Whatever Tinus gave me wasn’t that much different than my other elixirs—which is to say that it was awful. Even though I had gone through multiple cleansings, I thought it was going to shred my muscles and dip them in battery acid. I fell unconscious halfway through and woke up in agony, but after activating Mental Shielding, the pain was cut in half, and I eventually fell asleep.

  Who knows how long I was asleep after that. Days? Weeks? Months? I didn’t know because the Guide wasn’t available, and I didn’t wear a watch.

  However long it took, I felt great when I awoke.

  I woke and found Reta sleeping on me. I swatted her off aggressively, and she groaned as she rolled onto the bed and fell asleep.

  “Quit your bullshit,” I said. “You don’t get that right.”

  She mumbled something incoherently and fell asleep again.

  “I hate you,” I declared.

  “If you hated her, you wouldn’t have done that,” Tinus said. I turned and saw him sitting on the night table beside the bed. “It’s not every day you see someone swat a guardian. It's dangerous.”

  I huffed. “Well, I thought we were cool, but I guess not.”

  “I wouldn’t take it personally. This is just how she is. But I can say that once she trusts someone, she is loyal to them.”

  I sent him a sidelong glance. “And does she trust me?”

  “About as much as anyone can. Trust is earned and to Drokai, it’s earned over centuries. But I think all of us trust you more than normal. You’ve earned it in other ways.”

  I let my head crash onto a feather pillow. It was soft.

  “Well, I appreciate that.”

  He studied me carefully. “You handled the quizal elixir better than expected. But it is quite the gruesome ritual. Would you like to take a few days off?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Reta really messed me up. I thought my parents were dying. I hate that I can’t tell truth from illusions. I hate everything.”

  He glanced at Reta and back. “I can’t change your test, but I can teach you how to distinguish truth from illusions.”

  “How do I know this isn’t an illusion?”

  “Because no illusionist has the mental capabilities, mana, aura, neara, and motivation to keep illusions up for long,” Tinus said. “And for persistent illusions, like Misty Row, you can cut right through them. It’s harder for most people, but you’re a soulmancer. If there isn’t soul force in an individual, you know they’re an illusion. If there is soul force, try to absorb it. From what I understand, you can absorb an extravagant amount.”

  “Who told you that?”

  Tinus pointed across the quaint room, and I saw Kyro sitting on a shelf, back against the wall, drinking. His cheeks were flushed. He was wasted.

  He didn’t even glance at me.

  “Anyway, unless you’re fighting a strong soulmancer, you will be able to determine an illusion from now on,” he said. “Even in Misty Row. Most soulmancers wouldn't be capable, but you have Brindle’s arts.”

  I smiled wryly. “So you mean that if I just tried to gather the grass in Reta's illusion, I would’ve known it was an illusion?”

  Tinus nodded. “Probably. You wouldn’t have been able to absorb Reta’s aura, but you would’ve known it was abnormal. Try it.”

  I chuckled bitterly. I tried to absorb Tinus’s soul force, and I felt his core fight back against it. He felt real.

  “Try it again.”

  I tried, and felt a strange force pulling back. It was like a reverse version of trying to push mana through Reta’s illusion. It was abnormal and felt like there was a direct barrier.

  “See?”

  I furrowed my brow. “That’s really all?”

  “You say it like everyone can gather soul force. Besides…” He turned to Reta and back. “Most people aren't Reta. It will be easy to identify with your skills. As for strong illusionists, you'll need stronger cores and training. But we'll fix that.”

  My eyes shone as I heard his words.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “There are eight annuals until the information auction—and we’re going to train you during that time. By the time they come, both of your cores will be at the third evolution.”

  I felt an icy chill jolt through my body.

  “I feel honored. But I’m sure Nythralis has told you, but I have obligations.”

  “She has—and you will fulfill them. Kyro tells me you have a teleportation array. We’ve authorized its use.”

  “You’re not worried people won’t use it to get to Nyralith?”

  “We are. That's why we’re sending Drokai to guard the exit point, and Nythralis is keeping us updated on the forest. If anyone strong enters the forest, we will move it.”

  I felt butterflies in my stomach. “I… don’t know what to say. It feels like no matter what I say, it won’t be able to express my gratitude.”

  “We do not accept verbal appreciation in Helfine. If you are grateful, prove it with your actions.”

  I nodded.

  “Now get your head straight, we'll take you to Nyralith in two days' time.”

  I grabbed Kline nervously and nodded. “I’ll be ready.”

  Kyro kept drinking. Reta kept sleeping. I kept holding Kline for a while before lying down and falling asleep.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Two days passed by in a blur. Drokai came and went, asking me questions, bringing me food, making me feel whole again. If Reta wasn’t narcoleptic, she was the best actor in the world because I didn’t see her so much as twitch during that time.

  I asked Kyro about it one night.

  “Does she really sleep like that, or is it a lie?” I asked.

  He shrugged and took a drink. “It’s genuine. She was exhausted monitoring you—now she's catching up.”

  I studied her. “Is it necessary? To sleep that long?”

  “No.”

  “Then what does she dream about?”

  “Darkness.”

  “What?”

  “Darkness. Reta only likes to be alive as long as she needs to be. Otherwise, she likes simple peace. We all deal with long, traumatic lives differently.” He lifted his flask in a ‘cheers’ and drank.

  I didn’t ask about it again. I just waited eagerly until the day of my trip to Nyralith.

  The morning of, Tinus arrived and said, “Come. Let’s take a tour so you understand what you’re getting into before the ceremony.”

  We followed him to the lake along with a procession of Drokai. The lake was just as intimidating as I thought it would be. The closer I got, the stronger the pressure became until I could barely breathe.

  I balanced on a large boulder and looked into the glassy water. It was covered in an inch-thick veil of pure mana, aura, and neara.

  I asked if it was a Numina Anima.

  He asked for clarification on the title but eventually agreed. It was a Numina Anima—but was nothing like the Helix of Annihilation.

  “How does it work?” I asked.

  “It creates a copy of your mind, body, and soul and figures out flaws. Once it identifies them, a mixture of mana, aura, and neara destroys your body, mind, and soul and reforms it.”

  I snapped my eyes on him. “Excuse me, what?”

  He stared at me earnestly. “That’s how it works.”

  “How long does it take?”

  “A month.”

  I winced. “And am I supposed to chant or something?”

  “No. You just need to survive. That said, I would thread your mana core. The mana here is pure, and Nyralith will struggle to find flaw in your core. It’s rather special.”

  “That it is…” I turned to Kline. His fur was standing on end.

  He already hated water.

  “It’ll heal your Klinefelter syndrome,” I said. “You’ll be fertile again.”

  He looked at me with wide eyes.

  “Babies,” I said. “You could have a litter one day. Don’t deny it. I’ve seen you looking at Layla.”

  Layla was one of Aiden’s cats. Kline snuck into his house often to show off how badass he was, but his rare genetic abnormality made him sterile. If Tinus’ claims were true, the water would fix that.

  Kline didn’t even think about the benefits. He was so embarrassed that he activated Active Camouflage and jumped through portals, but giggling female Drokai caught him midair. He yowled and cried, but they flew him back to me.

  “You’ll need to hear this,” Tinus said and Kline’s body went limp as the Drokai let him down.

  “So?” I asked. “Lay it on me.”

  “Tonight, there will a ceremony,” he said. “During it, you will strip and our people will lift you into the water. Once you enter, you mustn’t let your head be submerged until it’s time. We will hold you in place, but we can only do so much.”

  I gulped. “Thanks for giving us the heads up.”

  He nodded. “Now prepare yourself.”

  Preparing myself was a misnomer, considering that everyone else got me ready. I had a cleansing ritual, I ate special food, and was dressed by Drokai. By the time we finished, it was already nightfall and I walked out into a procession of the likes I had never seen.

  The pink and purple moons glittered on the silver sheened lake, and all around it flew sprites and nymphs and Drokai holding lanterns. They performed beautiful acrobatics as they danced through the air, dancing to the rhythm of Drokais playing drums and instruments. It was a summer festival in the spring, a light show in nature, a beautiful dance of stars and streaking lights in the moonlight.

  Kline and I walked out in the midst of it, flanked by chanting elders.

  Once we reached the lake, the music stopped and the air stilled. Singing winds sounded like shrieking banshees compared to the silence, and when I breathed, I found it rude and oppressive.

  I waited around nervously.

  Tinus flew into the sky and spoke.

  “For the first time since Brindle Grask created Harlock Forest and the tunnel, someone has completed the trials.”

  Silence met his words.

  “And contrary to expectations, that person was not a rogue soulmancer who earned the respect of Serenflora. The person who stands before you is the student of Brindle Grask—and a confirmed guardian of the Fourth Ring.

  A mixed response followed. Many grumbled; others were afraid to cheer.

  “Few remember Brindle, but the elders do,” Tinus said. “He was not just Helfine’s savior, but also the guardian of all of Areswood. Tonight, we will show you his story.”

  Reta lifted her hands and grand illusions spread across Nyralith. The lake stayed the same, but the backdrop changed. Helfine’s buildings were on fire, flickering flames over water. Streaks of light from arrows struck like meteorites as Drokai hit invaders with wind and fire and stone. There were thousands of humans and other humanish species charging up the mountain and surroundings, and there were only two hundred Drokai and an assortment of sprites and nymphs fighting back against them.

  The Drokai killed fifty for every injury, but the numeric advantage was absolute.

  The war was lost—

  And then a horrifying streak shattered the airwaves and stopped the fighting.

  Roots shot out of the mountain, wrapping around screaming people in droves as white, translucent beasts twice the size of elephants shot through the battlefield at blinding speed. The invaders were strong, third evolution entities at least. They destroyed the mountain, liquified the sand and turned it to glass. Boulders shot everywhere, and every attack was wrapped with aura. Soul beasts exploded—but they reformed instantly.

  Brindle’s soul army shredded the enemy forces—giving the Drokai time to take over.

  Drokai fought back as a man who was as much root as human walked into the area. He had a calcified mask and deer antlers. On his shoulder stood Reta, who lifted her hands.

  I knew what happened next—because Reta taught it to me.

  Every soldier’s body duplicated and started attacking each other, sowing confusion. Mages used raw mana to cut through the illusions, but they couldn’t compete with her power. Reta feigned, pretending like the illusions were broken—even though they weren't. A new illusion wrapped over the land during the cutting, depicting terrifying scenes that made the soldiers panic and fight one another. By the time the enemy forces erected wards that blasted the area with intense mana that eliminated the illusions, all that was shown was dead bodies. Reta had even made fake enemy soldiers to keep their forces distracted. As a result, they felt like they were holding their own despite over a thousand dying in twenty minutes.

  The battle was over.

  A timelapse followed and then sunlight spread over the lake once more, and the scene changed to Brindle, who walked through the morning light. Everywhere he stepped spun to life. Dead plants reformed like puzzle pieces, graphing themselves as aura held them up.

  He stood before Tinus, the bloodied, bruised, and broken hero of Helfine—and offered his hand.

  “This is Brindle Grask,” Tinus said as the illusion ended, revealing the glowing sprites and lantern-holding Drokai over the water. “Many have grown dissatisfied with him since he wrote of Areswood for the top walker’s Oracle. They call him a traitor. They believe he abandoned us. But to those of us to know him—we know that isn’t true. Brindle Grask protected this forest for sixty millennia—and he is still protecting it now.

  Today, as Serenflora and the Vraxle have fallen to ruin, at a time when the Bramble is weak and rotting, he and Yakana have brought us a successor—someone vouched for by Reta, Kyro, and Nythralis. Someone accepted by Emael and trusted by Escala to plant her seed in Aelium.

  Mira HIll is human—our bitterest enemy. But I will remind you of Yakana—the human who stood beside Brindle in defeating the endless armies of the Jacksmore War.

  Mira Hill is not simply an individual with the potential to protect this forest and to make Brambles—she is Brindle’s successor.

  So welcome Mira Hill and her fellow guardian—Kline.”

  A roaring applause met his words and for the first time since entering Areswood Forest—

  I felt appreciated.

  Something had shifted since I passed Reta’s trials. It occurred to me then that Reta really would have killed me if I failed her trial—just as she killed Kyro’s students—but that brutal impartiality is what made her judgment trustworthy. I had passed their trials—and they welcomed me as their own. It was touching.

  “And now, tonight, Mira will begin her journey toward perfection,” Tinus said. “She has fulfilled every requirement. She has purified her body and cores. She has built her mind. She has developed a strong will. And now, tonight, she will be rewarded for it.

  “Mira. Begin.”

  I was cheered on so violently that I didn’t even feel awkward stripping from my ceremonial robe and I barely noticed when Kline and I were lifted airborne over the water. It was just so loud, vibrant, and raucous—joyous even.

  I was taken away by it. Until I was lowered into the water. Then my perspective on everything shifted.