In the silent forest, Meladee caught her breath. She cast a quick invisibility spell. Who cared if it didn’t work? Meladee saw herself as a purple shadow. She didn’t bother with the silence spell. If she was going to die, she would make sure they heard her scream.

Meladee put her hands on her knees and bent for a minute. She saw a tiny chipmunk run by. It paused to greet her with a wiggle of its nose. The thing seemed to stare right at her.

“Go on. I know you’re not some cute rodent.”

The chipmunk cocked its head and ran away, under an upraised route.

Meladee looked around and found herself in an innocuous location. She saw a simple wildflower field and a smattering of trees. The field stretched far, looking darker and darker as it faded in the distance. Meladee decided the place wasn’t innocuous after all. The firebugs above the grass did little to change the ominous view.

Meladee faced away and pictured another spell in her mind. As her breathing calmed, Meladee closed her eyes and thought the name of her next spell. Pathfinder. In her mind, the double-ringed circle blazed orange. Then, Meladee thought of her target. Benham. Meladee opened her eyes and watched the circle fade. A fiery thread appeared before her, and Meladee set off.

Camellia fled, listening for the sound of her friends. Instead, she heard the gentle song of birds. Camellia exited the treeline and stopped.

At her feet, she found a churning lake, a whirlpool that stirred a great chasm of blue light. Camellia backed away. She knew she should check behind her, but she kept her eyes on the would-be water. Her heart pounded, and her legs shook. Camellia felt queasy, watching the swirling light. It lacked any kind of sound effect. This water was perfectly silent.

As she watched, a shadow moved through the false whirlpool, and Camellia knew a serpent lurked beneath, possibly made of metal. The serpent looked big, but how big could it be in a pool that lacked safety rails? Perhaps, a slide into the lake and ride on the sea serpent counted as an attraction. Camellia observed the hills all around. All led to the lake.

Camellia turned her back on the pool. The serpent might be made of only shadow, but she wouldn’t take the risk. She calmed her breath and walked back out. She gave the pool a wide berth and reckoned her way north.

She pulled a compass from her bag. Hers was magnetic, so she used the device with trepidation. Her current prison of iron and concrete might affect the reading. Most of her choices stemmed from her memory.

Eva lost the wolf. She also lost her friends. She searched the dark woods for them and frowned to find herself on the tropical side. She had run further than she’d planned. Eva saw the glinting eyes of the monkeys in the trees and immediately turned around. She would return to the temperate forest.

Passing ferns and low shrubs, Eva wove her way back. She found that she remembered more sensor locations, and Eva stepped around every one. Soon, she laid her hand on the trunk of a deciduous tree. She looked ahead and thought she recognized the path they first traveled.

The lobby must be near. Eva took a step, but a huff came from the path ahead. Not the wolf, she prayed.

Her prayer was answered in the shape of a fifteen-foot dragon, fashioned out of tree stumps.

Eva remembered the creature. A wishing dragon. Eva had thrown a coin into his well a long century ago. He’s not where he should be.

The dragon passed, and Eva ventured onto the path.

Meladee followed the winding thread. Her pathfinder spell whipped around again.

Meladee cursed, Fuck! Why is he moving so much? I should have focused on Sten or Adalhard. Damn. Damn. Damn.

Meladee stopped and broke the spell. She imagined the pathfinder again. This time, she set the synthetic man as her target.

When she opened her eyes, an alicorn stood ahead. Meladee looked down at her hands and saw her invisibility spell was gone. She watched the robot, and it watched her. She was sure it would move on, but a wild glint filled its eyes.

The alicorn put its head down, scratched the ground with one hoof, and charged.

Meladee dodged around a tree, and the alicorn’s horn poked straight through, grazing her arm.

The horn pulled free of the trunk.

Meladee cast her chain spell and entrapped the beast. It snorted and huffed, but Meladee ignored it and followed her magical, blue thread to safety.

Camellia walked and headed to the northern edge of the jungle. She felt comfortable enough. At least, she felt comfortable enough to breathe and stroll and worry.

In the quiet, she soothed herself, I’m a pretty scary predator too. I can’t eat any of these robots, and they don’t fear me, but...there is no but. I’m a piece of quivering prey. Fast prey, with enhanced strength, vision, and speed. But, still prey.

Camellia’s keen eyes caught a silvery-blue glint. She stopped. The sparkling object seemed to be in a familiar shape, but through the trees, Camellia could not quite determine what it was.

She ventured closer. After all, nothing sparkly had attacked her yet, and she needed to go in that direction.

Camellia rounded a trunk and stopped. Her lips drifted apart, and she marveled at a giant spider web.

If I don’t touch it, I should be fine. Camellia strolled by, admiring the piece as she went.

A movement on the web caught Camellia’s eyes.

A woman – blue-black as the darkness, wide-eyed, and blonde-haired – stared. The woman was huge and lacked a mouth, but she appeared to be entwined in the web.

“A...ar..are you alright?” Camellia asked.

The thing crawled across its web, seeking the ground.

Camellia yelped and took off through the jungle. With the sunlight blocked, Camellia called on her vampiric speed and ran like a champion piece of prey.

She’s fine. She means to be there. That web is, in fact, her own.

Ahead, Camellia saw light. Her pace slowed, and relief flooded her limbs.

Eva walked the path and headed to the lobby. She needed to get out, just for a moment.

“I find you again.” The wolf hovered through the trees, padding silently around the trunks.

Eva left the path, abandoning the way to the welcome hall. She needed to lose the wolf – again. But, first, she might have to fight it.

The wolf ran up behind Eva, and she risked a shot at the larger robot. Her narrow gun fired, flashing yellow-orange in the dark. The shot interrupted the wolf’s leap, and the beast staggered. Eva glimpsed smoke on its flank and fired again.

This time the wolf leapt atop her, and Eva fell to the ground. She felt the too-perfect synthetic grass against her hair.

She dropped her gun but got her staff up. With two hands, she braced the staff, and the wolf bit the crystal, unable to shatter the cloudy material.

Eva jabbed a knee into the wolf’s chest and hooked her staff under its fangs. The wolf scratched but couldn’t reach her with its claws. The wolf tried to break free of the staff, but she kept hold of its long teeth, so jagged and worn. The staff stuck in place.

The wolf growled and pushed forward. He was the more powerful robot, and he pushed closer and closer.

Eva had always hated this attraction. She hated how it stalked and taunted the guests. She hated how it chomped the self-repairing pig bots. Never had it actually attacked her, except in her dreams. But, the wolf always took an interest in her. It loved her red hair and loved to make her play its games. Even when Cereus avoided the wolf, it sometimes found them anyway.

The wolf’s jaws came close to her face, and Eva glimpsed its red eyes and what she swore was a toothy grin.

Eva felt the weight lift off her, and the wolf flew back. Her staff unhooked from its jaw and spun in the air to be caught by Sten.

“Your maker prioritized speed I see. Only so much power can be packed into a frame that small.”

Eva took his offered hand and jumped to her feet. The two fled the jungle. Eva followed Sten as he seemed to know where he headed. He steered them around active animatronics, and Eva heard the telltale sound of a swarm. Birds twittered, and a thousand wings swooped. The beginnings of a merry-go-round threatened to engulf them, but Sten guided them through. Soon, she saw light.

A hole gaped in the northern wall, and a long tunnel of light beckoned them. They ran through the opening, surrounded by about six feet of concrete.

At the exit, Eva and Sten stopped. They teetered on the edge of the hole. The ground was a surprising drop away and, unsurprisingly, flesh covered.

Sten grabbed Eva and swung her outside the hole. He placed her on the rough concrete surface. Eva began to climb. Sten paused only a moment to stow Eva’s staff. Then, he swung out onto the concrete.

The wolf leapt out and over empty air, falling to the ground below.

Eva watched one of her least favorite nightmares plummet to its demise, and she harbored a deep gratitude for the synthetic man that made it possible.

When they gained the top of the dome, they found the rest of their team waiting, bombs and all. New sunlight shone across the concrete, and the rough stone sparkled. Eva thought it was almost pretty.

Benham smiled. “Meladee says you had no choice but to enjoy the attractions. Sten and Adalhard went to cut the hole. I came looking for you. Saw that swarm.” Benham shook his head. I got real worried.

Sten dusted himself off. “Eva, do you want to restore this place? I know you have a desire to make Lurren as it was, but do you think this place is necessary? Or, can we do without?”

“I would be happy to do without it,” Eva said flatly.

“That’s a good idea.” Camellia nodded.

Adalhard hugged Camellia from behind. His arms looked uncomfortably tight, but Camellia seemed happy.

Camellia shielded her eyes and looked into the distance. Her smile fell away. She extracted herself from Adalhard’s arms and stepped forward. Camellia pointed. “That’s it. At the base of the mountain. That’s Ul’thetos’ prison.”

Eva whirled.

Across a pine forest, she saw a white building and budding from that building were hundreds of tendrils. They flowed out and surrounded the concrete dome that trapped the jungle. They looked like an ocean of scarlet.

Eva agreed. That was it. Without help, she would never have made it so far. With one nightmare taken care of, Eva prepared to knock down another.