The forest felt strangely calm after the attack, as if the entire Wild was holding its breath. The soft rustle of leaves above them was no longer threatening but eerie, like whispers trying to form words just beyond the reach of comprehension. Elara leaned against an old pine trunk, breathing hard, still trembling from the remnants of her awakening.
Her hands still glowed faintly.
Riven paced a few feet away, watching the trees like they might move again. Eli hovered protectively at her side, shaken but trying not to show it.
"Does it hurt?" Eli asked quietly, staring at her hands as though afraid they might ignite again.
Elara shook her head. "No. It just… feels like the forest is in my veins. Like it's breathing with me."
"That's not normal," Eli muttered.
Riven paused mid-stride. "Nothing about this forest is normal."
Eli's glare shot toward him immediately. "You knew this would happen."
Riven didn't deny it. He leaned his back against a massive moss-covered boulder. "I knew she was marked. I didn't know what the awakening would look like."
"You should have warned her!" Eli snapped.
"I did," Riven said simply. "She didn't believe me."
Elara stepped between them before Eli could respond. "Enough. The Hunter is still out there. We can't afford to fight each other."
Eli clenched his jaw but backed down, crossing his arms in frustration. Riven's expression softened slightly when Elara looked at him, but there was something dark behind his eyes—worry, fear, or something deeper she couldn't name.
"What happens now?" she asked.
Riven stood straighter. "Now… we go to the heart."
Eli frowned. "The what?"
"The Heart of the Wild," Riven explained. "It's the center of the forest. Where the oldest roots meet. If the forest chose Elara… that's where we'll find answers."
Elara's pulse quickened. "How far is it?"
"Far," Riven said. "And dangerous."
Eli exhaled sharply. "Of course it is."
But Elara hesitated. "Riven… what happens if we reach it?"
Riven met her eyes, and the intensity in his gaze made her breath catch.
"Then the forest will decide your fate."
The journey deeper into the Wild was unlike anything Elara had ever experienced. The trees grew enormous, thick trunks etched with spirals of light and moss. Their roots twisted across the forest floor like veins, glowing faintly in shifting patterns. The air felt warmer, richer, humming with unseen life.
She could feel the forest watching her.
Sometimes she thought she heard voices—soft, curious, familiar in a way she couldn't explain. Eli stayed close, occasionally touching her shoulder as if checking she was still real. Riven walked ahead, alert, guiding them down invisible paths.
As they passed a fallen tree covered in silver-leafed vines, Eli finally spoke again.
"Elara… what happened back there? When you touched the root?"
She hesitated. "I don't know. It felt like… something called me. Or maybe I called it. And then everything just… surged."
"Don't make it sound beautiful," Eli muttered. "It was terrifying."
"It wasn't terrifying to me," she said quietly.
Riven slowed, glancing back at her. "The forest recognizes its own. That's why it answered."
Eli scoffed. "She's not 'its own.' She's human."
Riven's expression didn't change. "Not anymore."
Eli stopped walking. "What does that mean?"
Elara froze too. "Riven?"
Riven didn't turn around immediately. When he did, his voice was calm.
"The moment she awakened, the forest marked her completely. She doesn't just hear it. She feels it. And now it feels her too."
Eli stepped protectively in front of Elara. "Are you saying she's some kind of forest creature now? Like you?"
Riven's jaw clenched. "I never said I was—"
"But you are," Eli hissed. "The way you move, the way the forest listens to you—don't act like you're normal."
Riven stepped closer, and the air tightened around them like stretched wire.
"Do you want the truth, Eli?" Riven asked quietly. "Fine. I am part of the forest. It created me. Raised me. I belong to it. But Elara… she was chosen. That's not the same."
Eli sputtered. "And you think that makes it better?"
"It means she isn't alone." Riven's gaze slid to Elara, softer. "And she never will be."
Elara's heart thudded painfully, but before she could speak, a tremor rippled through the ground. The trees shivered violently. Riven whipped around immediately.
"They found us."
Eli grabbed Elara's hand. "What found us?"
Riven's expression darkened. "Not Hunters. Something worse."
The tremor grew stronger. Birds exploded from the branches overhead. The air shifted into something colder, sharper.
"Elara," Riven said, grabbing her other wrist, "listen to me. When I tell you to run—you run to me. Not away. Understand?"
She nodded—terrified.
The forest split open with a thunderous crack.
From the shadows between the trees, a shape emerged—tall, skeletal, made of bark and broken branches twisted into a humanoid form. Its eyes glowed white like embers. The air around it hummed with raw, ancient magic.
"A Warden," Riven whispered. "The forest's executioner."
Elara's breath froze.
The creature stepped forward, the sound of splintering wood echoing like distant thunder.
Eli swallowed hard. "Why… why is it staring at Elara?"
Riven didn't answer.
Because Elara already knew.
The Warden lifted a clawed hand, pointing directly at her.
Riven moved first, shoving her behind him just as the ground burst open with roots aiming straight at her chest.
Eli shouted her name.
Elara raised both hands instinctively—
and the roots stopped.
Frozen in midair.
All three of them stared.
The glowing veins on her arms pulsed—once, twice—
and the forest's attack slowly lowered itself back into the soil, like kneeling.
The Warden tilted its head.
It bowed.
Riven's eyes widened in shock. "Elara… it's not here to kill you."
Eli stared at her as though seeing her for the first time.
The Warden rose again and pointed toward the depths of the Wild, its voice a deep, cracking whisper:
"Chosen… come."
Elara's breath trembled.
Riven whispered, "The Heart is calling you."
Eli grabbed her arm. "Elara, you can't follow that thing!"
But when she stepped forward, the forest glowed under her feet, lighting a path only she could follow.
She wasn't being chased anymore.
She was being summoned.
And the forest was waiting.