Twelve years had passed since that night.
Sophie now stood by a window in her grandmother's cottage, high in the mountain town of Windhollow. The town was small, the air clean, but the wounds of her past were far from healed. She lived with her grandmother—old Maja—an apothecary with hands like leather and wisdom as deep as the mountains.
But today, Maja was dying.
Sophie sat by her bedside, cloth in hand, dabbing sweat from her grandmother's wrinkled forehead. The herbs hadn't worked. Neither had the potions. The fever burned too hot, too deep. "She's not getting better…" Sophie whispered to herself, tears threatening to fall.
Her heart raced as she flipped through the old leather-bound apothecary book Maja had given her—the family's secret to healing. There, drawn between yellowed pages, was the only hope left: Miracle Leaf.
Bright green veins. Five pointed edges. Said to glow faintly under moonlight. "Don't tell me you're thinking about that," came a voice behind her. Sophie turned to see Shila, her best friend and fellow apprentice, standing in the doorway with arms crossed and worry in her eyes. "I have no choice," Sophie said, her voice cracking. "You saw her, Shila. She won't make it another week."
"That place isn't real!" Shila hissed. "The Jungle Forest? The Monster's Forest? Everyone who's gone in search of it never returned. The only one who came back barely had breath to say, 'It's cursed.'"
"But he said the leaf is real." Sophie stood, clutching the book. "He saw it. That means there's a chance. And I'll take any chance I get to save her."
Shila shook her head. "Do you even know how to find it?"
"North," Sophie said. "Deep inside the wilds. Past the Blackroot stream and the Hollow Pines. That's all I know. But I'll find it."
Silence stretched between them. The wind howled outside. Then Shila stepped forward and took her hand. "Promise me. If things get bad… you turn back."
"I promise," Sophie said, though her heart already knew she wouldn't. "Just keep her alive. Feed her the feverroot and willow bark. Keep her warm." Shila nodded with teary eyes.
That night, Sophie packed her old leather backpack. Water. Dried meat. Biscuits. A small blade. A compass. And the book.
She kissed her grandmother's forehead and whispered, "I'll come back with the leaf. I swear it."
Then she stepped out into the cold night and into the shadows of the forest.
She didn't know that the Jungle Forest wasn't just cursed—it was alive. And it was waiting for her.