CHAPTER 135

There was a thump from upstairs. They looked at each other, and then Mike looked at the front door.

"Don't suppose it would make sense for us to run, do you?" he asked.

The thump repeated itself. Mike pushed Kisa behind him and moved toward the stairs, his palms suddenly sweaty. Kisa shoved past him before they got to the top of the stairs, and he tried to grab her and pull her back, but he was too slow.

"What the hell?" Kisa looked over her shoulder at him. "I don't get it."

He climbed the last three stairs and saw what she was looking at. Instead of the upper floor, they now stood in a thicket of pines. Between a pair of gnarled trees, a massive stag stopped to regard them.

Kisa moved toward the nearest wall and ran her hands along it. "It turns into this tree," she told him while peeking through its branches. "It's almost like the cabin—"

"Is the forest," he finished, then knelt to touch the soil. When he buried his finger in it deep enough, he could just scratch the wooden floor beneath it. "But that doesn't tell us where we are."

The trees around them rustled, but there was no wind. He tried to track the invisible breeze using his hands, then jumped when he watched a nearby tree pop out of existence, leaving behind a stump with a woman sitting on it.

"Greetings, Caretaker." She winked at him, a playful smile on her lips. Her dark hair was wavy and hung loosly around her ears in a bob cut. She wore a leather tunic with matching pants, and her boots looked to be made of deerskin. "I see you brought your familiar with you. She's cute."

Mike tried hard to relax, but was worried. He was already up shit creek without a paddle, he didn't need any further complications. Kisa growled a warning from the back of her throat.

"You seem to know who I am, but I have no idea who you are," he told her.

When she laughed, the sound triggered memories of a summer rain.

"That's intentional," she told him. "In fact, when I summoned you here, I was very surprised I could take this form at all. It's been a very long time since I've spoken to a mortal, and when I do, it's usually as a disembodied voice. Having a body is something I haven't done in a few centuries."

"That still doesn't tell us who you are." Kisa moved in front of Mike protectively. "So let's try again. Who the fuck are you?"

The woman answered. The moment the words left her mouth, Mike felt like his soul temporarily left his body, and the forest shook. Kisa actually lost her balance and fell. When he knelt to help her up, he realized that he couldn't remember the woman's answer. His mind was full of static instead of sound, and even the movement of her lips had been blotted away like a stain on a rug.

"I imagine the experience was unpleasant, but I knew you wouldn't have believed me if I told you the truth. Suffice to say, sharing my name is against the rules." She stood and moved closer to them. "I must say I'm surprised to see that our new champion is a man. That's quite out of character for my sister."

"Your sister?" Mike helped Kisa up. "Who is your sister?"

The woman smirked. "Not so much who anymore, but what. She's the house you live in."

"Which makes you the cabin, right?" Kisa pawed at her ears. "I feel fucking nauseous, what did you do to us?"

"I did nothing. That would be magic that was created for the sole purpose of protecting the sanctity of the game. If I had told you anything more, your head may have exploded." She moved next to Kisa, the scent of pine needles and campfire surrounding her like a cloak. She lifted her hands and touched Kisa's temples with glowing fingertips. "Better?" she asked.

"Much. Thank you." Kisa rubbed her eyes. "So where is this place?"

"That's a good question. Some of us think it's inside the champion's head, while others think it's inside ours." She turned to walk away, then looked over her shoulder at them. "You coming? Time is short."

Mike followed behind her. They walked into the forest, and it came alive with birdsong. The longer they were in the woods, the more surreal the environment became. It was as though they had stepped into a painting, and the colors were just a little too bright.

They came to a clearing with a table made of stone and two wooden chairs on one side woven from tree roots; he immediately recognized one of the gameboards and the pieces that had been set on it. However, now there were a couple of boards. One looked like his house while the other was clearly the cabin and surrounding forest. Mike and Kisa sat down.

"I assume you've seen this before," she said, then sat opposite of them. Roots sprang up from the ground and wove themselves into an intricately decorated seat that looked more throne than dinner party.

"I have," he admitted. "But it's never been properly explained to me."

"Nor could it be. That's part of the challenge." She picked up a piece that had been on the table between the game boards and scrutinized it. It was a tiny version of Kisa, which she handed to the catgirl. "The fact that you're here is very intriguing. Familiars are usually animals, or maybe a golem, but never an actual human."

Kisa's tail swished behind her. "Lucky me," she muttered, then handed the piece back. "Are those all of us?"

Mike looked at the board and frowned. He saw Bigfoot and the others, all carved in meticulous detail, inside the cabin. "I didn't think they were part of the geas," he said. "They were outside it."

"Oh, honey, the great game isn't location-specific." She pushed the cabin board closer to him. "These pieces were on my board. The geas is for my sister's board only. As for you, Caretaker, I wouldn't have even noticed your presence if not for that sudden burst of magic inside my walls. Woke me right out of my slumber."