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They said, fake it until you make it. But I didn’t need to fake it. Not anymore.
I nodded to my companions. “Let’s go.”
And we headed into the Forbidden Forest.
3
The forest was a fairy world of blue and silver, leaves and blossoms from the trees glowing like little stars in the deep night. But I knew how lethal this dreamy forest could be.
It’d stolen centuries from me.
We didn’t curse you and steal you away, multiple voices said, musical yet tired.We were cursed as well, and we’ve been waiting for your return.
My feet padded on the dead leaves, and I swept my gaze around, searching for the voices.
“Did you hear that?” I asked my companions.
The warriors tensed up, but none of them seemed to have heard the whispers.
My mates moved closer to me, fingers curving around the hilts of their swords, ready to eliminate any threat.
“The Forbidden Forest has never given me the creeps as it is now,” Rosalinda said, darting her eyes around wildly.
“It’s changed. Something happened to it,” Zembyr said grimly.
They’d just articulated what I’d felt. Something was wrong here. The forest was full of wrongness.
I opened my senses and probed.
A faint magic—dark and depraved—tapped me. It was both strange and familiar. My heart skipped a beat when I realized that Sihde was communicating with me.
However, when I cautiously opened myself to it telepathically, it withdrew.
It was holding back the truth about itself.
It was ashamed.
I sent out a wave of magic, stretching out and ripping off any glamour.
The dreamy blue silver and the blossoms all faded, revealing what the real Forbidden Forest was.
It was blackened, withered, and dying.
It was desolate.
Everyone saw the forest’s true form and gagged at its acid scent of decay.
“What the fuck is that?” Blaze called.
“Tianna poisoned and glamoured it,” Rosalinda hissed. “And our true queen has shown us what’s left of the forest.”
The multiple voices I’d heard before wailed. It didn’t take long for the wailing to turn bitter and menacing.
Before I could react to the forest’s sudden change of mood, mutant ivy vines burst from the ground. Within seconds, the vines were everywhere, shooting out in every direction and surging toward us in attacking waves. Their edges were razor sharp and toxic, similar to the cannibal plants from Pandemonium.
The warriors gave a yell and slashed their swords through the air, hacking at the plants in front of them, jumping up to avoid the vines’ ensnarement, and cutting the branches beneath their feet in frantic movements.
My mates shifted, fending off the poison ivy with fire, lightning, and ice.
