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"I did, silly child. My name is Gerald."

My eyes grow wide. “Gerald? As in Gerald, the tree that saved my ass in battle?”

"I do not knowof whichbattle you speak. But I know you are important for the future. It has been foretold. You must save her."

“But I don’t know how!”

The bark behind me shifts with a low groan. An archway opens in the trunk, an actual doorway leading straight into the center of the tree.

"Enter," Gerald says. "And all shall be made clear."

I step inside. It’s a massive hollow room, big enough to stand in, but dark and empty. No furniture. No instructions. Just wood. Shadow.

“Now what, genius? I know you and Peeble are friends, but you’re going to have to give me a little more than this.”

That’s when my pocket catches fire.

Not literally, but close enough. Something is burning hot against my thigh, searing through the fabric. I reach into my pocket and my fingers close around the vial from the Sage. It’s scalding, pulsing with heat that radiates up my arm.

“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter. “‘You’ll know what to do when the time comes."Cryptic bullshit.

But it clicks. The vial. The first version of me. The Sage gave me this for a reason, and apparently the reason is now.

I need to give this to her.

"I shall open a hole just large enough,"Gerald says. "Though you must hurry. They are preparing to burn her."

“Okay. Okay, let’s do it.”

I step forward and the smallest opening appears in the bark, just big enough to fit my arm through. On the other side, I see red hair immediately.

“Psst. Hey, you.”

She shrieks. “Who’s there?”

“Shh!” I hiss. “I don’t have time to explain, but I need you to turn your head and drink what I give you. It’s the only way to save you.”

She freezes. “What will happen to me if I do?”

I growl under my breath. “Look, I don’t know, but I do know you’re about to become a burnt Rice Krispy treat if you don’t. So pick, drink or fry.”

I can see her chewing on her bottom lip. Ugh, is that what I look like when I do that? Note to self: break that habit.

“Okay,” she says. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

She turns her head just enough that it looks like she’s flinching away from her captors, and I hold the vial to her lips. She drinks all of it, then immediately says, “Now what?”

I wait. Nothing happens.

“I don’t know! It was supposed to be some kind of fucking magic!”

She scoffs. “Your language is almost as bad as mine.”

I almost laugh. “If you only knew.”

“Oh, goddess,” she says, and her voice pitches higher. “They’ve started the fire. Hot—hot!”

"Get back, fledgling."Gerald’s voice is urgent in my head, and I scramble backward just as the other Elle screams. The hole in the bark seals shut.