Ezra didn't know how long they had been moving. The cage, made of gnarled roots, swayed with each heavy step of the Kin Tree beast that carried them deeper into the cursed heart of the forest.
The fog grew thicker, the air colder, and the silence... louder.
Then, they saw it.
The Citadel of Roots.
A grotesque monument of fused trees twisted, stretched, and clawed toward the sky like petrified titans. Branches jutted out like spears, and the bark was stretched and scarred, as if the whole place had once been alive and screaming.
Ezra gulped, her throat dry. Every instinct screamed at her to run, but her legs refused to move. She looked around. The other captives—including Coach Lin, Mr. Harrison, and her classmates—were all in a trance-like state. They were awake, eyes open... but vacant. Their souls had been left behind.
Still breathing, Ezra noted, as she checked on her teachers, feeling their pulses. They were weak but not fading. "Good," she muttered. "That's something."
"What are you going to do to us?" she demanded, turning toward the Kin Tree that carried them.
But it didn't respond.
Instead, a chorus of mocking laughter echoed through the dark grove, twisting through the mist like a bad memory. Ezra's heart sank as she watched more Kin Trees slither out of the fog.
All were different—some towering like buildings, others hunched like predators. Some were skeletal, thin and sharp as needles, while others had bloated, monstrous forms with pulsing cores that looked... alive.
She clenched her fists.
"This is getting out of hand…"
The cage reached the base of the Citadel. A massive opening split down the center of the gnarled structure, like a mouth yawning wide to devour them whole.
Ezra shivered. The forest watched her.
She closed her eyes.
"Noah... whatever you're doing, hurry up. Please."
---
Far above, perched in the shadows of a rotten branch, a bloody pink bird watched silently. Its gemstone eyes blinked slowly, tracking every motion. Below, the roots hissed.
---
Elsewhere...
In a witch's home.
Noah stumbled as the Dodo landed with a thundering crash, sliding to a halt in the mossy clearing outside what could only be described as a crooked cottage made from interwoven trees and bone-white fungus.
Lumi staggered behind him, terrified.
Before they could recover, she appeared.
From within the house, a woman stepped forward—a vision both divine and horrifying.
She had the shape of a model, perfect curves, tall and elegant, but her skin was paper-white, bloodless and chilling. Her head had no features—no eyes, no mouth, nothing. It was only a blank canvas crowned with what looked like a giant, spiraling witch's hat.
It wasn't a hat. It was part of her.
"Don't be scared," the witch cooed. "We're not the bad guys here."
Lumi screamed before she could stop herself and leaped behind Noah.
Noah glared, shielding her. "With a look like that, how am I supposed to know you're not?"
The Dodo growled, its claws tightening. But the witch raised a hand.
"Fair enough," she said calmly. "But if we were your enemies, you'd already be dead."
Her voice—though spoken with ease—carried a pressure that made Noah's knees weak. He nodded, swallowing his pride.
With a gesture from her, Lumi collapsed, fast asleep.
Noah caught her, startled.
"Relax," the witch said. "She'll be fine. She doesn't belong in what's about to happen."
He glanced up, confused by her gaze—or lack thereof. Somehow, she was looking directly at him.
"Come," she said. "We don't have long. The Sabase is opening soon."
Without another word, she vanished inside.
Noah tried lifting Lumi, but the Dodo's pink-furred form—now resembling a girl—picked her up effortlessly. She shot Noah a glare and walked inside. He followed, heart heavy, murmuring:
"Ezra… hang in there. I'll bring you all back."
---
Far away...
Back in Grayeridge.
A motorcycle stopped sharply on a gravel road.
"Did you find them?" Paige asked, pulling off her helmet and wiping sweat from her forehead.
Leah shook her head. "Nothing. It's like they disappeared."
Paige cursed.
It had been a month since they had promised—sworn—not to meddle with the anomalies. But Quinn and Jamie had vanished. And Noah wasn't back from the camp outing.
"They're out there," Paige growled. "Doing exactly what we said not to do."
Leah looked out at the silent horizon. The town around them buzzed with life—normal, oblivious, alive.
But something was shifting. Beneath the ordinary smiles and summer breeze, something old had stirred.