“Slow down, Vesper,” said George. “We’re already back in the forest. We’re safe.”

    He soared easily on the morning breeze, but when he flapped his wings, George would sometimes lose stability and yaw, making it difficult to follow Vesper.

    “I wouldn’t call this place safe at all,” said Vesper. “You’re not the one in a prophecy with a dragon chasing you.” She slowed her pace, mostly out of exhaustion, not because of George’s pleas. She sat on a fallen tree to catch her breath.

    “The trees here are familiar,” said George. “But at the same time I’ve never seen these kinds of trees before.” The forest was a mix of deciduous and coniferous trees, and Vesper did not recognize any species, either. Some of the trees reached great heights, with trunks as wide as a house, while others grew slim and dainty.

    “Look at that weird one,” said Vesper pointing at a tree that looked upside-down. The top part looked like a snarl of roots and the bottom full of great branches and leaves that vined out along the forest floor from the trunk. “Let’s avoid the upside-down trees. I’ve got a feeling that they’d be just another spot of trouble.”

    “Definitely don’t need any more trouble than we’re already in, that’s for sure,” said George, who landed onto the forest floor beside Vesper. “Cool! I’m starting to get the hang of these wings, but it’s not as easy as it looks.”

    “Wait. Do you hear something?” Vesper’s heart was still pounding in her ears from her sprint, which made it difficult to hear anything else. She stood up and moved toward the edge of a small ravine, then crouched beside the upturned roots of a fallen tree. George followed.

    “Yeah, I hear something clanking,” George whispered. “Could be kobalins. I’ll fly up and check it out from above. Stay here. Don’t move.”

He walked along the trail a bit, then flew up into the highest branches he could find that would hold him.

    From his vantage point in the tree, George saw two kobalin soldiers that must have been straggling behind the rest of the horde. They were in the ravine next to the path ahead, and they seemed to be arguing about something.

    Vesper grew impatient and stood up to get a better view. She peeked out from behind the tree roots and saw the kobalins. She adjusted her footing and a branch snapped loudly under her foot.

    The kobalins stopped fighting and sniffed the air. They aimed their faces toward Vesper and caught a glimpse of her through the trees. The sight of a unicorn made them very excited and they blew their hunting horns and called out to the other kobalins as they began to pursue her on foot. Soon the ravine was flooded with kobalin soldiers eager to slay the only unicorn Noominia had seen in a thousand years.

    Vesper turned and ran back down the path. She spotted George high up in the trees above and he waved for her to come up.

    “How am I supposed to get up there?” she spoke in a coarse, sharp whisper.

    “Can you use your necklace again?” he whispered back.

    The clatter of armour got louder and Vesper’s stomach turned over in her belly. She didn’t really want to use the necklace until she understood more about how it worked.

    When Vesper glanced back toward the kobalins they were closer than she expected—just a few strides away. Surprised, Vesper fell backwards to the ground. As she scrambled backward across the moist forest floor, she smelled something she recognized. A sweet fragrance filled her lungs, then the ground seemed to squirm underneath her hands. Flowers sprouted up between her fingers, and all around her sprung up vibrant veribloom flowers. Stems and leaves wound and curled as the blue flowers bloomed. Vesper stopped trying to escape and watched as a carpet of flowers instantly grew beneath her.

    “Stand up! Run!” George said as he flew overhead, above the trees. Some of the koblins heard George call out, and loosed arrows randomly into the canopy above.

    Vesper found her balance and stood up in the middle of the magic flower carpet. Two kobalins with blades came within striking distance and raised their daggers.

    “Ahhh!” Vesper cried out, as she raised her arms and a leg to shield herself.

    “Mine, mine!” one kobalin screeched.

    “Kill, kill!” the other grunted.

    In a flash, Vesper saw George swoop down, striking the kobalins with his wing, knocking them both off their feet.

    “There’s too many! You’ve got to run!” called George from the sky.

Without warning, two giant veribloom flowers sprung up from the ground, winding around the kobalins. Soon they were trapped in the twisting vines and fragrant blooms. They struggled to free themselves, grunting in surprise and frustration. More flowers sprung up from the ground creating a wall between Vesper and the rest of the soldiers.

    “Thank you, Froke!” Vesper said to herself.

    As the wall of giant flowers grew up to protect Vesper from the horde of gnarled and putred warriors, the small blooms which carpeted the forest floor began growing, building her a path away from the kobalins and into the forest. Vesper darted along the path which guided her between trees and under bushes. She could hear the rabble still following close, hacking at the vines with their blades, and grunting commands at each other. George flew high above, and Vesper heard his voice as he encouraged her to run.

    Finally the veribloom path ended, as it wrapped itself around the bottom of a tree. She saw a ladder attached to the trunk of the tree. Without a thought, Vesper scrambled to the top of the ladder.

    She stopped.

    The ladder ended before it reached any sturdy limbs. She leaned on the tree bark at the top of the ladder to adjust her footing and a small, secret portal opened into the tree.

    Vesper climbed into the space and closed the door behind her. She was safe, and within the safety of the tree it was perfectly quiet. Just beyond the entrance was a very short, round passage that led to a larger space which was lit by the flickering of unseen flames.

    The tree is big, Vesper thought, but the room inside is way larger than the tree looked from the outside—that’s impossible!

    Vesper crawled through the passage, stepped through a hole at the end of the tunnel and then tiptoed cautiously into an open space.

    Vesper stood in a library. She was in a familiar old house, and it was nighttime. Smoke from the oil lamps stained the walls and ceiling as they burned dimly, and Vesper could hear people talking in the next room.

From around the corner, a young boy came into the library riding a wooden pony with wheels. He pushed his way into the room then froze when he caught sight of Vesper, gaping at the unicorn with wide eyes.

Vesper put her finger to her lips and hushed the boy.

    “Arthur, where are you?” a lilting voice called from the other room.

Arthur? That’s my grandfather’s name! Vesper thought. She hid behind a curtain to avoid being seen.

    “Come here, you little pumpkin,” a woman said as she walked in and picked him up. “Time for dinner.”

    Like a wave tingling through her body, Vesper realized that this little boy was her grandfather. Vesper froze, watching the boy’s mother pick up tiny Arthur off the pony and carry him out of the room. Vesper took a moment and looked around more carefully.

    This is my grandfather’s house! Vesper realized. I am in the library of my grandfather’s house, many years in the past!

    When the room was clear, she walked out from behind the curtain, back toward the passage in the wall, and then stopped. Something made her want to leave a mark, a sign, something to prove that this was not a dream.

    She saw a letter opener on the library desk and on the bottom corner of the bookshelf, she scratched her initials—“V-R-R.” Vesper replaced the letter opener onto the desk and stepped back into the portal in the wall, back toward the forest, and back to Noominia.

    Vesper slowly opened the secret door in the tree and looked out. The veribloom path was gone, so Vesper assumed she must be exiting from a different tree.

    In the distance she spotted the bright blue veribloom flowers which still wrapped around the tree and the ladder she had used to escape. Kobalins scrambled through the vines, still hunting their elusive unicorn.

Vesper saw that the tree she was in also had a ladder, but she hesitated. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to run away from the kobalins fast enough. As she sat at the edge of the door, Vesper grasped her sapphire necklace and wished herself to float up into the treetops where she was sure George would be waiting.

    The force that had pulled her from the bog once again gripped her and lifted her up above the ladder, into the upper branches of the tree. Vesper was safe in the cover of the leaves and branches, and she saw George waiting for her a few trees over. She reached out to grab a branch big enough to support her weight, and once she was standing securely in the tree, she waved at George. They both watched and waited as the forest was flooded with the kobalin horde, each one in a frenzy to be the first to catch the unicorn.

    The scene in her grandfather’s house haunted her, and made less sense the longer she thought about it.

    How could my grandfather be so young? Was it a dream? Did I travel through time?

    An hour or so passed, and the kobalins began to lose their interest. Many of them started to doubt that a unicorn had even been seen. Some got frustrated and took out their frustration on the two stragglers who spotted Vesper in the first place with an elbow, a push or a punch.

    Soon there were only a few kobalins around.

    From the safety of their perches, Vesper and George watched as one kobalin crawled under a bush and came out holding an illumee. It examined the ball of light, squeezing it between its fingers and rolling it around in its hand.

    The kobalin popped the illumee in its mouth, chomped down once, and swallowed. It choked for a moment, then heaved a deep breath and dropped to its knees. The kobalin convulsed like it was being given electric shocks, then fell forward.

    Smoke rose from its body.

    Vesper and George watched as the kobalin began to change form. It shape-shifted, becoming more and more human—more like a girl.

The spectacle caught the attention of a few kobalin onlookers, and although most of them kept their distance, one went in close and kicked her body, rolling her faceup.

    Vesper gasped. The dark gray kobalin hair had been replaced by blonde hair. Her kobalin skin became fair and almost turned rosy. The kobalin reminded her of Sadie.

    The effect lasted only a moment before a layer of rot began to grow back over her face like scales, the old, distorted features returned, and the hair turned dark gray again. The kobalin got up, staggered forward and rejoined the ranks of her horde.

    When the horde of creatures were out of sight, Vesper turned to George and called over to him.

    “George, did you just see that? Was that Sadie?”

    “That was weird. But that couldn’t be Sadie,” said George.

    “Why not?”

    “I don’t know—that was a kobalin.”

    “Yeah, a kobalin that ate an illumee, then transformed into someone who looked like Sadie. Didn’t you see it? For a second it looked like a girl. With blonde hair. Like Sadie’s hair!”

    They both descended from the tree to where the kobalin had just transformed, George by wing, Vesper using the necklace.

    “That whole army could be full of regular people who were transformed into those ugly beasts. We need to help them. We need to find Froke and Eon, and get to the forever tree,” said Vesper.

    “Yes! That sounds perfect,” said George. “Um . . . who’s Froke again? And where did those flowers come from?”

    “Froke’s friend who can help us get to the forever tree. He’s the wizard who cast the veribloom spell that made all those flowers.”

    “I can’t wait to meet this Froke. He sounds cool.”

    Vesper felt like there was no need to explain further. A fire burned in her belly as they continued their journey through the forest. She was thirsty to get the skills she needed to protect herself and her friends. She was the one who was destined to help Noominia, find her mother and help her friends escape this world in one piece.

    At that moment, Vesper realized she would have to face the shadow dragon alone.