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CHAPTER 14 — When the World Trembled
The first tremor was small—just a shiver under the ground.
Aren almost ignored it, thinking it was nothing more than wind rolling through the earth. But then the second tremor hit… and the stones beneath his feet jolted hard enough to rattle the walls.
Villagers froze.
The elder rose from his seat, eyes narrowing.
"Not natural," he murmured. "The world is warning us."
Elira looked toward the forest, her fingers tightening around the wooden charm at her neck. "It's coming again, isn't it?"
Aren swallowed. "The thing from the river?"
"No," the elder said. "Something older. Something that has not moved in decades."
Before Aren could speak, the ground cracked.
A low groan—like mountains grinding together—rolled out from the treeline. Birds burst upward in a frantic storm. Animals fled in every direction. The air itself vibrated.
Aren felt the seed inside him pulse like a second heartbeat.
Thump.
He staggered, clutching his chest. Elira grabbed him quickly.
"Aren, what's wrong?"
"It—reacted," he said through gritted teeth. "The seed… it felt that thing."
The elder turned sharply. "Describe the feeling."
"Like…" Aren struggled to find the words. "Like the world is scared."
Silence swept through them.
Then the barrier surrounding the village—a faint shimmer of protective light—flickered. Once. Twice.
And then it shattered.
The explosion of light threw dust and grass into the air. The villagers cried out as the protective veil dissolved like broken glass. Something heavy pressed against the atmosphere, thick and suffocating.
Aren stepped forward instinctively.
Elira grabbed his hand tightly. "Don't! You don't know what's out there!"
He didn't. But the pull in his chest—the seed's whisper—dragged him toward the forest as if it were calling him to face it.
A tree at the edge of the village bent unnaturally, its trunk warping like melted wax. Then another. And another. The forest wasn't being pushed aside—
It was stepping back.
"Elder," Elira whispered, fear trembling in her voice. "Why is the forest… moving?"
The elder's face turned pale.
"It is yielding. Only one thing makes the living woods retreat."
Aren waited, heart pounding.
The elder's voice was barely audible.
"An eater."
The ground thudded again. Heavy. Final. Drawing closer.
Aren drew in a breath. "What's an eater?"
The elder didn't look away from the trees.
"A creature that feeds on memory. On life. On everything the world tries to protect."
A pause.
"And they should be extinct."
A cold chill ran down Aren's spine. "Then why is one here?"
The elder looked at him—truly looked—and Aren felt the weight of destiny in that gaze.
"Because something in this world woke up. Something powerful enough to draw what should never wake."
Before Aren could respond, the creature emerged.
A massive silhouette rose behind the trees, its form shifting like smoke and shadow. No eyes. No face. Its body rippled with red cracks—veins of forgotten power.
The air warped around it, bending like heat above a flame.
Aren could barely breathe.
The seed inside him pulsed again—this time violently.
The eater's faceless head turned toward him as if sensing the energy inside his body.
Elira whispered, horrified,
"It's looking at you."
Aren stepped back. "I didn't do anything!"
The elder whispered, "You exist. That's enough."
The eater opened its maw—an impossible void of twisting light—and the world shrieked.
The ground burst in every direction, lifting stones and dirt into a violent storm. Aren shielded Elira with his body as wind slammed against him.
The villagers ran, screaming.
The elder shouted, "Aren! It's after the seed! You must lead it away!"
Aren turned toward the forest.
Elira grabbed his wrist, shaking her head desperately. "If you go alone, you'll die!"
"Then come with me," he said, voice steady despite the terror clawing at him.
Her eyes widened. "You're serious?"
"We're not leaving anyone behind," Aren said. "Not again."
The eater roared—an empty, hollow scream that made the sky shudder.
Aren tightened his grip on Elira's hand.
"Run!"
And together, they sprinted into the trembling forest.
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