Chapter 3

  I kept walking, one step at a time, feeling the soft moss beneath my feet. It was like a sponge soaked in pale moonlight—cool, gentle, and strange. Each footfall made no sound. The forest seemed to hush itself to keep me hidden. The ground felt different too, not just dirt anymore, but something alive watching. Waiting.

  The trees drew closer, their trunks strong and weathered, rising like silent towering giants. Their branches intertwined above, like fingers ced in a whisper. The thick canopy left only a few stars peeking through, blinking slowly, uncertain if they should shine in this twilight realm. The air felt thick with secrets, and I could almost hear the whispers of the forest, urging me to move deeper into its embrace.

  Along the soft floor, moss glowed with threads of soft green and blue light, winding ahead like a sleepy silver river. The glow pulsed gently, like the forest’s own heartbeat, a rhythm that seemed to sync with my own. I didn’t trust the light. It felt both inviting and strange, as if it held promises I couldn’t comprehend. Still, it was the only illumination I had, so I followed where it pulled, curiosity battling with caution.

  Step by careful step, I moved through the creeping roots coiling like snakes, their gnarled forms twisting and turning across my path. I ducked under limbs reaching out like curious hands, their leaves rustling softly as if whispering secrets to one another. I dragged a twig each time I could, scratching it across the bark to mark my path, leaving a trail of my passage. Each time I gnced behind me, fear pricked at my skin, a nagging sense that I was being watched.

  Then something changed.

  When I looked back again, the marks I’d made had vanished.

  My heart pounded heavily within my chest, a frantic drumbeat that echoed in my ears.

  I turned slowly in a circle. The forest looked as before, yet somehow… off. The trees leaned differently, almost alive, their branches twisting as if they were shifting to watch me. The moss ahead glowed brighter now, pulsing urgently, as if it were alive and beckoning me forward. The moss behind me dimmed, like a tired friend pulling away, retreating into the shadows.

  This path wasn’t leading me. It was pulling me.

  I wanted to stop. But I did not.

  The silence thickened. No breeze whispered. No bugs hummed. Not even a night bird chirped. Only me. The faint crunch of my steps against the moss. And a stillness heavy enough to hold the world, pressing down on me like a weight.

  Then, I saw it.

  A clearing — perfect, round, and still.

  The moss halted at the edge, like meeting an invisible wall. Inside the circle, the earth stretched bare, dark, and quietly waiting. At the center stood an ancient fallen stone arch, half swallowed by earth and wrapped in tangled vines. One side sagged, while the other clung stubbornly upright, refusing defeat. Old faded carvings — swirling patterns scratched by time — whispered forgotten stories, tales of a world long past.

  All around the arch, strange creatures stood silent.

  Strange creatures.

  My heart surged as I stepped closer. A slender shadow glided silently across the mossy floor — limbs too long, bending oddly, and translucent skin shimmering faintly like morning mist. Nearby, a delicate winged sprite hovered, its wings fluttering so fast they blurred into shimmering ripples; empty eyes staring without a blink. On a twisted root rested a creature with many curious eyes scattered across its rounded iridescent body, moving jerkily as if controlled by invisible strings. Clinging to a tree was a small mottled beast, scales glowing faintly, tendrils twitching like soft whiskers.

  But none of them moved or breathed. They stood gray, still, and cold — trapped in a silent spell of time.

  Their faces — or what I could see of them — were not peaceful.

  They looked wary. Distrustful. Haunted by fears deeper than I could understand.

  A shiver crawled up my spine. My fingers grew cold. My feet felt heavy as if the ground itself sought to trap me.

  Nothing stirred in the grove. Even the glowing moss refused to pass its edge, as if it too feared what y within.

  And still, I stepped forward, drawn by an unseen force, an irresistible pull that urged me closer to the arch.

  Near the arch, I spotted a faint glimmer in the dirt. I knelt and brushed away the earth, uncovering a small object nestled in moss — a totem, no rger than my fist. Carved from smooth bck stone, its surface held sharp spirals, twisting deeply like the eye of a storm, each curve telling a story of its own.

  When I touched it, a sudden buzz tingled beneath my skin, a thrill as sharp and cold as lightning.

  It made no sound.

  But I felt it.

  Like touching an unseen current, alive and humming underneath the world, a pulse that resonated with the very essence of the forest around me.

  I lifted the totem, and the earth beneath me trembled.

  At first, it was just a gentle shiver, a warning perhaps.

  Then came a deep, angry groan from below, like a giant awakening from a long slumber, the sound reverberating through the ground and into my bones.

  I dropped the totem. It cracked sharply in two, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the stillness.

  The ground split open.

  The arch shook violently. One of the gss sprites fell, shattering like crystal, its fragments scattering like stars across the dark earth. Something massive stirred below the soil, a restless power that had no right to be disturbed, a force that felt ancient and furious.

  Fear flooded through me, and I ran.

  Roots erupted from the earth, twisting and curling around my legs like serpents, their grip tightening as if to hold me back. The forest floor churned beneath me as if alive, the very ground conspiring against my escape. I leaped over tangled roots, stumbled, caught myself, heart hammering as branches cwed at my face, sharp and unforgiving.

  Behind me, a screech ripped through the silence — grinding, jagged, like rocks scraping stone, a sound that sent chills racing down my spine.

  A streak of red shot past. Pain seared into my arm, sharp and burning

  I hit the ground, rolling as I scrambled away. Near me y a glowing stone shard, hot and smoking, pulsing with eerie light, its glow a stark contrast to the darkness that surrounded me.

  I looked down at my arm.

  A spiral shape etched itself into my skin, bck and red, burned like fire, a mark of my encounter with the unknown.

  It pulsed beneath my palm like a heartbeat, a connection to something I could not yet understand, a bond forged in fear and chaos.

  Fighting panic, I forced myself to my feet and ran again. I didn’t look back. The forest was a blur — branches tearing at my clothes, roots trying to trip me, but I pushed forward, driven by instinct and desperation.

  Finally, I exploded out of the grove, and soft glowing moss returned beneath my steps, peaceful and calm once more, a stark contrast to the chaos I had just fled.

  The earth’s tremors faded behind me, but the dread clung like a shadow, a reminder of the horrors I had witnessed.

  Gasping, I colpsed beside a tree, its bark rough against my back. My chest burned. My legs ached. My arm still throbbed with heat, a constant reminder of the spiral mark that now adorned my skin.

  I rolled back my sleeve.

  The spiral mark glowed faintly

  I pressed my palm against it, the heat steady and fierce, a connection to something I could not yet understand, a mystery that beckoned me to delve deeper.

  Leaning against the tree, I rose, voice caught in my throat and thoughts racing, a whirlwind of confusion and fear.

  I looked behind me, desperate for the path I’d taken.

  But it was gone.

  The forest stretched endlessly, no different ahead or behind. The moss glowed no more. The trees stood silent, their branches frozen like sentinels, watching my every move. The silence returned, thick and suffocating, wrapping around me like a shroud.

  No light. No sign. No way back.

  I spun around, heart sinking. The arch. The grove. The totem.

  Vanished.

  Like a story’s st page ripped away before I could finish reading.

  I didn’t know where I was.

  And I didn’t know where to go.

  What the hell was happening? First, when I arrived to this strange world the cave where I came from had disappeared, and now everything I had just seen was gone too. The weight of confusion pressed down on me, and I felt the panic rising again, cwing at my throat. I had to find a way out of this nightmare, to escape the grasp of this forest that felt alive and malevolent.