OBSIDIAN MEMORY

The Glass Forest

The Glass Forest earned its name for a reason.

I stood at the edge of the treeline, staring at the nightmare before me. The trees weren't trees at all. They were towers of fused silica, remnants of an old-world industrial disaster that had turned an entire forest into a crystalline graveyard. The glass shimmered in the pale morning light, sharp and beautiful and deadly.

"Are we really doing this?" Leander asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"We don't have a choice."

"We always have a choice. We could walk away. Find another way into Arcadia."

"There is no other way." I checked my weapons—a rusted machete, a hunting knife, a pistol with six bullets left. Not enough for what was inside. Never enough. "Stay behind me. Don't touch anything. And whatever you do, don't break the glass."

"What happens if I break the glass?"

"The last person who did lost an arm."

Leander swallowed hard. "Great. Love this plan."

The Glass Forest was death by a thousand cuts. Every step was a gamble. The ground was littered with razor-sharp shards, hidden beneath a layer of ash and debris. The air was still and silent, the kind of silence that pressed against your ears and made you hear things that weren't there.

I moved carefully, placing each foot with deliberate precision. Leander followed behind me, his breathing shallow and fast. He was scared. I could see it in the way he held himself, the tension in his shoulders.

"Keep your eyes open," I said. "The specimen Seraphina wants is a plant. Silver leaves. Glows in the dark. We need to find it before we run out of daylight."

"How do we know it's still here?"

"Because nobody's stupid enough to come looking for it."

We walked for an hour, then two. The forest seemed to stretch on forever. Every time I thought I saw an end, more glass rose up to meet me. The sun climbed higher, casting sharp shadows across the crystalline landscape. The heat was brutal, bouncing off the glass and baking us alive.

I was starting to think the specimen was a myth. That Seraphina had sent us here to die.

And then I saw it.

A cluster of silver leaves, glowing faintly in the shadow of a massive glass pillar. The plant was small, no bigger than my hand, but it seemed to pulse with an inner light. It was beautiful. It was also completely surrounded by razor-sharp glass.

"There," I said, pointing. "That's it."

"How do we get to it?"

"Very carefully."

I crouched down, studying the terrain. There was a narrow path through the glass, barely wide enough for a man to squeeze through. It would be tight. Dangerous. One wrong move and I'd be bleeding out on the ground.

"Wait here," I said.

"Aldric—"

"Wait here. That's an order."

Leander's face tightened, but he nodded. He was learning. Learning that sometimes the best thing you could do was stay out of the way.

I started forward, sliding through the gap in the glass. The edges were sharp, slicing through my jacket like it was paper. I felt a sting on my arm, then another on my cheek. Blood dripped down my face, hot and salty.

The plant was right there. So close I could smell it—a sweet, earthy scent that seemed to pull me forward.

I reached out, my fingers brushing against the silver leaves.

And then I heard the sound.

A low, guttural growl, coming from somewhere behind me.

I turned slowly. There was a shape in the shadows, large and hulking. Its eyes glowed red in the dim light.

A Glass Stalker.

I'd heard stories about them. Mutated beasts that had adapted to the environment, their bodies covered in crystalline armor. They were fast, deadly, and almost impossible to kill with conventional weapons.

This one was big. The size of a bear, with jagged glass shards protruding from its back.

It charged.

I dove to the side, rolling across the glass. Pain exploded through my shoulder as a shard tore through my jacket. The Stalker crashed into the glass pillar where I'd been standing, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

"Leander! Run!"

But my brother didn't run. He ran toward me, his machete in his hand. "I'm not leaving you!"

The Stalker turned, its red eyes locking onto him.

"Get back!" I shouted.

It lunged.

Leander swung his machete, catching the beast across the face. The blade shattered on impact, leaving nothing but a jagged stump. But it was enough to buy me a moment.

I grabbed the silver plant, yanking it from the ground. Then I ran.

The Stalker roared, a sound like breaking glass. It was fast, faster than it had any right to be. I could feel it closing in, its hot breath on my neck.

I threw myself through the gap, landing hard on the ground. Leander was right behind me, scrambling to his feet.

"Keep running!" I yelled.

We sprinted through the Glass Forest, dodging pillars and leaping over shards. The Stalker was relentless, crashing through the glass like it was nothing. Its roar echoed through the forest, a sound of pure rage.

I didn't know how long we ran. Minutes, maybe hours. Time had lost all meaning.

And then, finally, we saw the edge of the forest.

We burst through the treeline, gasping for breath. The Glass Stalker stopped at the edge, its red eyes watching us. It didn't follow. It couldn't. The forest was its domain, and it wouldn't leave it.

We collapsed on the ground, our lungs burning.

"That was insane," Leander panted.

"You're telling me."

"Did you get it?"

I held up the silver plant. Its glow was fading now, dimming in the sunlight. But it was still alive. Still intact.

I'd done it.

"We need to get back," I said. "Before something else tries to kill us."

---

We made it back to the Outlands by nightfall.

The journey was a blur of exhaustion and pain. My shoulder was throbbing, my face was covered in dried blood, and every step felt like I was walking through cement. But I kept moving. One foot in front of the other.

The clinic was quieter this time. The line was gone, replaced by a single guard who sat outside the door, cleaning his nails with a knife. He looked up as we approached, his eyes narrowing.

"The doctor is busy," he said.

"Tell her Aldric is back."

He stared at me for a moment. Then he stood up and disappeared inside.

Seraphina emerged a few minutes later. Her face was unreadable, but there was a spark in her eyes when she saw the plant in my hands.

"You got it."

"I got it."

"I didn't think you'd actually do it."

"Neither did I." I thrust the plant toward her. "Now hold up your end of the bargain."

She took the plant, cradling it like a baby. "Of course. But not tonight. You need rest. So do I."

"Seraphina—"

"Tomorrow at dawn. I'll take you into Arcadia. I promise."

The way she said it made me uneasy. Like she was already planning something.

But I was too tired to argue.

---

Leander found us a place to sleep—a room above a bar, paid for with the last of our credits. The bed was a lumpy mattress on the floor, but it was better than the ground. I collapsed onto it, my body screaming in protest.

Leander sat in the corner, his knees pulled to his chest. "What happens now?"

"We go to Arcadia. We find Dorian. We get out."

"And then what?"

I didn't answer. Because I didn't know.

The truth was, I didn't have a plan beyond finding my brother. Everything else was chaos.

"Aldric." Leander's voice was soft. "I'm scared."

"I know."

"You're not going to say it's okay? Tell me everything is going to be fine?"

"I'm not going to lie to you."

He laughed, a hollow sound. "That's what I like about you. Always honest. Even when it hurts."

I sat up, wincing at the pain in my shoulder. "Leander. I'm going to get you through this. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"I'm not." I met his eyes, forcing him to see the truth. "I will get you out of this alive. No matter what it takes."

He held my gaze for a long moment. Then he nodded.

"Okay," he said. "I believe you."

I lay back down, closing my eyes. Sleep came quickly, pulling me under.

But it wasn't restful.

I dreamed of Dorian. Of his broken voice calling out my name. Of the blood on his hands. Of the Shadow Protocol, whatever that was.

And when I woke up, I knew one thing with absolute certainty.

Nothing was going to be okay.

---

Dawn came too fast.

I dragged myself to my feet, my body aching in ways I didn't know were possible. Leander was already awake, packing the few supplies we had left.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Not even close."

"Good. That means you're paying attention."

We made our way back to the clinic. Seraphina was waiting outside, a black bag slung over her shoulder. She was dressed differently today—a sleek black suit instead of her stained white coat. She looked like a corporate executive, not a doctor in the Outlands.

"You clean up well," I said.

"Appearances are everything in Arcadia. If you look like you belong, no one questions you."

"And if you don't?"

"Then you end up in a hole somewhere."

She led us through the Outlands, weaving through the crowded streets with practiced ease. We passed checkpoints and guards, but Seraphina had credentials. Papers that made us look like scientists and research assistants.

"Is it always this easy?" Leander asked.

"Easy?" Seraphina laughed. "This is the easy part. The hard part is yet to come."

We reached the gates of Arcadia an hour later.

The city loomed before us, a wall of steel and glass that stretched up into the clouds. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. Towering skyscrapers, sleek monorails, the hum of machinery in the air. A world of order and control, hidden behind a wall of privilege.

The guards at the gate checked our papers, scanning Seraphina's credentials with a bored expression. Then they waved us through.

Just like that, we were inside.

I looked around, taking in the sheer magnitude of the place. Arcadia was a dream. A beautiful, terrifying dream.

And somewhere inside it, my brother was waiting for me.

"We need to find Dorian," I said. "Where is he?"

Seraphina's expression darkened. "That's where things get complicated."

"What do you mean?"

"Your brother is dead, Aldric. I'm sorry."

The world stopped.

I stared at her, my mind refusing to process the words. "What?"

"He was taken to a facility two days ago. They executed him. He was part of an investigation into a leak. The Shadow Protocol. He'd been talking about it too much. Made too many people nervous."

"No." My voice was hollow. "No, you're wrong. He was alive. We got the message—"

"The message was a trap. They used his voice to lure you here. He's been dead since before you even left the Exclusion Zones."

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. All I could hear was the static of the comm unit, the sound of my brother's broken voice.

He was gone.

They'd killed him.

And I'd walked right into their trap.

"Aldric." Seraphina grabbed my arm, her voice sharp. "We need to go. Now. They know we're here."

"They know?"

"Of course they know. They've been waiting for you."

She was already pulling me away, dragging me through the crowded streets. Leander followed, his face pale with shock.

"We need to run," Seraphina hissed. "We need to get out of the city before—"

The explosion cut her off.

The building behind us erupted in flames, a wave of heat and force that threw us to the ground. I heard screaming, the sound of glass shattering, the roar of fire.

And then I saw them.

Figures in black armor, moving through the smoke. Armed with weapons I didn't recognize.

They were coming for us.

"Run," I said. "Leander, run!"

We scrambled to our feet, sprinting through the chaos. The street was a nightmare of panic and destruction. People were running everywhere, screaming, falling.

The black-armored figures were gaining on us.

"There's a tunnel!" Seraphina shouted. "Follow me!"

She dove into a side alley, and we followed her through a maze of narrow passages and hidden doorways. I didn't know where we were going. I just kept running.

Finally, we burst through a door and found ourselves in a darkened room. Seraphina slammed the door shut, locking it behind us.

We were in a warehouse, filled with dusty crates and the remains of old-world technology.

"We lost them," Leander panted. "At least for now."

Seraphina leaned against the wall, her chest heaving. "They were waiting for us. They knew exactly when we'd arrive."

"Someone betrayed us," I said. "Someone set us up."

"Who?"

I didn't answer. Because I already knew.

Thorne.

The information broker. The one who'd given us Seraphina's name.

He'd sold us out.

"Dorian is dead," I said, my voice flat. "They killed him to get to me."

"Aldric—"

"They used his voice. They made me think he was alive. And I fell for it."

"Aldric." Leander's hand was on my arm. "It's not your fault."

"Isn't it? He was my brother. My job to protect him. And I failed."

I pulled away, walking to the far end of the warehouse.

I was done running.

I was done hiding.

The people who killed Dorian were going to pay.

I didn't know how yet. I didn't know when.

But I would find them.

And I would end them.