I reach out and place my palm against the blue tinted barrier. The forest on the other side of the door looks unlike anything I've seen on the continent. Not even our tallest trees can compete with the behemoths in that forest. Unfortunately, the door won't let any of us enter.

  "How are we supposed to do our job if it won't let us in?" Lyric gripes.

  "I-I didn't know this would happen!" Rebecca protests.

  My lips purse into a dissatisfied frown as two people I consider friends argue behind me. They're both so short sighted, neither seeing what is right in front of them.

  "This door will open, but not until we reach it organically."

  Lyric and Rebecca turn to me with perplexed glares. I quickly explain, shrinking back under their probing gazes.

  "T-The door is likely refusing us entry because we have yet to visit the other side, and I have a theory that we will still be able to find the door in those men found. It looks to be a sort of convenient shortcut?"

  "Why would the dungeon have a shortcut?"

  I don't have an answer for them. I shrug, turning to gaze out at the forest beyond the impassable barrier. I can hear the sound of birds and distant thumping, as if great beasts roam the woods. My imagination is running wild trying to picture what the creatures on the other side actually look like. All we have is the unreliable descriptions of a broken man.

  Rebecca claps her hands to grab our attention "Okay! New plan, you will all go find that door in Swarm Forest, and then you can explore this new place freely."

  Lyric nods despite his obvious frustration. Carter and Chandra finally join us, having finished inspecting the antechamber. I am naturally on board with the plan.

  "Great. In the meantime, I'll have the soldiers secure this chamber."

  "Antechamber," I correct.

  "What?"

  "This is an antechamber. It's a connecting room preluding other rooms, a bit like a corridor, but more of a waiting area."

  Rebecca gives me a deadpan stare. I take this as my cue to stop educating her on the proper terminology, and shut my mouth. No one is keen on continuing the conversation.

  "We'll be off, then."

  Rebecca nods her farewell, forcing a smile onto her face. Lyric marches toward the door to Green Valley wordlessly. Carter and Chandra follow, Rebecca watching us go with a tired look in her eyes. I hurry after them.

  Hopefully whatever we find in this new forest brings good fortune.

  ~

  My theory was correct! It took some time, but we made the journey to the door in Swarm Forest--only got lost once--and the door led us back into the antechamber when we tried to return through it. Carter doesn't like walking through the doors. He says it makes him feel like he's in two places at once. I can't help but wonder if he's right to be nervous about these anomalous spaces.

  "Everyone ready?" Lyric asks.

  A chorus of affirmative answers come in reply.

  "Let's do this. Remember, watch the trees and keep your eyes peeled for anything strange."

  Lyric steps back into the forest with the cautious gait of a hunter. Carter follows, his own footfalls cracking twigs and crushing leaves. Chandra is remarkably casual with her own entrance. I move in behind them, my eyes wide as I observe the plants surrounding us. We didn't get a chance to inspect things the first time we stepped through, but now? Now I'm going to note as much information down as I possibly can.

  Chandra murmurs "This place is massive."

  "Trees shouldn't be this big! It isn't right."

  "Carter, quit shouting. Are you trying to draw every monster in the forest to us?"

  "What? No, of course not!"

  Lyric sighs at the lack of care in Carter's booming voice. Whatever lives in this forest likely knows we are here now. The leafy ferns across the clearing rustle. Leaves fall aside and twigs snap as something moves in the brush. Lyric nocks an arrow, aiming at the ferns.

  Then the beast leaps out!

  "All that noise from a measly rabbit? Hah!"

  We all give Carter pointed looks as he laughs far too loudly. He has the decency to look apologetic when he notices we're all glaring at him. The rabbit that's just emerged from the ferns looks confused at the sight of us. It tilts its head a bit as it stares up at us.

  I wordlessly pull out my notes. This rabbit is almost exactly like the species found in Green Valley, which indicates the two regions must be nearby, or perhaps the rabbits spread through the doors like we did? Such a theory means these doors must have been open long before we came along, though.

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  The rabbit hops back into the underbrush as we all look at it. Lyric doesn't seem too keen on killing it, probably because of what happened the last time he killed a rabbit in the dungeon. That hawk snatched his prospective meal.

  "See anything of interest yet, Petra?"

  I look up from my notes to see Lyric looking down at me. He usually leaves me to my research, acting as if it's of little importance. What has him interested in my notes today?

  "W-Well I've noticed the species here are all found in Green Valley, except those tall trees. The rabbits and those songbirds-" I point up into the canopy "-are from Green Valley. The ferns and grasses look to be the same variety as well."

  "I see. Let me know if anything important-"

  The ground shakes, rumbling as if one of the towering trees fell. We all look around, wide eyed, as more thundering impacts ripple through the earth. The vibrations are making the plants sway, leaves cascading down from nearby trees.

  "What is that sound?" Chandra asks, looking nervous.

  "I don't know, but I don't want to find out. Let's keep moving."

  Lyric leads us away from the quakes, toward a sparser portion of the forest. There are fewer trees here, and a larger presence of ferns and grasses. We walk with our eyes peeled for any obvious signs of monsters. We find none.

  The unnerving lack of danger is starting to get to us. I can tell Carter and Chandra are both itching to hit something. Lyric just looks irritated by the lack of valuable resources.

  Lyric raises his hand suddenly, signaling for us to stop.

  With bated breath, we watch where his hand points to. An animal’s furred leg is in view. The thing moves, making us flinch. It steps out from behind the tree calmly. It's a doe. Others join her from behind the trees and brush, munching away at the greenery. None of the deer have noticed us thus far.

  This is interesting! There aren't any deer in Swarm Forest, and I assumed it was just because of the swarmers, but if they're here then maybe there is a different reason? My best guess is Swarm Forest doesn't have adequate space.

  "Really? A fucking deer?!"

  Carter swings his sword against a tree, the blade burying itself in the monstrous trunk. Leaves float down as he glares angrily at the deer. The herd quickly flees, fearing whatever sort of beast makes such an aggressive sound. Lyric glances between Carter's sword and the tree's upper branches. I don't see whatever he sees.

  "Fuck this forest! There's nothing to fight! Where are the big monsters?!"

  "Carter! Shut up and move!"

  "No, you shut up! Wait, what do you mean, move?"

  Lyric answers Carter's question by tackling the larger man to the ground. Carter grunts, toppling a few paces from where he was standing. A massive scaled animal lands in the dirt where Carter was just standing, explaining Lyric's urgency.

  "Snake!" Chandra shrieks.

  I wince at the volume of Chandra's scream. Her normally calm and stoic demeanor is shattered when faced with a snake this large. I knew she didn't like snakes, but I didn't think she would completely lose her sense at the sight of one!

  Carter and Lyric untangle themselves in a hurry, their hands going to their weapons. Lyric has his bow at the ready while Carter is stuck grasping empty air. The man's sword is still stuck in the trunk of the tree. The giant snake bars the way to his weapon, hissing aggressively.

  An arrow shoots through the air before sinking deep into the massive serpent's body. The thing recoils for a half second before launching its muscular body forward, fangs bared. Lyric manages to get out of the way just in time.

  The snake hisses in frustration as the arrow remains impaled in its body. It looks toward me, eyeing me in a way that gives me goosebumps. Chandra practically leaps aside as the snake lunges toward me. My squeal of terror is cut off when the snake's fangs make contact with my neck--I feel it coiling around me, squeezing me.

  An odd feeling of clarity hits me as I feel blood leak from my arteries.

  Huh. It must be a constrictor, those are usually nonvenomous-

  ~

  Panicked voices reach me from somewhere near the forest' door. I listen, recognizing the sounds as the exclamations of adventurers. I'd better keep an eye on whatever they're up to--Mother told me to make sure the adventurers don't die too much.

  I'll let half of them leave at the most. Maybe more if they respect the Wildwood.

  My hooves quietly squish into the earth as I gallop between trees. I can hear the voices reach a fever pitch. One of them probably died. I slow my pace as I near the group, peering between the trees at the invaders.

  There are three of them. No, wait, there's another one wrapped in the coils of a highbark constrictor. The great serpent is suffering from an arrow. I click my tongue, watching a big male human rip his barbaric sword from the body of one of the highbark trees. He turns and quickly moves to the serpent--he raises his blade, but a thin human with a bow stops him, barking some kind of warning at him. One of the humans, a bald female, is sobbing uncontrollably from some distance away. They're quite pathetic...

  "You'll kill her! Stab it carefully, damn it!"

  "I-I'm trying!"

  The big human gets his blade into the snake's body. He slices it longways, cutting open the poor serpent like some kind of crude butcher. I shudder in disgust, watching one of the Wildwood's subjects die as blood flows from its body.

  With the constrictor dead, the two male humans frantically pull the corpse off the fourth human. The lifeless serpent slumps lifelessly aside, revealing a small female human. Her complexion is pale. There's a lot of bruising on the girl's neck, and she's still losing blood from where the constrictor's large fangs pierced her throat. So much blood... I doubt she will make it.

  "S-She's breathing!" The big sword wielding brute shouts.

  Hope and fear war for dominance on the angled features of the archer's face. He searches his pouches before pulling out a healing potion--something Mother offers adventurers as a reward for venturing into her realm. He pops the cork with shaking hands. The red liquid pours down the unconscious girl's throat, healing her wounds and revitalizing her body rapidly.

  Once the archer is certain she isn't going to die, he whirls around, drawing his bow. I gawk in surprise when I realize he's staring right into my eyes. His jaw is clenched. He doesn't fire immediately, but I can tell he wants to shoot me.

  "W-What is it? Is it another snake?" The bald woman asks, still shaking.

  "No. There's something... no, someone watching us."

  "Someone? But we're the only ones in the dungeon, r-right?"

  The archer clicks his tongue in irritation. Apparently these four are the only adventurers within Mother's realm. I wonder if that arrow would kill me. I doubt it would do the job, but it certainly wouldn't be pleasant.

  "You there! In the trees! Are you friend or foe?!"

  How unexpected. The archer wants to parley?