around the cube. "You know, most creatures beg to be released. They weep. They offer tribute. And yet here you sit, tail twitching like a brat with detention. Do you not comprehend the gravity of your situation?"

  "Look, Mighty Fluff Overlord—" I began.

  He gasped. "You dare!"

  "I dare," I said, standing up. "Because you're not keeping me in this box."

  He floated a little higher, clearly ruffled. Then his voice echoed around the cube, smug and imperious, like a deity lecturing a worm.

  "You thought to dismiss me—me! The most powerful arcanist this side of the Starless Spiral! And then you dared to saunter into the Eldgloom like some half-sentient tree frog with no respect for divine protocol?!"

  I sat back on my haunches, watching his dramatic gestures swirl through the air. Honestly, it was impressive how much authority he managed to pack into such a tiny, fluffy frame.

  "I am the MereShaman!" he roared, raising a paw to the heavens—or at least to the canopy above. "And you will not undermine the sacred rites of this realm with your reckless independence and general air of disrespect!"

  "Okay, okay," I sighed, lifting both paws. "You've made your point. Divine punishment. Scary cube. Very authoritative. Now let me out."

  He crossed his arms, floating closer to inspect me like a disappointed professor looming over a failed thesis.

  "No," he declared. "Not until you properly repent for your insolence."

  "I transformed for you."

  "Too late. You mocked my titles."

  "Because you have thirteen."

  "That is because the cosmos demands them!"

  "I'm literally trying to survive a nightmare realm—"

  "Excuses!" he barked, flaring one paw dramatically. "You will remain in this flawless prison of my own creation until such time as I deem you worthy of freedom. Which, judging by your attitude, may be never."

  I gave him the longest, most unamused stare my big round eyes could manage. "What if I just turn back into my human form?"

  He paused. Visibly twitched.

  "You wouldn't."

  I slowly began to rise onto two legs.

  "NO—WAIT—HOLD—" he shrieked, zipping forward in a panic. "I retract the cube! I rescind the punishment! Anything but that face!"

  With a fizz-pop of iridescent light, the cube evaporated into motes of arcane dust, and I landed with a soft thump on the mossy forest floor.

  "Ugh," the MereShaman grumbled, adjusting his robes and trying to look dignified despite the clear panic he'd just experienced. "You're insufferable."

  "I told you," I said, dusting off my fur, "this is just my face."

  He huffed, turned his back, and began to float in slow, self-important circles. "I suppose I shall have to escort you through this section of the Eldgloom. Clearly you'd get yourself hexed into a leaf without my guidance."

  I grinned. "Thought you were in the middle of your own trial."

  "I was," he said loftily. "But the sacred balance must be preserved. And clearly, the spirits sent you here not to be tested… but to be enlightened. By me."

  "Of course they did."

  He sniffed. "My patience is vast."

  "Your ego is vaster."

  He spun to glare at me, then flicked his paw and conjured a tiny, glowing map made entirely of enchanted light. "Follow me, you mangy cosmic error."

  And with that, the Great and Illustrious High Priest of the Merecritt floated grandly ahead. I rolled my eyes, then padded after him.

  The forest was far from done with us. But at least now I had a travel companion. A very loud, magically unstable travel companion with a superiority complex the size of a planet.

  Lucky me.