The path closed behind them.
Eryndor noticed first.
The branches that had been separated only moments earlier slowly intertwined, forming a wall of wood and leaves.
Kael glanced backward.
“That’s unsettling.”
Aldren placed a hand against one of the branches.
The branch immediately shifted away from him.
He withdrew his hand.
“Don’t touch anything.”
Kael sighed.
“You say that everywhere we go.”
“And you’re still alive because sometimes you listen.”
Eryndor continued forward.
The black leaf given to him by the Chaos Tree rested inside his robe.
It was strangely quiet now.
No pulse.
No warmth.
Nothing.
Almost as if it had never reacted to him at all.
Kael noticed him touching his robe.
“What exactly did the tree give you?”
“A leaf.”
“I know it’s a leaf.”
“Then you know.”
Kael stared at him.
Aldren shook his head.
“You won’t win that argument.”
They continued.
The deeper they went, the stranger Lunareth became.
Trees no longer stood individually.
Their roots intertwined beneath the soil, while their branches connected high above.
Some trunks curved around one another like enormous serpents.
Others grew sideways before turning toward the sky.
Small blue flowers floated several meters above the ground.
There was no stem connecting them to anything.
Kael looked up.
“Those weren’t there before.”
Aldren frowned.
“Don’t assume anything in this forest was there before.”
Kael slowly lowered his gaze.
“Right.”
They continued.
After several hours, they reached a clearing.
A river ran through it.
But the water was moving in the wrong direction.
It flowed uphill.
Kael stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Aldren shook his head.
“Not in Lunareth.”
Eryndor approached the river.
Something beneath the water caught his attention.
Buildings.
Stone roads.
A towering statue.
An entire city lay beneath the transparent current.
Kael came closer.
“Was that there before?”
Aldren’s expression changed.
“No.”
“You’ve seen this place before?”
“I’ve travelled through Lunareth once.”
Aldren looked at the submerged city.
“It wasn’t here.”
Eryndor studied it.
The city looked abandoned.
But strangely intact.
No moss.
No broken walls.
No collapsed buildings.
Then one of the statues beneath the water moved.
Only slightly.
Its head turned.
Toward them.
Kael stepped backward.
“Did you see that?”
Eryndor nodded.
Aldren’s sword was already in his hand.
But nothing else happened.
The statue became still.
Eryndor looked at Kael’s mark.
It was pointing away from the river.
“We’re not going down there.”
Kael looked surprised.
“You’re not curious?”
“I am.”
“Then why not?”
“Because something wants us to notice it.”
Aldren nodded.
“Good.”
Kael looked between them.
“So we’re ignoring a mysterious underwater city?”
“For now.”
They left the river behind.
None of them noticed the statue beneath the water slowly turning its head again.
The path narrowed.
Eventually, they reached a stone platform surrounded by enormous roots.
At the center stood a humanoid statue.
Its face had been erased by time.
Its hands rested on a stone sword.
Three lines were carved into its base.
THOSE WHO ENTER MAY PROCEED.
THOSE WHO PROCEED MAY NOT RETURN.
And beneath them:
THREE ENTER.
Kael frowned.
“That’s comforting.”
The statue suddenly moved.
Its stone head lifted.
Kael jumped backward.
Aldren drew his sword.
The statue spoke.
“One seeks.”
Silence.
“One follows.”
The stone eyes turned toward Kael.
“One is followed.”
Eryndor narrowed his eyes.
“By whom?”
The statue became silent.
Kael waited.
“That’s it?”
Nothing.
“You’re not going to explain?”
The statue returned to its original position.
A path opened behind it.
Aldren stared.
“Apparently not.”
Eryndor walked forward.
Kael followed.
Aldren came last.
As they passed the statue, Eryndor glanced back.
For a fraction of a second, he thought the stone warrior had turned its head toward Aldren.
He stopped.
The statue was motionless.
Eryndor continued walking.
They travelled deeper.
The trees became thinner.
The air became warmer.
A faint smell of smoke drifted between the branches.
Kael noticed it.
“Someone lives here.”
They followed the smell.
A small wooden house appeared between the trees.
Smoke rose from a stone chimney.
A garden grew beside the house.
Herbs.
Flowers.
Several unfamiliar fruits.
An elderly woman sat outside.
A cloth covered her eyes.
She appeared blind.
Yet she spoke before they reached her.
“You took your time.”
The three stopped.
Kael looked at Aldren.
Aldren looked at Eryndor.
The woman smiled.
“You can stop staring.”
Eryndor stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
“Mira.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Watching.”
“Watching what?”
“The forest.”
Kael looked around.
“How long have you been here?”
Mira smiled.
“A long time.”
“How long?”
“Long enough.”
Kael sighed.
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting.”
Aldren studied her.
“You knew we were coming.”
“I knew someone would come.”
“Who?”
Mira pointed toward Eryndor.
“Someone like him.”
Eryndor’s expression hardened.
“Someone like me?”
Mira smiled.
“Don’t worry.”
“I wasn’t worried.”
“You should be.”
Eryndor said nothing.
Mira reached beside her chair.
She picked up a small wooden object.
It was shaped like a leaf.
She held it toward Eryndor.
“Take this.”
Eryndor accepted it.
The moment he touched the wooden leaf—
Kael’s mark reacted.
A pulse spread through the forest.
Every tree around them moved simultaneously.
Mira’s smile disappeared.
“Interesting.”
Kael grabbed his wrist.
“What was that?”
Mira looked at Kael.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Eryndor looked at her.
“What wasn’t?”
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she reached toward the wooden leaf.
“Give it back.”
Eryndor handed it to her.
The moment she touched it, the reaction stopped.
Mira stared at the object.
For the first time, she looked genuinely unsettled.
Then she gave it back.
“Keep it.”
Eryndor frowned.
“You just said—”
“Keep it.”
He took it.
Mira turned toward Kael.
“The mark.”
Kael instinctively covered his hand.
“What about it?”
“Where did you get it?”
“I don’t know.”
Mira was silent.
Then she laughed softly.
“Good.”
Kael frowned.
“Why is that good?”
“Because if you knew, you’d probably be more afraid.”
Aldren stepped forward.
“Who are those creatures that attacked us?”
Mira’s expression became serious.
“The black-marked ones?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know who sent them.”
Eryndor watched her carefully.
“You don’t?”
“No.”
“Then what do you know?”
“They aren’t one group.”
That caught Eryndor’s attention.
Mira continued.
“They look like one army because they carry the same mark.”
“But they aren’t?”
“No.”
“Then why do they have it?”
Mira smiled faintly.
“That’s a much better question.”
Before Eryndor could ask another, a strange sound came from deeper within the forest.
A low crack.
Like an enormous branch breaking.
Mira immediately stood.
Her blindfolded face turned toward the sound.
“You need to leave.”
Kael looked toward the trees.
“What is that?”
Mira didn’t answer.
A second crack sounded.
Closer.
The birds suddenly fled from the forest.
Mira’s voice became quiet.
“The next part of Lunareth is different.”
Eryndor looked at her.
“Different how?”
“You’ve been walking through the forest.”
She pointed deeper.
“From here onward, the forest walks through you.”
Aldren frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Mira smiled.
“You’ll find out.”
Eryndor looked at the wooden leaf.
A faint line had appeared across it.
Three small marks.
He couldn’t understand them.
He looked back at Mira.
“What are these?”
Her expression changed.
“I didn’t put those there.”
Eryndor looked down again.
The marks were gone.
He looked up.
Mira was gone.
So was the house.
So was the garden.
Only the forest remained.
Kael stared.
“Did we imagine her?”
Aldren shook his head.
“No.”
Eryndor looked around.
Something felt wrong.
Then Kael suddenly spoke.
“Eryndor.”
“What?”
“Your hand.”
Eryndor looked down.
The wooden leaf was still there.
But now a single word had appeared on it.
RUN.
Eryndor’s eyes narrowed.
Aldren immediately drew his sword.
The forest became completely silent.
No wind.
No insects.
No birds.
Then—
Something breathed.
Deep within the trees.
Kael froze.
Aldren’s sword tightened in his grip.
Eryndor slowly raised his head.
Two enormous eyes opened in the darkness.
They watched them.
They did not attack.
They simply watched.
And for some reason—
Eryndor felt that whatever was hiding there wasn’t interested in killing them.
Not yet.
Something else was happening.
Something none of them understood.
Then the eyes slowly disappeared.
The forest returned to normal.
Kael exhaled.
“What was that?”
Eryndor stared into the darkness.
“I don’t know.”
Aldren looked at the wooden leaf.
“Then perhaps we should listen to it.”
Eryndor closed his hand around the leaf.
For the first time, they turned around.
They did not run.
Instead, they took another path.
A path none of them had noticed before.
And far behind them, beneath the upward-flowing river, the submerged city’s gates slowly opened.
Something inside had awakened.
But it wasn’t following them.
It was waiting for them to return.