Dawn did not bring light.
The forest was gray, muted, as if someone had drained half its colors during the night.The sun existed—Ren could feel its faint warmth—but its light seemed too weak to pierce the canopy.
Draven was the first to notice.
"Hey… why does it look like someone painted everything gray?"
Borin looked around, jaw tight.
"Because something did."
Ren was still seated near the cooling ashes of the fire, but he didn't look rested.His body was still, yet his breathing… his breathing was wrong.
Lyra sat beside him, watching closely.
"Ren, what are you feeling now?"
He took a long moment before answering.
Part of him was listening to something the others couldn't sense.
"The leaves," Ren murmured."They're… uneasy."
Draven looked up, horrified.
"I didn't hear anything move!""Exactly," Ren replied.
The leaves did not move.Not from wind.Not from touch.Yet Ren felt them pulled between forces—one calling him,the other pushing him away.
Lyra held his hand.
"Ren… look at me."
He did.
And the faint gray crack across his iris pulsed—not with strength, but with rhythm,as if answering a distant heartbeat.
"She's walking," he said quietly.
Borin frowned.
"The shadow?"
Ren nodded.
"Yes."He touched his chest slowly."Every step she takes… I feel it."
Draven hid behind a backpack.
"This is horrible. Worst thing ever. I want my normal life back."
Lyra ignored him.
"Ren… can you feel where she's going?"
Ren closed his eyes.
That's when it began.
A soft sound.
Very soft.
Like paper folding in slow motion.
But it didn't come from anything physical.
It came from the leaves.
All the leaves around them.
They vibrated without wind, without touch—just trembled.
Borin stood instantly, axe in hand.
"The forest woke up."
Draven dropped to his knees.
"THE FOREST IS TALKING, BORIN! I DIDN'T STUDY FOR THIS!"
Ren stood up slowly.
The moment he did, the leaves went still.
As if the sound existed only to capture his attention.
"Ren…" Lyra whispered, "what's happening?"
He stared into the trees.
"The forest is… breathing again."
"Like before?" Borin asked.
Ren shook his head.
"No."He stepped forward."Before, it tried to push me away."Another step."Now… it wants to speak."
Lyra grabbed his arm.
"You're not going alone."
Ren touched her hand.
"I'm not alone."
They walked together.
When Ren reached the edge of the clearing, the sound returned.
Not a vibration.
Not a murmur.
But words.
Words rising from all directions at once—from leaves, branches, roots, the unmoving air.
"Ren…"
Lyra froze.
Borin held his breath.
Draven collapsed with trembling legs.
Ren stood still.
"You heard it?" Lyra asked.
He nodded.
"She used… my name."
The forest spoke again.
Stronger.Clearer.More alive.
"Ren… do not follow…"
The echo inside him—the broken one left by the Rift—reacted instantly.
Ren tightened his grip on the staff.
"It's not the Shadow."He looked upward."It's the forest."
Lyra stared at the leaves, heart pounding.
"But why? Why is it speaking now?"
Ren inhaled slowly.
"Because the Shadow is close."
A breeze swept through.
Not a normal breeze.
A cold wind carrying gray dust.
The leaves' voices rose—not like wind,not like nature,but like cries struggling to stop him.
"RETREAT…RETREAT…"
Ren stepped forward.
The ground shuddered.
The leaves began to sing—a desperate chorus trying to hold him back.
"DO NOT FOLLOWDO NOT FOLLOWDO N—"
Silence.
Abrupt.Cut clean.
Ren opened his eyes slowly.
And saw it.
Not a shadow.Not the Shadow.
But her trace.
Between two twisted trees,a thin gray slash hovered in the air—like a scratch carved into reality.
Lyra's breath hitched.
"Ren… what is that?"
His heartbeat quickened.
"She passed through here."
Borin exhaled hard.
"And left… that?"
Ren nodded.
"It's like… a whisper caught in the air."
Draven fell straight onto his back.
"I HATE THIS SO MUCH."
Ren stepped toward the mark.
Lyra yanked him back.
"NO!"
He looked at her.
His expression wasn't cold.
Or distant.
It was certain.
"Lyra… this isn't a portal."Slowly, he reached out."It's a message."
"A message from who?" she whispered, already knowing.
Ren touched the air.
The gray line trembled.
A sound escaped it—not a voice,not aura,but something in between.
A single phrase.
A phrase that made the entire forest shiver.
"You are close."
Ren froze.
Lyra tightened her grip on his hand.
Borin raised his axe.
Draven cried.
And Ren answered—without realizing he was speaking:
"I know."