In the end, Myles and Devlin had waited until they had the cover of night to make their escape from the town. It was surprisingly easy, considering the fact that the soldiers on guard there had figured them long gone already, rumors spreading that they had escaped by ship. That was not the case, of course. They had hunkered down until sunset and then walked most of that first night to get themselves well out of town.

  The good news was that in the two days since then they hadn't run into any real trouble. The bad news was that they had eaten their way through all of the provisions they had brought and were now hungry, tired, and sick of hiking.

  "Myles, why don't we have any food left?" Devlin whined.

  "Because you're an idiot and you ate it all! That was supposed to last us the trip until we got to the next town!"

  "If we don't find something to eat, I'm not going to make it." Devlin collapsed down onto the trail dramatically, all four limbs stretched out and limp, head resting on the ground.

  Before they had left, it had been Sasha who had helped them. In addition to the backpack and provisions she had pulled together for them, she had tipped them off to a small hiking trail off of the main road that cut a shorter path towards the town they were attempting to navigate to. It was too small for a wagon or carriage which greatly decreased the chance that patrols would come by this way. Sasha seemed to believe that once some time had passed, their situation would blow over. With Holke gone, there were several people who would vouch for them, namely the people they had helped. The smart thing may have been to hand themselves into custody and take their punishment for the damages they had caused. Devlin was vehemently opposed to that idea, eager to continue journeying onward.

  Typically trails cutting through the woods like this were something to be very wary of. In fact, the entrance had been marked with official signage warning to stay out of the woods in this area. But Sasha had assured them that this path should be safe so long as they didn't stray from it. In some areas, forests and open land had a tendency not to stay put, and following a random trail could leave you stranded somewhere perilous and very far from your intended destination. Navigation was a tricky thing in those parts, and not always intuitive at all. You could take the left fork in a road and end up somewhere to the right. Or you could enter a forest and never find an exit again. It wasn't as though the forest was necessarily moving before your eyes, it was more like a maze that didn't follow any typical logic or rule of thumb. This region wasn't exactly the wildest, but it was still likely a miracle that they had made it to Cape Landing when Devlin had pulled them off the road several days before.

  The world council on research had come out with a substance years ago that seemed to be able to tame the wild lands. In this part of the world, the main roads had been built with it as safe highways between major cities and towns. Most secure ship routes were created in some similar way, and venturing off of them was the cause of many lost lives. Cape Landing was a small town, but it was a port city where two main roads and several sea routes connected. If it weren't for that, it was unlikely to have warranted an army base.

  But for all of that, the dangers were much less in these parts, far from any of the major rifts. Here, as long as you were on a marked path, the start and destination were unlikely to change. You could even sketch a rudimentary map of the area and have it stay relatively accurate, which Sasha had done for them before they left.

  "Get up." Myles said impatiently.

  "I don't wanna."

  Myles couldn't believe he was dealing with this. "We can't find anything to eat if you don't get up."

  "Are we getting close?"

  Myles frowned, looking at the map in his hands. "Maybe."

  Devlin lifted only his head up to look at Myles. "What do you mean, maybe? Don't you know how to read a map?"

  "You read it then!"

  "I'm too hungry." Devlin complained. He let his head fall back to the ground and resumed pouting. "Do you think there's anything to eat in this forest?"

  "Do I look like a forest ranger?"

  All of a sudden, Devlin lunged, grabbing the map out of Myles hands before letting himself fall back against a tree trunk, criss-cross apple sauce. Myles crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at him as he squinted at the piece of paper. He studied it for less than a minute before he jumped to his feet and strode right off the trail.

  "Where the hell are you going?" Myles asked him.

  "The map says that there's food this way."

  "No it doesn't!" He argued. "And we're supposed to stay on the path if we want to get to the town."

  Myles stomped off the trail after Devlin.

  "Here, dinner, dinner, dinner! Come to Devlin!"

  "If anything, the only thing you're doing is scaring off any game in this whole area!"

  Devlin ignored him and continued his calls, moving through the underbrush with a complete disregard for the tree branches and other plants that swung behind him and hit Myles in the face.

  Devlin didn't slow down for a solid half an hour. Myles had started making comments about how they were getting themselves totally lost and wouldn't be able to find the path again when they broke through the trees and into a grassy meadow.

  There, not a hundred feet from them was a flowing river and a wide road. Growing near the banks were several trees, and if Myles squinted, he could see apples growing among the branches.

  He swore he had only blinked once, and Devlin was already scrambling up the branches of the one nearest to them to capture his snack.

  "Told you so, Myles!" Before he could even glower, an apple came flying at him. "Here!" Myles ducked and it soared over his head.

  He stomped over to stand beneath the tree and prepared to glare upwards. How had the kid even known this was here? It definitely hadn't been on the map.

  Devlin swung down from one of the branches to look at Myles. He had an apple in one hand and he didn't hesitate to bite into it despite hanging upside down. "These are so good, Myles! You've got to try one!" Devlin was swinging by his knees now, and shaking the branches.

  "Ach!" Myles yelled as an apple fell and nailed him on the head. He looked up in time to see the second one falling and catch it. Devlin started laughing until his chest was folding upwards in a crunch with the tightening of his abs. He shook so hard that he fell out of the tree and landed on his head with a big crash.

  "Serves you right." Myles said, but there was a smirk on his face now. The boy pushed himself up using one hand and then went back to munching, moving his toes forward and back as if he couldn't help but fidget as he sat in the grass, legs sprawled in front of him.

  Myles looked down at the fruit he had caught. It actually did look pretty good. He gave up with a sigh, and let himself sit down across from Devlin, leaning back against the trunk. He bit into the apple. It was delicious.

  "I don't suppose you've got a route in mind now that we've ditched the path?" He asked Devlin.

  "Well, we've got to see where this road goes."

  "I thought we were going to Grass Lake?" Devlin wasn't even looking at him. He was just gazing up at the sky.

  "We'll find out where we're headed when we get there."

  "It doesn't bother you at all does it? Not having a plan?"

  Devlin grinned at him now. "If I knew what was going to happen, that wouldn't make for a very exciting adventure would it?"

  Myles just shook his head at him. Ever since he had ended up in that first port town, he had been without a real plan or goal. He could admit to himself that he had felt trapped and exhausted by that lack of structure. But here he was with even less of a idea of what was next and he didn't feel any of those same pressures.

  "Screw it. I guess it doesn't matter to me. But we need some cash and some supplies."

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  Devlin threw his apple core somewhere in the distance, leaned forward until he was on all fours, and jumped higher than Myles thought he should have been able to to reach a branch and grab another fruit. When he dropped back down and took a bite despite having lay back all the way flat, Myles wondered how he didn't choke.

  Myles tried again. "Most towns have job boards. We might be able to find some quick work there, or hunt down some beasts to bring in a bounty."

  "Sounds fun! That's what we'll do." Like always, a serious discussion with Devlin was impossible.

  Myles looked up at the blue sky, only broken up by some white fluffy clouds. The sun felt good against his skin and he focused on the feeling of the slight breeze. They weren't right next to the river, but he could hear the soft sounds it made as the water flowed. It was a beautiful afternoon. Who would have thought that they would stumble across a place like this and have the whole field to themselves?

  "Be honest, Devlin, how did you know this place was here?"

  Devlin pushed up on his arms to look at him and laughed. "How would I know? You'll see. I'm just lucky." One of his hands came up to feel at some kind of amulet that hung down under his shirt while he said the words.

  Myles didn't push. Maybe he should have thought harder about a plan, or started thinking about the fact that they couldn't just live off of apples, but he had never been the best at worrying about those types of things. Instead, he closed his eyes and let himself just enjoy the freedom of resting far away from a cheap inn or a dirty street near the port. At one point he cracked an eye open to see that Devlin had his eyes closed as well and was lying stretched out on his back in the grass, smile still wide on his face and lit up by the sun.

  Myles let his own eyes fall back closed and relaxed. They had earned a rest. Myles was still smarting from some of the hits he had taken during the fighting. Devlin hadn't complained, but Myles could see some his bruises and knew he was probably in worse shape.

  He didn't know how long he stayed that way, eyes closed under the tree, but eventually he felt the heat of the sun on his face fade. He felt a touch of disappointment at the loss, and hoped that the cloud would pass quickly. He blinked his eyes halfway open again and saw that Devlin was still where he left him, but that he had turned on his side. He went to let his eyes fall back shut again, but something he couldn't explain left him feeling slightly off. He blinked a few times and moved his eyes to scan around him quickly. Nothing stuck out to him. They were still under the canopy of the trees surrounding them, resting on the green grass. He figured it was just the way that he was letting his guard down in an unfamiliar area that was getting his hackles up. But this was a good spot, and he wondered if they should just spend the night here. They could figure out a path forward in the morning.

  Myles tilted his head back again and looked up at the sky above him. The branches crisscrossing overhead were pretty, and he could see hints of the sun peaking through the leaves.

  Myles frowned.

  All of a sudden, he was shaking off any lingering drowsiness and kicking Devlin with the toe of his shoe. His hands reached instinctively to his hip, but clenched into fists instead when they didn't find what they were looking for.

  "Myles!?" Devlin jerked awake suddenly, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Hey, what was that for?"

  "Something is wrong with these trees."

  Devlin's brow furrowed as he looked around to see what Myles was talking about. Myles got to his feet.

  He was certain they had sat down to relax on border of the grove of apple trees, right on the edge of a grassy field. Now, there was foliage on all sides of them, much more densely arranged than it had been previously. He couldn't even see the river when he looked in the direction he thought it had been in.

  "What do you mean? What's wrong with them?"

  "What do I mean? Haven't you noticed the fact that this isn't the same spot that we were in when we decided to take a nap? I swear I didn't even hear a thing."

  "Of course this is the same spot we fell asleep." Devlin pointed up at the tree Myles had been leaning against. That's the same apple tree."

  "It can't be, because trees don't just up and move!"

  Devlin spoke in a rational voice. "We can walk, why wouldn't they?"

  That was it, Myles was going to kill him. "They're trees!"

  While the two were busy moving closer to each other as they argued, a hint of movement in their periphery caught both of their attention.

  They turned in unison, but there was nothing there but the same tree. They both squinted suspiciously before turning back to each other.

  Devlin crossed his arms. "Okay, what do you think happened then?"

  "I don't know, but I'm sure it makes more sense than the trees walking around."

  Something made both of them break their stare to rapidly turn back to the same tree again.

  Myles glared at it. Devlin was squinting even harder.

  "Was it that close to us before?" Myles hated that he was asking.

  Devlin grinned victoriously. "I told you the trees could move!"

  Myles got the same prickly feeling in the back of his neck and spun around to look behind him. He was starting to feel like they were being closed in on. Something was seriously wrong with this place.

  "Hey, tree!" This was from Devlin. "What's your deal?"

  "It's a tree, Devlin. It doesn't have a deal."

  Myles stared at the bark ahead of him for several breaths, but when nothing happened, he let himself turn back to Devlin.

  Myles wasn't even totally sure what he was opening his mouth to tell him next, when a bunch of branches smashed into him and threw him off his feet. Devlin turned immediately, shouting out his name. Myles landed hard on the ground and looked up to see Devlin staring wide eyed at the tree that had attacked him. It was twisting as if to swing it's branches in a second attack. Myles froze in shock for a moment, having trouble believing what he was seeing.

  He pushed to his feet when instinct had him twisting his head to look behind him. Another tree froze in its tracks at being caught, and a quick glance down revealed the way it was almost balancing on the tips of its roots, one of them raised in the air as if trying to take a step. Was the tree tiptoeing? It was true that even when he had sensed something moving behind him, Myles hadn't heard a thing.

  Devlin started laughing, and Myles glanced just in time to see him jumping over a root swinging towards him. Myles saw another one moving behind him and called out his name, "Devlin! Behind you!"

  Myles moved to get up and run towards him, but he had to duck to avoid another blow from the tree he had turned his back on. It seemed as though they had dropped any pretense of being normal, and were attacking with full force. Myles let his instincts help him avoid getting hit as he tried to get to Devlin. When he didn't see him at first glance, he panicked for a brief moment, but then another hoot of laughter caught his ear and he looked up to find him hanging from one of the branches that was being swung violently back and forth. He wanted to face palm. He should have known that Devlin would find this fun rather than being fazed.

  "Hey! Stop messing around!" He called up to him.

  Devlin just laughed, but he did use his arms to launch himself away from the tree and landed in a crouch next him. "Are we getting out of here?" Myles asked while yanking Devlin out of the way of another swipe.

  Devlin smirked. "You afraid of a few trees?"

  His eyes narrowed. "Of some overzealous lumber? No way!"

  Devlin put his hands on his hips and turned to face the forest. "Listen up, trees!" He yelled. Myles hadn't know Devlin long now, but he was starting to learn that the grin he was wearing and the glint in his eyes spelled trouble. "I'm challenging you to a fight, and when I win, we're going to take as many apples as we want! Deal?"

  The tree in front of him bowed back as if it were going to whip its whole top into the ground where they were standing. Devlin seemed to take that as an agreement, because he immediately ran in, fist cocked and slammed a punch into its trunk. Myles tucked and rolled to the right just before the branches smashed into the ground, and turned to face the next opponent. Was he seriously doing this? For just a moment, he pictured this same scenario, but with a different friend by his side from a long time ago. For once though, the image fell apart immediately. That person and Devlin were nothing alike, and Myles didn't think he minded.

  Myles didn't even have a weapon on him, and while he was far from inept when it came to hand to hand combat, he didn't really have any interest in wrecking his hands against tree bark like his companion. He also wasn't sure there were many grappling techniques that could apply to trees. Instinct had him ducking under another attack from behind, and he smirked.

  He ducked and weaved the attacks, avoiding most of what came his way, but working to keep himself in the middle of them. One of their biggest disadvantages right now was that their attacks were large and sweeping, and the space was relatively limited. It took a minute for his plan to bear any fruit, but the first time that the attacks from two of the trees crashed into each other and branches came splintering off, he felt satisfaction roll through him.

  He picked up one of the larger branches broken on the forest floor and swung it around a few times experimentally. It wasn't much, but it would do.

  Even the trees seemed to hesitate at the look he threw them when he turned back in their direction.

  "I've got a bone to pick with you all. I was having a real nice nap."

  With that, he launched himself forward, and commenced beating them into the ground.

  Myles was smirking as he relaxed on his new log seat. He didn't know how much of the forest was alive in the way that the trees that they had fought were, but if there were others, they certainly didn't dare to move right now. Myles' body posture appeared the picture of calm with his hands behind his head and his eyes shut, but truthfully, he was still wary enough to be subtly monitoring their surroundings for the slightest movement. Devlin had taken Myles' backpack and was filling it with the apples that hadn't been casualties of the brawl.

  The one Myles was on was not the only tree that looked a bit worse for wear. There were several scattered around them, trunks and branches broken and twisted in unnatural angles, collapsed against the ground. They were trees though. Myles was sure they would be alright. Besides, they were the ones who kept fighting so hard.

  He glanced over at Devlin who wouldn't stop talking to them as he walked around. He seemed no less energetic than he had earlier in the afternoon despite looking a bit like he had been beaten with a switch. Not that Myles was one to talk as he had matching red stripes painting several areas of his own body. He glanced at that stupid sword again on Devlin's hip. He hadn't even bothered to unsheathe it to attack or cut down their enemies. That fact irritated him more than it should have. What was the point of him going to the trouble of tracking it down if he wasn't even going to use it? Myles had seen the way that his knuckles had split back open bleeding again and that irritated him too. He still didn't know what to make of the lunatic he had agreed to travel with. What kind of monster decided to pick a fight with a forest and then beat it into submission with his fists? Because that was literally what the kid had done. Worse than that, he had gotten Myles involved right along side him. And hell if it hadn't been fun.

  Devlin wandered back over so Myles opened his eyes all the way. "Got everything you need?" He asked.

  "Yep!" Myles didn't even complain when the now much heavier pack ended up back in his own hands. He didn't trust it to survive being carried by Devlin.

  Luckily they were still able to locate the road that they had first seen upon their arrival, since Myles wasn't sure navigation was either of their strong points. Even better, it seemed to follow the river at least for a ways, which was a nice change.

  "Bye, guys!" Devlin called back to fruit trees. Myles rolled his eyes. And then they were back on their way.