The Still Forest was dark and oppressively silent. Diatom-shaped mountains of bones extended out, in all directions, fading into somber obscurity. My shield held. I felt the spikes of cold dancing against it, not touching the core of my soul.

I looked behind me. The black, circular gate stood in the Still Forest. It looked like it fit the gloomy atmosphere, but was also out of place, didn’t quite belong because it wasn’t made from bones and it wasn’t still. The black, shimmering fluid rippled within it, radiating magical currents into the dead world.

Eunice stepped through the gate right after me and nodded.

“Breathe,” she ordered me with a hand motion.

Now, I couldn't physically take a breath in the Still Forest. There was no air here, no oxygen, no life. Just as was taught, I stilled my heart, crystallized my body and one by one, extended the branches of my Soul-Tree out of my body. The threads passed through the microscopic hexagonal openings in my shield, reaching out into the dead air.

Every fiber of my ghost inhaled, tasted the cold void and with it… awakened memories of… something.

Whatever I felt was… noise, static that I could not comprehend. Eerie whispers from myriads of voices resonated somewhere at the edge of my consciousness. The Still Forest was singing to me, a song of the abyssal multitudes of souls that had drowned and fossilized into the terrain filling up the infinite necropolis with their bones.

I stood there for a while, completely still, listening to the song of the dead woven from the sound of static, breathing with my soul alone. I felt that I was some sort of a deep sea anemone, hiding most of my oozy body behind my hard carcinoecium shell. I had no idea how much time was passing, because there was no time or movement in this awful, suspended place.

Something flashed in the distance with a distinctively silver lightning. Something big was moving through the forest of bones, rippling between the ribcage segments of the long dead abominations. When it came closer, I saw a hexagonal shell and a thousand tentacle threads trailing behind it. I remembered it, recalled the monster that struck me and panicked, pulling all of my threads back beneath my armor. When I did, the monstrous ghost paused, its eyes looking around. I knew who it was searching for.

It must have spotted the emanations coming from the End-Gate because it started to move towards me once again.

In that very instant, Eunice grabbed at me and pulled me back into the gate. The black surface of the gate let go of us and popped like a soap bubble, vanishing as if never existed.

I restarted my heart and lungs and took a cautious breath, staring at the End-Gate in fear that the phantom would somehow come through it and pull me under.

“Well done,” the high cendai said. “Your shield worked.”

I nodded, my heart beating rapidly. I fell to my knees, trembling as my entire body unfroze.

“It… that was the same phantom… it found me,” I whispered with a shudder. “Wasn’t the shield supposed to hide, protect me?”

“You were in there for quite a long time feeding on the memories of the dead,” Eunice said. “It seems that this particular ghost got a taste of you and now wants more.”

I gulped.

“Don’t be afraid of the dead, monci,” Eunice addressed me. “The phantom will not be able to pull you under now. Your shield anchors you to the physical. You are now free to perform magic, anywhere. You have passed your test. You are now a true cendai."

I exhaled.

Eunice led me out of the spooky, metal room up to her living room.

“Take a rest. I shall see you in seven days,” she said, leaving me to my own thoughts.

“Status,” I whispered as my Master departed.

A barely discernible, blue window woven from sparks flickered in my vision for just a moment.

The letters on it were complete gibberish made up from dancing static. Even if the menu was incomprehensible, even if it was utter gibberish and noise… I still got my magic back. My trip into purgatory did the trick. I felt that I was on the threshold of getting my stats back, I just needed to take one final step forward.

. . .

Alessi met me outside in the sand-garden. Eunice did not permit her to enter her home, so my sister practiced Stillness meditation whenever I was inside.

“Juni!” She stood up from the sand and rushed towards me.

I smiled at her.

She collided with me, wrapping me up in a full-body hug. “How did it go?”

“Fine,” I replied with a smile.

“I was so worried…” She whispered.

“I can do magic now,” I added. “Anywhere. I’m a cendai now. I was able to make a proper shield and everything.”

“I’m glad,” Alessi said.

Both of us walked out of the high-cendai’s garden, heading towards the edge of the massive moss-covered cliff.

“You’re fully healed, right?” My sister inquired.

“Yes, but…” I mulled.

“But?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Some… things are still not working properly. I can’t see my number stats like I used to. It’s all gibberish, weird language that I can’t comprehend. From what I understand… I think I need to feast on smarter creatures like humans to fully repair my soul. Unfortunately, smarter monsters don’t really fall for our basic traps or maybe there aren't any in this region of the Chasm.”

“About that,” Alessi spoke up. “I think I know where we might be able to find smarter monsters.”

“Oh?” I looked at her curiously.

“I’ve been searching my chorus, year by year, mother by mother, heading backwards. I have learned many things of value from them. Seventeen rings down the Chasm from us there is… a forest.”

“What kind of a forest?” I asked curiously.

“The voice of my ancestor called it the Twisted forest. The roots of the giant Folding Trees there twist the land into a vast labyrinth. The seeds of these trees are… very spry. They move about akin to enormous spiders, using their roots as feet.”

“That sounds interesting,” I commented. “...and potentially dangerous.”

“We could set a trap for one of these living seeds.” Alessi said. “They tend to wander around at night and are pretty stupid. They’re most dangerous during the day when they open up their shell and release their pheromones.”

“How do smarter monsters tie into this?” I tiled my head.

“Creatures that enter into the vast labyrinth end up getting lost. The monsters search for anything to drink or eat and that’s when the seeds capture them with the allure of tasty-smelling flower sap. The seeds attract, paralyze and slowly digest far larger prey inside of themselves - they’re bigger on the inside.”

“I see what you’re saying. We take down some seeds and there might be bigger prizes inside for us?” I mulled over her idea. “How do we avoid getting lost in the labyrinth?”

“The memory I have is that of a gatherer mother that went through the entire Twisted forest long ago. I think that she will help us navigate the forest without getting lost ourselves,” Alessi affirmed.

“Sounds good,” I remarked. “Let's make a detailed plan and prepare as much as we can. I don't want to get stupidly hurt again because of my ignorance. I'm going to find out as much as I can about the Twisted Forest from Eunice next time I talk to her. We're not going there until we are absolutely ready."

I was back to my dragonskull home, excited to share the good news about my cendai-test with my mom. It was late evening by the time Alessi and I had arrived. It was my dad that met us at the front entrance framed by dragon teeth.

“Hey dad,” I said, waving to him. “How’s… hunting?”

“Juni,” he looked down at me, a deep frown sitting on his dark-skinned face. He didn’t reply to my question. His yellow eyes stared into mine, looking angry and disappointed.

“Yes?” I stopped.

“I’ve been told that you are practicing… flying,” he said. The look of displeasure in his eyes suddenly made sense. Cousin Isahcs must have reported on our fun activities at the waterfall valley to my father.

“Is this not allowed?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Flying is for boys,” he said, just as I expected.

“We are not using Bonulich wings,” I explained.

“It doesn’t matter,” Dad said sternly. “Both of you are flying! While you’re under my household, you are not to…”

“Then… we’re moving out,” I declared, interrupting him.

“What?” He barked. “You are not of age!”

I looked at the ruby bracelet I made three years ago that glittered on his hand, somewhat regretting giving it to him.

Emancipation time. Here we go.

“I just passed my test. I’m a cendai now,” I said. "This makes me of age."

“Impossible!” He stepped towards me. “You are only four winters old! There has never been a cendai so young. If you do not obey me, I will tear those… grotesque leather wings off you myself if that’s what I have to do to protect you!”

I stepped back, pulling my skull-mask atop of my face.

"Take that skull off at once!" He barked.

I reached for the pink thread in my soul. It was there. I wasn’t afraid to use it now, wrapped in my absolute shield. I rapidly pulled air into my magical compressor and thrust my left hand forward.

His hand reached out for me, about to grab me by the scruff to pull me inside the house by force.

A thunderclap detonation of compressed air resounded like a gunshot, echoing noisily within the maw of the dragon. Dad’s face fell as he leapt backwards away from me like a terrified cat. There was fear painted on his face now. Primal, ancient terror of the arcane powers of the cendai.

“I am a Sei-Sen-Dai!" I sang, inflecting cadence into every syllable, trying to make myself sound like Eunice. “I can weave deadly spells and I’m not afraid to use my power on anyone who tries to tell me what is allowed and what isn’t! I will do what I want! I will fly and I will eat meat, as permitted for she-who-can-bend-the-world to her will!”

The anger that had been building up in my heart for three years over the loss of the System had boiled over, spilled from my mouth and poured over my chimera father. He backed away from me further.

"You have no power over me!" I growled.

“Alessi…” He finally uttered after a deep pause, focusing on my sister.

“Alessi is my monci!” I snarled. “She will do exactly as I order her to and you shall not interfere in her magical training! She belongs to me, just as my life is owned by the high-cendai!”

"But... she didn't die..." His eyes darted from me to Alessi and then back at me. "She can't possibly be a cendai's monci!"

I protectively wrapped my hand around Alessi, pointing my fingers at my father like a gun, ready to fire the compressor again. Dad’s face twitched. This was not how he expected things to go.

“Both of you are so young,” he finally uttered, looking lost. “You can’t just… You are violating tradition… the others will talk…”

“I don’t care. If someone has a problem with it, they can complain to my Master. She has declared me a cendai. She permitted Alessi to be my monci,” I said, knowing that Eunice would not care for the words of mundane chimera. "Perhaps you did not get notified of these facts yet."

He glanced at Alessi once again, perhaps hoping to at least yell at her or confiscate her wings.

“I am acting within my rights. A cendai can take up anyone as apprentice,” I insisted, protectively holding onto Alessi.

Dad sighed deeply, seeing that I wasn’t budging.

“Tell Isahcs not to hover over us anymore,” I said, slowly drawing the words out of myself and trying to calm my nerves. “We don’t need to be supervised or told what to do and what not to do.”

The beetle wing door slid open and mom stepped out.

“Mom. I won’t be staying home… for a while,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

“Be careful, alright?” She said, “Do what you need to do… to get stronger… my little sunrise.”

I nodded, my heart thrumming in my chest at her words.

She grabbed dad by his elbow and drew him away from us, defusing the situation completely. My shoulders fell. I knew that I would have to leave someday, knew that a confrontation like this was inevitable. I was prepared for it and yet… it still hurt.

Mom did love me, in her way. She had allowed me to try new things in spite of millennia of tradition that kept her bound by the chorus of memories. She watched me eat meat and didn’t stop me. She protected me when the thunderbird swooped down at us. She taught me many things even though I was learning things incredibly slowly in comparison to other 'normal' chimera children.

Perhaps someday… when I was older, I would return to my first home and talk to my chimera parents like equals.

Someday I would change chimera society, lead this tribe and help everyone out… but not today. Not until I was a lot more capable. Not until I could face my Master’s exposed aura and not fall to my knees in absolute prostration.