The Living Heart
1065 Words
Chapter 15
Darkness surrounded them.
For several seconds, Aretha could hear nothing except her own breathing and the faint pulse echoing through the inside of the Tree of Life.
A heartbeat.
Ancient.
Powerful.
Alive.
Then slowly—
Golden light spread across the walls around them.
The staircase beneath their feet was no longer made of wood or roots.
It looked almost like crystal.
Transparent pathways spiraled upward endlessly through the center of the tree while glowing streams of energy flowed beneath the surface like rivers of stars.
Nyra stared upward in amazement.
“Okay… this is beautiful.”
Even Allan looked slightly unsettled.
The inside of the Tree of Life felt different from the rest of Lumierre.
Older.
As if time itself moved differently here.
Fenrir walked ahead silently while the others followed carefully behind him.
The deeper they climbed, the stronger the strange energy became.
And for Aretha—
The whispers returned.
But now they sounded clearer than ever.
Not many voices.
Only one.
Soft.
Feminine.
Lonely.
“Come closer…”
She pressed a hand against her chest.
The voice almost felt familiar.
Liam noticed immediately.
“You hearing something again?”
She nodded slowly.
“A woman.”
Fenrir stopped walking briefly.
“The Heart speaks through memories.”
Nyra frowned.
“That somehow sounds worse than helpful.”
The guardian continued upward.
“The Tree of Life remembers everyone connected to it.”
Elias looked around nervously.
“And what exactly happens if the tree doesn’t like us?”
No one answered him.
Which was answer enough.
---
Meanwhile outside…
Greenfield Lumierre had fallen into full war.
Fairy soldiers filled the storm-covered skies battling corrupted creatures pouring from the dark portals above the city.
The sacred grounds burned beneath spreading shadow fire while healers desperately tried saving infected citizens.
Orion fought at the center of the battlefield beside Lumierre guards and shadow hunters alike.
Golden wolf energy exploded around him as he tore through corrupted beasts.
Nearby, General Seraphina’s metallic wings sliced through the air like silver blades.
“We’re losing the eastern barrier!” one soldier shouted.
Another explosion shook the city.
The corruption kept spreading.
And beneath the dying roots of the Tree of Life—
Something unseen smiled in darkness.
---
Inside the tree, the staircase finally ended.
The group emerged into a massive circular chamber unlike anything they had ever seen.
The Heart Chamber.
Everyone stopped in awe.
The room itself looked alive.
Gigantic glowing roots stretched across the walls and ceiling like veins while golden energy floated through the air like stars drifting underwater.
At the center of the chamber hovered a massive crystal heart.
The true heart of the Tree of Life.
It pulsed softly with fading golden light.
But corruption had already reached it.
Black cracks spread slowly across the crystal surface.
Every pulse from the heart seemed weaker than the last.
Fenrir lowered his head respectfully.
“The source of all magical life.”
Aretha stepped forward slowly.
The closer she moved toward the heart, the stronger the connection became.
She could feel its pain.
Its exhaustion.
And beneath that—
Fear.
Then suddenly—
The chamber doors slammed shut behind them.
BOOOOM!
Everyone spun around instantly.
The glowing roots along the walls shifted violently.
And the chamber changed.
The beautiful golden light dimmed.
Darkness spread across the floor like liquid shadow.
Nyra immediately unfolded her wings.
“…Tell me this is normal.”
“It is not,” Fenrir growled.
The crystal heart pulsed violently.
Then the shadows began taking shape.
Figures slowly emerged from the darkness surrounding the chamber.
Human figures.
Made entirely from memories.
Aretha’s breath caught painfully.
Because standing before her—
Was her father.
Kael.
Exactly as she remembered him.
Dark curls.
Gentle silver eyes.
That familiar soft smile.
“Dad…?”
Liam looked toward her in alarm.
“Aretha, wait.”
But she barely heard him.
Her father stepped closer slowly.
“Little star.”
Her chest tightened instantly.
That was what he used to call her.
Tears filled her eyes.
“You’re dead…”
Kael’s smile saddened.
“Some memories never truly disappear.”
Selene had once told her magic could preserve echoes of people connected to powerful places.
But this felt real.
Too real.
Across the chamber, the others faced their own shadows too.
Nyra stared at a younger version of herself standing silently beside two fairy soldiers.
Her parents.
Dead during a border war years ago.
Caspian faced his older brother who had vanished at sea.
Elias saw himself surrounded by visions of everyone dying.
And Allan—
Allan froze completely.
A woman emerged from the darkness before him.
Tall.
Beautiful.
Silver eyes identical to his.
The same woman from Elias’s vision.
Allan’s face lost all color.
“…Mother.”
Fenrir growled deeply.
“These are not memories.”
The shadows smiled.
And suddenly—
The chamber attacked.
Kael lunged toward Aretha violently.
Not gentle anymore.
His eyes turned completely black as shadow energy exploded around him.
Liam reacted instantly, pulling Aretha backward just before the attack struck.
“Those things aren’t real!”
Chaos erupted across the Heart Chamber.
Dark memory-creatures attacked from every direction while the corrupted crystal heart pulsed violently above them.
Nyra sliced through shadow soldiers with metallic wings while Caspian unleashed massive waves of water across the chamber floor.
Elias struggled against horrifying visions clawing through his mind.
And Allan—
He stood frozen.
Staring at the woman before him.
His mother smiled softly at him.
“You failed our bloodline.”
Pain crossed Allan’s face instantly.
“You abandoned your brother.”
Shadow magic exploded violently around him.
“No.”
“You let Kael betray us.”
“I said NO!”
Dark energy burst outward from Allan, destroying the shadow figure instantly.
The entire chamber shook violently in response.
Fenrir roared thunderously.
“The corruption feeds on pain!”
The crystal heart cracked further.
Black energy spread faster across its surface.
Aretha looked upward in horror.
“We’re making it worse!”
Then suddenly—
The voice returned inside her mind.
Clearer than ever before.
“Touch the heart.”
She looked toward the glowing crystal.
Everyone else was too distracted fighting the shadows to notice.
Except Allan.
His silver eyes locked onto hers immediately.
And quietly—
He nodded.
As if he heard the voice too.
- Writer
