The creature lowered its malformed head, preparing to charge. But before it could, the earth shifted. Vines erupted from the ground in wild tangles, tearing through soil and rot. Blossoms bloomed in their wake that pulsed something otherworldly. The vines struck the creature mid-charge, coiling around its limbs like serpents, holding fast even as it thrashed.

  They twisted around its ribs, its neck, its gaping face. Yet, despite their strength, they didn’t strangle. It was as if the earth itself sought to subdue, not to destroy. The vines held fast, firm but gentle, as if their sole intention was to quell its rage without extinguishing its life.

  And then she appeared. Her emerald eyes glowed, one hand outstretched toward the beast. She was so honed in on the creature that Camdyn was startled when her gaze finally met his.

  Her other hand swept in his direction.

  Before he could react, he was yanked backward, effortlessly. Vines carried him through the air to a nearby tree. The bark split open, groaning as if stirred from a deep slumber, and swallowed him whole.

  The bark sealed shut but strangely enough, it was almost peaceful. The noise outside dulled to a hush, replaced by the steady thrum of his heartbeat and a faint, rhythmic pulse beneath his feet. The tree was alive. He could feel it. Warm. Breathing.

  His fingers pressed against the inner bark, still not quite believing any of it. One moment, death had been barreling toward him. The next, he was suspended in this living cocoon safely wrapped in its embrace. Unless, a darker thought flickered through his mind, this is in fact a coffin, and I’m slowly being digested by some ancient, sentient tree...

  But somehow, even with that thought, he knew that wasn’t the case.

  Still, what baffled him most wasn’t the tree or the magic or even the escape. It was her. Why would she choose to save them both?

  He barely had time to process the question before light cracked through the darkness, and the tree opened. Camdyn stumbled out onto his hands and knees. He scrambled backward, eyes scanning for signs of the stag. But it was gone, and so was the girl.

  _________

  Camdyn didn’t remember getting back to New Haven. Everything was still a haze—fragments of forest, flickers of movement—but somehow, his legs must’ve carried him home.

  Raya found him first in the courtyard. Then came the others, a growing frenzy of people swarming around him. Blurred faces, hands reaching as their voices overlapped into one.

  Then one voice cut through them all.

  It was his father. Rough, bordering on fearful, but defaulting, as always, to authoritative.

  “Clear out. Give him space.” Not a request. A command.

  The crowd began to thin, parting around Camdyn like smoke blown aside. His father’s hand clamped onto his shoulder, steady, but tight enough to bruise.

  “What the hell were you thinking?” he hissed, low enough that only Camdyn could hear, but with a fury that needed no volume.

  Camdyn didn’t answer.

  “You left the Perimeter. Alone. You entered a restricted zone. Alone.”

  Each word was sharp and deliberate. “You went against protocol. Against me. In front of everyone.”

  Camdyn met his father’s gaze, heart still racing, dirt on his hands and under his nails. He should’ve apologized. Should’ve explained. But the only thing he managed was, “I had to.”

  His father stared him down, eyes flashing not just with anger, but something colder. This wasn’t just a father confronting his son, this was a leader dealing with insubordination.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  The words hung between them like a lit fuse.

  Camdyn braced himself.

  “You had to? You think breaking the rules is some kind of noble act? That this place needs your reckless heroics?” He didn’t wait for a response. “What these people need is stability and structure. They need to know the rules mean something.”

  The crowd had gone still now, the usual background murmur silenced. Camdyn could feel their eyes on him boring holes into his back. His ears burned hot. He wanted to explain, to shout that he wasn’t trying to be a hero, but he bit it back.

  Now wasn’t the time.

  Walker stepped in close, voice low but final. “No one is above the rules. Not even you.”

  For a moment, Camdyn felt impossibly small. Like the earth beneath him could give way at any second.

  “Go home,” his father said, voice like stone. “I’ll deal with you later.”

  Without another word, Camdyn turned, but he could still feel the weight of their eyes on him. The crowd parted as he walked away but their murmurs lingered, following him home.

  He had barely gotten through the door before his mother was upon him, her hands immediately finding his face, then his arms, searching for any sign of injury. When she found no obvious harm, the tension in her shoulders eased—just slightly—before she pulled him into a tight embrace. The warmth of her hug was a stark contrast to the cold dismissal he’d just faced outside. It felt like a moment of quiet refuge, even though the storm still raged inside him.

  “I thought something had happened to you.” Her voice was laced with both relief and a mother’s fear.

  “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to be gone so long,” he answered, voice barely a whisper. “I just… I needed to understand—" Camdyn began, but the words caught in his throat. He wasn’t sure how to explain the pull, but he knew he needed to go toward it.

  But his mother’s expression hardened before he could finish. “What more is there to understand?” she asked, shaking her head. “Camdyn, this place we have here. It’s safe. Everything we do is meant to keep it that way. I know it doesn’t seem fair—”

  He closed his eyes. Not her too.

  “This isn’t about what’s fair.” Camdyn’s voice rose, the words coming out sharper than he intended. “I’m trying to do what’s best for this community. My way. Why is everyone framing that as such a bad thing?”

  Her eyes softened, but her grip on him tightened, as if afraid to let go. “I know you think your father is being hard on you, but he’s trying to protect you. We both are. And I know you’re young, and you want to push limits, but some rules… they need to be kept.”

  Camdyn’s frustration burned brighter. “The world is constantly evolving. Maintaining the status quo, sticking your head in the sand—it won’t cut it anymore. The rules have to change. We have to change.”

  His mother’s hands trembled, but he pulled away, not letting her interrupt.

  “Just look.” He flipped through the pages of his journal, his fingers brushing over the notes and sketches he'd made during his brief expedition. “There could be medicine out there,” he said, his voice steady but urgent. “Every day, our infirmary runs lower on supplies. It’s only a matter of time before it runs out. We could find other sources of nutrition. Maybe even better ones. We could explore and discover like our ancestors did. We could expand our horizons.”

  “Camdyn—”

  “And it’s not just that. I saw something out there. Some kind of sickness infecting the land. I think it’s affecting the animals, too. Making them rabid…”

  “If disease is out there in the woods, why bring it here?” Her eyes, wide and glassy, locked on his. “Why drag death to our doorstep?”

  He took a breath and tried again. “You’re not getting it. If it’s spreading, it’ll come here on its own. Hiding won’t stop it, it won’t even slow it down. But if I could go back, I could figure out what it is.” The image of the nymph flickered behind his eyes. “There’s something ancient out there, and if I could just—”

  “No.” Her voice dropped low and dangerous. “Don’t even finish that thought. Camdyn, listen to me. You’re speaking on things you don’t understand. Things you shouldn’t try to understand.”

  She stepped closer, tension radiating from her like static. “These entities... they’re older than the earth itself. And they are angry, Camdyn. They won’t take pity on you just because you’re naive.”

  Her eyes softened, but the fear in them only deepened. “You always try to see the good in things. And I love that about you, I do. But this isn’t the time for wishful thinking.” She placed a hand over his chest. “If death really is looming outside, your father will find the right way to handle it. But you—you need to stay safe.”

  Her voice cracked as she whispered, “Please, Camdyn. I need you safe.”