The bitter scent of charcoal stings my nostrils. My snout aches as I glare at the carnage left in the wake of what Mother is calling invaders. The charred remnants of several highbark stand with smoke drifting from their trunks, and the smaller vegetation has been reduced to a mess of ash and black dead wood.

  "I'm sorry, Silva. I didn't notice their actions until it was already too late."

  "I understand, Mother."

  I don't agree with the words coming from my mouth. I know none of this is Mother's fault, but there's an emotion stirring in me that's far stronger than usual. I have felt anger before, particularly upon witnessing the adventurers harsh treatment of life. This emotion boiling in the pit of my stomach is not mere anger. It is unbridled rage.

  Mother is looking at me from my right. I can't see the expression she is making, but it is most certainly one of worry. I take a few steps into the smoldering section of my home. Each step is accompanied by the crunch of my hoof smashing a burnt out chunk of timber. It feels like walking on bones.

  The sight of something glinting in the sunlight gives me pause. I approach it, my eyes narrowing as I spy a piece of shiny metal among the burnt remnants of my friends. My steps are followed not by the crack of wood but by the soft clack of metal. I look down to see a sword lying half obscured by ash. I realize the shiny metal I was approaching is the breastplate of a man decked out in expensive armor. One of the bastards who harmed my forest, no doubt.

  "Mother."

  Mother is beside me. She replies, her tone unreadable.

  "Yes, Silva? What is it?"

  "I want to make these scum pay."

  There is an uncomfortably long pause wherein Mother doesn't speak. She stands beside me with her gaze fixed on the burnt remains of the invader. She takes a deep breath, as if unbothered by the acrid scent of burning wood, and exhales.

  "Silva, please calm yourself. This is not like you."

  My grip on my staff tightens as I hear her reply. I turn to her with a snarl, my nostrils flaring as I glare down at her cloaked figure. I know this is not Mother's fault, yet my rage is pointed toward her as she attempts to assuage my anger.

  "I do not care to calm myself, Mother! Those worthless savages slaughtered so much life!"

  Mother's posture doesn't shift. She gives no outward reaction to my behavior toward her. I imagine she's holding back from giving me a proper scolding, as she is far too softhearted.

  "There will not be a repeat of this incident, Silva."

  "How can you guarantee that, Mother?! You failed to stop them from-"

  Stinging pain alarms me and I twist to glare at the source. My hand is aching like something has just stabbed me. Confusion knits my brows as I look at my staff more closely. The whole of the wooden length is covered in red uneven thorns. Sharp stabbing implements which have already pierced my palm and appendages.

  Did I do this? When did I change my staff into this hostile shape?

  Fear splashes over my anger like cold water dousing fire. Mother doesn't give me any harsh words nor does she make any move to punish me for my outburst. She watches me quietly as I realize my anger was out of control. I delicately use my mana to shape my staff back into its usual smooth shape, letting the withered flowers at its crown bloom once more.

  "I'm sorry, Mother," I mutter quietly.

  Mother doesn't say anything to me. Instead she approaches me with quiet steps, and places her surprisingly thin arms around me. I feel her hug me close to her and am reminded just how much smaller she is than I. I relax at the warm tender embrace, tears dripping from my eyes. Mother does not pull away even as I sob in anguish.

  We stay like that for several minutes. Mother comforts me, her hand gently rubbing my back. Through tears I see the flowers on my staff blossom, bearing fruits which fall limply to the ground. The petals on my staff change to a somber blue hue.

  "It is alright, Silva. I know how painful this is for you."

  "S-Still, I should not lose myself so easily-"

  "No. Your reaction is warranted. I neglected our defense out of misplaced trust in humanity as a whole. Those were not adventurers, but they were human beings."

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  I step away from Mother and give her a confused look. Her partially obscured face bears a somber frown. She looks past me at the smoldering section of the Wildwood, and then turns to me. Her words are spoken with conviction.

  "I will create a place meant for people like them. A darker section of forest, one that will swallow those invaders up like the maw of a beast."

  Mother's words paint a picture of something darker than the Wildwood. This isn't usually how she does things, at least her normal designs are meant more to challenge than to kill. I hesitate and Mother continues speaking.

  "I need your help. You'll be the one to create the guardian of this new area, a monster so grand and powerful it is not meant to be slain."

  My heartbeat quickens as Mother tasks me with this duty. She requires my aid! Someone who is far more powerful and grand than me seeks my help, and this fills my chest with swelling pride. I stand a little taller as I nod in understanding.

  "Of course, Mother! I'll do my best to create something suitable!"

  "Good. Oh, and before I forget, can you check up on Green Valley? I doubt they're still there, but a few adventurers got sealed off from the antechamber."

  "Sealed off? They're trapped?"

  "Not trapped, just inconvenienced. If you find them please guide them to the Wildwood."

  ~

  While I have Silva taking care of the adventurers in Green Valley, I have time to set up the new section of the dungeon. Unlike the prior regions, this one is explicitly meant to be deadly. I won't let just anyone enter it, so it can serve as a death trap rather than a challenge.

  The first step is carving out the space for it. As per the norm I create a kilometer wide chamber. The ceiling gets its coating of sky stone, but there is no bright blue sky here. The magically simulated sky is a black expanse broken only by a moon. Day and night are not present. There is only moonlit and unlit night. Perpetual shadows.

  The boundaries of this region will be something far more forceful than previously used. There will be no natural stone wall akin to a valley's edge. The forest will not loop via space warped by my mana. No, the edges of this region will be bathed in lethal shadows.

  Unfortunately I don't have any killer darkness on hand, so I need to make some.

  My laboratory has been moved and expanded. Now in the portion of my dungeon where Silva can explore, the laboratory is a complex affair with all manner of glass and metal instruments. Most of it is more for decoration than necessity. I don't need to use a burner or a filter when I can manipulate things with uncanny precision when not in my human body.

  Now, a hazardous darkness. I press my mana into a shape in the lab, but it slips through my grasp as I try to imbue it with the intent of a shadow. Of course--You can't hold shadows. I change my approach by trying to blend my mana into a vapor or mist. This works, black foggy mist beginning to form. I've made a shadow with presence.

  Unfortunately this shadow doesn't have an ounce of danger to it. It can't do a thing to you, except maybe blind you if it gets in your face. To change that I start pushing my mana into it once more. This time I focus on how a shadow could kill someone.

  Would the darkness bite, claw, and tear?

  No. The night swallows up people silently and without violence.

  With my intent imbued into the shadows I shudder. This thing is dangerous, and I can tell if I so much as looked away from it the slippery thing would vanish. I can't let that happen. Mana forms into a sturdy glass box as I ensure the dire shadow doesn't escape. Dire shadow... I like it.

  Just to be safe I create a connection between Mycelady's cavern and the lab. I direct her to create a single merul with one objective--Do not stop observing the dire shadow.

  Now that the sample is settled it is time to create the real thing. I make my way back to the nighttime cavern and start molding the terrain. The layout of this place is simple. In the center there will be a small mountain. Atop that mountain I place a stone henge. The old dilapidated structure is the only landmark in the entire region, save for the door I place at the foot of the hill. A dirt road winds up the slope of the mountain and through the flat expanse surrounding it. Overturned wagons, remnants of campsites, and ruined cabins litter the region.

  To fill out the empty space I create a few types of unique foliage. The first being a particularly large and eerily shaped tree, the spiderwick. The thing's bark is a dark grey resembling charcoal, with no leaves nor any sign of life. It lives by feeding off darkness rather than light. This feat is uncomfortably simple with the use of some mana in its creation.

  Beside the spiderwick trees I populate this dark forest with mushrooms. There needs to be some source of nutrients and more variety to the area--so a species of fungus is called for. They're a dark brown and grey hue, growing in round wart like formations. The fungus tastes awful despite being perfectly edible. I'll call it muckwort.

  Now, finally, it is time to put the shadow boundaries in place.

  At the edges of this dark landscape I begin to channel mana. I push the mana into the correct form to be dire shadows, using the one in the lab as a reference. The process takes several long minutes. Again and again I watch as the dire shadows swallow a pebble or a fallen twig. One moment the object is there, and then when I look back it is gone.

  I have to wonder, where exactly do things stolen away by the dire shadows go?

  Am I creating some kind of mystery portal, do they have a pocket dimension, or is it simply turning stuff into mana like I do?

  My questions will have to go unanswered for some time. I need to focus. If I simply created a ton of dire shadows and left them in this dark forest the whole area would soon be barren. I need rules for the shadows.

  I use my mana like a chisel and carve away at the stone henge atop the small mountain's peak. Each symbol and rune I etch is meaningless on its own, but to me they mean what I want them to mean. Mana solidifies within the stone henge as the shadows go from unruly to controlled.

  Now the trees, rocks, and various items in the region are left untouched.

  The only thing these shadows will consume are invaders or those that get too close to the edge.

  Looking over this space fills me with satisfaction. I'm hoping Silva will have a good idea for what type of monster should live in this dark forest--Actually, it needs a name, doesn't it? Calling it dark forest every time feels strange.

  I'll keep the dark part of the name, but change the end to sound fancier.

  From hence forth this forest is known as Darkwick!