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I’d gotten halfway to the dome and then found out just how rigged this test was. Max's stepmother must be really angry at to toss this sort of monster our way. The ground rumbled under my feet. From the ruined city came countless bones and bodies pouring out all collecting into one spot in the sky. I’d barely made any progress to the glass dome by the time a true monster formed. It stood higher than any building I’ve seen. The creature a force of nature in the shape of a human skeleton made from the dead.

How in the ever-living hell did anyone think I could deal with that? The monster’s hand came down and I ducked under a bridge made from a toppled building. The fingers tore through the cement and iron but somehow missed me by a hair. Since I was so small, I could avoid being seen. But if the thing decided to tear apart the entire city, I would be dead. I waited for my moment to make a run for it as the massive hand ripped apart a different building to rain down debris where I wanted to run.

“Toby!”

Another voice I didn’t expect to hear shouted my name. I looked to see one of Max’s sisters jumping and waving me in her direction. I raced over to her. She took hold of my shoulders to look over what kind of shape I was in. She didn’t like how I looked but knew I refused to give up.

“We’ll take care of this. You’re almost there, so keep going, ok?” She told me with a forced smile.

I looked between her and the skeleton creature doubting that the sisters would be able to stand any kind of chance against it. But she sounded confident. I needed to trust them. With a bit of regret, I started running again hating the fact I needed to leave them behind.

That regret only lasted a few seconds. When I got further away, I watched Selene shift into a creature I didn’t expect but should have figured out already. Her body turned from a cute receptionist to a snake so large it was taller than most houses. But not that big compared to the skeleton she faced. At least she wasn’t alone.

So many of those snakes swarmed as the rest of her sisters joined her. Each with white scales that shimmered a light brown when they moved. All of them met to twist into one another. The bodies formed into the face of a wolf. They came up to about half as tall as the other monster. I still worried for them until they all spouted smoke from the false wolf’s mouth. Everything that touched the smoke melted in seconds. It wasn’t enough to fully take down the skeleton but at least it gave me enough time to reach the dome.

No monsters waited for me inside the glass dome. A glass wall separated me from the rest of the room. I slammed against it because I saw a horrifying sight on the other side through the glass. My best friend and the one I risked my life to save sat in the middle of the room with vines slowly wrapping themselves around his entire body. I shouted Max’s name, but my voice didn’t reach him. He didn’t open his eyes or move in the slightest. I banged against the thick glass but that only ended up hurting my hand.

I needed to calm down and figure out how to reach Max. The glass went from wall to wall, ceiling to floor. There weren’t any openings. The only clue was an etched square in the glass with writing around it. The text was a language I didn’t have a damn clue about how to read it. I think it was the common language the creatures used to make spells. I cursed the fact that I never learned how to read it.

I pressed my forehead against the glass pushing down a breakdown. I got so damn close. What everyone did to get me this far turned out to mean nothing because I was too stupid to learn more about their world. My self-pity party nearly consumed me. I didn’t think any more help could come out of nowhere to solve my problem, but someone did.

I felt something press against my stomach from inside my jacket. It was as if the inside started to fill up with some sort... slime? By the time I processed what was happening, a head poked through my collar followed by a transparent set of arms. Sunny’s face stared back at me as he kept his arms around my neck to remain steady. I wrapped my arms under my jacket to support his weight confused about how he appeared.

“Sunny... You...” I sputtered.

He gasped seeing the cut on my forehead and my sunken cheeks. It took a lot of him to stay focused on the task at hand.

“I got worried so I drew a door inside your jacket just in case I could come by and help.” He quickly explained.

I got confused for a second. I knew creatures could use magic to connect two doors but would a small drawn-on door and a regular one work? Unless he drew a small one somewhere in the apartment. Because of his body, Sunny could slip through a small opening. But he was on the weaker side magic-wise. At first, I didn’t think he could create connecting doors. But if they were small then he might be able to. He also could have half his body inside one door, and the other half on the other just in case he needed to go back really fast. When I finally clued in, I couldn’t help but hug him.

“Sunny, you're a genius!” I told him.

I thought I saw the orange spot in his head move slightly. It did that when he got nervous. He wasn’t good at taking compliments, so he looked away and spotted the writing on the glass. His face lit up and he leaned in to start reading.

“Do you know what it says?” I asked hopeful.

“No, but it’s similar to other dialects I know. I can figure it out. Give me a second....”

It took him a full minute to crack the code. I've heard slime creatures could be smart, but I never understood how smart.

“You need fresh virgin blood. Just place it on the glass and it’ll open.” Sunny explained.

Well, that was easy enough. I doubted I ever would figure that out without him.

“Sunny, you should go back. I don’t know what’s going to happen. It could be dangerous.” I said.

He nodded hating the fact he wasn’t strong enough to stay around. But he offered way more help than he ever might realize. With a promise I would bring Max back home, I gave him a quick hug and let him go back the way he came.

A dab of fresh blood later and the fake glass door opened into a real one. I bolted inside, the vines wrapping around my ankles the moment I stepped nearby.

“Max!” I shouted praying he heard.

He stirred, his head lifting slightly and eyes slowly opening. I pushed forwards ripping away vines at each step.

“Toby... You should go back.” Max said in a small voice.

I’ve never heard him like this before. I hurt more than anything else that happened to me that day. I shook my head refusing to give up on him.

“I’m not-” I started but my words got caught in my throat seeing his expression.

I’ve never seen him so distraught. The vines quickened their pace and nearly covered his entire body other than his face. He was letting them take over and I didn’t understand why.

“It was cruel of me to give you my name.” Max admitted.

“Why? Because I’m human?” I asked trying to understand.

“Yes. After... what I did... I have no right to be friends with a human. I let it get this far because I’m selfish.”

I hated hearing him like this. I got a step closer, all those vines trying to keep me back.

“No matter what happened, I’ll listen. I’ll still care about you. So just tell me what’s wrong.”

Max closed his eyes again as if he was about to shut down. Finally, he accepted my request and started talking.

“Some creatures need to eat humans. Others do not. And others kill for fun. I thought I understood all of that and accepted it. I knew why humans hated us and hunted our kind. But... when my mother died... When they killed her, I didn’t care about understanding anything. I was just so angry. They murdered her for being what she was, and yet she never harmed a human. I wanted to get even. So... I just lost it and attacked a village of Hunters.” Max admitted in a distraught voice.

“I can understand that. You-” I started but she shook his head refusing my answer.

“I didn’t just kill Hunters. I killed innocent people who just happened to be there. And even if I only killed the ones who murdered my mother... That isn’t right. They had families that loved them too. I acted completely selfishly. And I haven’t stopped being selfish since. I knew the dead would hate me for this, but I decided something back then. That I would keep smiling each day because I stole that away from them.”

My best friend looked up and gave me a smile filled with tears. For hundreds of years, he lived for the ones who he took that life away from. I knew Max had genuinely happy moments, but he also forced himself to be happy. I never noticed how he felt. How did I deserve something as important as his name? Max felt guilty that he killed and hurt so many humans and yet he became friends with one. The vines started to creep upwards. I shook my head letting the information sink in.

I pulled free of all the vines holding me back to finally reach Max. I started to pull away his bindings to get to him, tears in both of our eyes.

“Whatever burdens you have we can share them! I’ll smile with you for the ones you killed! I already turned my back on humans, so I can forgive you for what you did even if you can’t forgive yourself!”

Tears streamed down my face and the vines ripped the skin on my hands. I didn’t stop. I needed to get to the person I cared so much about. My words reached Max and he pulled his body out from the nest of vines and into my arms. The plants died out the moment I grabbed a hold of him.

By some miracle and a lot of help, I reached him. I thought the test was over. But again, I was mistaken. A crashing sound tore through the dome as the skeleton's hand ripped off the ceiling. Max shielded me from the falling glass. I hoped his sisters were safe. But we were sitting ducks as the monster spotted the two people standing so far below it. I wasn’t able to stop Max as he ran out ready to attack the monster. I choked on my fear knowing Max wasn’t the strongest creature. If a group of his sisters couldn’t beat this monster, he stood no chance.

Or... At least I thought so. In a flash, my friend turned from his loveable dog-boy self to a towering wolf almost as big as the skeleton he faced. He was far larger than how I saw him before. The plants and flowers twisted up his legs and bloomed on any surface he touched. The battle ended in seconds. Max opened his mouth wide and shot down a burst of magic into the mass of the dead. They all exploded into flowers and other plants. I realized that until that moment my friend had been holding back his magic due to guilt. I think Max might be stronger than any creature I’ve met at the Mailing Company, besides Sterling.

He shifted back just as Rufus came running over. He scooped his son into his arms over joyed that Max was still alive but also finally let loose his true powers. The rest of the help came piling in. His sisters came a bit beat up but all alive. They all took turns getting hugs from their older half-brother. I counted about thirty of them but wasn’t really sure about the number. Vicky came over to me and I asked where was Belizas fearing the worst. Vicky said Belizas was fine. She just wanted to punch more monsters.

“What are you all celebrating? I have not announced the results of this test yet.”

We all froze at the sound of the voice. Kytiva stood, hands on her hip and a scowl on her face. Max quickly came over to me to put himself between me and his stepmother. I honestly was scared to death of her and was thankful for him defending me.

“Toby passed the test, right? I mean-” Started one of the sisters.

“And just how did he do that? All of you protected him. He barely did anything on his own. He should be dead ten times over by now.” Kytiva snapped back.

Everyone around me stiffened and Rufus got closer. It looked as if he was ready to lash out and I never thought he had it in him.

“What if he fails? Are you going to kill them?” Rufus asked in a low tone.

“Do you think you can stop me?” She answered back.

Everyone moved into a defensive position. If Kytiva made a move to kill me, she needed to deal with all the other creatures in the room. The issue was, I knew she was strong enough to kill all of us if she needed to. I didn’t want anyone I cared about to die for nothing. She noticed how the group reacted and scoffed.

“You all know I am stronger than all of you. I did not marry you due to your power. I did so for your land and medical plants you can grow.” She pointed out.

“That wasn’t the reas-” Rufus started to correct but stopped himself.

His reaction broke some of the tension and I thought I saw his cheeks turn slightly red. Kytiva folded her arms over her chest very, very pissed off. Her accent grew thicker as she huffed.

“I married you because your chest is bigger than my own. Stop reminding me!”

I looked. We all looked. Some made it more obvious than others. Max and his sisters had clear expressions on their faces of suppressing this information. To her credit, Kytiva was still threatening after that scene. She walked over and stopped in front of me. Her arms were still folded, and a sour look on her face.

“You took help every step of the way in this test. So many different creatures provided you aid due to your weaknesses. You have given me no choice but to do this.”

I let out a squeak of fear when her hands landed on my shoulders. My eyes shut tight expecting a painful death. But a soft feeling came to my forehead. When I opened my eyes, I saw Kytiva leaning over to kiss my cut.

“You’re adopted.”

Her words were too much for Rufus. He passed out on the spot and the sisters just let him fall. I expected he did that often. My mouth hung open lacking any words.

“Creatures work based on favors. They exchange time or even words. Everything has a cost. These people who helped you did not do so for free. They did so in exchange for the love you’ve given. In our world love is the most powerful force. It seems as if you are the kind that can give it away freely and make others love you back just as much. It is a rare quality and one any family should be proud of.”

Well, I wasn’t expecting that at all. I opened my mouth to thank her but found it impossible to talk. The entire day caught up to me. I slowly started to fall to my knees and Max came down with me to keep his friend from passing out. I wondered if his stepmother knew people were going to help me when she made this test. She couldn’t be seen as going easy on us and throwing everything at a human that reasonably couldn’t handle the threats on their own.

“You really did put Toby through too much. You bullied him. But... I get why you did all of this.” Max said up to Kytiva sounding annoyed at first. “So... thanks, mom.” He sheepishly added.

Her tough demeanor crumbled away by that single word. Her face flared into a snake-like appearance, and she came down to grab both of us into a tight hug. Max calling her mom for the first time got to her. She kept giving his cheek kisses and saying the same foreign word over and over again. When I tried to pull away from her, she turned the affection onto my unprotected cheek. I preferred it when she didn’t like me.

With a lot of gentle prying, the sisters got their mother away from us. I still couldn’t stand so Vicky thankfully helped me along so I could take a door back home. Sunny fretted the entire time it took me to get into bed. I wanted to sleep slightly more than I wanted to eat. At the very least I knew I could take some sick days if I needed them to recover.

Max stayed hanging out with Sunny as I slept. Just before I nodded off, I decided on something very important. Max was family to me. A lot of my friends were. I’d told my father a little bit about them but not much. I wanted to change that. Soon, I would ask Max to meet my only other family member. I wanted him to meet my father. The idea made me nervous, but it felt right at the time.

I wasn’t aware of how much such a meeting could change my life forever.