I think I like autumn here better, but that doesn’t come as a


    surprise. The brisk wind, the brilliant leaves, the odd scent that


    comes with it; it’s all perfect. Watching the world prepare itself


    for winter, preparing for inevitable rebirth and change in a way


    countless poems try to capture... it captivates me.


    Distracting, too. I push myself off the ground, dusting myself off


    and making sure I don’t pick up any splinters from our latest kill.


    “Do these count as kills, do you think, or underbrush clearing?”


    I say aloud, wincing the moment it leaves my mouth. Gods, that was


    terrible.


    “Um, what?” Helena replies, turning to look at me. She’s


    reaching up at a crystal dangling from a branch, and unfortunately


    she’s too short to manage. It’s kind of adorable. “Sorry, I’m


    a little distracted with this...”


    “And you switched back to exploring pretty quickly,” I nod,


    crossing my arms. My tail slaps the ground behind me, kicking up a


    puff of leaves. “You’re getting used to this. Good.”


    I stride on over, boots crunching through the ever-growing layer of


    falling leaves. It’s so satisfying, and I can’t help but kick my


    feet a bit to send puffs of leaves up into the air.


    “Stand still for a second, will you?” Placing a hand on her


    shoulder, I push up onto the tips of my toes, reaching up to the


    crystalline leaf and hooking two fingers around the stem. A little


    twist and pull is all it takes to take it down, and I present it to


    Helena. “Here.”


    She looks at it, lip caught between her teeth. Her expression clears,


    and she takes the crystal out of my hand. “Ah. Thank you!”


    “You’re welcome,” I shrug, taking my hand off her shoulder and


    stepping away. “Let’s get a move on, then?”


    “O-of course! But, what did you mean about underbrush clearing?


    Does that make the monsters a form of scrub tree?”


    Oh, Gods, she remembers. Of course she did. Fighting the heat in my


    cheeks, I look firmly away and start walking. “It was a stray


    thought. Don’t worry about it.”


    Helena giggles. “Ah, okay then.”


    There’s a comfortable quiet that follows, giving me time to


    recover... and to hear a strange snuffling sound, coming from the


    woods. That’s not how the wolf monsters have sounded; this sound is


    heavier, deeper. Something bigger.


    “We need to move, Helena,” I say, voice clear and crisp. I glance


    around the clearing, taking note of where the sound seems to be


    coming from, and pick out a cluster of trees with high branches.


    “Hope you’re ready to climb. If not, you’ll need to get on my


    back.”


    Helena’s expression sharpens, and she tilts her head. A moment


    later, realization dawns, and her eyes widen. She nods curtly, her


    hands glow green, and we hurry out of the clearing.


    And not a moment too soon, it seems. I’ve barely finished helping


    Helena hoist herself up onto a higher branch when <i>something </i>enters


    the clearing: a shivering mass of thorny briars, wrapped tight around


    the shape of a massive wooden bear. Its eyes gleam orange, and a


    black tar oozes out from between splintery, wicked-looking teeth.


    Each step is a <i>thump </i>that shakes the ground, enough for my


    sharpened senses to feel even up here. Its snuffling sounds more like


    the wheezing of wind through branches, now that I can hear it more


    clearly. The monster strides across the clearing, head on a swivel,


    but its path leads it directly to the corpse of the wooden wolf


    monster.


    Looks like we have a food chain in here, huh? I wonder what the


    wolves eat.


    The branch creaks, and all good humor escapes me in a heartbeat. Its


    head snaps up to us, eyes no doubt straining against the impossible


    shadows of this forest. I can see Helena’s chest still as she


    presses herself further into the tree. Her expression is more curious


    than scared, though; it’s a good attitude to have. Nerves are


    important, but keeping calm in a Delve is even more critical.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    The bear sniffs the air. Once, twice, three times.


    It turns away, and sinks its teeth into the wooden corpse. The sound


    of squealing, crunching wood fills the clearing.


    Helena exhales slowly, her breath rasping against my ears, and I do


    the same— though I flood my breath with Wind. I take that movement


    and amplify it, swirling it into a sphere that should seal off our


    scent and sound from the world. It’s a bit taxing, and I can feel


    the drain on my already dwindling reserves, but it’s worth it.


    Then, I let out a normal sigh, and let myself move to the second step


    of appraising this new threat. It’s bigger, it’s tougher, and


    it’s got a glint of magic in its eyes.


    The movement of its joints looks more natural, less like a monstrous


    wooden toy and more like a seamless living being. I''d need to break


    its joints, which I can certainly do, but without my knife, I''ll need


    to rely on Wind magic.


    That thing isn''t from this layer at all, I realize. It''s from much


    deeper— a few hundred marches deeper. Enough that it could be a


    decent threat to me without armor and a weapon.


    “That... looks like it’ll be hard to kill,” Helena whispers,


    echoing my own thoughts. “Thank you for the sound sphere, Ivy. I


    haven’t worked that one out.”


    I glance up at her and raise an eyebrow. I understand her eagerness,


    but it’s best to put a damper on it quickly. “I’ve had a lot of


    practice, and no, we’re <i>not </i>fighting it. It''s way tougher


    than anything else here, and it’d be easier to sneak past it than


    to kill it. If I had all my gear, it’d be easy, but I don’t.”


    To my surprise, Helena simply nods. “Oh, okay.”


    And that’s that.


    We do still have to sit in that tree for a while, though. The bear


    takes forever to finish eating that monster corpse, and spends time


    circling the clearing, probably trying to track our scent.


    <hr>


    Helena presses her hands against her back and stretches, groaning.


    “Oh, Gods. My back aches. Is there anything for that? A warming


    spell, maybe, or, um... ow.”


    “Sitting in a tree will do that to you. You get used to muscle


    soreness, eventually,” I lie, then think better of it. “Well,


    it’s more like you learn to put up with it, or it gets harder to


    get sore. Both, I guess.”


    “Jordan already bothers me about posture in chairs,” Helena


    mumbles. “Is there a bath at the Manor I could borrow? Something


    really hot? I’m going to need it.”


    “Right after I get my shot, unless you want to share it,” I roll


    my shoulders. My foot jams into a rock, and I grunt. “Mind the


    ground, I guess.”


    “At least we’re close. We are close, right? Um, we should have


    another hour or two, but...” She pauses. “That’s enough time to


    get back out too, right?”


    I run it over in my head. “With a Delve Heart, I can probably force


    our way out to the first layer once we’re about halfway back. My


    own stabilization of the portal stops me from doing the same to the


    first layer, but we can skip the whole thing by jumping down the


    cliff. I can carry you, if you’re worried about your Wind-cushion


    spell failing.”


    “Plenty of time, then?” Helena affirms, nodding along.


    “Plenty of time,” I agree. The trees are thinning out now, and


    there’s more leaves on the ground than ever. “We’ll want to try


    and get moving before winter hits, assuming this Delve doesn’t


    alternate between two seasons. And, hm. Trying to figure out how


    close we are.”


    I open my senses to the Delve, feeding a bit of magic into my mind to


    speed up the process. The slope of depth is increasing at a steady


    rate as we head towards ‘Delve down’, and I can just barely make


    out something thrumming beneath it.


    There it is. The rippling of a Delve Heart, like waves on the ocean.


    “There’s the Delve Heart, then. Not that it’s any surprise,


    there’s always one past the first layer. So, yes, we’re close.”


    Helena smiles. I match it, and do a little cheer inside my head. I


    have a dinner to get ready for, and as much as I’m dreading it, the


    bath I get beforehand will be amazing.


    “I’m ready to be done. Um, no offense. I’m loving Delving, but


    I definitely want that bath, too.”


    I grunt, nodding. “Don’t let it distract you. We’re not out of


    the woods yet.”


    I pause. Helena snorts, and I press my hands into my face to groan.


    And then we are out of the woods, barely two minutes later, looking


    at yet another copy of the chapel. More accurately, we’re right at


    the edge, and the trees are so sparse near the chapel that it’s


    more a plain than a woodland.


    Chapel is a strong word for it, too. It’s a ruin vaguely resembling


    a chapel, if it was picked up and then dropped from ten marches in


    the air. Sturdy construction, and the doors are still intact, but


    it’s more holes than walls.


    And from those holes, a faint golden light leaks out, a perfect match


    for the light of Delve magic.


    “There’s our Delve Heart,” I say, letting my shoulders sag with


    relief. “This is the halfway point, and we’re just retracing our


    steps from here. But that’s no excuse to let our guard down.”


    I hear the crunching of leaves, and I watch with complete and utter


    bafflement as Helena jogs out of the woods and towards the chapel.


    “Let’s get on with it, then!” She calls back over her shoulder,


    far too loud.


    Each crunch of her boots on the leaves makes me wince. She’s out in


    the open, far from every shadow, and <i>Gods, what is she thinking?</i>


    “Helena!” I bark, my voice cracking. I take a step forward, then


    start jogging to catch up. She’s almost to the door now, and I’m


    suddenly reminded of how I was slammed through the doors of the real


    chapel only a few hours before.


    Then comes the familiar snuffling, and the <i>thump thump</i> of


    heavy paws.