Chapter 9: The New World

    Brooks awoke with a woozy feeling in this body. He clamped his hands over his head to try and stable it. He opened his eyes and saw that he was staring at a hard mossy ground. He looked up and was immediately blinded by the brightest light he had ever seen. It was the sun, but it looked ten times closer than the sun on earth. 

    Brooks wondered how he wasn't burning up right now. In fact, the air felt surprisingly humid, like he was still in the jungle. He turned once he heard a voice.

    "Brooks! Aidan!" It was Suzie. 

    Brooks ran toward the voice and found his sister lying helpless on the ground. He leg was twisted in a strange way and she winced once she tried to move it.

    "I think it's broken," she said. "Where are we and what is that terrible light?"

    "That's the sun. And I have no idea where we are."

    Suddenly, he heard the Deceiver's voice growl from behind them, "Welcome descendants of Mujali. I hope you enjoy your stay here. I found it to be quite . . . life-changing."

    "Where is here?" Suzie demanded.

    "Here? Do you not know? This is the Valley of Transition. In it you will learn what your life is really for. This is where I was raised."

    "Why would you bring us here?"

    "To watch you suffer as you realize that there is no hope but me in this valley. It stretches on forever and ever, and there is also no end to the trials and tortures you shall face here. I will always be watching you, enjoying your faces of fear and doubt."

    With those word, he vanished and Brooks and Suzie looked at one another. "What about Aidan and the other girl?" Suzie asked.

    "I hope they are around here somewh-"

    But Brooks didn't finish his sentence. A cry came out of his throat as Suzie stared at him, bewildered. She looked to where his eyes were looking and saw that she had grown two black animal ears. She began to scream as she pulled the ears, trying to detach them from her scalp. 

    But just as she tried that, she stared at her arms. Black hairs were growing from them and covering her skin. She was turning into an animal.

            Chapter 10: Losing Hope

    In no time at all, the screaming Suzie had been transformed into a black puma, and Brooks hadn't been able to do anything.

    They just stood there for minutes, staring at each other. Then, the puma spoke with Suzie's frightened voice, "I am still here. But what has happened?"

    "I-I don't know," Brooks stuttered. "But, we are going to fix it, I promise. We need to find the other two."

    "But didn't you hear the Deceiver? He said that 

there is no hope here and the valley goes on forever. What if he's right?"

    "No, no! I will not accept that! We can still get out!" Brooks yelled, clutching his head again. "Maybe this is just an illusion. Maybe the town of Purwa is right in front of us and we are actually still in the jungle! We can make it, Suzie! The town is there!"

    "No, Brooks, STOP!" Suzie yelled as she tried to steady herself on her four legs. "There is nothing there, okay? We are going to die here! There is no hope!"

    "No, that is what he wants you to believe! We can still get out, we have to try!"

    Brooks got up to see where they were exactly. They stood on a large stone hill covered with moss and there were thousand more in the distance, with large pools of water in between them.

    "Come on, Suzie," he said reassuringly. "When you don't know what way to go, you should always head towards the light, right?"

    "You want to go toward that sun?" she asked.

    "Yep. It might lead us somewhere."

    "Okay, I guess anything is better than staying here and waiting for bad things to happen to us."

            Chapter 11: The Legend

    Aidan and Mishka weren't far from where Brooks and Suzie had landed, but they had no way of knowing that until they heard Suzie's shrill scream.

    Aidan, who had been staring at their surroundings, had reacted first. He bolted toward the sound but Mishka grabbed him and said, "Aidan, that isn't real. The Deceiver said that this place is terrible and hopeless. That sound is probably just another trick."

    Aidan sighed as the screaming continued, "You're right, Mishka. But what do we do without them?"