whispers in the woods
494 Words
The trees of Blackroot Forest stood like silent watchers as Ariah stepped beneath their shadow. The sound of the village horn still echoed faintly in her mind, but it was far behind now — as if it belonged to another world.
The mark on her wrist glowed brighter with every step.
She had followed the eastern trail — the one Nyra warned never to use unless "the fire inside you speaks louder than the fear around you." Now, that fire guided her steps.
Suddenly, a whisper touched her ears — not with words, but with presence.
A warmth on the wind. A gentle pressure in her chest. A knowing.
“This way...”
It wasn’t a voice she heard — it was a voice she felt.
"Who's there?" Ariah asked, her breath forming a cloud in the cold air.
No answer. Just that same pull.
She pressed forward, deeper into the woods, until she reached a clearing where the trees bent away from the center as if something holy had passed through.
In the middle stood a stone altar, covered in moss. A broken lantern rested at its base.
As Ariah stepped closer, a beam of light cut through the clouds above and struck the altar. Her mark glowed — not just faintly this time, but with fierce heat. She dropped to her knees, overwhelmed.
Then she heard it — a real voice, not from outside, but from within:
“Many will walk in fear, but I have called you to walk in faith. The light is not yours, child... it is Mine through you. Trust it. Even when it flickers.”
Tears welled in Ariah’s eyes.
“Eternal One...” she whispered.
But the moment wascut short.
From the shadows, a low growl rose. Her breath caught as a pair of golden eyes glinted through the trees.
A shadow beast, black as night, with smoky tendrils rising from its back. They were thought to be myths — creatures born when men traded truth for lies.
It lunged.
Ariah rolled away, snatching up the broken lantern in panic. The beast snarled, circling her slowly.
Suddenly, her wrist flared — brighter than ever before.
The lantern in her hand absorbed the glow.
With trembling hands, she held it up.
"Let there be Light!" she cried.
The lantern blazed with pure fire, blinding and holy. The beast shrieked and vanished into ash.
Ariah fell back, heart pounding.
The light faded, but the forest no longer seemed heavy. It had lifted. Like something dark had been pushed back — even if only for a moment.
She sat in the silence, clutching the lantern.
“I don’t understand any of this,” she said aloud.
“But I’ll follow You — wherever this path leads.”
Above, a star pierced through the clouds.
Far away, in the palace of Prince Kael, the shadow ruler of Emberveil, a mirror cracked.
And the dark one knew:
The flame has awakened.
- Writer
