"Est, slow down!"

I turned around to see the others struggle forward, even Laurel's head hanging down, her breathing coming in sharp, ragged bursts.

A trickle of morning light filtered down the dark foliage above us, enough for Haltir and Eliandra to see where they were going.

Seeing Eliandra barely standing, I cursed. I had been so focused on leaving that I had forgotten to pay attention. Even now, I felt the intense, burning desire to continue on, at the top of my speed. The fact that I was barely even tired didn't help.

"We can rest here for a bit," I said as I turned around, inspecting the trees around us. Most were the standard, withered, and poisonous kind that stood everywhere, but I was starting to see small, greener saplings fight for a spot in the few streaks of sun.

"Est?" Eli stood behind me, looking at me.

When did she get there? I frowned, looking around. Haltir was lying on the ground, his bag below his head, and his eyes closed. Laurel was still standing, looking around.

"You've been standing here for a while now… What is wrong?"

Yes, what is wrong? I thought. I knew what was wrong though. Rathica. She had done something a few hours ago, and now I felt like some hyperactive bunny with a building-sized power generator hooked up to it. I barely managed to keep from turning and running in the direction of the hills. Instead, I tried to pierce through the forest ahead, and the map popped up almost unbidden. Some lines of text below the status window were partially obscured by it, but I couldn't focus on them, my attention on the map, scanning for the quickest routes.

"Est?"

Dammit, I had zoned out again. Closing the status window, I turned to Eliandra.

"Rathica… she, she-" I couldn't continue, as I didn't even know what to say.

Eli started, her eyes widening. "Is she alright?"

I nodded, trying to find what I wanted to say. After a few seconds, the desire to run off faded just enough.

"She needs me to go to the hills, fast! Even if…" I trailed off, looking at the others. Haltir was raised on an elbow, staring at me with an undiscerning look. Laurel stood not too far off, a contemplative look on her face.

"Even if you have to go alone?"

I nodded, gritting my teeth as I tried to resist the desire to rush away." I hadn't thought she could influence me this badly," I grunted.

Nobody answered, but I saw Eliandra's worry turn to sympathy.

"We can move again," Haltir grunted as he got up and stumbled while putting his backpack on.

His face had a grey tint to it, and looking at Eli, I saw her hands were shaking a little.

No, we can't go. Not like this. Growling, I looked around. I finally realized what I was looking for, what I needed. "We need wood," I said and turned full circle to examine all the trees around us. There were just different kinds of dangerous and infected vegetation. "Dammit!" I felt like shouting.

"What kind?" Laurel asked uncertainly as she patted the tree beside her.

"Not that, although you're lucky you didn't touch those leaves," I hissed.

"Tell us what to look for?" Haltir said, dropping his bag back on the ground.

I dug through my mind, back to the trees Agga had described to me.

"Anything without black and red leaves, nothing bent and gnarled like that," I said, pointing at a small, gnarled tree with bright green leaves. "Oh, and nothing with mushrooms!"

"Alright. Try and get a grip," Haltir said, turning to Laurel. She nodded, and they moved away.

"Don't go too far!" I said, barely realizing the two were actually cooperating nicely for a change.

"Don't worry so much!" Laurel shouted back, which I found rich from someone who had just gotten an arrow removed from her shoulder just the day before.

A hand stroked my arm, and I blinked as I saw Eli in front of me. She was gazing deep into my eyes, a hint of worry there.

"I had hoped…"

My shoulders slumped, and I nodded as I finished her sentence. "That Rathica didn't force her followers? I don't think they have as much choice in the matter as we seem to think," I said.

I wanted to sit but couldn't and began pacing around. I wanted to go help search but was afraid I would just set off in a sprint.

Although it felt like hours, in less than ten minutes, Laurel came back, carrying a small branch. I was grinding my teeth so hard I could feel them vibrate.

"This is the only thing I could find," she said, handing me the branch. Yellow, stinking sap oozed from the cut-off end. It didn't look like any of the dangerous plants Agga had warned me about, but it also didn't look like a safe one.

"We'll take the risk. Where is it!?" I said, looking in the direction she had come from while wringing my hands.

"Not too far."

I began pacing again, and as soon as I heard Haltir arrive, I grabbed his backpack and mine. Together we moved a few hundred meters away from our position to a spot that had half a dozen trees with green leaves and a distinctly brown and orange bark. Most were as thick as my waist, with a few smaller ones surrounding them.

Without waiting, I dropped the packs, grabbed my ax, and cast Soften Wood on one before chopping halfway through it with a single strike.

While the others quietly stood and watched, I cut two of the trees down before grabbing my knife and cutting into them. I didn't have the time or the desire to make anything nice. Just functional, and above all, fast.

--

"By Preyatar's hairy balls, what are those things?" Laurel hissed.

"I think they are supposed to be leopards... very ugly ones," Eliandra responded as I slashed and carved away at the second of the two forms now lying on the ground. As I worked, I noticed my intense desire to run had decreased slightly, almost as if the force driving it knew I was doing something to expedite our travels.

"Everyone's a critic nowadays," I muttered, stepping away. Still, I had to agree that the two things lying before me barely qualified as something resembling a leopard. Crude lines, ears no more than an outline, and the only thing I had spent any real effort on were the gaping maws, large enough to maul anything that got in their way. Sap from the tree was still oozing from the cuts, but I ignored it and put my hands on the sticky wood.

They should count as statues. Barely. Focusing, I drew in two Vengeful Spirits in rapid succession. Almost immediately, the two shapes rose on their square and angular limbs and looked at me with burning green eyes.

Laurel cursed, and I heard Eliandra mutter something.

"Get on their backs. Laurel and Eliandra take the bigger one, Haltir on the other," I said, pointing at the two silently waiting, wooden abominations. Those would definitely not count towards me increasing my wood-carving skill again.

"They won't bite… will they?" Laurel muttered as she looked at the largest of the two from up close. It wasn't paying attention to her, its head peering over her shoulder.

"No, now hurry! We've lost enough time as is!" I shouted, feeling myself get antsy again.

Haltir just grunted, took a running start, and leaped on the back of his new mount as if he was in some western. As soon as he did, he pushed himself up on his hands with a howl.

"Damn, Est! You could have given them saddles!"

He gingerly lowered himself, scooching around for a better spot, before grabbing the handholds I'd carved in the neck.

As soon as Laurel and Eliandra were ready, I looked at the map and made a straight line in my mind to the Howling Hills.

"Let's go!" I shouted, jogging forward and waiting for the two wooden leopards to follow.

Hours later, we were rushing through the dense woods, the bag on my back seeming as light as a feather and my body moving effortlessly. Jogging had turned to running and even sprinting when the dense forest allowed it. Feeling the joy of moving towards my goal, I moved forward, jumping across trees, dodging around bushes, and using lower branches to sling myself onward. My breathing was easy and light, and I couldn't wait to reach the plains.

The two vengeful spirits kept up easily, although Haltir cursed every time his mount jumped a bit too high.

As my mind cleared, now that we had set out again, I promised myself I would fix the mounts later and add something like a saddle when I had the chance.

"Est, you have to slow down! We could run into those Preya hunters!" Laurel shouted, not for the first time.

I didn't reply. I had no good one, and my, "It'll be fine," from before had been scoffed at.

Ahead of me, the trees began thinning visibly, and as I leaped over a low bush, beams of light appeared ahead, piercing through the canopy. A few hundred meters further, I saw the flowing hills between two trees.

We've made it through! I couldn't stop grinning. Soon we would be on the plains, and I could see how fast I could go. I had no idea how long the energy boost Rathica had given me would last, but my feeling told me it should be enough to reach my goal.

"There's something to the right, and it's coming for us!" Eliandra shouted.

Crap! I turned and saw what she meant, a swath of darkness that seemed to roll our way almost like a mist. It wasn't moving super fast but would reach us just after we reached the plains.

Without slowing down, I extended my lower arms and began casting Entangle with both. As soon as they finished, I touched the nearest vegetation and continued. Within seconds a stretch of the forest was roiling, tree branches swaying around, thorn bushes swishing their limbs.

When we shot from below the last of the trees and out onto the planes, I had created a massive curtain of angry vegetation in our wake.

"Tell me what's happening," I shouted while elongating my stride, turning my fast run into a full-on sprint.

"That black stuff is held back by what you just did, but every tree and plant touched seems to wither! I'm not sure how long it will work!" Eli shouted back.

Then I hope we can outrun whatever it is, I thought, trying to squeeze more speed from my legs. The backpack was thumping against my back now. Before, in the woods, it hadn't bothered me, but now I wished I could drop it. That would mean leaving a large portion of our rations, though. I took a quick look at the two vengeful spirits, loping ungracefully beside me. Eliandra and Laurel were having a hard time holding on, clutching onto the sides with strained faces. Haltir had resorted to wrapping his arms around the neck of his mount. They were in no position to carry another pack.

"It's out of the forest!" Eliandra shouted a minute later. "It's… Est, it's insects!" her voice increased in pitch.

Great, why are there always bugs? I gritted my teeth. "Are they gaining on us?"

"No!"

Feeling a little relief at that, I looked at the massive grasslands ahead. Occasional odd bushes that I knew were the crowns of buried trees stood out in the distance. We would need almost two days to cross the plains at a normal traveling speed, but I wasn't planning on going at normal speed.

My mind was clearing up at astounding speed, the oppressive hold dissipating now that I was fulfilling its desire. Taking stock of my stamina, I noticed I barely felt tired. Seeing nothing but grass, flat like that of a soccer field, I summoned my status window. A host of odd lines with unreadable symbols splayed at the top, and only the bottom was readable.

> Temporary buff granted by Rathica

> Near limitless endurance

> You can exert yourself for a full day without weakening. Due to not being a divine entity, the entire stress you put on your body will be exerted all at once at the end of the spell.

A green symbol of a looped serpent biting its own tail replaced my regular stamina bar.

I'm dead…

I stared in horror at the lines, reading them again and again, but they didn't change. There was no way I would survive that. Fear began bubbling up, but I shoved it away. There was no time for that; besides, it was too late. I had what, twenty hours left? That meant I had to get to the hills, find those trees and scream Ulderion's full name to them in the hope they would awake.

Summoning the map overlay, I saw we were slightly off course and turned more to the left. Then I closed the windows and focused on running.

Half a day later, the sun was slowly moving down to the right of me, and my legs were still moving as if nothing was wrong. Ahead of me, the massive hills were closing in, and I knew we would reach them within half an hour. Again I was amazed at their massive size.

"Those aren't hills!" Eliandra shouted, almost exactly mirroring my words the first time I saw them.

"I know!" I shouted back. "Are those things still after us?"

Eliandra glanced across her shoulder. Sweat glistened on her pale and drawn face. Behind her, Laurel was doing a lot better, using her four arms to support Eli.

"I think so, but it's just a small black blur now," she shouted.

"Do you know where those talking trees are supposed to be?" Haltir shouted. He seemed a lot more comfortable, having looped a rope from the bag around the neck of the mount and sliding back down. The way he moved made it obvious he had some experience with riding, enough to even help with such an odd and badly constructed one.

"Remember those massive, verdant trees we saw the first time we were here?"

"Est! Those don't grow everywhere, just at certain places! I only remember seeing them on our trip together!" Haltir shouted in surprise.

I didn't respond and looked at the map quickly. He better be wrong... We were close to the marker for the Harrowing Hills, and a small symbol indicated Dursic, or what was left of it. It was much further to the northeast, and even at this speed would take two days of travel easily.

"Then we better hope there's more!" I shouted back.

When we reached the foothills, we turned right, running east alongside them. We had slowed down a bit, and Eliandra was keeping an eye on the insect swarm.

I saw some dots far off on the hills and perked up.

Est watch out! Rathica's voice roared in my mind, and I almost tripped as I felt the adrenaline course through my body.

"Ahhh, such a shame! But it's too late... so those are what you are looking for? Now, now, reviving some has-been? We can't have that now, can we?" A high-pitched cackle followed a horribly grating voice, and it was as if a cloud slid in front of the sun. A dark shadow grew around us, and the light that was there turned a sickly green.

Looking up, I saw a green figure hang high in the sky above us, a green glow around her. She had deadly pale skin, black and gray hair, and a sharp but beautiful, otherworldly face with a small nose and thick black lips. Small insects crawled across her arms, hiding in the sleeves of her long robes. She was tapping with three inch black nails on her pursed lips.

Lischen! I thought, feeling a shiver run up my spine.

"I am going to enjoy tormenting you for killing my beautiful followers!" the deity screeched.

Rathica!? I shouted.

"Don't bother, little Prime! She is otherwise occupied!" Lischen sang out of tune before cackling like a witch. "Now, just quietly stay there as the others take care of that little war deity you created. I'll let you know what I thought of that afterward, yes? I'm surrrrre I can make you see the errors of your ways."

Now what? I thought, looking up. She was a bloody deity. Should I attack her? How even? After all this, after everything, this was it? Slowly a sense of defeat began filling me. The wind carried a musky, dank smell like a swamp, and a greenish fog was slowly encircling us. Looking around, I saw clear open planes and free hills beyond but at the same time no way out. Rathica…? I tried again, to no avail.

Wait, why isn't she just grabbing us? I frowned, looking around. Something was wrong- if she was a deity, why didn't she just whisk us away?

"Est," Eliandra's whisper made me look up. She was staring at me with a look of resolve that made me shiver while her fingers swished in complicated patterns. I knew that look! She's going to do something stupid!

"Wait-" my voice cut off as a blueish mist encircled Eli, shrouding her and Laurel behind her in a watery fog.

"Silly little mortal, you can't do that!" Lischen hissed, but she just glared at Eliandra without moving, just her finger that kept tapping on her lip.

Seeing her hover in the air, suddenly I realized what was wrong. The sound! I saw mist and smelled a swamp, but the sound hadn't changed! The soft howling of the wind in the distance, the scraping of the two vengeful mount's feet. It was all still there.

"It's an illusion!" I shouted, turning to Eliandra. "Stop!" I had no idea what she was about to do, but I had the feeling it wouldn't be good for her.

"I can't! Go and wake those stupid tree things!" Eli said, as the mist around her deepened, turning into a thick grey cloud. Her voice was muffled from inside as the cloud began expanding.

"What did you do!?" I shouted.

"Nothing to worry about! Go!"

I glared at the cloud. Why couldn't she have waited for a moment? Turning to Haltir, I saw him wave me away.

"Go! We are close! I'll stay here and make sure she is alright!"

And how the hell will you do that? I thought, growling as I turned to Lischen's illusion. Rathica had shouted to watch out. Was that because of this? My mind began running in overdrive as I forcefully pushed the desire to run to the trees away with a force I didn't know I had. As I did, I felt an outlining in my mind, the same outlining I had felt when the hands began touching me. For a moment, I saw a small, clear area with a grassy field. Then it disappeared.

No time for that now, I thought, looking around.

"Fuck," I growled, turning to Haltir. "Guard her!" I snapped before turning and dropping my backpack. Feeling the burden fall from my shoulders, I shot forward like a bolt, rushing along the hills.

Where are those trees!