The clearing's transformation was both wondrous and dreadful. Through my mossy link to the forest, I watched the three young mossbears crumble to nothing. Their bodies withered away in a few heartbeats, gone completely. The forest reclaimed them, and through them, it took back what rightfully belonged to it. Frightening, sure. Yet there was an eerie beauty in it, too.

  "You don't see this every day," Deckard said, his tone just as stunned as I felt. "I once saw a nature mage pull off something like this. Took him ages to prep and drained him dry."

  'Why is he telling me this?' As if I didn’t know the Lord of the Forest’s might. I felt it - the tidal wave of power he casually pushed into the ground. Not to mention...

  'Shit!' I had been watched before - too many damn times to count - but his stare? It was different. It felt like I was going to jump out of my skin. Like he could see straight through me - right into my soul.

  ?Is. That. The. One??

  ?Yes, Esu,? answered the mother mossbear, still holding the thread that tied me to the forest. Why she hadn’t cut it yet became painfully obvious in the next moment.

  ?Weak,? growled the Lord of the Forest, his energy surging through the thick moss now carpeting the clearing, stopping at the patch clinging to my back. If it went further, I wasn’t sure I would hold it together. The tingling of his might across my skin was already too much.

  ?Weak. Twisted. Mixed breed.?

  'Y-Yeah, I know. I'm a freak.'

  "That doesn't sound bad," Deckard remarked casually, way too casually. 'Seriously, how could he be so calm? Was he using some sort of weave like me, or just naturally fearless?’ Either way, the ease in his tone worked. Gave me a steadying hand, even if it was only words. Clever move. Appreciated.

  Besides, he wasn't wrong.

  The Lord of the Forest’s words, sharp though they were, weren’t cruel. Just the plain truth of what stood before him. Not a judgment - at least, not yet. Still, the thought of what could come next clawed at my resolve, threatening to shatter it. Maybe it was his age, or something else, but he moved like a crumbling mountain. The endless waiting nearly broke me.

  The mighty beast towering above me growled at last, its voice rattling through my bones. ?Strange. Indeed.? A second growl followed, harsher than the first, rooted me to the spot. ?Come.?

  'H-He w-wanted me to come to him?' Dozens of scenarios stormed through my head - many ending with me in the jaws of the behemoth. There was no choice, though. But both my inner beast and I agreed. Submission was the only way. Me and my pack couldn’t hope to stand against him and his. And so I plucked up my courage and slowly lifted my head from the ground. Straightening up, I pushed free from the moss’s damp clutch. Even the mother mossbear’s link with the forest’s whispers gave way without a fight. Up and out I rose, the weight of that connection lingering for a moment longer.

  "Want the shirt, girl?" my potential mate asked, offering me a piece of cloth I hadn't had time to put on. He cut me a grin, all calm on the outside, even teasing me for my bare chest, but his eyes betrayed him, darting to the beasts. Most of his focus was on the one I edged toward. 'Why does he have to stand so far away?' I wailed, as I took another shaky step, staggering through the mossy cover hiding treacherous roots. I may have had both my legs back now, but the beast's stare had stripped me of any real control over them.

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  Then, when the mother mossbear I had been speaking with lowered her head and growled, ?Faster,? her hot breath washing over me, my knees gave out, and I hit the ground hard.

  ?Feeble,? another mossbear mother growled as she lay herself beside the Lord of the Forest.

  Of course, I shot to my feet without a second thought. The shame - it burned cold, cutting deeper with every step. That beast, that behemoth of unfathomable might, waited ahead to judge me. And what had I shown him? A stumbling, weak fool. Useless.

  No might rolled off him, not a hint of it. Yet every step closer made my legs heavier, the air harder to breathe. Sweat ran in sharp little rivers down my spine.

  [Esu: ????? sigils]

  ‘Figures.’ One more Obscure than mother mossbears. By Lattice's logic, the beast had over 768 sigils more than me. That would make the Lord of the Forest at least 866 sigils strong. Still, if I were to trust my gut - which failed me on his sheer might - I would wager my new leg he had more. A lot more engraved on his...

  'Did the beasts have Grids and arrays?' A stupid thought to keep my mind busy. Whether they had or not, the might of the beast before me was undeniable. Hell, even the Lattice had his name up for me to see. ‘Esu.’ That alone was proof enough of his strength.

  "You alright there, girl?" Deckard asked when I stumbled again, nearly hitting the ground.

  "No, not really." Seriously, who would be? Might as well be marching to my own funeral.

  "Well, you're holding up better than some of the others back here."

  'Was he talking about my pack?' My head turned before I could stop it - Vara, Elira. Nearly tripped again. Stupid. Focus! Yet sharp turned dull the moment one of the mothers let out a growl that shook my bones.

  ?Pitiful.? That one word sent me sprawling, flat out on the ground.

  ‘How close did he expect me to get?' I was already under his shadow. The Lord of the Forest loomed overhead, antlers spread wide, hiding the stars that dared peek above the clearing.

  ?Enough,? he grunted as I pushed myself up. Instead of losing my strength, however, fear locked me in place, like prey caught in a trap. My eyes widened in terror as the rock wall seemed crashing toward me. I knew better, knew that's not what was happening, yet my heart raced, my breath stuck in my chest. Every inch of me screamed to run, but I couldn’t. My legs were like lead. If the fear hadn’t kept me planted, I would have fallen. Instead, it was the Lord of the Forest’s head that touched the ground, right in front of me.

  If his size hadn’t hit me before, it sure did now. His nose, right in front of me, was huge - bigger than my head, bigger than my chest. And beyond that, two emerald eyes, so deep they almost pulled me in. For a moment, I forgot where I was, like I was staring into the vastness of the universe. All I had to do was find my home in them.

  Before I even had a chance to pull myself together, the Lord of the Forest took a deep breath, sniffing me. And it was a sniff like no other. It washed over me, a gust of wind that nearly knocked me off my feet.

  ?Twisted. Magic,? he hummed, disgust lacing his voice. But not what struck me the most. The force of his growl up this close made me feel like I had fallen into a landslide and was being crushed between the stones. ?You. Are. Full. Of it.?

  'He didn't have to tell me that.' A snide remark I didn't dare utter out loud. To see what a freak I was, all I had to do was look at my furry hands, the claws on them.

  ?What. You. Are. However. Remains. Hidden.?

  'Shit!' Before I met my end, I was hoping something other than that one word would cross my mind. Sure, considering the number of my deaths, I should know better by this time. Yet, when the Lord of the Forest opened his maw wide, the only thing I could think about was how monstrous his teeth looked.

  I just couldn’t tear my eyes away from them.

  All I could do was curse this damn world for putting me through it. ‘Come on! What the hell are you waiting for?’ I screamed my head off. But death didn’t come. Instead, his breath brushed against me, thick and hot, and before I could even flinch, my body shifted. The beast inside me took over, and did so in the space of a few heartbeats.