This forest wasn't normal.Not like the other one.
Not like the nightmare one.
Not like ANYTHING.
The trees weren't just tall—they were wrong.
Their trunks bent slightly toward me, like they were listening.
Their leaves shimmered faintly, but not from wind—they pulsed with light like veins under skin.
The ground wasn't dirt.
Not fully.
It was wood.
A wooden floor, overgrown with moss and roots, stretching endlessly between trees.
"Okay," I whispered.
"This is weird. Even for me. And I got kidnapped by a forest door."
I tried to limp forward, dragging my leg behind me.
Every few steps, the ground shifted—
literally shifted.
The roots breathed.
The moss rippled.
The trees tilted their branches as if following my movement.
"I hate this," I muttered. "I HATE THIS PLACE."
A soft whisper scraped the air behind me.
My blood froze.
I turned slow.
A shadow—long, tall, thin—stood between the trees.
No face.
No body.
Just… outline.
And it stepped toward me.
My heart launched itself into the stratosphere.
"Oh HELL no," I whispered, and then louder,
"BACK THE HELL UP! I AM NOT ON TODAY!"
The shadow didn't care.
It stretched, rising taller, its head brushing the branches,
and a low hum vibrated the forest floor.
I limped as fast as humanly possible—basically a traumatized crab scuttle—toward the thicker trees.
The shadow followed.
It always followed.
I ducked behind a massive twisted trunk, pressed myself against the bark—
and it pulsed.
The tree pulsed.
Like a heartbeat.
I sucked in a breath and slapped a hand over my mouth to keep quiet.
The shadow drifted past, slow, searching.
It paused.
Tilted its head.
I prayed to every god, demon, and weird forest entity that it wouldn't—
It moved on.
I waited until its shape disappeared down the fog-wrapped path.
Then I let out a breath so shaky it probably echoed.
"I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die HERE. Alone. In Tree Hell."
But I pushed forward anyway.
Because what else was I supposed to do?
Lay down and let the grass eat me?
No thanks.
And somewhere deep in the forest…
something answered my presence.
A low, distant thrum.
Like footsteps.
But heavier.
And getting closer.
——————————————————————————*
Seren's body collapsed the second she crossed the door.
Not fainted.
Not unconscious.Empty.
Druhva shook her shoulders, panic flooding her voice.
"Seren?! Hey—hey, wake up! Seren!"
No response.
Her eyes were open but glassy, unfocused, staring at nothing.
Druhva slapped her cheek lightly."SEREN!"
Adrian grabbed Druhva's wrist."She's gone."
Druhva whipped around."What do you mean gone?!"
"Her body is here."Adrian crouched, his face unreadable, shadows curling under his fingertips."But her soul—her consciousness—was taken into the second realm."
Druhva's breath hitched."Then BRING HER BACK!"
"It's not that simple."
"Adrian—!"
He snapped, voice sharp and cold:"If I pull too hard, I'll tear her mind apart."
Druhva froze, horror written across her face.
"She's not dead," Adrian added quietly.
"But she's somewhere I can't reach. Not by force."
"Is she… safe?" Druhva whispered.
Adrian closed his eyes.
And for the first time since Seren had met him—
he looked unsure.
"No," he said."She's in the Rooted Forest."A pause."That place kills anything that breathes."
Druhva's voice broke.
"Then we go in after her."
Adrian stood, cloak shifting like smoke around him."We will."
A sharp inhale."But if that forest marked her…"He looked down at Seren's still body, jaw clenched."…then it won't let her leave without a fight."
———————————————————————————-*
Pain burned down my leg so bad I actually saw stars.
Real stars. In the middle of a forest.
"Great," I wheezed. "I broke my leg AND my brain. Perfect."
But lying there wasn't gonna save me.
So I crawled.Not gracefully.Not bravely.
More like a dying squirrel dragging roadkill.
Every movement sent lightning up my thigh.
The forest watched.
I swear it watched — leaves rustling without wind, trunks leaning, roots inching closer whenever I stopped.
"Nope," I hissed. "Not today, you creepy little plant stalkers."
Finally, after what felt like a hundred years of agony, I found a cluster of long, flat leaves — almost metallic, shimmering green like polished jade.
And beside them?Two big rocks.
"Oh hell yeah," I muttered. "Field surgery time. Adrian would be proud. Actually no he'd call me an idiot. Whatever."
I dragged my leg between the rocks, braced myself, grabbed a long branch—
AND PULLED.
The world went white.I screamed so loud birds probably dropped dead somewhere.But the bone snapped back into place.
Shaking, sweating, trying not to throw up, I wrapped the weird leaves around my leg, tying them so tight the veins bulged in the surface of the leaf like it was alive.
Then I snapped another branch, used it as a crutch, and forced myself upright.
Kind of upright.
More like a one-legged scarecrow wobbling through hell.
Each step hurt, but I moved.Because if I didn't, something out there WOULD eat me.
"Adrian… Druhva…" I whispered, voice cracking. "Please tell me you're trying to reach me…"
—————————————————————————-*
Adrian flipped through his old, battered leather notebook — the one with pages blackened at the edges and ink that crawled like it hated staying still.
Druhva hovered behind him.Terrified. Hopeful. Very close to screaming into a pillow.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
Adrian didn't look up.
"I wrote this during my first year in the dreamrealm," he said, voice flat, eyes scanning ink like it was alive.
"Back when I was still human enough to fear things."
Druhva swallowed."Did you write anything about… how to reach someone trapped inside?"
Adrian paused.Then slowly flipped to a page marked with a rip — like something had clawed it."There is one method."
Druhva leaned closer.
"It's dangerous," he added.
"Great," Druhva snapped. "Do it anyway."
Adrian exhaled, fingers resting on a symbol burned into the page.
"It requires linking your consciousness to hers through the tether she left behind."
"What tether?"
He pointed.Seren's body.Still.Breathing slow.Eyes unfocused and empty.
"Her soul tore out too fast," Adrian murmured. "Pieces of her dreamenergy are still here. I can follow the trail."
Druhva grabbed his arm."Then we go NOW."
Adrian stood, shadows rising off him like smoke.He pressed two fingers to Seren's temple—and the air vibrated.
Druhva grabbed his other hand and closed her eyes.
Adrian whispered the old words he hadn't spoken in years.
Words that tasted like rust.
Words that opened doors.The room darkened.Their bodies shook.
And then—
the floor cracked open into black water, swirling like ink.Adrian inhaled sharply.
"We're in," he said.
And all three of them—
Adrian, Druhva, and the shell of Seren's body—
dropped into the realm where Seren crawled alone.
The world cracked open beneath them.
THUD.
Adrian slammed into the dream-forest like someone had hurled him from the sky. Druhva landed beside him with a grunt.
The forest reacted instantly—branches recoiling, shadows slinking back.
Adrian pushed himself up and—something felt different.
His body was sharper.
His movements quicker.
His instincts buzzing like he had lived in this world for centuries.
Druhva stared. "You… look stronger."
"Less staring, more surviving," Adrian snapped.
Because monsters had heard the crash.
Shadow-beasts burst from the trees, claws long as knives, eyes glowing like embers. They lunged.
Adrian didn't hesitate.
He moved.
He ducked beneath a swipe, grabbed a fallen limb, snapped it in half, and drove both ends straight into two charging beasts. Another creature leapt—Adrian rolled, kicked it off, and tore through them with a precision he'd never had in the waking world.
Druhva kept behind him, wide-eyed, as Adrian cut down monster after monster.
As if he belonged here.As if he remembered this place.When the last creature fell in a puff of black dust, the forest went eerily quiet.
Then Druhva stiffened. "Do you smell that?"
Adrian did.
Blood.Human.Fresh.
He followed the trail—smeared across leaves, brushed against bark, dripping in uneven patterns.His chest tightened."Seren," he whispered.
They ran—Adrian faster than ever, Druhva close behind—following the blood deeper into the forest, toward a girl limping alone, terrified, thinking her rescuers were monsters hunting her.
————————————————————————————*
The thud shook the ground so hard it rattled my teeth.
And for a second—just one stupid, desperate second—I wished they were here.
Adrian.Druhva.
Anyone who wasn't a nightmare with too many joints.I pressed my back against a tree, peeking out through the shadows, heart pounding so loud it echoed in my ribs.
And then—
Footsteps.
Two figures dropped into the clearing ahead.
I froze.No way.
NO. WAY.
Adrian hit the ground first, dust exploding around his boots. His eyes glowed faintly, jaw sharp, clothes torn like he'd fought his way through hell and got bored halfway through. Druhva landed beside him, staff humming with soft light.
For a moment, I just… stared.
I'd wanted them here so badly I thought I'd hallucinated them.
But then three nightmare beasts lunged from the trees—and that's when it got REAL.
Adrian moved like the forest was his playground.
He ducked under a claw that could slice a boulder in half. Grabbed a monster by the throat. Threw it into another one so hard the trees shook. Druhva's light flared, stunning a third creature long enough for Adrian to rip its arm off and slam it into the ground.
No hesitation.No fear.Just cold, terrifying skill—like he'd lived here for centuries.
I watched, wide-eyed, breath caught in my throat.Holy.Actual.Shit.
They finished the last creature, black smoke dissolving into the air.
That was enough for me.
I shoved off the tree and limped out of hiding, pain screaming up my leg, but I didn't care—I was DONE being alone.
"Adrian! Druhva!" I called, voice cracking.
Druhva spun first, eyes widening.
"Seren!"
Adrian didn't jump. Didn't flinch.He turned slowly—like he already knew where I was.His gaze locked on me.Took in my makeshift splint.The blood.The limp.His jaw tightened.Not pity.Not panic.
Calculation.
He walked toward me with controlled steps, scanning the forest like something might attack again at any moment.
"We're leaving," he said, tone sharp. "Now."
"Great," I said, trying to smile even though my leg felt like someone set it on fire. "Door, please. Magical escape hatch. Anything."
Adrian didn't answer right away.He turned, studying the twisted trees with a look that made my stomach drop.He wasn't just trying to find a way out.He was realizing something.Something bad."This place shifted," he muttered. "It's not the same dream-forest as before. The door moved. And it won't open itself this time."
Druhva swallowed hard."So… we're stuck?"
Adrian's eyes narrowed as he scanned the dark, breathing forest."Not stuck," he said.
"Just being hunted."