A burning explosion of heat, and then Willow was yelling, “GET OUT!” I jumped backwards and reappeared to see a look of pain twisting his face. “I told you not to read my mind!” His teeth were clenched, eyes narrowed. For the first time ever, I thought he was about to fight me for real.

“I'm…sorry. That wasn’t—I didn't mean to.” I moved closer to sooth him. “Listen, please don't⁠—”

A finger jabbed into my chest. “Don't you say a word!” He pushed past Gold-and-Silver coming down the staircase and spat back, “The rest of you leave me alone!”

If there had been a door, he would have slammed it. A ringing silence was left behind, everyone's eyes now on me.

“I can't leave you alone for five minutes without something going wrong.” The doctor fanned himself with his notebook. “What happened?”

“It's… I might have…” I would not break my friend's trust, not even with the others. He’d told me not to say a word, so I wouldn’t. I glanced at Sharp and Piranha, my eyes saying I'll explain later. “I kind of… read his thoughts on accident. He wasn't happy about it. I really should find him and apologize.”

I'm sure my friends would tease me about this later, but for now they encouraged me with silence. I headed up the stairway to the Meadow Blue. My stomach turned. The sensation of falling hadn’t subsided.

The Meadow was empty when I climbed into it. I looked at the sky.

“Willow!” I cupped my hands around my mouth. “Look, I'm sorry! Don't hide from me! Please come talk.” On most days he was quick to forgive, so I was certain I crossed a line.

“Come on Willow…” I sighed. No movement in the trees. “Okay, have it your way. I'm going to leave you alone. When you're ready to talk, come find me.”

Still nothing. I gave it another moment before turning back to the door. If he wanted space, he would get it. The image of the girl’s face was still behind my eyes, and a word buzzed in my head. Something told me it was a name. Her name.

Phoenix.

When I opened the hatch to leave, a strangled cry erupted from the trees.

“BADGER!”

I whipped around. “Willow? Willow, where are you?!”

No voice replied. but I heard people struggling through the branches. I couldn’t jump into the trees without a plan, so I stuck my head through the door and shouted, “I need help up here! I think we have an intruder!”

The rustling increased. The sound of two people fighting. I sprinted to the branches and struggled to climb. The bottom limbs were so thick and gnarled, I had no hope of seeing through them, unless I climbed to the middle of the canopy.

“Come back! You’re making a mistake!” I shouted with desperation. I wasn't fast enough, and I could only hope someone stronger was coming to my side.

“What's going on up here?” said a voice from the trapdoor.

“Mercury!” I cried with relief. “Someone has Willow! They took him this way through the canopy!”

His stone-cut face morphed from bewildered to determined, and he crackled somewhere further through the branches.

“I see them up ahead,” he called back, then crackled once more. “Keep resisting nomad!”

There was an increase in sound, creaking wood and muffled grunts. Mercury had engaged the intruder in a precarious fight. My moment of relief was shot to pieces as the branches themselves began to move and shake, knocking me back into the grass. Mercury shouted, cursed, and grew silent.

I scrambled back up. The altered trees cleared my line of sight, and I saw a branch wrapped tightly around Mercury like a snake. Willow and his captor were gone.

“What is happening out here!?” Marrow's hollow voice was accompanied by many sets of footsteps.

“Thank the Reaper!” I exclaimed, fighting through the twisted branches. “Please help! Someone's taken Willow! Mercury’s trapped!”

Ivory expanded her orange aura further than I'd ever seen it. My fear dissipated and morphed into intense focus. “Marrow, Piranha, Sharp: pursue them,” she ordered. “Doctors, help me with Mercury. Badger, give us all the details. Now.”

I pointed westward. “They went that way! It was just one person, but they were able to do all this to the tree.”

Piranha’s eyes were sharp daggers, and they jumped on all fours to lead the pursuers through the treetops. Olivine and Ivory forced through the branches to Mercury, wrapped in the python-like limbs of the Ghost Tree. At first glance, his situation was almost comical, but as I got a closer look, I saw both arms were twisted and broken in multiple places. My spine shivered.

Gold-and-Silver touched the bent-up branches. “Looks like Oil’s work, one of Melodia’s cronies. We need to remove him immediately.”

Remaining calm was a trait amongst all City-trained doctors, even in times of greatest stress. Olivine raised a hand, wiggled her fingers, and closed her eyes. The tree unwound with ease, and I helped them take his unconscious body to the gentle meadow floor.

“Badger, there’s something I need you to do.” Spirals twisted from Gold-and-Silver’s eyes. “Go into the Unseen Dimension. Tell Mercury to stay calm as we treat his injuries.” Noting my hesitation, he added, “He will survive, even if you fail. See if your power can be used to help others.”

I swallowed my fear and dissolved. Mercury’s soul was silvery blue, the shape of it abstract but almost human. I touched my hand to the edge of the light.

“Uh, hi. It's me. Badger. Your cousin.” I recalled the breakfast we shared when he first told me this, holding the scene in my mind. “Will you let me touch your soul? I want to make sure you’re okay.”

The temperature lowered. I inched closer to the center, biting like a frosty winter. Breathe and stay calm so the doctor can treat you, I thought. You are going to be fine.

A feeling of relief washed over me. I saw an image of Mercury, a memory of an isolated patch of grass in the dark undergrowth, where he used to meditate.

“Yes! Good! You understand! Just keep it up!” I reappeared to see Ivory’s face scrunched in pain. I offered the gentlest smile I could muster. “Don’t worry, he heard me. He’ll be okay.”

She put a hand on my mine. Without a word, her gratitude permeated the air.

Olivine continued setting the breaks. Gold’s neutral expression was cut with a relieved smile. “His heart rate is stabilizing. He'll regain consciousness in a few hours. Sorry if my urgency worried you Badger, but I’m grateful for the help.”

This compliment did not calm me down, but instead reminded me about the other predicament still in action. Willow. I jumped up and began to clamor through the unwieldy canopy. “I’m going after them.”

Ivory tugged the sleeve of my shirt. “You aren’t going to catch up. Maybe you should stay in case Mercury needs your help…” She could not hide her fear for her son, despite the doctor’s reassurance.

“Doesn’t matter.” I pulled away. She had the decency not to compel me to stay. I was slow, but I knew the others were just as determined. It was my fault Willow was up here in the first place.

Moving through the branches was tough, but I only wrestled with them for about ten minutes before running into Piranha, fangs clenched tight. Being raised in the Jungle, they could move through the trees like a fish in water.

“Did you find him?” I breathed.

Piranha gulped. “N-no Badge, we lost them. Marrow is certain he was taken to an underground passage leading to the palace. We need Olivine to find it.”

I held my arms to my chest, unable to catch my breath. Piranha put a hand under my chin and forced me to look into their eyes. “Fight it. For Willow’s sake, you need to keep yourself steady. No matter what it takes, we’ll get him back.”

Inhale. Exhale. Nod.

We returned to the Meadow Blue, Sharp and Marrow five minutes behind us. My undead uncle was as unreadable as ever, unlike my City friend, who wore the same look of horror from the night of the Wild Fruit.

The ATMOSPHERE tensed like a tight, mortal coil. An expressionless Ivory listened, and in the silence closed her eyes. When they opened, the hollows glowed, and her thick orange light engulfed us. It was like staring into the sun.

“Saving the nomad takes priority.” Her voice was soft, captivating. “It aligns with our original objective.”