I awoke to the soft rustle of wind and the faint rustling of the wind.
For a moment, I forgot I was in the Jungle Forest. It felt too peaceful. Too calm. But then I sat up and the memories returned like thunder — the visions, the illusions… the wolf in my dreams with golden eyes and a human boy face. Kael. I like the way it sound. If it were to be something sweet, I'd say it taste like chocolate.
I like the name.
I blinked, reaching instinctively for the blade laying still beside me. Its strange, pulsing glow had dimmed… but it was warm, almost as if it had bonded with me overnight.
What was that illusion?
Was that really Kael… in human form when he was still very young?
A slow movement pulled my attention away from my thought.
The wolf — Kael — sat a short distance from me, alert, protective. But he wasn't alone anymore.
Standing at the edge of the clearing was a man cloaked in robes of dark green and bone-white, a crooked staff in his hand, tangled with vines that moved like they were alive. His face was half-covered with a bark-like mask, but his glowing green eyes were fixed on me. Not unkind… but not human either.
The red-eyed crow perched silently on his shoulder.
The air shimmered around him like heat waves rising from the forest floor.
"You carry the wound of the past," he said. His voice was deep, but layered — like many voices speaking through one mouth. "And walk beside the cursed."
Kael snarled behind me, standing slowly. He didn't like this man. That made two of us.
"Who are you?" I asked, my fingers tightening on the blade.
"One who remembers. One who serves the forest's balance. The Druid of Echo Roots. I speak for the Old Grove."
Old Grove… I'd heard the name once in a whispered story. A forgotten god, a spirit of the forest who lived through those bonded to trees.
"Why are you here?" I asked again, standing now, blanket falling from my shoulders.
"Because you are standing at the edge of fate. And the forest must know… who you truly are."
I swallowed hard. My voice almost broke.
"I'm just a girl trying to save her grandmother. That's all."
The Druid tilted his head slowly. The crow cawed once.
"No. You are the seed of blood long buried… awakened by grief and guided by a creature you should fear, but do not."
His gaze flicked to Kael.
"The Miracle Leaf you seek blooms in the Grove of Mourning, beyond the Threefold Gate. A place where only those cursed or claimed may walk."
My heart skipped a beat.
"Cursed… or claimed?"
The druid raised his hand slowly, his staff glowing at the tip.
"You've already been marked, Sophie. Your blood is no longer just your own. That blade — and that wolf — tie you to a path few survive."
Kael growled louder now, stepping between me and the druid.
"Do not speak in riddles," I snapped, voice cracking with fear. "Tell me where it is. How to get there. Please—my grandmother—"
The druid silenced me with a raised hand.
"To enter the Grove, the bond between beast and bearer must be tested. One must bleed. One must trust. Only then will the gate open."
I stepped back.
Bleed?
Trust?
The blade in my hand pulsed again. I looked down at it, then at Kael… who had gone still as stone.
"What happens if I go alone?" I asked quietly.
"You will die."
Just like that.
No hesitation. No sugar-coating.
"And if I go with him?"
"You will uncover truths you are not ready to bear."
A pause.
"But you might survive."
My head spun.
Kael stepped closer to me, slowly lowering his head until his golden eyes locked with mine. And I realized then…
He wasn't just my protector.
He was part of this.
Part of me.
And somehow, some way, our fates had already been written in the soil beneath our feet.
As the druid faded into the mist, I whispered out loud, unsure if Kael could understand but needing to say it anyway:
"I don't know what you are, Kael…"
But I think I'm starting to think of you as someone dear to me. And I don't want to do this without you or leave your side for a seconds.