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So, this was an attack on the mind, an illusion? His magic flared within him, and he pushed at the surrounding forest, but it didn’t go away. This place reminded him of the unnamed forest, as if a piece of this land had somehow spilled over into Adalon. A clicking noise like the clacking of pincers made Thane dash out of the clearing and crouch under the group of protruding roots that formed a cage around him. One he could easily slip through but something larger than him wouldn’t.

“War!” Called… Layala. “War, where are you?” She stepped into the blue light cascading down between a break in the trees. With weapons strapped to both thighs, a sword on her back, a gold dagger on her hip, black boots with the moon cycle in silver going up the outside in a vertical line. This wasn’t Layala. It was Valeen.

Thane crept out, watching her carefully in case this was a trick. A smudge of dirt across her cheek and the sweat beading on her brow appeared real enough. She held a small brown bag in her hand. “Where is Hel?” she demanded, looking him up and down.

“I don’t know.”

“He was with you two seconds ago.”

Thane noticed a ring on her left hand, a pear-shaped black diamond with two sparkling, crescent moons on either side.

“We need to get out of here. We’ve spent too much time already.”

“How?”

She narrowed her blue eyes at him and in a blink, she had her golden dagger out, a forearm slammed into his chest, and she shoved him against the tree. The tip of the blade pressed against the base of his throat. “Who are you?”

“It’s me. It’s War.” He held up his palms to show no threat. He didn’t know if he could die in here, but the sharp point of the blade felt very real.

“Tell me something War would know then.”

Thane cursed in his mind.

“Are you going to kill my cousin?” Hel said, appearing behind them. “I know he can be annoying, but I don’t think we should gut him and leave him in the underrealm. It’s a bit harsh, love.”

“I don’t think it’s him. He asked me how we could get out.”

“The door, obviously,” Hel drawled. He gestured to the right and in the distance covered in vines and steeped in weeping branches stood a rounded archway with a barely visible door where dim light shone around the edges.

“Exactly,Warknows that.” She pressed the blade harder.

“Well, tell us something only War knows then.” Hel’s smile was all feline and shadows. “Or we’ll leave the imposter here. For instance, why are we down here?”

Thane clenched his teeth together. Whatever was in Valeen’s hand no doubt, it was small, but he had no idea what it was. “To find something?” And Hel knew that. Valeen pressed her blade until the sting of it burned, really and truly. “Wait! Wait. I fell into some of those mushrooms. It’s messing with my mind.”

She pulled the blade back. “Why didn’t you just say that, you fool?”

“Because it’s messing with my mind,” Thane snapped.

Hel smiled and slowly shook his head. “Clever,” he murmured.

“Let’s go before we have to fight our way out or worse, get trapped here.” Valeen started off, and Thane hurried to catch up to her side.

“So why are we here?” And as soon as he said it a memory flashed—“Bring me the ring of a demon prince or I’ll expose you. All it will take is one whisper to destroy your world. I know you killed Synick.”He’d overheard someone—a female blackmail Valeen. “And if you kill me, I’ve set up for the truth to come outabout what you didand what you have in your possession. Theft of the most coveted weapon, and the murderer of a primordial, it’s enough to get you exiled forever.”

“A demon prince’s ring?” Thane balked. He wasn’t even entirely sure what a demon prince was but there were stories in the oldest of books about demons and what they could do.

Hel quirked an eyebrow. “So, you do remember.”

“It’s coming back. Damn, mushrooms.”

Valeen skidded to a halt, and both hands snapped out to grab Hel and Thane by the front of their shirts. “He’s here.”

Thane didn’t like the way she said that. He glanced back and in the shadows fifty yards off, a pair of red eyes watched them. An eerie tingle ran down his spine.

Valeen lowered her voice. “Nothingcan escape this realm.” To add to the chilling warning, the scream of some helpless creature being assaulted by something that shut it up quickly, echoed throughout the forest.

“We shouldn’t be here in the first place,” Hel murmured and turned to Valeen. “If you had just told me who was blackmailing you, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”