Chapter 18 – The Forest's Judgment
The silence after the storm was unreal.
The last echoes of that light—no, that pulse—still rippled through the forest like something alive and sentient. Every bird, every crawling thing, every root seemed to hum with quiet awe.
Anna slowly blinked her eyes open, her breath shaky. The clearing that had once been calm now carried a haunting stillness. A faint mist rose, ghostly and gold.
"Ray…" Her voice was fragile, barely audible.
He groaned beside her, one hand pressed to his shoulder. The mark that had burned itself there glimmered like an ember, still pulsing through the fabric of his uniform. A sigil of a bear, fierce and noble, faint but seared into his skin.
Anna's own neck throbbed. The sleeping wolf—her wolf—had stirred for the first time in what felt like years. She could feel its call deep inside her veins, not awakened fully but restless, stretching.
And then Alex.
Alexandra Dervane lay a few steps away, one hand clutching her neck where the Cosmic Serpent blazed faintly—its coils twisting in patterns that looked like stars caught in motion. Every time she drew breath, the serpent pulsed, a living rhythm, otherworldly and infinite.
Her eyes were wide open, pupils trembling. "It's… inside me."
Anna crawled to her side, ignoring her own trembling hands. "You're okay. You're okay, Alex—"
"No, I'm not," Alex rasped. Her voice cracked like dry wood. "It won't stop burning."
She wasn't exaggerating—the mark pulsed with a feverish light, bleeding a soft glow that seemed to respond to her heartbeat. It wasn't just pain. It was recognition.
And the forest… responded.
All around them, the air shimmered faintly, like it had taken a single deep breath. Trees groaned. Roots shifted. From somewhere deeper, the faint echo of something ancient murmured—a voice without sound, a quiet understanding that brushed across their minds.
Raymond stumbled upright, sweat dripping down his jaw. "What… was that? An earthquake?"
Anna shook her head, still staring at Alex. "No. Not an earthquake."
Something in the ground pulsed again, steady as a heartbeat. Leaves rustled against no wind. The world felt like it had shifted its gaze—no longer indifferent, no longer quiet.
It was watching them.
The trio exchanged glances—terrified, confused, bound by something that neither of them could explain.
And then, a distant cry tore through the air.
Screams, shouts—students in other sides of the forest. The shockwave had reached them all.
"What did we do?" Alex whispered.
Raymond clenched his fists, trying to ground himself in logic. "We didn't do anything. The forest did."
The forest did.
The words lingered.
Anna glanced upward, through the twinkling canopy, where faint threads of light still wove between the leaves like veins. "It feels like… it's alive."
Alex laughed—a short, broken sound. "Oh you think?" She said sarcastically
Anna frowned. "Alex, this isn't the time to—"
"I know!" Alex's voice cracked again. She tried getting up, trembling. "But I'm—God, I'm trying! Everything's been off since we got here, and now this? It's like it's trying to tell me something, and I don't want to hear it."
Raymond stepped between them, steady and solid as ever. "Then don't. Not now. We'll figure it out when we're out of these forest."
His tone was simple, grounded. The kind that kept people from breaking apart.
Alex nodded weakly, but her eyes told a different story—one of fear and awe and confusion all mixed together. The Cosmic Serpent's glow dimmed slowly, fading to a faint silver gleam under her skin.
The silence that followed felt heavier than before.
And far away, near the forest's heart, something ancient exhaled.
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Hours later, long after the chaos had spread through the academy's testing network, Gabriel stood at the border of the forest, arms folded. His usual calm was gone—replaced by the faintest edge of unease.
Beside him, Claire adjusted the headset that now hummed with static. "All the channels are dead. We lost every connection when it happened."
Gabriel didn't answer immediately. His gaze stayed fixed on the dark horizon, where the trees glowed faintly from within.
"It's starting again, isn't it?" Claire whispered.
He didn't deny it. "It's been waiting for them."
Claire's throat tightened. "Do you think they'll make it out?"
He smiled faintly, without warmth. "If the forest chose them, it'll keep them alive. But they won't come out the same."
He turned away, the faint hum of the forest still echoing in his ears. "No one ever does."
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