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I started nodding, feeling the bark’s texture imprint on my face. ‘This is the issue, Cal. You always focus on yourself—who you can fight, who you can defeat, who you can injure. You don’t even care when you harm those close to you.’

‘Who have I harmed?’ she yelled.

‘Me,’ I shouted back. ‘You’ve hurt me!’ Silence filled the bond. How have I hurt you?

‘By deceiving me for half of our lives and plotting against my family!’

‘Your family killed mine first,’ she replied.

This was going nowhere. I erected the wall again to stop the bond and began pacing, shouting into the air .

“Quite the dilemma,” the gnome remarked. I watched his pointed red hat emerge from a mushroom patch.

“What did you do with my friend?” I yelled. He merely smiled, curled his arms tight to his body, and sank back into the ground, morphing back into a mushroom.

I dashed forward, tugging him free from the earth, but instead of the gnome, I was left holding a fleshy mushroom stem that crumbled in my grasp.

Frustrated, I stepped back onto the path, caught in a serious dilemma: Should I continue or retreat?

Concern for the women, who could now be stranded in this forest, tugged at me, not quite enough to make me turn around though.

After being scolded by Calypso for babying her, I was beyond hesitant to help the women, but leaving without Walter or Bexley felt wrong.

They had come for me, and I wouldn’t abandon them—at least not yet.

I proceeded along the path, calling out for Walter and Bexley, struggling to see ahead.

A strange sense of familiarity crept over me as I walked past thorny hedges, hearing what sounded like laughter from within them.

I passed more shadowy trees as leaves fluttered down and the distant howling of an owl filled the air along with another moaning sound.

It was relentless. Driven by a need to identify the mysterious sound, I picked up my pace.

The annoying familiarity of the gnome’s voice interjected. “Want to know what that sound is?”

“No!” I shot back as I spun around, exasperated. “I don’t want to know what that sound is. I want to know where Walter and Bexley are and how to escape this fucking place. I know you know.”

The gnome beamed before he sang, “I could tell you how to get out of here.”

I wasn’t naive; nothing he said could be trusted. Annoyed, I resumed my path.

“That’s the sound of the ghosts warning you,” he yelled after me, sending shivers up my spine like spiders. I walked faster, calling for Walter and Bexley, until I realized it was futile, with the unnatural mix of howls and moans .

I hadn’t expected Cal to defend her sister quite so vehemently, but she had.

It left me questioning my stance on giving Anna the pendant.

If Cal believed Anna deserved her powers, should I continue to keep them from her?

Should I return it on the condition she lets me return to the Elysian Fields?

I paused, contemplating whether to reverse course and retrieve the girls.

No, I chastised myself, moving forward in search of the path’s end when realization struck.

I was walking in circles, over the same mushrooms and crunchy leaves. I paused, the gnome’s haunting whistle echoing behind me. Enough was enough. I turned to confront him when he suddenly transformed into Walter, who charged at me.

“What are you doing?” we both exclaimed, abruptly halting. “Where were you?” I demanded.

“Where did you go?” he retorted. “Why did you just vanish?” Now, both yelling, it dawned on us that something similar was happening to us both. “And Bexley?” I asked.

“I have no idea where he is. I say we leave him. I want out of here.” As we spoke, his anger faded, but something shadowy still lingered in his eyes, making me cautious. Something different had happened to him on whatever journey this tier had taken him on.

“Let’s just keep moving,” I suggested trying to calm myself down.

“We’re going in circles, can’t you see?” Walter lunged, grasping my throat with a look I’d never seen on him.

“Calm down, calm down,” I urged, shedding my anger and raising my hands in surrender.

He breathed heavily, wild-eyed. Whatever that gnome had done to him, it had messed him up.

“It’s what they want—for you to be upset. But it’s not with me,” I insisted.

“Actually, I am upset with you,” he shot back. “I wouldn’t even be here if not for you—or your mother.”

“I know; I’m so sorry,” I offered, knowing this conversation had to happen between us at some point. Unsure of what else to say as I held his gaze.

“If it weren’t for your mother, I wouldn’t have to be here with her,” he shouted.

“Okay, relax,” I calmly suggested, feeling his fingers tighten around my throat. Silence enveloped us, and I feared he might snap my neck. Fighting would only worsen things, and quite frankly, I refused to fight him anyway. Everything he said was valid. If he snapped my neck, it was deserved.

After a few more tense moments, he finally released my throat and turned away, raking fingers through his hair, shouting out his frustrations. I held my tongue, choosing not to apologize again.

Several more minutes of this passed until, unexpectedly, he softened. “In a twisted way, I guess I’m grateful. I love Eletha and, no matter how often she lashes out, I will continue to love her. I’m glad I came here I guess, because it gives me more time to win her over.”

I nodded.

“Sorry,” he murmured.

“It’s okay,” I reassured him as relief washed over me. “I don’t feel like myself,” he admitted.

I understood completely. “Don’t worry, it’s probably this place and that irritating gnome. Did you ever see Bexley?”

“No, not at all,” he replied, something unspoken still lingering on his face.

“You sure you’re okay?” I asked again. He nodded.

“You want to go back for the girls, don’t you?”

He pushed his tongue against his cheek and then nodded. “Yeah, me too,” I replied. We turned around and headed back toward the door. I recounted my argument with Cal to Walter.

“So what will you do about the pendant? Will you give it to Anna?” Walter inquired.

“I’m not sure,” I confessed. “I can’t shake the feeling that handing it over could cause something worse and I hate that I’m tied to it. I don’t want it to hurt any more than it will if I have to leave it behind.”

“Well, she’s probably going to kill you, so there’s that,” he remarked.

“I’m already dead,” I reminded him. “You know what I mean,” he countered.

“I don’t think she would wipe my memento,” I reasoned. “No,” he agreed.

The bushes shifted ahead of us, interrupting our conversation. A man emerged from the brush and collided with both Walter and me.

It was Bexley.

“Dude, what’s going on? Where have you been?” Walter yelled.

Bexley stammered incoherently.

“Did you get lost?” I inquired. He glanced around and nodded. I exchanged a doubtful look with Walter. “Has this happened to you before?” I pressed. He met my gaze, turned pale, and nodded slowly. “Can you guide us out of here?”

“I don’t know. Usually, something appears, like a door or portal, and you just leave. I really don’t know.” He looked like he had seen some things here that I hadn’t.

“We’re going back to find the girls,” Walter declared.

I paused, realizing something. “Hang on a second.” I examined the familiar bush and the same pile of uprooted mushrooms. “We’re still stuck in the loop.”

“No, we’re heading in the opposite direction,” Walter insisted.

“Look, it’s the same bush.” I pointed to the thorny shrubbery.

We were trapped, and our tempers flared, fueled by frustration.

However, Walter’s concern for Eletha magnified his annoyance as he turned and ripped the bark off a nearby tree.

“Okay, let’s just calm down,” I urged. “Fighting won’t help us. ”

As we continued to move, the surroundings began to shift and brighten. Fallen trees adorned with mushrooms and lichen appeared, unfamiliar to us.

“The scenery’s shifting,” I noted. “The gnome told me we only stay on the level if our sins from that tier persist.”

“What do you mean?” Bexley asked.

“You’ve been here before.” I regretted snapping as soon as he fell silent. Approaching the light, we discovered a small shedlike cottage in the heart of the forest. The glow emanated from the windows of its paint-chipped exterior. We exchanged glances.

“Go inside,” Walter urged.

The door creaked open as we entered and were immediately enveloped by the cozy warmth of a small kitchen.

“So, what’s next? Do we wait for the girls here?”

Without warning the room began to spin, making my stomach churn. We exchanged nervous glances, realizing too late that the shed had been a portal. As my vision blurred, the door opened once more, and my last sight before everything went black was Anna lunging at me with Eletha at her heels.