The third time they passed the same pond, Sai leaned against a tree and rubbed his face. Cuatete flopped to the ground beside him. How long had they been wandering in circles through this void-blasted forest? The trees were so dense, it was nearly impossible to squeeze between them in places. And the branches above completely blocked out the sky, making it impossible to tell which direction they were even heading most of the time. All Sai knew was that they had to get to the void mountains, and the mountains were beyond the forest.

  They'd managed to find the north wall of the Vale. For all the good it had done them. Scaling the lower ledges had led them to a cave, which Sai found very exciting until he'd charged inside ahead of Cuatete and discovered that the place was not the cave he was looking for. It was, instead, a werewolf den, and the inhabitants were not pleased to have an orc and a raptor invading their space.

  So now Sai was trying to lead the way to the eastern wall. He'd actually managed to find a few clearings that ended in stone walls, but none of them had been the place. He assumed, anyway. He still had no idea what he was looking for or how to use the time bomb. But the Eldritch One said he'd know the place when he found it, and he did not recognize any of the blank faces they'd found.

  "Let's keep moving," Sai said, pushing away from the tree.

  "Grrr…" said Cuatete, not getting up from the ground.

  "It has to be that way," Sai insisted, gesturing vaguely to the trees to what he thought was the south. "We've checked everywhere around here. So let's go farther afield."

  "Grrr…" repeated Cuatete, but this time she got up.

  Sai had been right that the direction he was heading was south, because eventually the trees parted to show they'd made it back to Slaughter Canyon. Cuatete growled again.

  "No," Sai said, pointing east. "This is a good thing. We know where we are, and we can follow this straight to…" His voice trailed off when he saw the river cascading into the canyon just to their east. "Straight to that river. Which we'll then need to find a place to ford." He sighed.

  They found a set of shallow rapids not far north of the canyon, and they were able to pick their way across the river on the stone without much difficulty. Not long after that, they followed the canyon right to the sheer edge of the Vale. The woods there were less dense, and they were able to follow the cliff wall north, searching for whatever mysterious blank face they were supposed to be looking for.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Their way north was soon blocked by a low spur of the mountains jutting out from the main wall. Sai sighed and turned to follow it back into the forest. "We'll just have to go around," he said. Not ten steps later, however, his pack yanked him off his feet, jerked him high into the air, and slammed him into the blank face of the spur. "Whoa!" Sai cried, struggling to get loose. The world started to fade away, and a sound he couldn't hear pressed against his ears, leaving everything in silence. Far below, he could see Cuatete screeching and trying to leap up and bite him back down to the ground. "WHAT IS HAPPENING?" Sai shouted but was unable to hear even himself. The pressure of the sound grew greater and greater as the world continued to fade away.

  Then he found himself on his back, staring up at the roof of an unfamiliar cave. "SKREEEEE!" he heard Cuatete cry. Then she was by his side, nudging him with her snout.

  "I'm fine," he said, his voice shaky. He pushed her face away. "Thanks for asking." He sat up and winced. "Ow," he said. "The Eldritch One wasn't lying when he said I'd know where to use the bomb." A sudden panic came over him, and he reached around to check that his pack hadn't been destroyed. But it was still there, and he could tell by the heft that his things were still intact. He sighed and stood.

  "What is this place?" he asked the raptor. Not far from where he had landed was a jagged cleft that led back out into the forest. In the other direction, an uncomfortably smooth passage led deeper into the earth back towards the eastern void mountains. A chill ran down Sai's spine. "Or when, I guess. Is this the future?" He shrugged and looked down at Cuatete. "Only one way to find out," he told her.

  "Chirp!" said the raptor.

  The passage down to the floor of the canyon was steep, but not long. Unfortunately, there seemed to have been some lingering side effects from the Eldritch One's time bomb. Sai knew he and Cuatete didn't change pace while they were hiking the length of the impending passage, but there were places where the caverns seemed to stretch on and on, as if their steps weren't actually helping them make progress. They passed through other places in a blink. "What is going on?" Sai asked finally.

  "Grrr…" said Cuatete.

  "I think the Eldritch One's bomb may have damaged time more than it expected," said Sai. "Or maybe this is normal when you blow up time." The orc shook his head. "We just need to get through here."

  Not long after, the floor leveled out and deposited them beside a deep river. "Is this…?" Sai asked. He looked up and laughed. "It is! Look up there!"

  Cuatete followed his gaze. "Chirp!" she said. Above them, through the upper gash of Slaughter Canyon, they could see the overhanging branches of Clifftop Forest. And beyond the branches, the stars.

  "We're at the bottom of the canyon," Sai said. "We just have to make it through the canyon and we'll be free." He laughed again. "I'm almost out."

  "Chirp!" said Cuatete, and she hopped down the bank of the river. Sai, smiling, took one last look up at the stars before he followed her.