Chapter 59: Speed rats.

WITH PETE FOLLOWING close behind him, Nigel jogged through the forest, the familiar terrain blurring around them. He moved with practiced ease, dodging a razor fern, and automatically, the royal, now surprisingly adept, did the same.

This journey was a far cry from their first trek to the treehouse. Nigel recalled with vivid clarity all the dangers Pete had stumbled into, all the near-fatal blunders that first day he’d met him.

Now, the ...