In a more dastardly part of the corrupted forest, a treehouse was being held with the gnarly trees. This part of the forest was truly gone as the ground was dry and cracked. Roots of the deformed trees could be seen protruding from the ground but were withering and a fog covered both the land and sky, preventing any light from reaching the land. A raven flew to the treehouse entering into the interior, which revealed it to be quite cozy despite the appearance.

Inside, Jeremy was currently pacing back and forth, annoyed by the outcome. This human of all things was through a wrench in his plan. He had nearly won this war but with the Chosen One now revealed, he was now seething with rage. This Magic Crystal might be his downfall but he refused to believe such a tale.

Ian, on the other hand, was currently lounging about and shifting through a jewelry box. He wasn't too concerned with his dad's plan as he rather see what jewels were in the box.

"Boring," he tossed one away, "Pretty!," he said to another, "Lame!" Ian finishes with the box, now completely bored out of his mind. The prince comes across a rock, obviously disgusted by the dullness of the mineral.

"Ugh, dull.. ugly... Argh! I have nothing to wear! It's humiliating!" Ian moped.

His father came in with a scheming grin. Something that Ian instantly caught onto. "Oh, I know that look. You're thinking of something wonderful, aren't you daddy?"

Jeremy sharply replied, "I'm getting that crystal if I have to rip that crown right off his head!" He was more annoyed with the fact a human wielded such a powerful item but Harrison had put the brat and the crystal under his protection. He loathed the idea and right now, he wanted the Magic Crystal even more.

Ian only heard one word, "Crown?!" He gasped before pouting and whining, "I don't have one of those! Get it for me daddy, I want one! I want one! I want one!"

The warlock had to compose himself from doing anything rash as when it came to his son's begging it was irritable. He walked over and said in a soothing tone, "Soon enough, my little raven."

Ian just scoffed, batting his hand away angrily before whining again, "But I don't want to wait!" The son stood up, fist balled in anger, "I'm like, the most out-of-fashion bird prince in the forest! I need something new!"

Ian began to check his nails, "Why don't you just destroy him, daddy?! Any old human can do it," he dismissed.

Now it was Jeremy's turn to here one word. Human. Human. Human!

"Of course. Yes... Yes! A human! Now that boy is a creature of the forest even with the Magic Crystal in his possession, it can't protect him from a human! Brilliant, my little canary! The destruction of the Chosen One by his own species! It's almost poetic justice!"

Oblivious to what his dad's plan is, Ian just continued to check his nails. Jeremy's scheme was coming together. Now he just needed someone to do his dirty work.

A beautiful swan would make quite the trophy.


Beyond the decaying side of the forest, two young riders were racing each other into the unknown, the afternoon sky gleaming with the sun bright.

Stefan let out a sigh of relief, getting away from his troubles and pressure of royalty. The wind against his face, sweeping his brown hair. He had decided to do something outdoors today. He wore a black leather vest over a dark-green long sleeve tunic, dark jeans and black hiking boots. And on his back, a bow and quiver. He rode his stallion with a sense of relaxation for the day.

Alongside him -and hardly keeping up- was Amar riding another stallion.

Stefan grinned and slowed his dark brown stallion a bit so his friend could get close enough. "Having fun, are we?"

Amar was rather tired as he knew the prince loved to go fast, "I think that... we could use... a break."

Stefan shrugged before giving a parting note, "You can head back if you want but I want to stay out a few more minutes." With that, he took off with his horse again, leaving Amar in the back.

"Ugh," the Southeast Asian groaned, "He just has to be so exhausting, doesn't he?" Amar's horse neighed, the rider not knowing if he was agreeing or disagreeing.

The prince's horse galloped all over the forest, having hardly been in the biome since he was mostly confined at home. He saw a gleaming river, blooming bushes and trees while avoiding any obstacles like logs by leaping over and around rocks. Stefan took it all in, knowing that he would hardly get to see it ever again once he took to the crown.

He mentally frowned since his coronation is three days away. Leaving him with three days of freedom then a life of duty and responsibility to tie him down for the rest of his life. All while having someone -at least, in his mother's opinion- to rule alongside him.

A shadow from above covered him and Stefan looked up to see a magnificent bird with maroon feathers and at least the size of a man. And from the talons, the prince could tell it was a bird-of-prey. Although he had never seen such a bird soar before. Perhaps it was a new species? Or maybe a harpy? Whatever the case was, Stefan truly wanted it as a reminder of his freedom.

Stefan instantly took off in pursuit to chase down the bird.

Unbeknownst to him, that's what the avian wanted.

Swooping down, the supposed 'harpy' headed westward.

Straight to the Enchanted Forest. And the harpy couldn't help but develop a human smirk to his beak.


Following the massive bird, Stefan soon came across a waterfall where the bird entered. Looking closer, the prince saw a cave behind the waterfall with a fallen log as a makeshift bridge.

Weighing his options, Stefan figured his horse wouldn't be able to make it across with the width of the fallen log. So the prince dismounted and carefully made his way across. He found himself in the darkness which made him pull out his phone and activate the flashlight for some lead-way before seeing the wonderful sight outside the cave.

A gorgeous flower field with a glistening lake and mountains in the background. The sight made Stefan stop in his tracks, too in awe with the majestic ecosystem. "So beautiful," he breathed, thinking no one had seen such a landscape before.

A caw from his game brought the prince back to his senses and saw the human-sized bird flying away. Stefan gave a determined look and chased the avian on foot now. "If it's a game of tag you want to play, I'm game!" he said triumphantly and chased down the game.


Elsewhere in the lake, Seth and the fairies had returned from their trip, exhausted and lacking the Book of Forest Lore.

Seth, with the sun still up, was currently resting on the lake, sleeping soundly as Johnny paddled around. Holden was busy explaining to the others about their visit to the library.

"We looked all day and all night! And what do we find? Nothing, nada, zip, zulch!" the unicorn exclaimed as the other girl fairies were snoozing away from their work. Holden seemed to be the only one with enough energy but his droopy eyes were clearly showing. Kayla and Heaven were sleeping in a flower field, Hannah near a rock, and Brooklyn in a tree.

Matthew, Brandon, and Camille, being the more intimidating of the current awake animals, were on guard while Harrison was puzzled at the information. He wasn't sure what they could do now, only waiting for Simon to help them with their search. Johnny was keeping Seth safe, since he was the only other aquatic animal and Natalie was in the tree next to Brooklyn.

"Ugh, we really need that book!" Holden shouted, infuriated that their trip may have been for nothing.

"Shhh! You'll wake them!" Camille hissed which made the unicorn quiet down.

"While we can wait, I propose that I should try to visit this Simon you speak of," the Forest Guardian declared. He took his leave and went to visit the Great Library, leaving the fairies on their own for the time being.

A few more minutes passed and the alert fairies began to relax a bit.

Until a caw mixed with a laugh was heard.

Instantly, the sleeping fairies saw Jeremy in his bird form circling above and ready to strike. He swooped towards Kayla and Heaven who scattered as the doe turned tail and ran while the gray wolf growled. The warlock flew close to the tree where the squirrel and dove were, the rodent and bird taking off to avoid being captured. While close to the ground, Jeremy saw the unicorn, fox, porcupine, skunk, and boar all charging at him. A flap of his wing sent dark magic towards them, prompting Holden to use some of his magic to prevent the blast. But due to his tiredness, his use of magic made the shield fail and shatter, sending the advancing fairies back.

Then Jeremy turned his attention to his true target.

Johnny splashed, startling Seth. The swan soon saw Jeremy coming for him so on instinct he flapped his wings hurriedly and flew away from the harpy. Taking to the air, albeit still not fully recovered, Seth flew as fast as he could to avoid being a prisoner.

Through the trees, Seth maneuvered the best he could, still not used to his new body. Looking briefly behind him, the swan saw the sun was slowly but surely setting which meant he would be human again. Breaking through the canopy, Jeremy shrieked and continued his pursuit of the Chosen One, and leading him towards his target.

Seth was able to evade for as long as he could before diving back into the treetops. He hoped to stall the warlock as look as he could till sunset but the harpy was relentless. Eventually, Jeremy backed off and circled around. Seth let out a breath of relief...

Before seeing someone else.

A hunter.

Seth gasped at the sight of another human, flying to get out of range from the arrow. Another glance and Seth managed to get a good look at the hunter.

He appeared to be a young man with curly brown hair and eyes, dressed in a black leather vest over a dark-green long sleeve tunic, dark jeans and black hiking boots. And Seth couldn't help but think, the boy was cute.

The thought went away when the human pulled his bow and arrow out and aimed it at the swan. "What a prize!" Stefan exclaimed and was prepared to fire the arrow. But something inside him made him stop. He wasn't sure it was the beauty of the swan or something else, but he couldn't bring himself to shoot such a majestic avian.

Meanwhile, Jeremy had perched himself and was waiting for the human to take care of the nuisance but the human seemed to have frozen upon seeing the swan. "What are you waiting for! Take the shot!" he seethed, seeing his plan fall apart again.

Stefan kept his aim on the bird until he began to loosen his tension, "So... beautiful."

Seth was relieved when the human began to stop his attack and soon felt himself glowing. Unfortunately, Stefan was nearby when the swan started to glow. He shielded his eyes from the light.

The swan instantly landed and the magic consumed him, reverting himself back to his human form. Stefan lowered his hand and saw the human for the first time. Both boys stared at each other before Stefan managed to speak first, "Who are you?"

Seth instantly replied with his own question, "How did you get here?" The boy soon realized who he was talking to and curtseyed, "Uh... your highness."

Stefan ignored the highness part, "Me? How did I? I mean, you... you were a swan!" he blurted out, "How does that work?" Then the prince realized he would have shot an innocent boy all for the game. That part made him rub his head sheepishly before running them through his hair, to bewildered with this discovery.

Seth stopped his curtsey before brushing back some of his hair, hiding a faint blush at the cute prince before. He had only heard rumors about the prince in his community, but seeing him up close, made his heart flutter.

Stefan finally managed to process the highness part, "What? You know me?"

The common boy immediately waved his hands rapidly and began to talk fast, "Well, not really. I mean yes but no. Well more of yes, since I live in the suburbs near your mansion. But it's not like I've never seen a cute boy like you before. Not that you're cute! I mean you are cute! It's just well I've never laid eyes on someone as cute as you before. But you are the prince and all, so your genetics of course would give you such an attractive look. And now I feel like I've been talking too long. Do you think I've been talking too much? Sorry, your Highness! But back to your first question my name is Seth, and my whole swan to man thing is a complicated story, and I'm going to stop talking now," Seth officially ending his rant.

Stefan was stunned to hear everything that just came out of this boy's mouth, especially at the cute and attractive comments, but those made him a bit flustered himself to the point he had a faint blush on his face. He won't deny that this boy named Seth was cute to him as well, but the part with the swan bit is still confusing him.

"Ummm... thanks for the compliments, but do you live here?" the prince asked.

"Well... again yes and no. I mean I lived in the suburbs, at least I did until recently..." Seth trailed off, trying to find a way to explain his story.

While Seth explained his story to the prince, Jeremy nearly crushed the branch he was on with his talons out of anger. He was seething hoping this would be an easy picking with the hunter doing the dirty work. But he had to have a heart and admire such a bird. "Humans are such fools!"

This time, he planned to end the nuisance himself.