The forest behind the palace was forbidden.
Everyone in the kingdom of Valerith knew that. Servants whispered about it, soldiers avoided it, and the royal guards patrolled its edges as though something terrible slept beneath the trees.
But that was exactly why Prince Dante went there.
Night had wrapped the kingdom in silence when he slipped past the palace gates, his dark cloak hiding the gold embroidery of his royal tunic. The moonlight cut through the clouds, casting silver light across the path that led into the forest.
Dante's heart beat faster the deeper he walked.
Not from fear.
From curiosity.
For days now he had been unable to forget her—the strange girl with eyes like midnight and power humming beneath her skin.
The witch.
Alexandra.
He had searched the markets, the temples, and even the palace gardens, but she had disappeared as if she had never existed.
But something in his mind kept whispering.
The forest.
A cold wind brushed past him as he stepped beneath the tall ancient trees. Their branches twisted like skeletal hands against the sky.
Then suddenly—
A voice.
"Following dangerous paths suits a prince poorly."
Dante froze.
He turned slowly.
She stood between the trees, exactly as he remembered her.
Alexandra.
Her dark hair moved gently in the wind, and her black cloak seemed to swallow the moonlight around her. Her eyes glowed faintly, not bright—but enough to remind anyone that she was not entirely human.
Dante felt a strange relief spread through him.
"So you are real," he said.
She tilted her head.
"That is an odd greeting."
"I searched everywhere for you."
Alexandra's expression hardened slightly.
"You should not have."
"Why?"
"Because," she said quietly, "people who search for witches usually regret finding them."
Dante stepped closer anyway.
"Then I suppose I enjoy danger."
For a moment, she studied him carefully—as though trying to decide if he was foolish or brave.
"Or perhaps," she said softly, "you simply do not understand what you are dealing with."
The wind rustled the trees around them.
Dante crossed his arms.
"Then explain."
Alexandra looked away toward the deeper parts of the forest where shadows gathered like dark water.
"My kind does not belong in your kingdom."
"Yet you are here."
"Yes."
"Why?"
She hesitated.
Something in her eyes flickered—a memory, maybe pain.
"Because your kingdom is hiding something," she said.
Dante frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Instead of answering, Alexandra lifted her hand.
The air shimmered.
A faint glow appeared between her fingers, forming a floating image like living smoke.
Dante stared.
The image showed the palace.
But not as it looked now.
It was burning.
Screams echoed faintly through the magical vision. Soldiers were falling. The sky was black with smoke.
And standing at the center of the destruction—
A shadow.
Not a person.
Something darker.
The vision vanished.
Dante stepped back slightly.
"What was that?"
Alexandra lowered her hand slowly.
"The future."
He shook his head.
"That's impossible."
"Magic does not care about what you believe."
Silence fell between them.
Then Dante asked quietly,
"And where am I in that future?"
Alexandra's eyes softened just a little.
"That," she said, "is the problem."
She stepped closer to him now.
"So far… every vision ends the same way."
Dante waited.
"You die."
The words hung in the cold air between them.
For the first time since entering the forest, Dante felt fear creep into his chest.
But strangely—
He didn't run.
Instead he asked the one question that truly mattered.
"Then why show me?"
Alexandra looked at him in a way she hadn't before.
Not like a witch studying a stranger.
But like someone staring at a choice she didn't want to make.
"Because," she whispered, "you might be the only one who can stop it."
Far away, thunder rolled across the sky.
And neither of them realized that deep within the forest—
Something ancient had awakened.
Watching.
Waiting.