I blinked for the forty-third time.

The Forest stubbornly refused to move.

My powerlessness was getting to me. I’d had a taste of what I could do, and I’d overplayed my hand. Everywhere I went, I could feel the monolithic eyes of the Dark Forest on me. If I focused my ashsight, I could actually see its attention. What I had assumed to be static sparks of power now flowed and swirled around me, forming into a blazing cyclone of sentience. The air shimmered with the heat of its presence, and I was bitterly aware that any attempt to use the abilities I’d gained would likely result in a repeat of my experience with the child. I would be smashed into a small part of my own mind, and probably lose what little freedom I currently had.

I stopped walking and plopped down on a fallen tree trunk. “There has to be something I can do. I know you’re not omniscient, else I would have never gotten anywhere. Why the special attention now?”

Of course I knew why. I’d broken one of its precious rules. This morning I didn’t even know what they were. Now? They blazed through my mind, burned into my brain by my encounter with the entity.

First, don’t enter the Campgrounds. That one seemed to keep itself.

Second, don’t try to leave the Dark Forest. As far as I knew, that wasn’t even possible. My knowledge seemed to be from somewhere other than here, but I had no idea how to leave.

Third, don’t let any humans live. This one confused me. It was the one that I’d supposedly been imprisoned for, but I wasn’t sure what the specifics were for it. For all I knew, they were only enforced by the Dark Forest itself. And so here I was, in a section of the Forest where nothing changed. I was trapped by being able to get somewhere, in a place where specific locations didn’t mean much. The irony wasn’t lost on me.

Something tickled my hand. Looking down, I saw an Ant had begun to crawl on it. I brought it up to eye level, staring at it through my ashsight. It was incredible how intricate the creatures were. Like all of the rest of the guardians, they were made of ash and sparks. Under my scrutiny they looked like a moving constellation. It waved its antennae and the front two of its ten legs.

“Are you trying to tell me something?”

The Ant stopped moving and stared at me, ticking its antennae. It almost seemed exasperated. It then turned in my hand, then waved towards something I hadn’t noticed until now. The roots of one of the trees had been pried apart, revealing a deep hole. The sparks that drifted through the air died at that entrance, and even the tree roots were mostly devoid of the Dark Forest’s power. The void within beckoned to me, pulling my attention towards it. Deep within, I saw other sparks of power, but I couldn’t make out what they were.

I looked back at the creature on my finger grumpily. “You want me to go down there don’t you.” It nodded its tiny head, then gesticulated at the hole. “Fine. But only because I can’t do anything else right now.” I began to climb down into the tunnel, steading myself on roots that poked out from the tree above. As I slid down deeper into the depths, the motes of power below shuffled towards me. I paused, squinting at them before I finally realized what they were: more Ants. They scurried around the walls, and as I watched I saw the tunnel grow deeper, more spacious. They were drilling down into the earth, making a way for me. And with little else to do, I followed them.

After about ten meters, any light from the moon was lost within the moist soil. All I could see by at this point were the sparks of light only visible to my ashsight. Behind me, I could see nothing. For some reason, I couldn’t even see the walls of my passage, even though I knew they must be there. I stopped, thinking. The Ants could abandon me here and close the tunnel and I’d never be found. 

They’re guiding you. They want to thank you. Sonphez’s voice echoed in my head, and the bottles the Ants had given me clinked in my bag.

“That doesn’t make any sense. I took my payment. Why would they help me more?”

They always did like you.

“Like? Or have an interest in? There’s a difference. When I was trapped in the Rootways before they didn’t seem nearly as interested in helping me. They just watched while I stumbled along.”

You could always try to leave. Just go back the way you came.

A sudden pain brought me back to my senses. I yelped and pulled up my hoove, digging my horns into the ceiling. The Ant had bit me! I looked down at the little critter and it motioned further into the tunnel. 

“What? Where are you taking me?”

It didn’t answer, but moved to join its brethren as they continued to move into the distance.

Follow? Stay? Or head back up?

I sucked in my breath, brushing off the dirt that had fallen into my hair. “I guess if I go back I’m trapped. If I follow them and they betray me I’m just as trapped, only with impending death at the end. Not the best compromise.”

How much do you trust them?

“I helped them once, and they haven’t hurt me before… I think it’s worth the risk.” Decision made, I began to follow the Ants again.

The Ants were incredibly efficient diggers. They had already nearly gone out of sight, and seemed to be accelerating into the distance. I actually had to tap into some of my speed, a skill which I’d nearly forgotten I had. As I caught up to them, I heard a rumble and the swarm of Ants parted. Beyond them, I saw why. They had broken into the Rootways. I stepped over my guides and into the cavern. Compared to the rest of the undergrounds, seeing in the Rootways was like stepping into midday. But I didn’t have much time to think about that, as the earth began to shake below me.

“ZEEEEEPHNOS!”

“Oh… I’d hoped I saw the last of you…” I squeaked out as a familiar head broke through the opposite wall. I immediately took off running.

Stentor charged after me, blasting the walls molten as he did. I raced through the caves, desperate to find something to stall him. With the Dark Forest watching me, there was no way I would stand a chance against something like him. Either I had to find an exit to the Rootways, or he would eventually catch up to me and kill me.

“YOU NEED TO DIE!”

“DO YOU EVER STOP SHOUTING?” I yelled back at him. A glimpse behind me confirmed that I was able to outrun him, but that would end very suddenly if I ran into a dead end.

Stentor broke through the wall in front of me. 

“Oh come on!” I pushed off the opposite wall and reversed direction, going back down the path I’d just taken. I looked back at Stentor just in time to catch him disappearing back into the hole he’d dug. The dragon was muttering something, but I didn’t know what. I didn’t stop to find out. I had to keep running.

And then he smashed through the ceiling in the direction I was going. Rock and earth tumbled down and pinned me under a blanket of broken tree roots and compost.

“AT LAST! I may never be able to leave, but neither will you!” The furnace-like jaws opened up as a claw locked me in place. This time, there was no evading the blast. I closed my eyes knowing it was useless to struggle against this monster’s might.

Heat intensified, but I felt no fire. Instead, I heard a muffled curse in a language I didn’t understand, and a vast roaring sound. Not the roaring of a dragon though. I’d heard that roaring before, and I’d learned then to fear it.

It was the roaring of the Dark Forest’s anger. The warm wind careened through the tight space, and all around the Rootways I saw the plantlife wake. A bundle of roots were wrapped around Stentor’s neck, throttling my reptilian nemesis. His other claw was scrabbling at the plant assassin, but I was still trapped. I had to do something to get out, because I knew from experience it wouldn’t stop him for long. I tried to push at the claw that pressed into my chest, scoring a bloody gash.

“Ashes, ashes,

Gashes, lashes,

Strength of flame,

Come to my name,

Zephnos’ might,

By firelight!”

Out of reflex I gabbled out a simple rhyme, hoping that with the Dark Forest’s attention on the dragon I might be able to make it work. I felt the ashes that made up my body harden as the connection to the Salamander pulsed. The rock and soil that still lay on me fell into ash and my body consumed them. My strength doubled and I pushed at Stentor’s clawed foot. To my surprise, it actually moved, and I wriggled out from under it. Stentor snapped at the vines on his neck, and now that I was free managed to get both claws on them. The tendrils finally tore and his mouth opened, breathing a steady stream of dragonfire on them. They quickly burned and ceased their movement. And then he turned to me, green eyes blazing in the dark.

“You are already far too dangerous.” It was a statement of fact, but it came out as a begrudging acknowledgement. “I cannot let you live.” In contrast to the rage-filled comments before, Stentor glared at me with a new-found wariness. The eyes gleamed with an intelligence that none of the other creatures of the Dark Forest had displayed, not even the Ants.

“Why can’t you just leave me alone!” I shouted at him. I was done running. I planted my feet and began to look for something I could use.

“Because I know your story. I know what you will become. I once paid the price for you. Now you pay me back in blood.” He reached out a claw again, but instead of slashing it at me as I expected, smashed it into the wall. Rocks began to tumble from above, threatening both of us. Too late I realized what was happening.

“You’re mad! You’ll die too! I don’t care how good at digging you are!” The Dragon of the Rootways simply bared its teeth at me, and blinked. A massive boulder slammed down in front of me, and seconds later, I was buried alive.