After the hill of memory stones faded behind them, Elarien and the silver wolf followed a narrow trail that curved beneath branches heavy with dew. The sunlight grew soft again, like it had stopped to nap between the leaves.
"I feel tired," Elarien said with a yawn.
The silver wolf glanced up.
Even the forest needs rest. Come.
Soon, the path opened to a small glade. In its heart was a pool—round, still, and silvery blue. Its surface shimmered, not with light, but with dreams. All around it, tiny flowers dozed, heads bowed low.
"The Sleepy Pool," whispered the wolf. "A place where tired hearts can dream safely."
Elarien walked to its edge and knelt. She looked into the water, expecting to see her face. But the pool showed her something else.
A little girl, curled under a blanket, clutching a worn stuffed wolf.
Herself.
From when she had been younger, much younger. A time when she used to cry at night, missing her mother, afraid of the dark.
The image changed.
She saw Nana, sitting by the fire, humming softly, weaving thread between her fingers.
Then another memory bloomed.
She was running through a field, laughing, her feet bare, her heart light.
The pool showed her more—moments she hadn't thought of in so long. Some joyful, some sad, but each one gentle.
The pool gives what you need, said the silver wolf. Not what you want. What you need to remember in order to grow.
Elarien touched the water.
It felt like velvet and rain and lullabies.
Sleep tugged gently at her.
"Can we rest?" she asked.
The silver wolf nodded.
She lay beside the pool, and he curled around her like a warm breeze. The flowers around them sighed, and the pool shimmered with silent songs.
Elarien dreamed.
She dreamed of her mother's arms, of the sound of wolves singing in the distance, of stars falling into her hands.
In the dream, her voice was strong. Clear.
When she woke, the world was quiet—but bright.
The pool now reflected only sky.
The silver wolf stood, stretching.
We must go, he said.
Elarien nodded.
She felt different. Not just rested.
Healed.
She whispered "thank you" to the pool, and a single flower lifted its head to bow in reply.
Then the two walked on, deeper into the dreaming woods, where the path curved toward what waited next.