“Don’t be foolish, you need to rest. We’re in Pyrite’s house.”

I had no intention of staying idle and stood up anyway. “How long have I been unconscious?”

“Look, you really ought to lie back down.” She wrapped a gentle hand around my wrist and attempted to pull me back. “I’ll go get you some food and water and–”

I yanked my arm away. “Sharp.”

She sighed and raised her hand in surrender. “Fine. It’s been three hours.”

“What!” I stumbled towards the door. “We have to go after them now!”

The door was blocked by Willow, holding a wooden tray stacked with dry bread and clay mugs of water. He had removed his scarf and jewelry and looked ready to turn in for the night. “Whoa there, Wild Boy! Alive at last! You're going to need to drink and rest before running headlong into the forest.”

“I’ve been resting for three hours! I can’t believe you just let them take Pyrite like that! What were you–?”

Without breaking his calmness, not even a little, he took a cup from the tray and poured the entire thing over my head.

“Agh! Damn!” I sputtered, hair dripping all over the plush carpet. “What the deep hell is your problem?”

“Hm?” He set the food down and acted as if he didn’t know what I was talking about. “Just wanted to snap you to reality, Valley-punk.”

I narrowed my eyes and flicked some of the dripping water into his face.

He wiped it off. “What did you expect us to do, huh? Leave your unconscious body behind as we limped after two galloping horses headed to the Deep Dark? Give me a break.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. The water dribbled down my chin.

“That’s not all.” Sharp said, offering me a piece of raisin bread. “Just because we had no chance of catching them doesn’t mean we didn’t try. Willow had to help me take you inside, so Piranha was the only one fast enough to keep up. They couldn’t catch the horses, but they did make it to the border. We know which part of the Dark they entered in.”

The bread was like flavorless gum. I forced it down. “Where is Piranha now?”

“Asleep downstairs. Here, please sit.” This time it was Willow who grabbed me by the arm, and I sat back down. The inside of this room was circular like the tree it was made from and painted a color much like the daytime sky.

“Badger.” He dried my hair with a dishcloth. “You know we aren’t just going to run off right? Pyrite is in danger. But it happens to be four o’clock in the morning, and some of us have been up for over twenty-four hours.”

“Wha–,” I mumbled, after choking down another mouthful of bread. “That can’t be right. We weren’t riding that long.”

Sharp touched the face of her timepiece ring. “Time doesn’t move the same in a place with no sun. Last time my dad was here, he went two days without sleep. From now on, we need to pay closer attention to the time of day, or else we’re in for a hard time.”

She made a face at Willow, trying to tell him something telepathically. He winked and put a hand on my knee. “Look Badge, we all want to save Pyrite, but we need rest and supplies before we even think about breaking into the Deep Dark.”

“But...” I wanted to argue, but there wasn’t much point. Our chances of finding Pyrite were just as low now as they would be in a few hours.

“Well, aren't we a lucky bunch?” said Piranha’s yawning voice from the doorway. They were smiling but their eyes sagged with exhaustion.

Sharp grumbled and closed her eyes. “I’m not sure ‘lucky’ is the word I’d use right now, Pir.”

They smiled and shrugged. “And why not? Willow wanted to go to the Dark, and we were all wanting some adventure. It is the exploration season after all.”

“Maybe now is not the time,” she scolded. “Pyrite could be in very real danger, not to mention the four of us.”

“No, they’re right,” I acknowledged. “We can’t change it, and things will go even worse if we have the wrong attitude.” I took a deep breath and remembered something important. “Did you tell my parents what's happening?”

Sharp and Willow paled.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, stomach turning.

“The gold scroll,” Sharp whispered. “It wasn’t in your bag. We haven’t been able to find it anywhere.”

Willow’s mouth grew small. “I was thinking about it and… do you remember seeing it after we returned from foraging mushrooms?”

“Now that you mention it, no I don’t.”

Pir tapped a fretful rhythm on the doorframe. “Sharp suspects they might have stolen it after coming across our horses. It had Pyrite’s address on it.”

I smacked my forehead. “Oh no. My last message was still inscribed! Damn it through the trees, that must be why they knew who I was.”

“No use feeling guilty,” Piranha whispered. “None of us knew what direction the night would take.”

The night. There were no windows in this room, but what did it matter in a world with no sun? In fact, the lack of windows may have been the best choice for a house like this. I couldn’t imagine it was easy to look outdoors into endless dusk.

“We should all get some rest as soon as possible,” Piranha reached into their satchel, “and eat plenty of Moonlight Fruit, to avoid losing our minds.”

I’d shared meals with my friends many times, but none were as silent as this one. The quiet that accompanies eating drew attention to the crushing exhaustion holding us in its clutches, paired with something sinister lurking in our future. The Moonlight Fruit tasted like paper.

The border to the Deep Dark was not man-made. It was a Divine pressure in the air that couldn’t be seen by the human eye, controlled by whoever the God Tree allowed to have the throne. Even with a guide I’d been afraid to pass through, and now we were doing it with no one.

“We must be close,” Willow breathed. Earlier, when we were raiding Pyrite’s cupboards for some dry fruits and mushrooms, his positive attitude had instilled our group with confidence. Now, as we approached the border, he looked ready to puke.

“Why do you look so sick?” I asked.

“Probably for the same reason you do. Look.” Willow pointed to the canopy, thick with the whitish glow of the Moonlight Fruits, but also with patches of soft, luminous blue. The light of the Wild Fruit made the skin look pale and azure.

“It isn’t just the light, Willow,” said Sharp. “Your face is all scrunched like you’re about to lose your breakfast.”

Piranha turned to reveal a nearly identical expression. “I think we should stop. This is as far as I made it yesterday.” The wildcat scanned my impassive face. “Don’t you feel it too?”

“Feel what? The air pressure?”

“No, the horrible nausea!” they balked, hunched over in discomfort. “What about you Sharp?”

Her serious expression faltered as she clutched her stomach. “Yeah, starting to.”

“I feel fine,” I said, which wasn’t completely true. I was fighting the insatiable urge to run away. “Do you think it’s time to disappear?”

Sharp closed her eyes, searching her mind for any useful knowledge. “We’re probably one hundred feet or so from the true border, given the symptoms. Once we’re shrouded, we’ll move to the goal as quickly as possible so you can avoid passing out. Do you think you can do it?”