Victor finally reached the foot of the hill. Under the cloak, he wasn’t wearing anything except his school uniform blazer, a button-up, and a t-shirt. He wore sneakers too. He didn’t even seem chilly. Naturally, he walked over to his grandmother and stood next to her.

  Like puzzle pieces naturally falling into place, we all stood in front of the Hudson Witch.

  I, along with Wol and Hwari. Emyrith and Ruth were next to us.

  Mina with Seoul, the haetae. Elder Baek’s familiar still wasn’t around.

  Victor Valentine and Charlotte Valentine. The salamander had returned to the nape of Victor’s neck. Charlotte’s familiar, the girl in the mirror, had hidden herself again.

  The Hudson Witch looked at all of us in turn, then began. “Name yourselves, so that I and the spirits know it is truly you.”

  Mina stepped forward, and Seoul lumbered behind her, tongue dangling out. “My name is Mina Baek. This is my familiar, Seoul.”

  I think Charlotte must have nudged Victor, because he didn’t seem like the type to volunteer to go ahead of anyone else. If anything, he’d go last and stall the whole process. “Victor Valentine, and this is Spark.” As he said the familiar’s name, he cupped it gently.

  I went next. “I’m Jain Shin Hallow, and these two are my familiars. Wol, and Hwari.”

  Hwari rose out of the shadows, doing a little spin around my head before fading out of visibility.Wol stood next to my feet, his eyes looking on with that mysterious focus that only cats could do.

  “Then the time for the first trial has come. The young ones will follow. The rest of you, remain.” She said and walked towards the Mother Tree.

  “Go on, Mr. Hallow,” Emyrith said softly under his breath.

  Mina was already on her way, and Victor followed right after. After a second’s delay, I soon limped after them. The Hudson Witch’s pace was slow enough that I could catch up.

  “What took you so long? You’re the last one.” Mina growled under her breath towards Victor once the three of us were close enough.

  To my surprise, Victor actually answered her. “Long walk.” Then, to me, he said, “You made it, Hallow.”

  “I was the first one here,” I snapped, shooting a glare in Mina’s direction. “Don’t think this is over.”

  On TV shows, when someone promises revenge, it comes out grim and all serious-like. It’s enough to turn rooms cold and stop people from breathing. A certain gravitas to the words, if you will. When I said it, it came out petulant and menial.

  “You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep,” She said with a smug smile. “Seoul and I’d been following you for nearly ten minutes. We could’ve overtaken you anytime.”

  “Ten minutes?” I said. I really needed to figure out how she did that invisibility trick. Maybe an application of transmutation, or something related to Seoul’s talent.

  “If it makes you feel better, you can consider it a date,” Mina said, waggling her eyebrows.

  My heart did a little flutter at the word ‘date’ and the suggestive look in her eyes. I stomped on the emotion until it died. She was manipulative. Evil. That’s what she was. Definitely not flirtatious. At least, not towards someone like me. Never in a million years.

  “The Mother Tree,” Victor muttered, looking worried, “She’s hurt.”

  At his voice, Spark came to attention and lifted its head towards the mother tree. It made a strange chirping noise and snuggled in on itself.

  “Oh, please, she’s fine,” Mina said offhandedly. She did a little skip and a hop, as if she was excited and couldn’t contain the energy. “But it looks like trial by combat is off the table,” she said and shot me a sly look. “Count yourself lucky. When you’re out of the running, at least you won’t be hurt worse than you already are.”

  “Who knows. Maybe you’ll be the one to be eliminated.” I muttered angrily as I was forced to balance myself on one foot to get over a particularly large branch in our way. I could have walked around it, but Mina and Victor had stepped over it without even thinking about it. I didn’t want to appear weak.

  “You’re cute. Endearing, even. Don’t push it, Jain,” Mina said, in the same tone she used to order me ‘don’t move’ in front of the bathroom where she had jumped me.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  I should have left it at that. I think the old me might have settled for something like ‘bite me’ or ‘screw you’. Talking back without really contradicting what they were saying. Hell, that was my whole personality. All bark, no bite. As I said before, if I really fought back, people like Mina Baek could make life hell for me.

  But this wasn’t school. And she wasn’t the only practitioner. Hell, she only got here by following me.

  “Why? So you can turn invisible and hide like a little girl again?” I said quietly, a small challenge in my voice. “Or are you going to wait until I break my other leg too?”

  I was so nervous that my heart was trying to leave my body and find a bomb shelter to hide in. I’d said some witty things before, but those were at the dregs of conversations where the other person and I both knew I wasn’t actually going to do anything. But I’d done the opposite of it just now, sending a small challenge to her authority.

  Either two things happen in those cases. One person backs down —usually me— or it continues to escalate.

  Mina’s eyes widened slightly with mild irritation. Then she tucked her chin, a slight tilt to her jaw, and I knew that the Korean girl wasn’t the type to back down at all. Seoul growled at me from her knees.

  “Well,” Wol said, reminding me of the first time we met, “This should be entertaining.”

  “You should watch your words,” Victor said calmly, “You don’t know what practitioners are capable of.”

  I looked him straight in the eye. “I got here. Same as you. Without help. Even got myself familiars and everything.”

  He looked at me coldly. No furrowing of the brows, no clenching of the jaw, nothing. Just the usual bored expression, like he was flipping TV channels to see what might be fun to listen to while cooking.

  “Yeah, I’m going to enjoy this,” He said at last.

  Hoo, boy. And who said I wasn’t good at making friends?

  We walked the rest of the way in silence. The Hudson Witch definitely heard our conversation but didn’t bother chiming in.

  We stopped about ten feet before the Mother Tree.

  Up close, her wounds were worse. Large chunks of her skin —tree bark— had simply been torn off by the mushroom children, leaving open wounds that looked like sores all over the side of her arm. The wound on her stomach was larger than I thought. It was a gaping semi-circle, the majority of her stomach just not there. She was a spirit, yes, but all the anatomical pieces were there. With her hand, she was holding in these gray-ropy things from spilling out onto the side.

  I immediately wanted to throw up.

  When she spoke, it was with deep peace and pain. “Witch. Are these the ones you spoke of?”

  “They are,” the Hudson Witch confirmed and turned, facing us. “Few days ago, the Mother Tree suffered a wound.”

  “Witch,” the Mother Tree said, a pained expression on her face. She immediately tried to hide it with a motherly smile towards us. “I will explain.”

  “As you will, Mother Tree,” the Hudson Witch stepped to the side.

  As the Mother Tree spoke, she slightly straightened, then winced and stooped her back again. Some of the mushroom children saw this and began gibbering in an unknown language and started running in circles around her. A couple of them kept looking in our direction, curious, but seemed to be checking the Hudson Witch’s reaction. They seemed scared of her.

  “I am the Mother Tree of this forest, planted here long before the settlers came. The one who planted me was not a settler, but a shaman of the spirit-worshippers,” She said. “I have seen many things. I have seen the great herds of the horned beasts ridden down to the last calf. Humans swinging their axes to build houses for their young, others who wielded swords that roared steel to awash the land in blood.”

  One of the mushroom kids tried his luck and ran towards us. Seoul growled, and it stopped, giving an unsure look towards the Mother Tree, who reached out and dragged him near her.

  “I have also mothered many daughters. You have surely seen them on your way here,” She continued. “For more years than your short lives could fathom, I have overseen the prosperity of this land, as the Mother Tree before me did, and as the Mother Tree before her did. But that will soon end.”

  “You’re dying,” I blurted out.

  “Yes, young one. I am,” She said sadly. The giant dryad gestured to the wound with her chin, then turned her hand to show us the wound. I looked away. “Even the Witch could not find a remedy for this wound.”

  I looked at Wol, who looked distraught. It wasn’t just him. Victor, Mina, they all did. Out of all of us, the Hudson Witch looked the most shaken. She couldn’t take her eyes off the wound, like she was still wondering if there was a way to heal it.

  “How’d you get it?” Victor asked.

  The Mother Tree closed her eyes. “I did not see much. Cloaks. Claws. Staves. Lightning. They hid themselves in the darkness of night, when I was still asleep. When I awoke, they were gone. This wound was the only thing left of them.”

  “So what? You want us to find them? Is that the trial?” Mina asked.

  “All in time, lass,” the Hudson Witch replied. “For now, listen.”

  The Mother Tree nodded to the Hudson Witch and covered her wound again. Some of the mushroom children were taking an interest in it and reached with their grubby little hands to grab hold of the snake-like innards. I did not want to see that happen, and had been ready to step in. To my surprise, Victor took a step forward too and only stopped when the wound had been covered.

  “As the Hallow has pointed out, with this wound, I will not live to see past spring,” the Mother Tree said. “I will grow weaker and weaker. I am not afraid of pain. Nor am I afraid of what lies on the other side. However, while I am wounded, my children, and all of the forest will suffer for it.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath. I got a bad feeling in my chest.

  “The forest is home to millions of lives, both of your world and mine.” She said, shaking her head. “I cannot let that happen.”

  “So choose a new Mother Tree,” I interrupted, trying to offer new possibilities. Or change the topic. Maybe even delay it. I didn’t want to hear it. “Retire. Spend the rest of your time with… your kids.”

  “I wish I could, Diabolist.But a new Mother Tree cannot be chosen until I have passed on the mantle,”She answered.“At the same time, I worry for these little ones.”

  Gently, she cupped her hands around one of the mushroom children and brought it to her chest. It laughed delightedly and struggled against her grip. When the Mother Tree brought it to eye level and kissed it on the forehead, it giggled. When she set it down, it tried to clamber on top of her, presumably for another kiss. Its hands and feet left bruises and fresh scrapes on her body.

  Victor clenched his fist. “How so?”

  “Many of my children do not think too kindly of my new children. I understand. In their eyes, these small ones are parasites. Those who feed on the corpses of their siblings, and sometimes, still-living ones as well. But they, too, are my own. I am the Mother Tree of this forest, and everything in it partakes of my body in some way. I see no difference between these little ones and my daughter.”

  She used her arm to round them up, holding them close. Some of them gnawed on her arm.

  “This is my request, and the Witch has made it a trial for you all,” She said. “I do not wish to see my forest weaken anymore. I wish to cross over to the other side tonight.”

  I didn’t want to hear it anymore, but I had to. So I just looked down at my feet instead.

  “I wish to die, practitioners. But I wish to die knowing that these children will be safe.” The Mother Tree closed her eyes. “So give me your ideas, children. Whoever can fulfill my needs will be the winner of your trial.”

  “Fuck,” I swore. She wanted us to kill her.

  Victor bit his lip, looking confused.

  “So I was right. It’s not a trial by combat, but of wit,” Mina said, eyeing the mushroom children. I could practically see the wheels turning behind her perfect make-up. “I told you so.”