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The glare died down when she approached.

A smile crossed her face as she stared at the glow. “The bark of a Witchlock tree.”

She eyed the pile of blue bark and took another step toward it. She extended her arm, her fingers trembling as they reached for the much-needed bark. Her fingertips touched the rough, blue husks when a shout interrupted her.

She snapped her head in its direction.

Dewey lay on a stone altar, ropes tying him down. He kicked his little feet and pounded his paws.

Above him, a large blade swung back and forth on a pendulum, inching closer and closer to slicing him in half.

“Paige! Help!”

CHAPTER 17

“Dewey!” Paige screamed as she stared at the grisly scene.

The giant blade dropped closer and closer to her friend with each swing.

“Help!” Dewey cried again, fighting against the ropes that bound him but making no headway.

“I’m coming, Dewey. Just let me get the tree bark!”

Paige spun to face the platform containing the tree bark. Her stomach dropped as the podium slowly lowered into the floor.

Another loud cry from Dewey drew her attention back to him. The blade nearly slashed him in two.

She flicked her gaze back to the bark. If she tried for it, she’d never make it to Dewey in time. And if she saved Dewey, she’d lose the bark.

Her face pinched with dismay at the choice for a moment before she left the tree bark behind and hurried to Dewey. She swung the sword down, cutting the rope that held him to the stone altar.

He rolled off the platform and to the ground seconds before the massive blade skittered across the stone top, sending sparks flying.

Paige covered her eyes as the bright beams seared her eyes.

“Paige! Paige!” Dewey shouted.

She let her arm fall away and opened her eyes, blinking rapidly at her surroundings.

“Paige! Are you okay?”

Paige swallowed hard, scrambling to her feet and glancing around at the colorful trees that surrounded them. “Y-yeah. How did I get back here?”

“I guess you passed the test,” Dewey answered, flying into the air. “Same as me. At least, I think I did.”

“Test?” Paige questioned, her memory hazy.

“Yeah. After you fell asleep, did you end up in some weird, dark version of this forest? And call out the guardian’s name, and then he stuck you in a labyrinth? And when you got to the center, you had to make a choice?”

Paige’s forehead pinched as she attempted to recall what happened to her.

She slowly moved her head up and down. “Yes.”

“Yes,” she shouted a second time, jabbing a finger at Dewey. “Yes, I went through a labyrinth. Did you meet a really mean door? And a wolf?”

Dewey’s fleshy eyebrows knit together. “No.”

“How did you get through the maze?”