The departure from the cottage was frantic.

Mark and Mason worked with a grim speed, loading a small wooden cart with sacks of grain, dried meat, and every blanket they owned. Raymond and Amanda stood by the hearth one last time, looking at the home where they had raised eight children. It was a house filled with memories of scraped knees and birthday stews, but now it felt like a target painted against the dark backdrop of the trees.

"We cannot take the main road," Betty warned. She was draped in a heavy wool cloak that Beatrice had found in the attic. The Fae looked stronger now, though her silver eyes remained clouded with a deep, ancient fatigue. "The shapeshifters have scouts. If we walk the open path, we are inviting a slaughter."

"Then we take the Deer Trail," Carlson suggested, his hand resting on the handle of the cart. He looked at Elena, who was helping a shaky Hilary into the back of the wagon. "It is narrow and overgrown, but it leads deep into the heart of the forest. Most villagers are too afraid to go that far."

"Good," Betty whispered. "Fear is a wonderful shield."

They set off just as the first hint of gray light began to bleed into the horizon. The forest was not quiet. The trees seemed to groan under the weight of the night, and the wind carried a strange, high-pitched whistling that made Elena’s skin crawl.

Elena walked at the back of the group with Leah. Every few minutes, Elena would glance at her palms. She half-expected to see them glowing pink again, but they were just pale and trembling from the cold.

"You did well, El," Leah said quietly, her bow gripped tight in her hand. "But you need to rest your mind. You look like you haven't slept in a decade."

"I can't," Elena replied, her voice barely a whisper. "Every time I close my eyes, I see those mice. I see the way their bones snapped. It wasn't just magic, Leah. It felt like... like I was peeling back a layer of the world and changing the rules."

"That is exactly what you were doing," Betty called out from the front, her ears sharp enough to catch a falling leaf. "The Daughter of the Moon does not ask for permission. She commands. But a command with no discipline is a death sentence for the commander."

They had been walking for three hours when the forest began to change. The trees grew taller, their trunks thick with glowing blue moss that hummed with a low frequency. The Deer Trail vanished, swallowed by a carpet of white ferns that crunched like glass under their feet.

Suddenly, the horses pulling the cart stopped. They tossed their heads, their eyes rolling in terror.

"What is it?" Mason asked, reaching for his axe.

A thick, purple mist began to roll across the forest floor. It didn't behave like normal fog. It swirled in purposeful patterns, rising up to form a wall in front of them. From within the mist, a dozen tall, thin figures emerged.

They were not Orcs. They were Wood-Wights—skeletal creatures made of rotted bark and vine, with hollow sockets where eyes should be. They were the guardians of the deep forest, and they did not like trespassers.

The Wights raised spears made of sharpened flint. A low, rattling sound filled the air, like a thousand dry sticks breaking at once.

"Stay back!" Mark roared, stepping in front of the cart.

"They won't listen to steel," Betty hissed, her silver eyes flashing. "Elena! You must speak to them. Tell them who you are!"

"I don't know who I am!" Elena cried, her heart racing.

One of the Wights lunged forward, its wooden spear whistling through the air toward Mark.

"No!" Elena screamed.

She didn't wait for the pink light this time. she threw her hands out, picturing a wall of solid ice. Instead of ice, a wave of shimmering lunar silver erupted from her chest. It hit the Wight, but it didn't turn it into a mouse. Instead, the creature froze. Green leaves began to sprout from its rotted limbs. Tiny white flowers bloomed in its eye sockets.

The Wight dropped its spear and fell to its knees, no longer a monster, but a living, breathing tree.

The other Wights stopped. They lowered their spears, their hollow heads tilting in unison. They didn't see an enemy anymore. They saw a gardener.

Meanwhile, the "Bloodhound’s" journey was facing a much more frustrating obstacle.

Aiden’s magnificent black carriage, pulled by six coal-black stallions, was currently stuck in a mud pit the size of a small pond.

"Silas," Aiden said, his voice dangerously calm. He was leaning out of the window, his expensive silk sleeve dangling dangerously close to a splash of brown sludge. "Tell me why we are stationary."

Silas was standing on a dry patch of grass, holding a purple silk umbrella over his head to shield himself from a light drizzle. "Well, Sire, it appears that the laws of physics do not care for your royal lineage. The wheels are quite buried. Also, the horses have decided they would rather eat this particularly lush clover than pull two tons of obsidian and ego through a swamp."

Aiden stepped out of the carriage, his boots sinking into the mud with a squelch that made him wince. "I could fly, Silas. I could turn into a cloud of bats and be there in twenty minutes."

"And arrive covered in soot and smelling like a cave?" Silas asked, tut-ting loudly. "Think of the first impression, My Lord. The prophecy says 'The Bloodhound shall find his heart,' not 'The damp rodent shall startle a kitchen maid.' Appearance is everything."

Aiden looked down at his ruined boots and let out a long, dramatic sigh that moved the trees around them. "I hate the countryside. Everything is so... moist."

Suddenly, a gray fox trotted out of the bushes. It sat near the edge of the mud pit, its yellow eyes watching Aiden with an expression that looked suspiciously like a smirk.

Aiden narrowed his eyes. "Is that a fox? Or is it Ramela come to mock me?"

The fox let out a sharp, yapping sound that sounded remarkably like a laugh, then turned and vanished into the brush, heading north toward the very forest where Elena was currently turning monsters into shrubbery.

Aiden wiped a smudge of mud from his cheek. "Get the shovel, Silas. If that fox beats me to her, I’m turning you into a footstool."

"Of course, Sire," Silas replied, not moving an inch. "I believe the shovel is under the crate of fine wine. This may take some time."

The Wood-Wights were no longer interested in murder. They were far too busy being trees.

One by one, the skeletal guardians had knelt before Elena, their wooden limbs sprouting lush ivy and bright morning glory flowers. The terrifying rattling sound of their voices had been replaced by the gentle rustle of leaves. It was beautiful, but it was also incredibly awkward.

"Elena, move slowly," Carlson whispered, his hand still white-knuckled on the cart’s handle. "I don't think they’re hostile anymore, but I’d rather not be turned into a weeping willow if you sneeze."

"I’m trying!" Elena hissed back, her hands still tingling with silver sparks. "I didn't mean to garden them! I was trying to make a shield!"

"Well, you’ve turned a death squad into a botanical garden," Betty noted, stepping over a Wight that was currently growing a very impressive crop of bluebells from its ribcage. "It’s a start. But we need to move before they decide to start photosynthesizing in our way."

The group scrambled past the floral-monsters, the cart wheels squeaking over the white ferns. They were deep in the Whispering Woods now, where the trees were so tall that the sky was just a memory. The air here was thick with a sweet, heavy perfume that made everyone feel a little bit lightheaded.

"Does anyone else feel like the trees are laughing at us?" Mason asked, scratching his head.

"They probably are," Betty said. "Trees have a very dry sense of humor. Mostly bark, no bite."

Suddenly, a flash of gray fur darted across the path.

A sleek fox with sharp, intelligent yellow eyes sat on a mossy log, watching them. It tilted its head, its bushy tail twitching with a rhythmic, mocking motion.

"Oh, look! A fox!" Hilary chirped from the back of the wagon. Despite her wound being healed, she was still a bit loopy from the magic. "Can we keep it? It looks like it wants to tell me a secret."

"Hilary, that's a wild animal," Amanda warned, clutching her shawl. "It probably has fleas. Or a grudge."

The fox let out a sharp, yapping sound that sounded suspiciously like a cough. It jumped off the log and began to trot in circles around Elena, its nose twitching.

"It’s cute," Elena said, reaching out a hand.

"Elena, don't!" Betty yelled, but it was too late.

The moment Elena’s fingers brushed the fox’s fur, the air turned a sickly, bruised yellow. The fox didn't just grow; it distorted. Its bones popped and stretched with a sound like wet laundry being wrung out. Within seconds, the cute little animal had vanished, replaced by a tall, stunning woman in a tattered maid’s uniform.

Ramela stood there, her golden hair messy and her yellow eyes gleaming with malice. She dusted off her apron as if she hadn't just spent the last hour running through the mud on four legs.

"Honestly," Ramela sighed, looking at her broken fingernails. "The things I do for a bit of gossip. Elena, dear, you really must work on your peripheral vision. A shapeshifter could hide in your shadow and you’d probably offer it a scone."

"Who are you?" Mark demanded, stepping forward with his axe.

Ramela didn't even look at him. She flicked her wrist, and a blast of yellow energy sent Mark sprawling back into a pile of soft, glowing moss. "Hush, muscle-brain. I’m speaking to the royalty."

She turned back to Elena, her smile widening to reveal teeth that were just a little too sharp. "The Palace is in an uproar, you know. Aiden is currently stuck in a mud pit—don't ask, he’s very dramatic—but he’s coming. And he isn't coming to bring you flowers. He’s coming to claim his prize."

"I am not a prize," Elena snapped, her eyes beginning to shimmer with that dangerous rose-colored light.

"Oh, sweetie, in this world, everyone is a prize or a hunter," Ramela laughed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, blackened bone. "And since I can't have the Prince’s heart, I think I’ll just take yours. It’ll make a lovely paperweight."

She threw the bone into the air. It didn't fall. It hovered, spinning rapidly until it tore a hole in the very fabric of the forest.

From the hole crawled a creature made of pure shadow and spite—a Void-Hound. It was ten feet tall, with glowing red eyes and a mouth that dripped darkness.

"Kill the family," Ramela commanded, her voice dropping an octave. "But bring me the girl. Intact. I want to see the look in Aiden’s eyes when he realizes he’s late for the party."

The Void-Hound let out a sound that wasn't a bark, but a scream of a thousand lost souls. It lunged.

"Carlson, get the salt!" Elena shouted, though she had no idea why she said it.

"Salt?" Carlson yelled back, fumbling with his healer’s bag. "I have bandages and peppermint! Will peppermint work?"

"Just do something!" Leah screamed, firing an arrow that passed harmlessly through the Hound’s smoky chest.

The monster swiped at the cart, its claws turning the wood to ash instantly. The family scrambled back, trapped between the Void-Hound and the wall of tree-Wights.

Elena felt the snap coming again. This time, it wasn't just fear. It was a cold, lunar rage.

"You want a prize?" Elena whispered, her voice echoing with the power of a thousand moons. "Then catch this."

She didn't aim for the Hound. She aimed for the hole in the air.

Meanwhile, back at the mud pit...

Aiden was currently standing on the roof of his carriage, holding a silver-handled shovel like a sword. Silas was sitting on a dry rock, polishing a monocle.

"I’ve done it, Silas!" Aiden announced. "The left wheel is free. We shall be on our way in moments!"

At that exact moment, the horses decided to lie down in the mud for a nap.

Aiden looked at the horses. He looked at the shovel. He looked at the dark forest in the distance.

"Silas," Aiden said, his voice trembling with a five-hundred-year-old temper.

"Yes, My Lord?"

"I am going to walk. I am going to walk through the mud, in my silk boots, and I am going to find that girl. And if she is even slightly annoyed that I am late, I am going to blame you."

"A traditional choice, Sire," Silas nodded. "I shall stay here and ensure the horses don't catch a cold. Do try not to trip over a squirrel."

Aiden leaped from the carriage roof, landing with a spectacular thud in the sludge. He didn't care. The pull in his chest was no longer a hum; it was a scream.

He took off running toward the forest, leaving a trail of expensive mud behind him.