The forest looming before them did not look like a place designed to shelter the living.
The trunks stood far too close together, twisting upon themselves until they formed natural arches and vaulted ceilings that suffocated the path below. At ground level, a dense purple mist crawled between the enormous roots, covering the undergrowth like a sheet of thick, heavy smoke.
There were no gusts of wind.
No buzzing insects.
Not even the distant song of a bird broke the atmosphere.
That deathly calm was precisely what terrified Nyra the most.
—Don't make a sound —she whispered tensely.
The humans following behind her obeyed immediately.
Adela rode upright atop her colossal white tiger. The beast's ears remained raised in absolute alertness, its muscles taut, yet it advanced without making so much as a growl. Its blue predator eyes meticulously scanned the shadows filtering through the dense vegetation.
Farther back, Emily and Isabella shared Thunder's mount. The majestic magical steed stepped with deliberate caution, lifting its hooves carefully to avoid stumbling over the labyrinth of exposed roots covering the ground.
Lusian brought up the rear beside Elizabeth. His burnished-gold pupils constantly swept across the gloom.
—What's going on? —Elizabeth asked in an almost inaudible whisper.
Nyra took several seconds before answering, swallowing with difficulty.
—Animals don't exist in this forest the way they do elsewhere in Zarhama.
Elizabeth frowned.
—What do you mean?
Nyra subtly nodded toward the mist.
—They're here... but they don't behave the way they should.
At that moment, the silhouette of a small deer slowly emerged from the fog.
The entire group froze.
It was an unsettlingly beautiful creature. Its jet-black fur was covered in tiny violet specks of light, while its antlers resembled the branches of living ebony trees.
The animal fixed its gaze on them.
It did not flee in panic.
It showed no trace of fear.
It simply stared at them with complete indifference for several moments.
Then it turned its head toward the base of a nearby tree.
A black root slowly emerged from the damp earth.
The deer did not retreat.
Instead, it approached obediently.
The root began crawling over one of its legs, and the animal did not react at all, allowing the mass of vegetation to climb freely across its body.
Emily's eyes widened.
—What the hell is it doing?
Nyra lowered her voice even further.
—Nothing.
The root eventually slipped beneath the creature's thick fur, disappearing from sight.
The deer continued nibbling on the shoots growing from the ground as though nothing had happened.
Lusian narrowed his eyes, measuring the energy permeating the area.
—That's far from normal.
—No —Nyra agreed. —And the deeper we go, the more completely normal will cease to exist.
They resumed their journey in icy silence.
On both sides of the path, the silhouettes of various creatures began materializing through the mist. Some were small and seemingly harmless; others were true colossi of claws and fangs.
But all of them remained motionless, immersed in a maddening calm.
Far too calm.
A wolf-like creature watched them from behind a tree trunk. Its body was covered in violet markings, with thin roots sprouting from its back.
It did not attack.
Another creature passed between the trees.
Then another.
None showed the slightest hostility.
Kara looked around suspiciously.
—Then where are the monsters?
Nyra shook her head, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground.
—The monsters aren't what you should be worried about.
—Then what?
Nyra pointed toward the dark roots faintly pulsing beneath the fallen leaves.
—The forest.
Kara's smile vanished instantly.
They continued forward in a tense procession.
Several minutes later, Emily noticed something strange among the foliage.
—Haven't we passed that tree already?
Isabella looked back, frowning.
—I think we have.
Nyra stopped abruptly.
Everyone else came to an immediate halt.
The same twisted trunk stood before them.
The same dark mark scarred its bark, identical to the one they had passed ten minutes earlier.
Nyra went deathly pale.
—We have to go back.
Lusian calmly looked around.
—Why?
—Because it's already moving us.
Silence fell over the group like a shroud.
Elizabeth looked down at the roots beneath her feet.
—The forest can do that?
—It can do much more than that —Nyra swallowed hard. —This place doesn't kill everything that enters immediately.
She looked toward the blanket of purple mist.
—First, it gets to know you.
A dull crack traveled through the soil and stone.
The thick roots began moving, very slowly.
Not directly toward them, but around them, intertwining and blocking the path they had just taken.
As if closing a door behind them.
—And then? —Emily whispered.
Nyra did not answer immediately.
Her terrified eyes locked onto one of the colossal trees to her right.
A human figure was partially fused with the trunk.
A stone-like arm.
An outstretched hand.
Part of a face trapped within the wood.
Its eyes were open, staring into nothingness, devoid of the slightest spark of life.
Emily covered her mouth, suppressing a retch.
—God...
Nyra looked away bitterly.
—Then it stops caring whether you want to stay or not.
Lusian studied the petrified figure for several seconds, measuring the flow of mana the tree was drawing from the corpse.
—Who was he?
—I don't know.
—An elf?
Nyra nodded.
—Probably.
Elizabeth gripped the hilt of her sword so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
—What happened to him?
—The forest needed him —Nyra replied. —It needs nutrients to keep expanding.
Lusian remained silent.
Then a metallic resonance tore through the dense forest air.
Clang.
A sharp clash of steel against steel.
Clang.
Another.
Then a terrible scream.
This time, it was a living voice.
Nyra's head snapped up.
—There's someone up ahead.
The humans from Nyra's tribe began whispering in panic.
Lusian raised one hand, and everyone fell silent instantly.
Another clash of weapons echoed through the forest, this time much closer.
—Elves —Dayana said, listening closely to the sharp metallic impacts and distant voices.
Lusian fixed his gaze on the purple gloom.
—They're fighting.
Nyra slowly shook her head, feeling her breath freeze.
—No.
Everyone looked at her.
—Then what are they doing?
Nyra watched as the purple mist began swirling violently among the high branches.
—They're trying to escape.
A third scream tore through the forest.
This time, there was no human response.
Only the muffled thunder of trunks and roots moving in unison.
Lusian took a firm step toward the source of the noise.
Elizabeth followed without hesitation.
—Are you going to intervene?
Lusian stared into the darkness.
—First, I want to know what they're fighting.
Nyra felt a cold shiver run down her spine.
—Lusian...
He stopped and looked over his shoulder.
—What?
Nyra pointed toward the wall of vegetation rising before them.
—I don't think they're fighting someone.
The roots cracked violently again.
—I think they're fighting the forest itself.