“How can a place like this exist?” Donte remarked as he stared, wide-eyed, at the majestic scenery. His mouth was agape as the glowing fruit cast the lush greenery in pale shimmering light. The entire cave was a sea of plant life that seemed to be stolen straight from a fairytale. All of it carried the same dim white glow along the roots and veins, making everything look like an illusion.

“It’s beautiful,” my mom gasped as she hopped down from the wagon. it was only with great difficulty that she was able to tear her eyes away from the scenery and turn to me. “What is this place?”

“This is another side effect of Envy tearing a hole between realms,” I whispered while mentally kicking myself for not pursuing the rumors of this mountain more thoroughly all those years ago. “When a rift is open between realms an enormous amount of chaotic energy is released. This energy is volatile by nature, mutating what it comes into contact with much like the blood mist released by Demonkin, but unlike the blood mist, mutations created by chaotic energy are not always negative. Based on the white glow, under this mountain must be a natural deposit of lautus. It is a mineral that attracts chaotic energy like a magnet and purifies it into a gentler form. It is an incredibly valuable mineral, even by my standards.”

“Then, the cave is safe?” my mom asked.

“It should be,” I replied with a nod, “Mutations created with the assistance of lautus rarely create anything dangerous, but I would still proceed with caution just in case. Places like this usually have… protectors.”

I did not even get a chance to finish speaking before Donte ran ahead, mesmerized by one of the glowing butterflies that fluttered through the cave. I sighed and followed after the excited boy. everyone else was a little more hesitant to step onto the bed of moss, but after seeing Donte and me unharmed they cautiously walked into the dreamlike cave.

“This is incredible!” Donte breathed lightly as one of the butterflies landed on his finger, “It is just like the magical places you told me about in your stories, but now I am actually here.”

I watched with a smile as the butterfly jumped from Donte’s hand and fluttered to my injured arm. It landed on my sling, its little antennae twitching as it explored without any fear. “Even in the many places I have seen, lautus deposits are always among the most beautiful. My palace in Ater-Albus also had a large deposit underneath the ground. It is why I built the city there all those years ago. Not only are the creations beautiful, but the mutations created are also usually very valuable to people with innate talents.”

The butterfly leapt off my arm and fluttered deeper into the cavern before landing on one of the vines that hung from the ceiling. The glowing white light seemed to pulsate with the small creature’s approach, growing brighter.

Curious, I followed the butterfly deeper into the cavern. Reaching up to the low-hanging vine, I lightly picked the small glowing fruit free. A sweet scent like honey instantly filled my nose. The butterfly immediately leapt onto the broken stem I had pulled the fruit from and started licking up the sap that seeped out with its little tongue.

Drawn by the scent, more butterflies gathered around, flocking to the stem and the fruit in my hand by the hundreds. Surrounded by the swarm of butterflies, I sniffed the plum-sized glowing fruit once then immediately took a bite.

I heard my mom shout in surprise about not eating strange things, but I could barely focus on her. The moment I bit into the glowing fruit, I felt an explosion of energy fill my body.

Both the green flames in my chest and the blue flame in my eye roared to life hungrily licking up the energy like dry kindling added to a flame. I felt a rush of excitement as I quickly devoured the rest of the fruit. I then closed my eyes, feeling the power flow through me.

I was not sure how long I stayed like that, but I was awoken from my bliss when my mom’s hand shook my shoulder. “Wren? Are you ok?” She asked with concern.

“I am better than ok. I am fantastic!” I shouted with a burst of hyper energy as I took her hand in mine, “You have to try these fruit Mom. I never thought I would be able to find something like this here. it is incredible!”

I plucked another glowing fruit from the vine and pushed it into my mom’s hand. She sniffed the fruit and looked at me skeptically. “Are you sure these things are safe to eat?”

“Yes, yes, of course, I am sure!” I replied, nodding one too many times. I was practically bouncing as I grabbed a third fruit off the vine and ran over to hand it to Donte. “Trust me, you will love this.”

Donte did not even hesitate as he took a bite of the fruit. His eyes widened for a second and he opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Instead, I could feel a gentle wind pick up in the cavern, despite how deep we were underground.

My mom continued to hesitate for a few more seconds before she too took a bite of the fruit. There was a moment of pause before electricity started arcing through her hair and across her fingertips.

Both my mom and Donte fell silent as their body processed the energy flowing through them. the sounds of a creaking wagon reminded me of the other people following behind us. I hopped over to the wagon, pulling on my dad as I spoke excitedly.

“Dad, Dad, you have to try this it tastes incredible!”

“Wren… What is…” my dad said as he glanced at me then at Donte and my mom, standing silently.

Esben chuckled as he looked closely at me. “It reminds me of when someone takes jackal smoke. What exactly is in that fruit?”

I ran up to both of them and pushed the fruit into their hands. “That is just a side effect. You have to try it to understand. Go on try it.”

Esben shrugged and took a bite of the fruit and immediately he was entranced like the other two before him as his skin began to bubble. My dad on the other hand was much more skeptical. After some internal deliberation, he decided to take only the smallest nibble of the fruit.

Immediately, my dad spat out the small piece of fruit. He was gagging and looked like he was about to vomit as he tossed the fruit away. “That is vile! What did you just make me put in my mouth?”

I ran over to the discarded fruit, snatching it up before the swarm of butterflies could reach it. I held the fruit close to my chest as I turned on my dad. “What is wrong with you? If you do not like it, do not eat it, but don’t throw it away. do you know how much something like this is worth?”

I did not wait for my dad’s reply as I scarfed down the discarded fruit in one bite. Once again, I was engulfed in the euphoric flow of energy fueling the flames in my body. The world faded away as my innate talent roared to life. I could hear my dad shouting something, but it felt distant and disconnected from the fire burning inside me.

I was awoken again, this time by sharp little claws digging into my shin. I blinked away my confusion as I glanced down at Nox mewling at me angrily. Nearby, I could see my dad trying to wake my mom. Donte had already woken up and was literally bouncing as he sprinted up to me.

“You were right. This stuff is amazing! Can I have more? I am going to have more.” Donte said but did not wait for a reply before he reached up to a nearby vine and pulled off another fruit. He swallowed down the fruit before I could even say anything

I smiled as I knelt down next to the meowing kitten. “Nox, Nox, you have to try this,” I said excitedly as I pulled a fruit from the vine and handed it to the small kitten. Nox sniffed the fruit once before batting it away with his paw. He then leapt onto my foot, biting through the leather.

“What is wrong with you Nox?” I shouted as I tried to pry the kitten free from my shoe.

Nox reluctantly released me before he started meowing incessantly. He bit my pant leg once more, pulling tugging desperately before dashing deeper into the green cavern. I instinctively reached up to take another fruit, completely intending to ignore the annoying kitten, but some small voice inside made me pause. Biting my lip, I reluctantly left the fruit where it hung and followed after the cat.

I pushed dozens of vines out of my way as I followed the sound of Nox’s incessant meows into a more overgrown section of the cavern. I Pushed my way through the very tempting overgrowth and past hundreds of the glowing fruits before the vines gave way and I saw a large pond that looked like it was full of bubbling black tar rather than water. There were no butterflies here and the sweet smell of honey that had been so prevalent before was replaced with the smell of something burnt and charred. Next to the tar pit, I saw a small white fox sleeping. It opened its eyes curiously when I arrived but closed them in disinterest a few seconds later.

Nox dashed over to me, nipping the hem of my pants again in an effort to pull me closer to the pond of black liquid.

“I am not getting in that,” I said angrily.

Nox leapt at my shoe again. I could feel his sharp little teeth through the leather. He even hissed at me when I tried to turn back and grab one of the fruits hanging from the vines behind me.

“Seriously, what is wrong with you Nox?” I growled back at the kitten as I reached down to pick it up by the scruff of its neck.

Nox meowed again as he leapt out of reach. His eyes started to glow with golden light and a small puff of flame flew out of his mouth.

“Use my talent? why?” I asked, finally understanding something the cat wanted me to do. I ignited a green flame in my hand and felt a chill flow down my spine. Mixed with the green flame was a pure white energy that should not have been there. The white energy was completely uncontrollable as it flowed back towards me like a startled animal and disappeared back beneath my skin.

“This cavern was not made by a lautus deposit,” I whispered, barely resisting the urge to claw that foreign white energy out of my skin. I stared down at the pitch-black pool by my feet and swallowed nervously.

I knew what this was now. A Guardian had died here. What remained of the corpse must be underground somewhere. It drew the energy from the rift, just like lautus, but unlike lautus it did not purify the energy. Instead, the energy was tainted with the Guardian’s power. A power I had just eaten without a second thought just because it looked like something I knew.

“Nox, bring the others here as well. The sooner we are treated the better.”

Nox meowed once before running off and leaving me alone at the pitch-black pool. I took a deep breath as I looked down at the awful-smelling substance with a frown. This was not going to be fun.

I took another deep breath before steeling my resolve. Stripping down, I held my nose and jumped into the black liquid. The moment my skin touched the tar-like substance, it began bubbling furiously. I had only a moment to wonder what type of guardian died here before my consciousness faded into darkness.