I find myself once more in the small grove I had the night before. Mia is not here this time, just Anya, sitting beneath the tree on a root, feet dangling in the water. She seems to be reading a book, not paying me any mind.

  This time, when I step forward towards the lake, I am not blocked off from moving closer. I enter the water and quickly start swimming closer towards Anya. Her attention stays on the book until I am right next to her, only my head poking out of the water to watch her. She closes the book and her gaze turns to me, it is not the same eyes I remember, they do not have the same amber luster as before. Instead, they are a mix of violet and vivid green. A smile plays across her lips as she reaches out a hand to me, and I gently nuzzle up against it.

  I try to speak, but words fail me, and Anya gives me a shake of her head, a sad expression on her face. Apparently we can not talk here. It’s… painful. I get to see my wife, I get to touch her, but I do not get to speak to her. She must notice the sadness flickering across my skin, and her expression lightens a little as she motions me up towards her. Clearly an attempt to cheer me up, but I let her, no point in denying her.

  Clambering on top of the root next to her, she wraps an arm around my side, and pulls me in closer to her. She’s warm and comforting, like always. We remain like that for a while, before she eventually picks up her book again. The movement draws my attention, and I can see her watching me in turn.

  She smiles at me, and then motions at the book. It’s not hard to tell that she wants me to pay attention to it, so I do. When she’s sure I am watching, she starts to flip through the pages at a quick pace. Most of them seem… not blank, but obscured, like something wants me to not see them. But, there is the occasional page that I can decipher, even with how fast Anya is going. Maps and diagrams of plants mostly, but one of them stands out to me.

  This one, is accompanied by a rush of pain boring into me, almost causing me to scream. But I remain steadfast, as through the pain I can see something I am not supposed to. Another map, but this one is accompanied by the drawing of a willow, one that I recognize, for we are sitting underneath it. Anya lingers on it for a long moment before flipping to the next page. My eyes snap towards her, and the last thing I see is an apologetic smile on her lips as I am ripped out of the dreamscape.

  I awake with a start, but the pain and shock are already distant. The rest of the dream though, I remember with clarity, every page I could see, and especially the final one, they’re all burnt into my memory. But it is only now that I realize, they aren’t maps, not truly, I could not draw them on a parchment as follow them. They are much closer to an impression, a knowledge of an area pushed into my mind through means I do not know. Though in turn, I am sure that I could navigate and recognize each of them with ease.

  It’s an odd feeling, and even while still considering what this knowledge, this dream, means, I can hear a soft knock on the door. “Ada, are you awake?” Celine is here to get me. I scurry out of my bed and to the door, and open it for her.

  “Morning!” It’s odd to have this much energy right after waking, but I am not complaining. Celine is in the doorway, greeting me with a smile.

  “Good morning Ada. I’ll show you where you can wash up, and then we can go get breakfast. I’ve had something prepared for you after our talk yesterday.” She motions me down the hall and I quickly follow. She shows me to a small bathroom where I quickly freshen up before rejoining her. “So, your body has changed a lot, how’s it living on all fours?” She starts to lead the way towards our breakfast, down the stairs and towards the doors. I catch a glimpse of Mia resting on a bed, two of the healers are still with her. Breaking off from Celine I head over to Mia, to get a better look at her.

  Celine follows along and I answer her question while I make sure Mia is being taken care of. “Oh, I can still change to walk on two legs. This is just more practical, and I don’t dislike it, I like it even! So I saw no need to change back.” Mia is resting peacefully, the wounds on her body have stopped bleeding entirely now. She’s still obviously hurt though, but it is clear that they are doing what they can. I turn towards the two healers and flicker my appreciation across my skin, earning me two smiles. It’s odd how easily understood my pattern language is, but I’ll take it, it is much easier to express some emotions this way.

  I turn back towards Celine and nod at her to continue leading us outside. “She’s in good hands here, they’ll do their best to keep her alive. As for you, that is quite interesting. I am curious how much your humanoid form has changed then.” Something in her inflection tells me that she thinks I change my body like Mia does.

  “Oh, no, it’s still the same body, I am not like Mia. My body doesn’t change like that, it doesn’t get replaced. It just readjusts some parts when I shift, I didn’t even notice the first time I did it.” She gives me a nod in acknowledgement, but leaves the topic be for the moment as we exit the building.

  The village is bustling with activity now, many people are moving around us, some stopping to greet Celine, but most of them just go about their way. I make note to sometime ask her just what exactly her position is here. She leads us through the village, and towards a large building, much larger than the others. It’s made in the same style as the healer’s house, and the rest of the village too. There’s a lot of activity here, families with their children, soldiers and all other kinds of people.

  Celine pushes the door open and we step into the building, it looks even larger on the inside, and is bustling with people. This is clearly a gathering place, and a place for food, as there are tables upon tables, all loaded up with various kinds of meat, bread, vegetables and everything else you could think of. There’s places for people to sit, but many seem to just take their food and leave to go about their day.

  A few eyes do turn towards us, and me specifically, as I am a newcomer here, but none of them are hostile or anything like that. “Welcome to the village hall. The food for you is stored in the kitchen, so I’ll have to go get it. Feel free to mingle while I do.” I give her a nod and she leaves me to my own devices.

  There’s many people here, though any attention our entry has made has already passed, so I am left to engage people on my own. Not something I am great at, I admit, so instead I head over towards one of the food tables. I am curious about what kind of foods there are here, what has changed.

  The food on the table is much like many of the animals I’ve encountered so far, strange but familiar at the same time. The most familiar that I find is a vegetable very similar to potatoes, just strangely colored, as far as I can tell. I continue looking for a bit, not taking anything, when a low smoky voice is directed at me. “New here? I had trouble deciding what to eat when I came here too.” I turn to look at the speaker, and find a large, muscled person in leather garments standing next to me, they’re even taller than Mia. This is the least human looking person I’ve encountered so far, besides myself that is. They look like a giant bipedal bunny with sleek muscles, clearly trained for efficiency and power. The ears are a mix of white fur and red tips, with piercings all over the rim, each of them with a faint glow of magic. Their amber red eyes are looking at me, waiting for me to reply as I take in their appearance.

  Slightly tilting my head, I take a second to consider my answer. “Yes, but no. I am new, but I am just looking. My friend is getting me some food prepared.” The giant of a bunny nods with a low grumble.

  “I see, special dietary needs then? Not the only one here. It’s a shame, the food here is delightful.” They move to place some of the potato-like food onto their plate, a plate that already has a variety of different foods stacked up on it. “So, what brings you here? We haven’t had many newcomers in recent times.” They motion towards one of the tables as they speak, and I answer with a nod.

  We head over to the table to sit as I answer their question. “A friend brought me here, and I actually met someone I knew from the past when we arrived, she’s the one getting me the food.” I look around, but Celine still isn’t back. “She’ll probably be back soon and you can meet! Oh, right! I’m Ada!” Sitting at a table is… weird, when your body is more like that of a cat than that of a human, but I make do. My meal companion seems to have no trouble with the seating, their body much more humanoid than mine is currently.

  They take a big bite out of a haunch of meat, nodding along to my words. “I see, welcome then, we’re all here looking for a better life, and to topple this wretched kingdom.” They grin at me. “Name’s Naya. I hope you’ll feel right at home here, the folk here are quite nice.” Their eyes scan my body for a moment. “Won’t have to worry about anyone trying to make you their pet or similar…” Naya shakes their head slightly as they eat some of their vegetables. “We’ve all had those experiences.”

  I hadn’t really connected the dots until this moment, but the way the merchant talked to me, the intelligent creature that I met in the caves… “I see. Thank you. I’ve… not been around long, and didn’t really encounter a lot like that yet, but I’ll take it as a warning.” I flicker my appreciation, which earns me a nod in turn. “I won’t be staying for long here though, I have to find some things to help my friend! She got hurt on our way here.” Naya swallows the bite they have in their mouth, head slightly inclined in thought.

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  “The woman that got brought to the healers yesterday? I guess it makes sense, a newcomer was mentioned in the rumors too.” They nods to themself. “Your friend’s in good hands if she’s with the healers, I hope you can help her.”

  Celine approaches our table before they can continue, she has a large platter of different foods in hand, all still steaming fresh from the oven. “Hey there Naya, I see you’ve met Ada. Ada, Naya is one of our instructors, they’re quite nice outside of training, but don’t let them fool you!” She giggles slightly. “Your food!” I can sense the magic suffusing it as she places it in front of me. It’s hard to hold back myself from tearing into it immediately, though for a moment I am not sure about the why. That is, until I remember that it would seem undignified. It’s odd, one small part of me still cares about how others see me, but a growing part cares very little. For now though, I decide to at least show that dwindling bit a small bit of grace, and use my tail to spear a chunk of meat.

  “Hello Celine, you caused quite a lot of rumors with that stunt of yours yesterday. Though your friend here is quite interesting.” They point a mostly cleaned up bone towards me as I rip a chunk out of the piece of meat on my tail. Naya chuckles a little. “Voracious. I like her.”

  I flicker agreement across my skin, not bothering with words for something so simple. Celine grins next to me, she herself also has a plate, much smaller than mine, though her food is also suffused with magic. It’s odd that the meat itself is so magical though; when I ate the octofiend most of it was in its blood. Maybe different beasts have different properties for this, or there is some special process to it? I take another bite out of the meat on my tail and let the other two talk. “Didn’t really have much choice, Mia wasn’t responding to me, so I had to assume she was hurt. Something that obviously turned out as correct.” She shrugs a little as she pops a berry into her mouth. The magic in this food is different to the fruits in the bag Mia had given me, much less dense. Maybe the process of infusing the meat lead to that?

  Naya nods at her words. “No one blames you, of course. Just caused a bit of a ruckus. But you have to keep in mind that the wards aren’t impervious.” This causes a slight bit of a grumble from Celine, but she doesn’t refute it.

  The talk quiets down for a bit as we all eat our respective meals. Eventually though, Naya is the one to speak up once more. “So, the little one said she’d not be staying long. Gonna try and find some things to help Mia?” They look to me for confirmation, which I give with a quick ficker across my skin. They look at Celine as they continue. “You sure she can do it alone? Things have been… odd recently. Nothing we’ve encountered before, but you know that. But Ada, you’re new or something, you’re not aware of the dangers out there. I am not sure we should let you go out alone like this.”

  Celine puts down a rib she had been nibbling on for the last minute and wipes her hands before speaking. “I know, but we don’t have much choice. We can’t exactly send out a squad, traveling in a group, even a small one, is going to be too slow for what she needs. And… she’s hard to spot, quite frankly. I only spotted her yesterday because she was carrying Mia. Admittedly, my senses aren’t the best, but they’re not the worst either.” She sighs and takes a sip of a drink she’d brought along. “So, yes, she’ll have to go alone. Unless you’re volunteering that is, but even if you do, I am not sure losing you for the training isn’t going to be an issue.” She shakes her head slightly and glances at me, her expression is hard to read for me.

  Naya on the other hand is much easier to read, they seem somewhat annoyed in fact. “The girl I’ve been training to be a new trainer has been making good progress, she can take over for me.” They turn to me. “If you’re as new as you seem to be, then I am not going to let you leave out there on your own. You’ll just get yourself killed. Hells, it’s a miracle you even made it here without being torn to shreds!” I’m not sure why they seem to care so much, but I flicker my appreciation for their concern.

  “Celine is right, I can be stealthy, but… I don’t know much about what’s out there. At least… not really. I- it’s a bit hard to explain.” Celine raises a brow at that and motions for me to continue. “Well… I dream at night. Different to before things changed. Anya is there, and…” I choke up a little, but eventually power through it. “She gave me some knowledge. Kind of, pushed it into me? It’s sort of a map, but not really. It’s more like, I was there before, but I don’t exactly know where there is. I think she wants me to go there, the book she showed me had some diagrams in it; of different plants at different places, but this one seems special.” I know it is the grove she’d shown me in the dream, but I am not sure what I will find there, so I do not mention it.

  Naya and Celine are both quiet for a moment, before Naya speaks up again. “I am not sure if that’s any better, but if you trust this Anya person, then we might as well give it a shot. That is, if we can figure out where we even have to go.”

  Celine is quiet for a bit longer before shaking her head slightly. “If that really is Anya, which… is not impossible, quite honestly, then we should follow her advice. She’s… always been knowledgeable beyond what she should’ve been.” There’s a small shift in her expression, like there is something she’s hiding. “You said you don’t know where exactly it is, do you at least have a general idea?”

  I consider both of their words, and I want to ask Celine about Anya, about what she means, but it is not that important right now. If she really is alive, then she’ll survive until I find her. She’s always been the more crafty of us. “I… have an idea as to where it is, in the forest, the one you found me in, but I do not know where exactly in there. Though I should be able to tell once I get close enough, Anya showed me a rather large area.” It’s not exactly a precise location, but better than nothing.

  “That forest is about the size of Germany before the shift…” Celine almost immediately shatters my hope. “It’s large, everything is larger now. But… it is better than nothing. Probably more likely to work out than trying to find what the healers wrote down. Oh, on that note.” She pulls out a small parchment from nowhere, likely a storage ring. “Here it is.”

  She hands me a list of various fruits and other things, each with a small illustration, some of which I recognize from the places Anya has shown me, but some which I do not. After I am done I hand it to Naya, who has been curiously following our conversation. They take a moment to read over it before placing it back down. “We’re never going to be able to get all of these in time. Not if what I’ve heard of Mia’s condition is right. It’ll take us over a month to get even half of this, if we’re lucky. Did that mystery lady of yours show you any landmarks or anything as well? If not this is unlikely to work, the area is just too large.” Both of their heads are turned towards me, waiting for a reply.

  “Oh, that’s my wife. My dead wife… ex-dead? I don’t actually know. Anyway, Anya is my wife. As for landmarks…” I collect myself and try to fully recall what Anya has shown me before I continue. “There was a mountain I think? Several snowy peaks reaching into the clouds. Bit of a weird blue glow to them?”

  Naya and Celine exchange a look, before they nod at each other. “Good chance that it’s the stargleam mountains. They’re quite a distance from here, but it’s a start, more of a chance to work than trying to get all those ingredients at least. So, what do you two say?” Celine mostly addresses me, but the final question is also directed at Naya in part.

  “I want to save Mia. If finding the place Anya has shown me is our best shot at that, then that’s what I’ll do. And… I don’t mind if you come along, Naya. I can probably use someone that knows this world better than me.”

  They give me a grave nod. “I shall, then. Though… if your wife can dreamwalk with you, from that far away, she must be quite powerful by now. I am curious to meet her. But if it is not your wife, and something is trying to lure you to it, for some reason… I will not be able to protect you.”

  Celine, on the other hand, just lets out a sigh. “Very well then, you two try and find Anya. Hopefully she’ll be able to help. And yes, as Celine here has said, if she can dreamwalk with you from so far away, she’ll be powerful, which also means that she will be deep within the forest. Naya here is probably excited for that, since there’ll be many powerful creatures roaming around. But please, stay safe, both of you.” She looks towards me, her expression rather serious. “And Ada; while that might be your wife out there, or it might not be, not anymore, or maybe she never was and it is something using her likeness to try and hurt you. Please make sure not to die out there because you got fooled by some beast. I am frankly not very happy to just let you go, but it’s the only way we can save Mia, Naya is right about the time frame otherwise.” She leans back a little before moving to stand. “I’ll get everything ready for you two. Ada, we can talk more once you’re back, I wish we had more time.” She gives a nod to Naya, and then leaves.

  Naya waves her goodbye, before they turn back to me. “Guess we got a plan then! As you may have gathered, I like to test my mettle against the various creatures out there, and well, haven’t had much opportunity for that recently.” They grin widely at me. “So, you may say you’re doing me a favor with this too! You get a buddy that knows the locale, and I get to stretch my legs.”

  “Thank you. Maybe you can help me figure out how strong I am. I’ve only been in two fights on the way down here. Once against what Mia called an Octofiend… I… got stuck changing after that.” I elaborate as they direct a questioning expression at me. “My body wasn’t finished, some organs missing, no hair.” I wiggle my tentacles. “After that, we had a fight against some soldiers. That’s when Mia got hurt…” They nod at that and consider their answer for a moment.

  “Octofiends are ambush predators, they’re not the strongest in a direct fight, but stronger than your average soldier. As for the soldiers… well, a bad matchup for Mia, obviously. But most of the rank and file they bother to send out here are weaker than a kitten.” They finish up the last bits of their meal before they finish. “I’ll be able to figure out how strong you are, and how to train you, once we’re out and about. Don’t think you’ll just get to tag along.”

  Indignance flickers across my skin at that. “I want to get stronger! Obviously I am not just going to tag along, and anyway, I’m going to need to hunt for food, as you can probably tell.” I swallow another chunk of meat, most of my meal is done by now.

  They chuckle in turn and nod. “I like your spirit, you’ll grow strong, I can sense it.” They let me finish my meal in peace before we get up. We place our trays on a cart at the door, then head out.