Sunlight shone down on Edan as he stood atop the little hill in his SoulScape looking around wildly.

  “Hey, Kid, how's it going?”

  “What happened?”

  “A soul attack,” Kiba answered, walking over to stand next to Edan. He had his hands in his pocket and when Edan looked at him, Kiba shrugged. “Who knew the tree had the skill, aye?”

  Edan continued to look around, expecting to be attacked at any moment. The clouds continued to drift past the island peacefully. Flickers of flame and lightning danced between each puffy white clump. Overhead, the sun beat down with a relentless heat that Edan found comforting.

  “It’s coming.” Kiba continued, looking out over the expense of clouds, his voice low and serious for once. “Prepare yourself.”

  “How?”

  “You don’t know any Soul cultivating techniques, so the best you can do is endure, and hope for the best.” Kiba’s eyes flashed blue then orange then an intense red. “Endure, kid.”

  Edan opened his mouth to ask another question, but a stabbing pain behind his eye made him wince. Rubbing his temple, Edan felt an icy prickle on his skin. Hurriedly sitting down cross-legged, Edan closed his eyes and took slow, steady breaths as he worked to center himself.

  The icy prickle turned into a stabbing pain in his limbs. Edan felt something twist in the center of his being. It was like someone had reached in, grabbed his heart, and pulled.

  Kiba watched Edan’s brows furrow in concentration. Concern dancing with fire in his eyes.

  Around the little green island, the clouds began shifting together. The white puffs expanding and becoming tinged with gray.

  What Edan thought was uncomfortable quickly turned into unbearable. Pain radiated through Edan’s entire body like a hammer, smashing, pounding, tearing, it sought to break him down. Break him apart.

  Edan breathed in as he heard whispers, the words coming into focus, even as the voice remained foreign.

  You are different from the old one. Different from the new one. There are more of you? Always more. All the same, but different. Different is…lonely. Are you lonely?

  Edan breathed out. The voice didn't matter. The words meant nothing.

  Why resist me? Why be different? You should not be different. There is nothing to be gained. It was better to be part of the forest, than a lone tree in an empty glade.

  Edan breathed in again, filling his lungs and fighting the pain that seemed to roll on and on.

  Let go and become us.

  Edan breathed out.

  Kiba stood behind Edan. He watched with interest as the clouds around the island turned from gray to black. They exploded outwards. No longer puffy, they became rolling masses, thick with lightning and flame. Overhead, the sun’s brilliance faded until the island was cast in shadow.

  He wasn’t sure, but Kiba thought he could hear the sound of thunder in the distance.

  Edan let the pain wash through him, carrying the words with them. They, like the pain, meant nothing to him. He would not give in. Already stubborn by nature, Edan refused to let go. Become part of something greater? He would achieve greatness on his own.

  The dark clouds seethed and boiled as grasping fingers of wood emerged around the island. Each finger was monolithic. The hand was large enough to close around the entire island. The little patch of green was the perfect size to fit in the palm of its hand.

  Kiba looked up as the fingers rose higher and higher. Still, Edan remained seated, his eyes closed and his breathing steady.

  “Interesting.” The primordial muttered as streaks of lightning, thicker than Kiba’s arm, lanced across the wooden fingers, leaving scorch marks behind. Like greedy ants, flames ran up the wooden digits from the clouds below. They chewed through the wood hungrily, turning the wood pitted and black.

  The fingers began to break apart into swirling motes of embers that glowed briefly in the darkened environment. Lightning flashed, and those embers were reduced to ash.

  “Very interesting.”

  The pain ended abruptly. One second Edan thought his bones had frozen and fractured, the next he felt fine. There wasn’t even an ache left behind. Opening his eyes, Edan looked around. Not much had changed other than the clouds around the island looking a little fatter.

  “I think it's over,” said Edan, looking up to see Kiba standing protectively over him.

  “Not just over. I think you actually won.” Kiba sounded impressed. “I’ll explain later, but first, see how your bodies doing and what happened to the tree.”

  Slipping from his SoulScape was as easy as thought.

  Edan opened his eyes to the pale green light of the large room. He lay spread out on the floor, a stone digging into his hip. Sitting up, Edan cast about for the Hrovath tree, but it was nowhere to be seen. The roots that had covered most of the room were withered and burnt.

  Getting to his feet, Edan noticed someone else was missing. Tish. Her body was gone. Only the blood-stained floor remained as evidence of her passing.

  It’s gone. So is Tish. It must have taken her, though I don’t know why it left me alive.

  A sudden thought made Edan pat down his body in a panic, looking for any part of him that had turned wooden or floral.

  My guess, kid? It ran for its life. Like its name said, it was an infant and probably panicked when you burnt its soul.

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  Kiba’s response came through quicker than Edan expected. The constantly blinking notification icon at the corner of his vision gave him a hint as to the cause.

  Tell me what happened.

  As Kiba began to explain the attack from his side, Edan pulled up the long list of notifications.

  [Moss trick Cougar - lvl 37 slain]

  [Experience gathered]

  [Vitalis gathered]

  [Level 34 -> Level 35]

  [Landlocked Viper - lvl 33 slain]

  [Experience gathered]

  [Vitalis gathered]

  [Territorial Ripping Badger - lvl 38 slain]

  [Experience gathered]

  [Vitalis gathered]

  [Level 35 -> Level 36]

  [+15 Stat Points]

  Edan skipped past the other similar notifications. After the Cadaver Gorilla kill, Edan had received another level up, so he was sitting pretty with a new level of 37 and 45 free Stat points.

  At the very bottom of the list was a final notification that made Edan laugh in surprised happiness.

  Title [Obtained]

  Unconquered Soul - You will not bend. You will not yield. You have successfully defended your soul from the attack of a being more than 30+ levels above you. *Title can be lost. (+.2 Willpower, +.3 Spirit)

  Edan settled down on the floor, using a bit of a pillar that had broken off as a seat. He let Kiba finish explaining the battle with the Hrovath Infant as he tried to sort through his own mixed emotions. Tish had died.

  The battle, if you could call it that, that took place in his SoulScape sounded awesome from the Primordial's perspective. All Edan remembered was pain.

  Edan was about to pull up his stat sheet to start working through it when a distant boom distracted him and the ceiling above shook. Fresh dirt rained down around the room.

  Edan glanced up with concern.

  There was another boom and more dirt fell. Edan jumped to his feet, looking around for the return of the Hrovath Tree. His eyes darted to the dark hole in the wall and wondered if he should still make a run for it.

  A third boom shook the room and part of the roof cracked. Web-like fissures ran across to join the large central crack down its middle.

  Edan swore and sprinted in the opposite direction. Behind him, the roof caved in with a groan, spilling stone, soil, withered roots, and branches everywhere. Edan dove behind one of the support pillars as bits of rock flew past his head.

  The rumbling groan carried on and for a second Edan feared the whole place would cave in.

  It settled with a final alarming groan. The air was thick with dust, and Edan coughed into his hand. Peeking around the stone pillar, Edan had to squint to try and see through the gloom.

  The caved-in section of the ceiling had created a small hill in the room, and something large moved on top. Sunlight streamed in from the hole above, the shaft of light struggling to penetrate the particle rich air.

  “Bwaka?” A voice roared loud enough to shake the room.

  Edan felt a sudden lightness in his chest.

  “I’m here!” He called out, waving his hand in the air, even if Tali couldn’t see it.

  With Tali’s help, Edan left the room behind. The Titan used a skill that grew stairs from the ground. The fresh air had never smelled so good, even if there was a lingering scent of the same sweet fruit smell Edan had picked up on earlier.

  Reema and Sanik, along with the cubs and Gem, were huddled around the opening Tali had created to find him. The group looked none the worse for wear, though Edan noticed that both cubs were now level 29. One more level from breaking through and becoming graded beasts.

  Edan gave them all a quick rundown of what had happened. He made sure to leave out details of Kiba as he didn’t want Gem overhearing. Reema looked visibly upset about Tish, and it was Gem who provided her comfort, the Captain's own eyes looking moist.

  “So, let me get this straight,” Sanik started, brushing his blonde hair out of his face in frustration. “Not only did we fail to find the Adept, but we also lost his apprentice? Damn, we suck!”

  “I think I have a good idea what happened to the Adept.” Edan cut in before Reema could smack his father.

  He explained the Hrovath tree’s behavior. How it had seemed more curious than vicious, and how it had taken time examining Tish, even going so far as to copy her hair. It was only after she had screamed and startled it that it slammed her onto the ground and killed her.

  “So you think it did the same thing to the Adept?” Sanik asked, looking halfway convinced.

  “Possibly. It’s just a guess, but the scratches on the shed door could have been made by the thorny roots.” Edan pointed to his own head. The wounds had healed, thanks to his constitution, but the lines of blood still remained. Dried and crusted and covered in dust, but easy enough to see. They looked a lot like the marks found on the cabin door.

  “Killed the adept, studied his body, took on a human-like appearance, and then what? Came here to hide?”

  Edan shrugged and looked to Tali for guidance. The Titan gave a slow nod.

  “There are stranger things in the Wider Realms. It is possible,” she said.

  Edan allowed them to continue talking. Touching his head, he traced the dried lines of blood. The feeling of the Hrovath Tree invading his SoulScape, its roots digging into him like he was nothing. Edan fought a shiver. It was wrong and twisted. He felt violated.

  The group left the old ruins behind as they walked back slowly. Noise returned to the forest, as if a great predator had left, and the animals could once more rejoice. Birds cawed and the rustle of branches could be heard.

  Edan had to fight the urge to look over his shoulder.

  He remembered the whispered words during the attack on his soul. Better to be part of the forest than a lone tree in a glade.

  It sounded lonely. Edan said to Kiba.

  Feeling sympathy for it?

  Fuck, no! I'm just wondering if that explains what it was doing to all the animals. Healing them, like it did Tish, and then bringing them into the fold.

  That wasn't healing, kid. Regardless, it does raise a question. Kiba yawned, obviously not as excited by developments as Edan thought.

  Were the animals already injured, or did the Hrovath tree pull them apart only to fit it all back together again. Edan guessed.

  Exactly, Kid.

  Edan shivered at the implication of a psychopathic walking tree.

  “How did you find where I was?” Edan asked Tali, desperate to take his mind off the daunting thoughts.

  “You should thank your Honored Mother. She could sense great darkness beneath us. Tunnels, old and abandoned. There was one place though where the darkness was weakest. Where there was light.” Tali ducked under a branch.

  “I think it was an old subway station. They were used for transport by old Earth cities.” Sanik, the only one with an interest in history and architecture, added.

  The route back to the original path was easy to follow. Tali had not been stealthy in her passing, and the line of broken trees and stomped bushes was easy to find.

  Sanik, Edan noticed, kept a hand on the small of Reema’s back as they walked, as if afraid she would disappear again.

  “So, what do you plan to do about the Sea Crystal?” Reema asked Gem.

  “It’s going to have to be a patch job,” Gem replied from her place at the head of the group. She let out a great big sigh, not looking happy. “It won't be pretty, and it’s definitely not ideal, but if we go slow and monitor the damage, The Sea Crystal should be able to make it to Solaris. Bondar should have materials I can use.”

  “Best of luck to you,” Sanik flashed her a thumbs up. “The village is not going to be happy to hear we didn’t come back with their Adept.”

  “They can’t blame us for that!” Reema protested.

  “Sure. But we did lose his apprentice as well. Besides, don’t forget, they blamed Marlin first, and he’s their head. Us? We’re just folk from out of town. Easy pickings.”

  Edan really hoped his father was wrong.