Runica and I left the Masterson property with Raster–he was pretty excited to show us something he had been tracking in the immediate forest surrounding the village.

  Runica’s parents, meanwhile, had stayed behind to take a crack at the maps that Raster had. They were excited to try to get to the bottom of the Shadow Flame’s tower, so to speak.

  Anyway, Raster–he took us to a tree and dramatically presented it.

  “What do you see here, Set?!”

  I exchanged wary glances with Runica before looking at him. “A dead tree?”

  Yup. No matter how I looked at it, it was a black-bark tree with not a single leaf on it. We were in the shallow edge of a forest. There were sure to be many trees like it.

  “Yes!” he replied, nostrils flaring.

  And then he took us to another tree.

  “What do you see here, Set?!”

  I felt stupid with my response, but said it anyway. “A dead tree?”

  “Yes!” he replied, nostrils flaring with more intensity.

  And then another.

  “What do you see here, Set?!”

  “A dead tree!” Runica said, giggling.

  “I like the energy, Runica!” Raster said, cheering her on. “But do you see that too, Set?” he asked, sincerely concerned for me.

  “Yes. It is a dead tree.”

  And then, would you believe it, one more.

  “What do you see here, Set?!”

  “Oh, it’s a half-dead tree.”

  I was surprised. After two hours of walking and Raster-made snacks, Raster brought us to a tree with about an eighth of its leaves left.

  “Wow… Alright, so what’s the significance of this?”

  Runica stepped closer, tilting her head at various angles. “Hold on… This is the exact same tree.” She turned to me, still pointing at the thing. “Set! This is the same tree! The branches are growing the same, and it even has the same little nook!”

  Raster clapped. “Astounding, Runica.” Then he grinned at me. “Guess pattern recognition isn’t your forte, huh, Set?”

  I shrugged. “That’s why I have Runica.”

  Raster chuckled. “Still sharp. Nevertheless, Runica identified one of many peculiarities about these trees!”

  Runica gasped. “There’s more?!”

  “That’s right! Set, I realize your visualization abilities might need some work—”

  “Fair enough.”

  “But imagine a circle divided into quadrants. The points at which the dividing line intersects with the circle–that is where these trees are!”

  I tilted my head immediately while Runica made a confused grunt.

  “What does that mean?” she asked. “And where’s the center? Did I imagine it right?”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “There’s… only one thing that could be the center,” I said.

  Raster clapped. “Better believe it, Set! Each of these trees is the same number of paces from the Shadow Flame’s tower! I know because I’ve counted them forty-two times!”

  “Oh my,” Runica said, covering her mouth.

  “You’re going to need to help me here, Raster,” I said. “What are you seeing?”

  He held up a finger. “A countdown. See, I was not the first to notice these trees. A writer from long ago noticed the trees when the forest had died due to a mushroom-provoked plague. These four trees stayed healthy, even when everything around them died.”

  I raised a brow. “Did the writer ever try to pluck the leaves himself?”

  “He was scared to pluck the leaves themselves, but, in the end, he did pluck ten and kept them. He also ‘infected’ the tree with the mushroom, to no avail.” Raster suddenly beamed with pride. “I actually respect my predecessor’s experimentation. He noticed something about one of the trees, which led to more plucking. See, the leaves of the first bunch did not die at the same time. The first leaves to die were ones that he plucked from the tree whose leaves he noticed were falling.”

  “What happened to the other leaves?” Runica asked.

  “I have his journal. Every ten days, he would update the trees, and then, when he passed, his offspring continued the journaling for many phases until he was old and gray. The leaves–the ones taken from this tree never died during their lifetimes!” Raster then pouted. “The leaves from this tree died before I could monitor them, however.”

  “Shit. That’s why you think it’s a countdown,” I said. “The trees are marking something.”

  Raster gripped the air with gusto. “Hero of my heart, Set, is there anything you may have gleaned during your journey that could give us the next clue to this mystery?!”

  I took a second to think, but all I could do was shake my head. “No, this is totally beyond anything I could have imagined.“

  “Come on, Set,” Raster replied. “Let’s talk about what we both have already considered.”

  “Set?” Runica asked. “Don’t leave me wondering. I want to know, too.”

  I thought about my Checklist. I thought about the similar structures between the villages. I thought about the “Hidden Passage” between villages. My knowledge of fiction from Earth informed the many conclusions I could draw. I just had to express it in terms that made sense to the people of this world.

  “There is a higher power here that is much more involved than a simple Spirit giving people blessings… This is… This is much more designed.”

  “Yes, Set, yes,” Raster replied, urging me to continue.

  Runica was the one who picked it up, not wanting to be overlooked. “Yeah, it’s not normal for trees to be exactly the same… And if they’re counting down to something, then wouldn’t it be something having to do with the Shadow Flame?”

  Raster raised a brow. “Why would you say that, Runica?”

  “Well, if you draw a line through the trees, the only place they all intersect is the Shadow Flame, so aren’t they all marking the spot on the treasure map?”

  Raster chuckled. “A treasure map analogy–I like it! What do you think, Set?”

  “If it’s counting down the Shadow Flame… Then that’s the most dangerous potential that we can fathom right now.”

  “We’ll be overrun immediately,” Runica whispered. “Just like Lyra’s village.”

  “I find it odd that the three villages that we know of were all built around Shadow Flames, and all had forested hunting grounds. Even the one that you saw was surrounded by forest, right, Set?”

  “Yeah… I get what you’re saying. They might have had these identical trees, too.”

  “What do we do?” Runica asked. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Raster, did you figure out the rate at which these leaves fall?”

  “I found the first of these trees 564 phases ago. I’ve watched them for a long time. I can confidently say that the rate of jitters is far too high. Some phases, ten leaves fell; other phases, only one fell.” Raster looked to the tree, concerned. “The last few phases, only one fell. But we only have eighteen leaves left.”

  “Dang, that’s less than I thought,” I said.

  “We have at least two more bright phases and at most eighteen more bright phases, thereabouts.”

  Runica tensed up as she held my hand. “That’s not enough time to figure something out, right? Raster’s out of clues.”

  “But, if it’s actually tied to the Shadow Flame, we can prepare for the worst and get ready to be overrun by Shadow Beasts,” I replied.

  “I suppose that’s something that can be done,” Raster said.

  “Maybe getting to the hidden cavern, if it exists, could be worthwhile,” I replied.

  “That’s another idea. I really like that one,” Raster said, before his eyes darted back toward the village.

  I followed his gaze and groaned. Three figures were approaching, each stocky and broad-shouldered, dressed in leathers scorched by soot, and all white-haired. The one in the center was taller by far, even taller than Raster, and was one of the 24 blessed with regen.

  “The Smith boys,” I muttered.

  The big one’s eyes locked on me. “You,” he said, voice low but carrying. “Set, right? We’ve been looking for you.”