Carlos and Jay tried to tie the branches together to make some kind of raft, but it was clear that wasn’t going to work as they didn’t have anything they could use for twine. Jay kicked at the sad pile of branches dejectedly.

“Let’s see how far it is, maybe there’s some other way,” said Evie.

They entered the larger cavern, which was as big as a professional tourney stadium. Stalactites arched on the ceiling above them, like stars in a black sky. They stared once more at the toxic tree that stood in the middle of a tiny island surrounded by water.

“An island within the island and under water too. Yen Sid is right, the magic down here is wild,” said Jay.

Evie stood at the edge of the water, and a smooth rock just large and flat enough to step on appeared. She looked at her friends, who shrugged. She held her breath and jumped on it. Another rock appeared in front of her.

Stepping-stones.

Evie looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Come on, it’s like it knows I’m here.”

The talismans desire to be found, Yen Sid had told them.

Evie led the way, and the rest followed, careful to make sure they didn’t fall into the poisoned water.

“Almost there,” said Evie as they stepped closer to the tiny islet holding a single toxic tree. From afar, the tree’s knotted bark resembled a pattern of scowling faces.

“Creepy,” said Carlos.

“I know,” said Mal. “We get to hang out in the coolest places.”

“Make sure your feet don’t touch the water,” warned Evie, who knew a lot about poison, at least when it came to apples. She knew what they looked like, how they smelled, which ones would put you to sleep, and which ones would kill you on the spot. “We’d melt like sugar cubes in a hot cup of tea if you tried to swim in here.”

“Nice image,” said Jay. “I don’t think we’d be as tasty, though.”

“We’re here!” cried Evie, stepping ashore. She turned around and helped the rest of them onto the island.

“Great, start picking apples!” said Mal.

“Why is it called the Dark Forest,” said Jay, looking at the map that Carlos was holding open, “when it only holds one tree?”

“Well, it is dark,” said Mal. “There’s that.” The only light came from Jay’s flashlight.

“Yen Sid said the maps weren’t completely accurate. They were just guesses,” Carlos reminded them. From afar, the tree looked small, but up close, it was taller than a building, its trunk as large as a house. It almost took up the entire island.

“I guess I’ll have to climb it?” said Evie, staring nervously at the forbidding tree. Evie spent her days indoors, learning how to be pretty. She wasn’t really one to climb trees.

The light from the flashlight flickered, growing dimmer by the minute, its batteries fading.

“Hurry, before our light runs out! We’ve still got three more talismans to recover,” said Jay.

“And whatever’s out there is still out there,” said Carlos. In the distance the sound of faint snuffling echoed in the cave. “Hurry before it finds us.”

“All right. I’m going up,” said Evie, shaking slightly as she began to climb the tree trunk. She pulled herself up on the nearest branch and started the long, slow climb to the top, where the fruit was. Twice the thorns pricked her, but she ignored the little nicks on her legs and arms. She had work to do, and she could always get rid of them with concealer later.

Down below, her friends waited anxiously, calling up advice. “Watch that branch—go the other way! Get a toehold on the left and lift yourself up!”

When she finally reached the top of the tree, she was stumped. There were hundreds of apples. All of them poisoned, she knew, but there was only one talisman. Only one Fruit of Venom. Which could it be?

“There are a lot of apples up here!” she called down. “I don’t know which one to pick…they all look alike!”

“You’ll know which one!” called Carlos.

Focus! Evie told herself. Her friends were doing their best to help out, and they had to get out of here soon before that snuffling monster returned. Concentrate on the apples. There were so many of them and they were all so red and juicy.

“Which one?” she wondered aloud, and then she saw it through the highest branches.

One golden apple among all of the red ones.

She clambered up and plucked it from its branch. It was gorgeous, shiny, and perfect. Evie was mesmerized by its beauty. It looked absolutely delicious, and it was practically asking to be eaten, what could it hurt, what if she just took one tiny…

“What are you doing!” Jay yelled from below.

Too late; Evie had already taken a bite of the apple. It was delicious, and for a moment she didn’t regret it. Then her eyelids drooped as she yawned.

“Evie! What’s happening?” asked Mal.

“I feel…sleepy, like the dwarf.” Evie laughed as she sat on the branch she’d been standing on, her head beginning to fog from the poison.

“Don’t! Stay awake!” cried Mal.

“I’ll try!” said Evie. She stood back up, fighting against the urge to sleep. She’d accidentally gobbled a poisoned apple once or twice when she was a kid, so maybe she had some kind of resistance to them. Her mother was always leaving them everywhere.

“I should have known better,” she grumbled, already growing weaker and trying to fight off the sleep that was threatening to overwhelm her. “I’m just going to take a little nap, okay?” she called down.

“No!” Mal cried. “No naps! No resting. Just keep moving!”

“Moving,” said Evie. “Got to keep moving….” She struggled to keep her eyes open, scrunching her face into odd contortions, holding one lid open with a finger, but it fluttered shut. Evie’s knees were wobbling and all she could think of was how nice it would be to lay down her head and take a brief—

“No!” Mal cried, again. Or maybe it was the third time. Evie hadn’t realized that she had sat down once more. I’m in trouble, she thought. Big trouble.

“Get up!” called Carlos.

Jay was getting ready to climb the tree himself, but when he placed his hands on the bark, a force pushed him away and he flew to the ground.

Only Evie could climb the tree. This was her talisman.