Owen didn't know what to do. He was aware that he should make camp and rest for the night, but he didn't trust the forest enough to sleep in it. Although Claire had scared off Black Wolf, it could come back at any time. Facing it again would be disastrous, especially with her gone.

He had been happy to see her, despite the confusion. Her disappearance had left him feeling more discouraged than before.

Owen walked on through the woods, dreading the silence. His eyelids drooped in exhaustion, but he didn't stop. He couldn't let his guard down. Now that Claire knew he was coming for her, it was even more vital that he succeed.

The temperature dropped at around midnight to a cold that went right through Owen like an icy knife. The deep chill in his bones increased the rate at which he tired. He at last started considering sleep as an option.

"What would it be like to sleep in a tree?" he wondered, scrutinizing one of the towering plants. "Would I fall out? Can wolves climb trees?" He decided he didn't care about that last question. Even if Black Wolf couldn't reach him, it was just as likely that something else would.

Owen picked out a tree that looked easy enough to climb and had wide branches that he had little chance of falling off of. Starting at a run, he leaped at the trunk and gripped at any handholds his fingers found. He was only halfway up when he heard a voice.

"Hello."

Owen was so startled that he lost his hold and fell back flat on the ground. His head swivelled around as he searched for the source of the voice.

"I'm right here," the voice said. He turned to see that it was coming from a face within the tree he had just been climbing, and that it was the face of a young woman.

He immediately jumped to his feet. "What are you?" he exclaimed. "Are you going to eat me?"

The woman looked amused. "Been in the Enchanted Forest for a while, haven't you?"

Owen nodded warily, keeping his eyes glued on her. It was strange. He could tell she was humanlike; her body's form was visible in the tree, but it was also part of it.

"Why were you climbing me?" she asked. "I'm not mad; I'm just curious."

"I didn't want to sleep on the ground," Owen replied flatly.

The woman laughed. "I believe it! These woods are dreadful! Too many carnivorous animals. Have you seen the demon rabbits yet?"

Owen grimaced. "I tried to eat one, and I think it almost ate me."

The woman laughed again. "They're awful," she said. "But of course they never bother me. I belong in Etherea. But you obviously don't. What brings you here?"

"I'm on a quest," he answered simply.

The woman in the tree smiled knowingly. "For a girl?"

Owen's​ face burned. "Yes. How did you...?"

"I know a little about quests myself," the woman said wistfully. "Even as we speak, my love is in the real world, weeping the tears that will free me from my curse."

"What curse?" Owen asked, curious. As far as he could tell, she didn't want to eat him, so it was harmless to talk.

"Climb into my branches first. I'll tell you my story."

Owen was hesitant. "It won't feel strange...?" he started.

"I don't feel a thing. Little animals scurry up and down me all the time. Just climb the tree part of me this time. Before, you were too close; you almost grabbed onto my ear."

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. When the woman continued to stare at him, he stepped forward and began to climb. Tree side, of course.

"You will be safe up there," she said as he got higher. "I'm currently a magical being, so nothing around here bothers me."

Owen reached the top and settled in the crook of one of the tree's large branches.

"There," the woman said. "Safe. Now I will tell you my story. My name is Cassidy."

"Oh. Nice to meet you, Cassidy," Owen said quietly. "I'm Prince Owen."

"Owen? Nice," Cassidy said. "Anyway, continuing, I was a peasant living in one of the Seventeen Kingdoms. I guess I am rather beautiful, since the prince of the land saw me and wanted me to be his wife. I was already in love with someone else, and furthermore the prince was already betrothed to a princess. But I suppose I am so lovely that the prince broke off that arrangement, and since royal decree surpasses all other arguments, I was to marry him. The twin fairies of my kingdom, Flora and Fauna, were disgusted by the whole thing and sought to remedy it, though separately. Fauna took the direct approach and turned the prince himself into a pig. On the other hand, Flora thought the best way to fix everything was to place me out of the prince's reach, so she turned me into a tree. This is the curse you see me under now. The way it can be broken is if my true love sheds a thousand years at my roots. He is very close already."

Owen was growing very sleepy, relaxed in the branches. He could have dozed of, but there was one question tugging at the back of his mind. "You said your love was crying tears over you in the real world, right? How are you here then?"

"When I was cursed, my true form was sent here, to Etherea. As the curse is lifted, I become more human in the real world and less human here. Once I have changed back completely, this tree I am part of here will just be a tree. You see?"

Owen yawned. "I see," he agreed. "But..." He yawned again. "How do you know all this? You can't have just figured it all out on your own."

"I'll tell you in the morning," was Cassidy's answer. "You need to sleep."

It took him only seconds before he was sleeping deeply.