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Huh.

‘Can you eat in here?’

‘Some things.’ Interesting.

‘Can you be hit?’

He side-eyes me skeptically. ‘Yes.’ Also interesting.

‘Can you die?’

His eyes narrow. ‘Are you scheming?’

I shrug.

‘No,’ he answers. Notedly increasingly bothered. I won’t ask him any more questions.

As we journey further into the forest, the scenery transitions from renaissance horrorcore to Rococo fever dream. Soft-petalled pastel flowers break through the cracked earth and lead us to a mossy glade. The sight is nothing short of spectacular. Walker slows to a halt so I can take it all in. Which I do.

‘Can you fuck?’

Walker releases a long drawn-out sigh and walks ahead of me. That one, he won’t answer. Got it. Can’t fuck, and touchy about it. Will not ask again.

‘What is this place called?’

‘The Eternal Fields.’

‘Why?’

‘It’s touched by the stars.’ I frown. What have the stars got to do with being able to touch the dead? I wait for him to go on.

Walker strolls further into the glade and I find myself following and watching as his shoes mark the ground and the grass bends around him. Real. I could almost kid myself to believe he’s always like this. Like he’s not truly dead.

‘Before the North and Black Star, there was a first. It landed here and that’s why we can cross over easily.’

‘Why does it make it easier to cross over here?’

Walker looks at me in a strange way. As if his next admission will declare the beginning of the end. And I wonder if the price of peace is the loss of ignorance, am I brave enough to hear the truth? Walker continues regardless of my musings.

‘Because the Stars carry afterlifer’s. So, when the first Star landed here…’

‘It allowed the dead to live again?’ I say with a head tilt. My hair falls back into my eyes. Walker’s eyes flit there and away, before coming back to settle on me against whatever judgement he’s made.

‘Almost,’ he says, studying me. ‘It allows us to feel like we are.’

‘Why don’t you live here then?’

‘Are you trying to get rid of me?’ he questions in turn, markedly less frustrated. I think I’m finally exhausting him.

I shrug and walk deeper into the forest. ‘Worth a shot.’

I’ve never been this far into Bantom. I never knew it could look so idyllic. The stream close to our house isn’t completely hostile, but it’s a far cry from the babbling brook that splits the rolling dell in two. The grass here is soft as a blanket. The water is crisp and clear, like looking into liquid glass. There’s stepping stones to cross, and all. There’s even a few frogtoads hopping about. I reach down to pick one up⁠—

‘Leave the wildlife alone please, Chaos. We’ve enough creatures to keep you entertained at home.’

‘But Walkerrrr, that’s the homebrand – I want this one.’ I poke my newest friend’s warty little nose.

‘Nelson would be devastated to hear you say that.’ I’m only slightly chastened. I’m still half-pissed at the dead goat for eating all my bras.