Panting heavily, I stumbled forwards clinging to the back of Varis’s shirt. “My legs are sooore!” I whimpered as Varis turned around and shoved me off of him.

  “We’ve only been walking for five minutes,” he said with a sigh. “Stop grabbing me, you baby.”

  “I’m not a baby!” I filed my arms.

  Curse these weak muscles! What happened? I’m a kid again, aren’t I? Where’s all the unlimited energy children have?

  Father gnced back at us and said, “Both of you, stop bickering and keep walking.”

  Behind me, Mother pced a hand on my shoulder. “Come, dear, it’s not that far.” She eased me forward, and I huffed as we navigated up the mountain trail.

  “Trail” is a bit of an overstatement, if I’m being honest. The narrow, winding path through the forest was overgrown with vegetation. Not to mention we were going up the mountain, so I was constantly fighting the incline with my tiny legs as Varis and the other tall folk around me strode up with little to no effort. As we pushed deeper into the thickening undergrowth, the canopy above became so dense that no light showed through, save for the occasional god ray that pierced the gaps in the pines.

  The forest was dark. Very dark. And aside from my family’s movements and the occasional idle chatter, I could hear critters scurrying through the underbrush and snow. I tightened my cloak around me. I couldn’t imagine getting lost in a pce like this. It was truly unnerving.

  As if sensing my anxiety, Mother’s hand found my shoulder. “Don’t worry, love; I’m right behind you,” she hummed.

  “I—I know.” I sighed. “It’s just dark and cold out here.” As we climbed, the air was getting chillier and chillier. I should’ve expected this and put on some extra yers, but unfortunately, Captain Hindsight wasn’t here to rescue me.

  Mother said, “I can’t help too much with the cold, but with light…” She squeezed my shoulder gently and closed her eyes for a second. “Mother of stars, your heavens are so bright; lend me your guidance on a path of light. Fireflies.” Her eyes fshed a ghostly blue, and she waved her free hand. A blue strobe fred from the forest around us. Then dancing orbs of light began to fill the air around our group, illuminating the dark.

  Varis gasped, Father spun around, and Isa gnced over her shoulder, amazed. “You couldn’t have done that earlier, Cailynn?” Father asked with a smile, rolling his eyes before turning back around. The little magical orbs were levitating forwards up the path, lighting our way.

  Mother smirked as her eyes returned to their original hue, glistening in the light. “You never asked, love.” She gnced down at me. “Is that better, Luna?”

  My eyes sparkled with joy at the sight of more magic. “You totally have to teach me this!” I said, and Mother giggled.

  “Perhaps I will.” She winked, and my heart fluttered.

  “Really?”

  “I’ve been thinking about it,” she said. “I did bring my book with me, and I have some extra components. I can maybe try and show you some lesser spells this week.” She hummed a tune under her breath, her excitement palpable.

  My smile widened. Maybe this is partly why we came out here, I thought. If Mother wants to show me spells, it’d probably be best to do so away from our home. I scurried on ahead, no longer feeling the aches in my feet.

  “Varis! Varis! Momma wants to teach me magic!” I said, eager to tell someone.

  My brother turned around. “Oh? Cool! Can I learn too, Momma?”

  Mother nodded. “If you can keep up. Magic is just like schoolwork.”

  “Aww, I hate school!” He pouted as we all ughed.

  “It’s about a handful of garos up ahead,” Isa called back to us after moving ahead to scout the path.

  Garos? I thought, trying to recall what Isa taught us in css. That’s about a yard. If I’m right, then God bless. My legs are dying; it’s cold, yet I’m still feeling sweaty.

  “Hear that, Luna? Just a little more,” Mother said as she maniputed her little orbs of light to orbit around me. That made me smile.

  Pressing further, I could now see sunlight ahead. We had been traveling for about an hour on foot, and the sun was three-quarters of the way across the sky. As we finally broke into this new grassy and rocky clearing, I saw we were at the base of a massive cliff face on the side of the mountain.

  A fissure had torn down the center of it, leading to a natural cave entrance. A rge one at that. I sure as hell hoped this wasn’t a yogi’s den. Or worse, a dragon’s.

  “Excellent,” Isa said with satisfaction. She spun around to face us as we lined up. “It’s still here.”

  “What is this?” Father asked.

  “It’s just a big hole in the wall,” Varis huffed. “I was hoping for something cooler—” Mother bopped him on the back of the head.

  “Varis, be nice; Madam Soza was excited to bring us here.”

  Isa chuckled. As she gnced at me, I flopped on the stony ground to rest my legs, fttening out my skirt with a sigh.

  “We’re not going in there, are we?” I pointed nervously at the hole.

  She gave me a smug look, and her feline ears wiggled mischievously. “Well, if you don’t want to see the interesting bits inside, then I guess not.” She shrugged.

  I mulled it over and gave in. “Well, it does look really cool to me. Can we take a short break first, though?”

  Isa looked to my mother and father, who both nodded, and crossed her arms. “Aye, we can rest for a bit. About fifteen minutes.”

  Mother, who’d been keeping up a strong front, rexed and said, “Thank the gods, my stomach has been killing me.”

  “Did you bring those sandwiches?” Father asked, and Mother reached into her bag and brought out some cloth-wrapped lunches.

  My stomach practically cheered as we all circled around. Mother passed out steak and cheese sandwiches, and for a short while we sat and ate mostly in silence.

  While I dined on my fine lunch, however, I felt a tug. Not like someone physically touching me, but something inside. My stomach had flinched forward, like when I rode a roller coaster. At first, I thought nothing of it; maybe I was just that hungry. But as I finished my lunch, I felt it again.

  “My gut feels funny,” I said, and my mother’s head instantly perked up.

  “Was it the meat?” Mother asked. “Was it still bloody?” She gulped.

  I shook my head. “N-No, it was cooked… I feel like it’s lurching in me.” Gncing up, my eyes met the cave entrance. That’s when it lurched one st time but faded. “Huh, it went away,” I said, rubbing my stomach. “Maybe it was nothing, but it started when we were about to eat.”

  Mother bit her lower lip and said, “Well, if you feel sick, let me know.”

  “Okay.” My eyes never left the cave entrance; something felt odd about it now.

  You know what’s in there. A thought came to mind, but before I could explore it…

  “Something caught your attention, Luna?” Isa asked after noticing and following my gaze.

  I shook my head. “Not in particur,” I said, “but I am curious as to what’s in there now.”

  Isa’s eyebrow rose, and I could tell she was a bit suspicious now.

  As everyone finished up their meals and got to their feet, I dusted off my skirt, straightened up, and found my parents both looking at Isa.

  “So do you know what’s in there?” Father asked.

  “A little bit. When coming through this side of the country, I stumbled upon this pce and ventured forth a few hundred gotts.“

  Mother pced a hand on her hip and frowned. “So, are you going to tell us what’s in it?”

  Isa smirked and set a cw on her lips. “It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you. Trust me, the pce was abandoned the st time I checked.”

  “And how long ago was that?” I asked as Isa was turning away.

  She stopped mid-turn. “How long have I been teaching you?”

  This woman hasn’t been in here in almost four years; how the hell does she know it’s still abandoned? I sighed.

  Isa smirked, then walked towards the cave entrance. One by one we began to follow her up there. As we approached it, I paused, hearing something like thousands of rustling leaves. Yet the sound wasn’t coming from the forest behind me, but up ahead. Within the cave. The sound peaked, and I realized… it wasn’t leaves. It sounded like static: television static.

  He’s in there. And I felt dread.

  “Do you hear that?” I asked my family voice wavering. My heart was thumping alongside the sound. It was happening again, why? What was it?

  You know why.

  Darkness began to form around me.

  Everyone stopped and looked at me. But the darkness… They didn’t acknowledge it, it was like they weren’t bothered by it. Or was it all just in my mind? My father cocked his head and listened. “All I hear is wind.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re clucking out now!” Varis teased, and I shook my head. My body trembling, fear boiling within. I wanted to run; I needed to go. Why?

  Stop pying dumb…

  “N-No, I’m not… I just… thought I could hear…” How would I expin it? These people don’t know what TV static sounds like. “Like rustling leaves. Lots of them.”

  The thumping of my heart grew louder and the darkness crept closer.

  “It could be just the wind I mentioned,” Father said, though his ears were flexing a bit as he tried to listen.

  “But I hear it within the cave.” My voice trembled. The sound was growing louder and louder, the darkness oozed forth from the shadows reaching for me, calling to me.

  He’s in there.

  “Who!” I called out, and everyone jolted.

  “Luna, what’s wrong?” my father asked, turning to face me.

  Isa stepped towards the cave, peered within for a minute, and turned back to us. “I do not hear anything.”

  Are you fucking kidding me? I thought. It sounds so loud, though. Should I stay out here? Maybe it’s not safe. Maybe going in will just cause trouble—trouble that’ll get not just me hurt or killed, but the others.

  Inside will lead to all sorts of trouble…

  I flinched when my mother pced her hand on my shoulder. “If you’re scared, Luna, I can stay with you out here.”

  Gncing up at her, I gulped, and then I heard—no, I also felt it. In tandem with my beating heart. A steady beep. It sounded along with the static and my heart for a second before falling to silence, only to echo out again. I felt my stomach sink. My mouth dried, and my vision blurred as my trembling became uncontrolble. It was just like the time in the outhouse, I was panicking. I was just panicking, I needed to calm, I needed to go, run, run…

  “Luna? Luna!” My mother lunged down to grab me as I stumbled back. “My god, Slyran, she’s freezing!” Her voice was growing distant as my world began to fade.

  The sound of static and that incessant beep grew louder and louder before suddenly—

  The darkness consumed me, and I bcked out.

  “So, we meet again… You’re too early… So be it. Come by alone at dusk, and I’ll have what you need prepared.”

  “Gyaaah!” I was jolted awake by my own scream as I lurched up from the bed I y in. My body was stiff, and my lower back ached as I huffed and drew in deep breaths. My eyes scanned the dark room to see the light of the television dispying nothing but static and emitting white noise.

  My eyes widened, staring at the TV, before I jerked at the sound of the heart monitor behind me. I yelled and gagged as my dry throat ached for water, and I fell into a coughing fit. I reached up and yanked the cords and tubes from my body, rolled out of bed, and colpsed onto the cold marble floor.

  This can’t be. This can’t be. This can’t be. This can’t be.

  But it is…

  I cmbered to my feet and was taken aback by how tall I was. Looking down at my hunched-over form, I was met with the sight of an emaciated person, a man. I reached up with my long, thin hands and felt the scraggly beard on my face before touching my small, rounded ears.

  No! No! No!

  I frantically looked around in the dark for a bathroom and found one opposite the bed, then limped over to it and opened the door. Flicking on the light switch, I turned to the mirror and flinched. For a second, I thought I saw myself. The little elf girl was staring back. Yet after I blinked, I was shocked to see a scraggly man in his mid-thirties, staring back at himself, his hair unkempt, his beard thick and uneven, and thin without muscle all over.

  It’s the real you…

  No. Why? Why am I back here? Is this some sort of sick joke? Has this all been for nothing?

  Had it all been a dream? A horrible dream?! It couldn’t be. It felt so real, it felt so long. All of it. All of it was gone. This couldn’t be real. It had to be a joke. A cruel one. How could I return to my old life after all of this time?

  Suddenly, the lights in the other room came on. The sound of someone speaking English threw me off guard—a woman’s voice calling out, was she a nurse? She was calling out someone’s name. A name I didn’t recognize, until it clicked.

  My dead name.

  But is it really?

  I csped my hands over my ears. No! I don’t want to hear it; I left that name behind!

  I shambled my way to the entrance of the bathroom and saw a pretty woman in hospital scrubs. She was turning to head out until she stopped and saw my disheveled self standing in the doorway.

  “Mister…”

  I squeezed my eyes shut and drowned her out with my thoughts. I refuse to hear my old name. I died, and that name went with me. My name is Luna Ashflow now. Luna, Luna, Luna! I screamed in my mind as if it’d make it real again.

  “I’m so happy to see you’re awake, sir, but you need to go lie down,” she said calmly as she approached me.

  “No!” I yelled out in the Maurich tongue. “Get away from me!”

  The woman stopped and hesitated. “Uh, Mister…” I shook my head once more. “You need to come with me back to bed.” She reached for a button near the bathroom door and pressed it.

  I stumbled back into the bathtub, tripped, and fell, thankfully not hitting my head. The woman panicked and rushed over to help me, but I swatted her away with pathetic kicks and cries.

  Coming into the bathroom were two male nurses, rge, strong-looking fellows, along with an older woman who looked to be a doctor. “What seems to be the situation here?” the older woman asked.

  The first nurse gnced back and said, “Mister…” I csped my hands over my ears. “Woke up. I’m trying to help him back to bed, but he seems delirious.”

  I’m not delirious; this is just a dream. A nightmare! I’m having a fucking nightmare! I wanted to scream, yet when I opened my mouth, only weak groans escaped my lips.

  Is waking up back here really a nightmare?

  I kept my hands csped tightly over my ears and clenched my eyes shut as I curled up in the bathtub, mumbling to myself that this was just a nightmare. Yet when I felt the firm hands of the male nurses dragging me out of the tub, I cried out with abject horror. I tried my best to fight off the men, yet my sticklike limbs were nothing. Eventually they held me so that I could hardly fight at all.

  As I was dragged from the bathroom, the older doctor approached me, her hand in one pocket. “Calm down, Mister—” she started to say, and I screamed and shut my eyes as something sharp pierced my neck.

  And everything went dark, and I fell unconscious.

  “Now. Let us meet properly once again.”

  My eyes flew open, my back arched as I gasped, drinking in air as I choked and groaned. I sat up, my hands shooting to my smooth-skinned face and up to my pointed ears. I was once again Luna. A little elven girl.

  “Oh, thank God, it really was just a shitty nightmare.” I moaned and quivered. It felt so fucking real. I sniffed, wiped my eyes, and gnced around to make sure I was back in my and Varis’s tent. Nearly seven years. It’d been nearly seven years, and this was the first major nightmare I’d had about my old life. For the first month or so, I had nightmares, mostly about the gunman. Yet after that, they faded away.

  Why now? I thought then. You know why—

  I closed my eyes and shuddered. My hands were still trembling as I pulled myself out of my bedroll. Somehow that cave triggered something in me. But what? What was it? I took another deep breath, regaining what composure I had left.

  Mother must’ve stripped me of my clothes and put me in my pajamas. Taking my time, I got dressed once more and stepped outside. It was te; the sky was a dark shade of purplish blue, and I could see the moons, Radiance and Andoria, above my head as the sun dipped below the mountains.

  My family was around the campfire watching Isa, who stood waving her arms around.

  Great, I’m missing story time, I thought, and hesitated.

  Part of me was drawn to my family, yet… my eyes drifted back towards the trail. Something inside was drawing me in. That same sensation I had felt earlier. A lurching pull, as if a rope had been tied around my waist. I was being reeled in. As I stood there, I swore I could hear it still. The static, the beep. I needed to figure out what it was. I didn’t know why, but I felt this compulsion.

  “Listen up, children.” Isa’s voice echoed in my mind. “This is very important. The Heinnd Forest is not a safe pce for little kids. Legend has it that a Web Way is connected to this forest, which leads to the Fae Wylde. This area is known for its creatures of trickery.”

  The cold iron. I hurried back into my tent and went to my bags, then dug around in them until I found the dress I had worn earlier. Searching it, I winced as I took out the freezing metal rod. I put it in my pocket, holding it there in my grasp, but the lurching pull I felt, it was still present.

  Should I tell the others—

  No. A thought of my own interrupted myself. I should go alone.

  A sharp pain wracked my head, and I winced as I clutched it. “Ow, fuck… what the hell?”

  I stepped out of my tent again and turned to the path. One st time, I gnced back at my family. What if they notice me? I thought. Mother and Father will get furious.

  They won’t notice me, my own thoughts said. I’m sure I’ll be just fine going alone. The words felt so alien, yet… right. They were my own thoughts, after all.

  Yet it’s dangerous, I said to myself. Surely, I should notify the rest of them.

  They won’t understand, my conscience replied. We've got this. Just make your way to the cave.

  I hesitated. Perhaps I should tell them—and winced as another ping of pain hit me. I gritted my teeth and nodded. A quick trip only took about an hour before. Maybe they’ll think I’m asleep. I turned away from my family again and made my way towards the trail, hearing them cheer and cp at the end of Isa’s story.

  As I stepped through the underbrush, a cool chill came down the mountainside. The sound of static and the ever-present pulse-like beep grew louder and louder.

  Bonjour, mon vieil ami, I hope this etching finds you well. However, being locked away eternally as you are, I doubt that is true...