Leah's chest rose and fell in shallow breaths.
The storm above growled again, a low rumble rolling across the endless black sky. Lightning split the clouds for a brief second, turning the nightmare landscape white.
Then darkness swallowed everything again.
Leah swallowed hard.
Her body still throbbed from the roots tightening around her ribs. Every slight movement sent sharp pain crawling through her muscles.
But something else pulled at her attention.
A faint sound.
A breath.
She turned her head slowly.
"Mauris…?"
For a moment nothing happened.
Then Mauris's fingers twitched.
The roots binding him creaked softly as his hand shifted weakly against the bark. His head jerked slightly, like someone waking from a terrible dream.
"Mauris!" Leah whispered hoarsely.
His eyes snapped open.
For several seconds he simply stared upward at the sky.
Lightning flashed.
The white light reflected in his eyes as he inhaled sharply, his chest rising against the thick roots wrapped around him.
"What… what is this…?" His voice was dry, strained.
Leah exhaled shakily.
"I don't know."
Mauris turned his head slowly toward her. His eyes widened when he saw the roots binding her body.
Then he looked down at himself.
The vines coiled tightly across his armor and arms.
His breathing grew faster.
"No… no, this isn't…"
He tried to move.
The roots tightened instantly.
Mauris groaned as the bark pressed deeper into his chest.
"Don't fight them," Leah said quickly, her voice trembling. "They tighten when you move."
Mauris stopped struggling, though his muscles still trembled with tension.
His gaze slowly lifted again.
Taking in the landscape around them.
The towering black trees.
The endless web of roots.
The corpses hanging in the distance.
His expression slowly changed.
Fear crept into his eyes.
"What… place is this?" he whispered.
A sudden violent gasp cut through the air.
Both of them turned instantly.
Henry.
His body jerked violently in the web of roots that held him suspended. His head snapped upward as he sucked in a sharp breath.
His eyes flew open.
For a moment he simply stared into the darkness.
Then he saw the sky.
The lightning.
The forest of corpses.
Henry screamed.
"NO..!"
His body thrashed wildly.
The roots holding him tightened and creaked as he struggled violently against them.
"LET ME GO!"
His voice cracked into panic.
"LET ME GO! GET THEM OFF ME!"
The vines constricted around his arms and chest as he fought them, biting into his skin.
"Mauris!" Leah shouted. "Tell him to stop!"
Mauris twisted his head toward him.
"Henry! Stop fighting them!"
But Henry didn't hear.
His breathing turned ragged.
His eyes darted wildly across the nightmare landscape.
"They're everywhere…!"
His voice broke.
"Oh gods… what is this place?!"
"Henry!" Leah shouted.
He froze.
His head slowly turned toward her voice.
Lightning flashed again.
For a moment their eyes met across the tangled roots.
"Leah…?" he whispered.
"I'm here."
Her voice was soft now.
Calmer.
Even though her heart was racing.
"Stop struggling. They'll crush you if you keep fighting."
Henry's chest rose and fell rapidly.
Slowly… his movements stopped.
But his entire body still shook.
"What happened to us?" he whispered.
Leah didn't answer.
Her eyes drifted toward the massive root pillar behind him.
Toward Thalia.
Her body remained bound tightly against the trunk.
Head hanging forward.
Completely still.
No breath.
No movement.
Lightning flashed again.
For a moment her pale face was visible through the tangled roots.
Leah felt her stomach twist.
A cold silence settled between them.
And somewhere deep within the endless forest of roots.
Something moved.
The silence that followed Henry's panic was heavier than the storm above them.
No one spoke.
Only the distant rumble of thunder rolled through the black sky.
Mauris's breathing was still uneven.
Henry's body trembled inside the tightening roots.
Leah stared into the darkness between the trees.
Something felt wrong.
The air had changed.
The wind that had been whispering through the roots moments ago had stopped.
Even the lightning seemed to hesitate.
Then;
A sound.
Soft.
Like cloth dragging across stone.
Leah's head turned slowly toward the sound.
Between the towering roots and the hanging corpses, something moved.
At first it was only a darker shape within the darkness.
Then lightning flashed.
For a single heartbeat the figure became visible.
A long cloak.
Tattered.
Trailing behind something that did not walk.
It floated.
Just inches above the ground.
When the lightning faded the shape disappeared again.
Henry's breathing quickened.
"You… you see that…?" he whispered.
Mauris did not answer.
His eyes were locked on the darkness.
The sound came again.
That slow dragging whisper.
Closer now.
The cloak emerged first.
A long black garment that seemed far too large for the thin shape beneath it. The fabric drifted unnaturally through the air as if moved by water instead of wind.
No feet touched the ground.
The figure simply glided forward.
Another flash of lightning split the sky.
This time the face appeared.
Or what should have been a face.
Two burning red lights floated beneath the hood.
Eyes.
Bright.
Unblinking.
Watching.
The rest of the face remained hidden inside endless shadow.
Henry sucked in a terrified breath.
"What… is that…"
The figure stopped several yards away from them.
The cloak slowly settled around its floating body, folding into layers of black that moved slightly even though the air was still.
The red eyes shifted.
First toward Mauris.
Then Henry.
Then finally;
Leah.
When its gaze landed on her, the temperature seemed to drop.
The roots around her body tightened slightly.
Not painfully.
But as if reacting to its presence.
The figure tilted its head.
The motion was slow.
Almost curious.
A thin whisper slid through the clearing.
A voice.
Dry.
Cold.
Like something speaking through dead leaves.
"You… have awakened."
Henry shook his head violently.
"No… no… stay away…"
The figure did not move closer.
But the red eyes glowed brighter.
"You have crossed the threshold."
Another lightning flash revealed more of the figure.
Its body beneath the cloak was impossibly thin.
Long arms hidden inside the dark fabric.
Its shape seemed wrong.
Too tall.
Too narrow.
Like a shadow that had been stretched beyond human form.
Mauris swallowed.
"What… are you?"
The figure's head tilted again.