Mortigus felt his body freeze with old fear, yet he couldn’t look away from the two figures. Their trembling, pleading eyes mirrored a familiar desperation—even the beast looming over them felt less foreign. Their terror was too vivid to ignore, but in that moment, he let a different emotion drive him forward.

 A strident shout came from behind the giant bear, three heads turning towards it. Still stimming with nerves, Mortigus stood proud in the open, staring down at the bear. Another shout followed: “Get out of here!" the two people flinching at the words. The bear, clearly agitated, dropped to all fours and took a few steps toward Mortigus, its growls growing deeper. In response, Mortigus struck the ground, a spiral of light twisting around his hands. Almost instantly, a ring of oyster mushrooms erupted from the earth, enclosing the creature. The bear responded with aggravated grumbling and even a hint of fear. Despite the confusion, its claws soon started tearing the mushrooms apart, trying to make their way towards Mortigus, yet he continued to pour Essence into them. After sending another signal through the ground, Mortigus knew Arbero was still far away. Yet, the bear’s heavy claws were close to trampling the mushroom ring around it, its growling reverberating between the fungi walls, full of vexation and desperation. The mountain of muscle and thick fur broke through Mortigus’ wall and locked eyes with the mushroom cyclops. Mortigus was in a mixed state of shock and adrenaline, his view jumping between the bear laser-focused on him, and the human couple sluggishly running away. Mortigus could not help but move his right hand and grasp firmly onto his left upper arm, feeling it and the Essence pouring through it, squeezing it as if convincing himself that it was still attached. He could feel the hesitation creep in, but he wasn’t alone. The bear was taking a few seconds to eye him up, probably still confused from the magic performed earlier. But who will be the one to snap back into action first? 

  Harbouring the hunger of the most primordial predator, the bear finally charged towards its prey, its massive body accelerating like a wave coming to crush into Mortigus. Standing his ground just a few dozen meters away, with a green glimmer, Mortigus was focused as well, a new billow of Essence floating around him. Taking a deep breath, he plunged his hands and even a big section of his forearms into the ground, animating it. As the bear was hurtling towards him, the ground inhaled inwards like a diaphragm, only for it to quickly bounce back, with a giant, extremely dense fruiting mushroom growing to a size almost matching the bear, rising like an explosion under the bear’s front claws. The sudden expansion of the mushroom threw the bear aside, all its momentum turning it into a painful nosedive into the forest ground. Mortigus jumped back quickly as the beast fell not far from him, and its pained grunts were coupled with its fatigued legs trying to prop it back on its feet. Gaining its balance back with a bewildered expression, the bear was trying to find again the prey that threw it off its charge. Mortigus was preparing another surge of Essence, holding in his breath. Two quick surges travelled through the ground and culminated under the bear, a pair of turkeytail mushrooms squishing the bear, pinning it down in place. With loud struggles, the bear began pushing back and forth, trying to escape the bizarre trap, its claws thrashing around with no restraint. Its squirming got slower and slower, the drum-like beat of its heart being almost audible. However, Mortigus kept his distance, pumping more of his Essence into the soil and keeping the mushrooms fed. The bear began biting the turkeytails, slowly gnawing on them and spitting from time to time, but after a few minutes of dining on the mushrooms, it eventually stopped moving. Mortigus slowly let the mushroom dissolve into the soil and switched his output into the ground right below him, making a platform of fungi. A disinterested gaze of a fed-up bear was now meeting his determined emerald eye; the beast, realising it was now freed, started walking away in an unhurried manner, taking glances backwards to assure its safety. Slowly but surely, the bear disappeared into the forest, in the opposite direction of Mortigus or the direction in which the pair of humans ran away. The fleeting adrenaline in Mortigus’ body left the exhaustion step in; the depletion of Essence left him light-headed, almost like a peculiar form of anemia. A few meters away behind him, Arbero was standing under the trees’ shade, having arrived at the scene soon after the bear was trapped between the turkeytails. 

  “Sorry that I decided to simply observe, but you’ve performed incredibly well, Mortigus, truly, your control has evolved.“ Arbero finally spoke out.

 “I get that I probably had this under control and I needed the practice, but some help would’ve been welcomed!“ retorted Mortigus in a light-hearted tone, then shifted to a quieter voice. “We have to talk about the two humans attacked by the bear.“

 “The bear was targeting some humans? So it was their blood drying on the way here. What were they doing here, could you tell?“

 “All I could see was a pair of injured and scared travellers; I hope they managed to get to safety. Their wounds were quite bad,“ responded Mortigus.

 “Humans were this deep into the forest, this can’t be overlooked. It is no longer safe. They saw you, didn’t they?“

 “Well yes, but it couldn’t be helped! Is this the first time humans found the forest? In a thousand years? That seems—“ but Mortigus stopped, thinking back on his first encounter with Arbero, a somewhat sinister conclusion forming in his mind.

 “We might have to leave the forest, it would be too risky for you otherwise. It’d be safer to travel together—much safer than this place at least. Yes, we need to leave them,“ rambled Arbero. The fidgety behaviour of Arbero alerted Mortigus of the severity of the situation, and he knew to trust Arbero on their concerns. 

  The two hurried back to their home, and once there, Arbero instructed Mortigus: 

  “We can’t leave right away, and we probably don’t need to. Even if the humans were to arrive in a village or town this evening, no one would come to the forest sooner than the day after tomorrow. Gathering enough people for a dangerous mission like <<hunting mushroom monsters deep in the forest>> would surely take some time. We will prepare for the journey properly, and I have to ask you to listen to my directions.” Mortigus agreed, believing in Arbero’s intuition.

 “First, get some rest. Find the most moist and dark corner of the forest you can, preferably near the hut. You expended a lot of Essence earlier; you need optimal conditions to recover. Notify me where you choose to rest and when you feel rejuvenated. In the meantime, I will scour the forest to make sure those were the only humans. I can’t sense any of them in our vicinity, but I have to confirm it without a shadow of a doubt. Understood?“ Mortigus nodded, sensing the weight in their words. Indeed, a numb sensation spread through his arms and legs, his exhausted body no longer hiding behind the adrenaline. 

  “After you wake up,” continued Arbero, “you’ll start packing provisions; take everything you can carry. Empty the storage inside the hut first and then scavenge for more. We keep in touch through the mycelium, understood? I’ll have to perform the ceremonies before we leave.“

  “I’ll manage it, no worries. If you don’t mind me asking, what ceremonies are you talking about? Do you not need help with them too?“ asked Mortigus.

  “Do not worry; it’s something I can manage alone. However, I just can’t leave with my peace of mind if I do not perform. It’s too early to teach you how to mourn.“ said Arbero, murmuring the last words under their breath, followed by a hidden sigh. Mortigus didn’t press on with more questions and accepted Arbero’s instructions, starting by picking a shady place under a live oak. He let his body collapse over the mossy roots, his body thanking him for finally relieving the tension that was barely keeping him standing. With the tip of his hand, he sent a quick message through the mycelium, to which Arbero responded promptly. All that was left then was to simply sleep, yet his mind insisted on being alert, even as his vision was getting more and more foggy. Things were happening fast, very fast, Arbero’s decision to leave being so rash yet so vehement, but he just had no energy left to process it all properly. Ultimately, his fatigue won the war of attrition against his anxiety, and his consciousness slipped away. 

  A weird stinging drilled into his head, like a sound echoing inside a metal container after it was hit. Though this sting was rather mild, it was enough to wake Mortigus up. He rose up from his shady spot, shaking the numbness away from his arms. Judging by the apricot light coming through the tree crowns and the few dandelions around him starting to close up, it was past noon. His back was squeaking, though he couldn't be certain if his body even had any bones left. As his senses settled, another sting made its way to his brain, this time travelling through the ground and up from his feet to his upper body. Not very different from a message sent by the mycelium, but this signal was more akin to a shriek in a sharp dialect. Mortigus remembered to signal Arbero of his awakening, and so he did, Arbero promptly responding back. Though their answer had something unusual about it, its intensity quite stronger, and its source more vague. Was Mortigus just numb from the overload of his previous fight? Mortigus was slightly unnerved by the situation, standing still while staring in the estimated direction of Arbero. He couldn’t form any complex message with his Essence so his best option was to ask Arbero face-to-face about the strange stinging shriek and figure things out from there. And so he started making his way to Arbero, occasionally stopping to sense the fervour of the forest, only to be overwhelmed by the buzzing processes of the underground, being suddenly submerged into dozens of conversations simultaneously. Arbero intended to keep scanning the forest, perhaps that was truly their strongest output, revealed by a truly dire situation. 

 Soon enough, he arrived at a hill not far from the hut, Arbero’s imposing body sticking out like a young and strong tree. A thin column of Essence was flowing upwards around him, only to suddenly collapse into the ground and send shockwaves into the earth, rushing through the rest of the forest. Mortigus watched this process loop thrice before he finally spoke:

  “The sting that woke me up, you were producing it?“

  “Most likely,“ answered Arbero rather delayed, while letting out a last flood of Essence. “Sorry for awakening you, but it’s good that you’re already here. The perimeter is thankfully safe, and I prepared a network that will alert us of any unwanted guests for the rest of the day. You can start packing in peace.“

  “Are you going to move onto the ritual you mentioned?“ 

  “Yes, I think so. If you sense something unusual, it will be my fault again. You’re allowed to observe the ritual, but I would prefer it if you wouldn’t cause any major disturbance,“ said Arbero sternly. 

  Back to the hut, Mortigus began to collect all the food from the storage, packing it nicely inside a sack he stole a while back from a traveller spending the night in his forest. The storage room was not particularly large, just an empty space with several shelves, the only thing on them being various veggies and fruits. Mortigus could tell most of the fruit was dried up or treated with a type of fungus he never saw before, perhaps in a conservation attempt. Seeking every corner of the hut, he’d expected to find at least some personal items or trinkets, but it seemed over the years Arbero had collected even fewer things than Mortigus. As he exited the hut carrying the provisions, Mortigus saw yet again Arbero’s figure with their lower half buried in the soil. Essence was building up inside them, like an overflow behind a barrage, and Mortigus dashed a few steps away and decided to watch for the moment the barrage opened. 

  For a few minutes, Arbero kept focus, still and composed, with tiny glowing spores floating around them. The pumpkin-tinted light formed around them, and the ground was rising a little, as if sucked towards the sky. If previously Arbero looked tensed, suddenly their body relaxed and the spores slowly flew away—a brief moment of calm, leaving even Mortigus underwhelmed. The glowing shimmer around Arbero grew weaker; however, the Essence did not disperse into the sky. Starting with a few creaks in the ground and a low buzzing, the air around the hut lit up as it released a few sprinkles of spores, their flow gentle and thin. The mushroom roof was growing more lively, squirming with energy, letting out an increasingly stronger flow of spores—a new beam of dim light appearing faster than the one before it. The light accumulated, forming columns as thick as trees and rising well beyond the forest's crowns, pushing their spectacle of shining orbs between the leaves and against the sunlight. The core of the structure brimmed with life, almost trying to rip itself from the ground, and while the hut was dancing, the two mycolians couldn’t do anything but stay transfixed like statues. The hut, lungs for the earth, swelled up and down, more glowing buds released with each breath. With the sun’s light slowly leaving, new columns of Essence were revealed from all directions, wishing to join the display. 

  Arbero silently stood up and walked to Mortigus. Their tentacle formed a mushroom platform and invited Motigus on it, its cap rising above the tree and way beyond them. From this spot, Mortigus could witness the whole horizon, and he could witness the true might of the ceremony. A constellation fallen onto earth, the living lights burnt their silhouette onto the landscape of the forest. In all directions he could stare, spores like fireflies twirled with the wind, slowly rising to join the starry night. The amber rays lingered briefly, casting their glow as the eulogies released their final traces of Essence, fading until their forms shrank to something unrecognizable. The lights were snuffed out, but the air was still stiff, overstimulating. The platform lowered the two back to ground level, where the area turned otherworldly, its centrepiece reduced to an unremarkable bouquet of medium fungi. At that moment, Mortigus heard a murmur from Arbero:

 “I wish you all goodbye and good passing. The land and I will remember you forever.“