Chapter 13
1532 Words
The roar disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Silence returned.
A silence so deep that Lyra could hear her own heartbeat.
She stood completely still, staring into the darkness ahead.
“Did you see that?” she whispered.
Mira shook her head.
“See what?”
“The eyes.”
“There were no eyes.”
Lyra looked at Lucien.
He hadn’t moved.
His gaze remained fixed on the trees.
“You saw them too,” she said.
Lucien didn’t answer.
That was enough.
Lyra swallowed.
“What was it?”
“I don’t know.”
She had never heard Lucien say those words with such seriousness.
They continued walking.
But something had changed.
The forest no longer felt empty.
It felt like they were being watched.
Every step they took seemed to echo far beyond them.
The trees twisted unnaturally around the path.
Some had roots that rose from the ground like hands.
Others had strange symbols carved into their trunks.
Lyra slowed down.
“Lucien.”
He stopped.
She pointed toward one of the trees.
“What is that?”
A symbol had been carved deep into the bark.
It looked almost like an eye surrounded by three curved lines.
Lucien stared at it.
“I don’t recognize it.”
Mira moved closer.
Her face suddenly became pale.
“Don’t touch it.”
Lyra pulled her hand back.
“You know what it means?”
Mira shook her head.
“No.”
“Then why—”
“Because my mother told me never to touch strange markings in this forest.”
Lyra looked at the symbol again.
“Your mother came here?”
“Once.”
“What happened?”
Mira’s eyes darkened.
“She refused to tell me.”
Before Lyra could ask anything else, they heard footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Coming from behind them.
Lucien immediately turned.
Nothing.
The footsteps stopped.
Lyra’s breathing quickened.
“Maybe it was an animal.”
Lucien shook his head.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because whatever it was…”
He looked deeper into the forest.
“…it stopped when we stopped.”
Lyra’s stomach twisted.
They continued.
Then she heard it.
A whisper.
Very faint.
Almost like someone speaking directly into her ear.
“Aren… vel… shai…”
Lyra stopped.
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
Mira looked at her.
“What happened?”
“Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
Lyra looked around.
“I heard someone talking.”
Lucien turned toward her.
“What did they say?”
“I don’t know.”
“What language?”
“I don’t know.”
The whisper came again.
This time, louder.
“Elaria… ven sha… morai…”
Lyra’s face went pale.
“Someone is speaking.”
Lucien stepped closer.
“Where?”
She pointed ahead.
“Over there.”
Lucien listened.
Nothing.
He looked at Lyra.
“There’s no one there.”
“I heard them!”
“I believe you.”
Lyra looked at him.
“Then why can’t you hear it?”
“I don’t know.”
The voice came again.
But this time, Lyra understood something.
It wasn’t coming from the forest.
It was coming from inside her head.
She grabbed her temples.
“Stop.”
Mira rushed to her.
“Lyra?”
“Make it stop.”
“What is happening?”
“I don’t know!”
The whispering grew louder.
Hundreds of voices seemed to surround her.
Men.
Women.
Children.
All speaking the same unknown language.
“Aren… shai… elora…”
“Vel… Lyra…”
“Come…”
Lyra screamed.
Lucien immediately grabbed her shoulders.
“Lyra!”
She looked at him, terrified.
“They’re calling me.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know!”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“They keep saying my name.”
Lucien looked at Mira.
“Has this ever happened before?”
Mira shook her head.
“Never.”
Lyra suddenly looked toward the trees.
A strange blue light appeared between them.
She stared.
“There’s something there.”
Lucien turned.
The light disappeared.
“What did you see?”
“A woman.”
Mira’s face went pale.
“What woman?”
“She was standing there.”
Lyra pointed.
“She had long white hair.”
Lucien moved toward the trees.
“Stay here.”
Lyra grabbed his hand.
“Don’t.”
He looked down at her hand around his wrist.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
She released him slowly.
“I just… don’t want you to go.”
Lucien stared at her.
Something softened in his eyes.
“I won’t.”
He stayed beside her.
The whispering continued.
But now it was softer.
Almost like the voices were waiting.
⸻
They walked for another hour.
The forest became darker.
The moon had completely disappeared.
Even Lucien’s supernatural vision seemed unable to see far ahead.
Then they reached a clearing.
In the middle stood a massive stone.
It was covered in ancient symbols.
Lyra immediately felt something pulling her toward it.
She took one step.
Lucien caught her arm.
“No.”
“But I feel something.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because I feel it too.”
Lyra looked at him.
The stone began glowing.
A strange light spread across the symbols.
Then the voices returned.
This time, all three heard them.
Mira gasped.
Lucien’s eyes widened.
The unknown language filled the clearing.
“Elar venora… shai elun…”
Lyra stepped closer.
“What are they saying?”
Lucien shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Then one voice became louder than the rest.
A woman’s voice.
Soft.
Familiar.
“Lyra.”
Lyra froze.
She knew that voice.
Her mother’s voice.
“Mama?”
Mira’s eyes widened.
“Lyra, no!”
Lyra moved toward the stone.
“I heard her.”
“It’s not her!”
“How do you know?”
“Because she’s gone!”
Lyra’s tears fell.
“But that was her voice.”
The stone glowed brighter.
And suddenly, an image appeared above it.
A woman.
Young.
Beautiful.
Holding a baby.
Lyra stopped breathing.
“Mama…”
Mira covered her mouth.
She recognized her too.
Lyra reached toward the image.
“Why are you showing me this?”
The woman in the vision looked directly at her.
Then she spoke.
But the words were in the same unknown language.
“The blood remembers what the heart forgets.”
Lyra couldn’t understand the words.
Yet somehow…
she knew what they meant.
She stepped backward.
“What is happening to me?”
Lucien moved beside her.
“We’re leaving.”
The moment he touched her hand, the vision disappeared.
The stone went dark.
The whispers stopped.
Everything became silent.
Lyra looked at him.
“You heard her?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
Lucien hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Lyra frowned.
“But you understood something.”
He looked away.
“I understood enough to know that this forest knows you.”
Mira stepped closer.
“That isn’t possible.”
Lucien looked at her.
“Everything we’ve seen tonight says otherwise.”
A cold wind swept through the clearing.
The trees began whispering again.
This time, the words were clearer.
Lyra heard them.
And her blood ran cold.
They weren’t saying her name anymore.
They were saying something else.
“The daughter has returned.”
Lyra stared into the darkness.
“What daughter?”
No one answered.
Then another voice came.
“The blood of the first.”
Mira suddenly stumbled backward.
Lucien noticed.
“Mira?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Lyra turned toward her grandmother.
“What does that mean?”
Mira’s eyes were filled with fear.
“I don’t know.”
“Grandma.”
“I said I don’t know!”
Her voice cracked.
Lyra stared at her.
For the first time in her life, she realized something.
Mira wasn’t simply scared of the forest.
She was scared of what the forest might reveal.
Suddenly, a branch snapped.
Lucien stepped in front of both women.
Something moved in the darkness.
Two glowing eyes appeared.
Then another pair.
Then another.
Lyra’s heart pounded.
Lucien raised his hand.
“Stay behind me.”
But this time, the creatures didn’t attack.
They simply watched.
As though they were waiting.
Waiting for Lyra.
One of them lowered its head.
Then another.
And another.
Lyra stared in confusion.
“Why are they…”
Lucien’s expression hardened.
“They’re bowing.”
“To me?”
He didn’t answer.
The whispers returned.
Thousands of voices filled the forest.
And this time, they all spoke the same words.
“Welcome home, daughter of the first blood.”
Lyra’s face went completely pale.
She looked at Lucien.
Then at Mira.
Neither of them spoke.
Because deep inside the Forbidden Forest, something ancient had just recognized Lyra.
And whatever she truly was…
she was beginning to realize that even her grandmother had never told her the whole truth.
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