The Mark In The Forest
1973 Words
Chapter Three
The forest had never frightened me before.
I had grown up around it.
I knew the familiar sounds of the trees moving in the wind, the distant calls of birds, and the paths that curved between the thick roots and stones. I had walked through those woods countless times while gathering herbs, firewood, or whatever else Morwen demanded.
But that morning, the forest felt different.
It was as if it knew something I did not.
I stood at the western boundary of Silverfang, staring at the symbol carved into the tree.
The crescent-shaped mark was still there.
My fingers moved toward it, but I stopped before touching the bark.
Something inside me warned me not to.
The symbol looked almost identical to the Moon Seal on my wrist.
Almost.
There was one difference.
The symbol on the tree had another marking beneath the crescent—three small lines arranged like claws.
I looked down at my wrist.
The Moon Seal seemed darker than it had the night before.
“Elara.”
I turned sharply.
Elder Rowan stood several steps behind me.
I had not heard him approach.
“Elder,” I said.
His eyes moved from my face to the tree.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
“You found it,” he finally whispered.
“You knew about this?”
Rowan's expression became serious.
“I suspected.”
“That isn't an answer.”
He slowly approached the tree.
“The western boundary has been watched for many years.”
“Watched by who?”
“That is what I don't know.”
I frowned.
“You told me the Moon Seal was connected to Lyra. You told me my mother was searching for the Moon Crown. And now there's a symbol connected to my mark carved into a tree.”
Rowan looked at me.
“I understand why you want answers.”
“I don't want just answers anymore,” I said. “I need the truth.”
He studied me for a moment before nodding.
“Then perhaps it is time you learned something your mother never had the chance to tell you.”
My heart tightened.
“What?”
“Your mother believed someone was searching for the Moon Crown.”
I remembered the letter.
Leave Silverfang before the next full moon.
My hand closed around the silver pendant Rowan had given me.
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
“Then how did she know someone was searching for it?”
“She found evidence.”
“What kind?”
“Symbols.”
I looked at the tree.
“The same symbol?”
Rowan nodded.
“She discovered the marking in places far from Silverfang. Old ruins. Abandoned shrines. Trees near ancient trails.”
“Why would anyone want the Moon Crown?”
Rowan sighed.
“That is the question that frightened your mother most.”
“Was it dangerous?”
“The crown itself?”
He paused.
“No. Not in the way you mean.”
“Then what?”
“The person who wears it.”
A cold breeze moved through the trees.
I looked down at my wrist.
“Me?”
Rowan did not answer immediately.
“That is what we need to understand.”
I looked toward Silverfang.
From where we stood, I could see the tops of some of the pack's buildings beyond the trees.
Home.
Or at least the place I had always been told was home.
Suddenly, it felt unfamiliar.
“Elder,” I said quietly, “why did my mother leave?”
Rowan's eyes softened.
“She was afraid.”
“Of the Moon Crown?”
“Of what would happen if the wrong people found you.”
I stared at him.
“Found me?”
“Yes.”
My heartbeat quickened.
“Why would anyone be looking for me?”
Rowan stepped closer.
“Because your mother believed the Moon Seal would eventually awaken.”
“And now it has.”
“Yes.”
I swallowed.
“Then she was right.”
“About some things.”
“What about the Temple of First Light?”
Rowan's expression changed.
“You found the letter.”
I nodded.
“Do you know where it is?”
“Beyond the northern mountains.”
“Have you ever been there?”
“No.”
“Then how am I supposed to find it?”
“You may not have to.”
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Before he could answer, a howl echoed from deep within the forest.
It was low and distant.
But it was not an ordinary wolf's howl.
Every hair on my arms rose.
Rowan turned toward the sound.
“Elara, go back to the pack.”
“What?”
“Now.”
“What is it?”
“I don't know.”
Another howl sounded.
Closer this time.
My Moon Seal suddenly burned.
I gasped and grabbed my wrist.
“Elara!”
The forest around us seemed to change.
The wind stopped.
The birds became silent.
Even the leaves seemed frozen.
Then I saw movement between the trees.
A wolf stepped into view.
The same enormous dark-gray wolf I had seen before.
Silver eyes.
Thick fur.
A presence that made the entire forest feel smaller.
It stared directly at me.
Rowan moved in front of me.
“Stay behind me.”
The wolf did not growl.
It simply watched us.
I felt something strange.
Not fear.
Recognition.
I took one step forward.
“Elara, don't.”
But I couldn't stop.
The wolf's silver eyes remained fixed on mine.
Then the Moon Seal began to glow.
A faint silver light spread across my wrist.
The wolf lowered its head.
Not in attack.
In submission.
Rowan stared.
“What are you?”
The wolf looked at him briefly before turning back to me.
Then, without warning, it turned and disappeared among the trees.
I started after it.
“Elara!”
I stopped.
Rowan caught up to me.
“You cannot follow it.”
“Why?”
“Because we don't know where it leads.”
“Maybe that's exactly where I need to go.”
“No.”
His voice was firm.
“You have no idea what is waiting in those woods.”
I looked at the place where the wolf had vanished.
“Neither did my mother.”
Rowan became silent.
That was enough of an answer.
I returned to Silverfang with him.
But the moment we reached the settlement, I knew something was wrong.
The pack members were gathered near the central square.
Whispers moved through them.
Several warriors stood near the entrance.
And at the center was my father.
Alpha Adrian.
His expression was tense.
Beside him stood Morwen.
She looked directly at me.
For the first time since I had known her, I saw genuine fear in her eyes.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Fear.
My father stepped forward.
“Where were you?”
“With Elder Rowan.”
His eyes moved toward Rowan.
“Why?”
“Because I found something at the western boundary,” I answered.
Morwen's face became pale.
“What did you find?” my father asked.
I looked at her.
“The symbol.”
Morwen's hands tightened.
My father noticed.
“Morwen?”
She said nothing.
“Tell me,” he demanded.
She finally looked at him.
“I told you this would happen.”
A murmur passed through the crowd.
My father lowered his voice.
“Not here.”
Morwen shook her head.
“No. It is already too late.”
I stepped forward.
“What is too late?”
Neither answered.
I looked at my father.
“You knew.”
He closed his eyes briefly.
“I knew there was a possibility.”
“A possibility of what?”
Before he could answer, someone shouted from the edge of the crowd.
“Warriors!”
Everyone turned.
A young scout came running toward us.
“There are tracks near the northern trail.”
My father immediately became alert.
“What kind?”
The scout looked toward me.
“Wolf tracks.”
“That's not unusual,” someone said.
The scout shook his head.
“These are different.”
“How?”
“They lead toward Silverfang.”
Silence fell.
I felt the Moon Seal burning again.
My father looked at my wrist.
Then he looked toward the forest.
“Everyone inside,” he ordered.
The pack obeyed.
I remained where I was.
My father approached me.
“Elara.”
“What?”
“You need to listen to me.”
“I've been listening my whole life.”
His expression hurt.
“I know.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
He looked toward Morwen.
She turned away.
My father lowered his voice.
“Your mother didn't leave Silverfang willingly.”
I froze.
“What?”
He continued.
“She was followed.”
“By who?”
“We never found out.”
“Then what happened to her?”
“We found traces of her journey north. But after that…”
He stopped.
“She disappeared.”
My heart sank.
“You told me she died.”
“I believed she was dead.”
“You believed?”
“I didn't know.”
For years, I had carried the pain of losing my mother.
Now I wondered whether I had ever truly lost her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you were a child.”
“And now?”
He looked at the Moon Seal.
“Now you are no longer a child.”
A distant howl interrupted us.
Everyone looked toward the forest.
This time, several howls answered it.
My father immediately called the warriors forward.
“Prepare the eastern and western boundaries.”
I stared toward the trees.
The howls continued.
Something was coming.
And somehow, I knew they were not calling for Silverfang.
They were calling for me.
That night, I returned to my room and locked the door.
The silver pendant lay on my table.
I picked it up.
The moment my fingers touched it, the room filled with silver light.
I stepped back.
A whisper came from somewhere beyond the walls.
“Elara.”
I froze.
The voice was familiar.
Soft.
Warm.
A voice I had heard in my dreams.
“Mother?”
The light grew brighter.
For a brief moment, I saw her.
A woman standing beneath a full moon.
My mother.
She looked exactly as I remembered from the fragments of my childhood.
But this time, she was not smiling.
She looked afraid.
She raised one hand.
In it was the same silver key I had found in her old room.
Then she spoke.
“Do not trust the one who fears your crown.”
The vision disappeared.
I stood completely still.
My mind immediately returned to Morwen.
But another thought followed.
My father had feared the Moon Seal too.
Elder Rowan knew more than he had told me.
And someone beyond Silverfang was searching for the Moon Crown.
I looked at the silver key.
The mark on it seemed to glow.
There was only one word engraved beneath the symbol.
North.
I understood then.
The letter had not been a warning alone.
It had been an instruction.
My mother had wanted me to leave Silverfang.
And if I stayed, whatever had been searching for her might eventually find me.
I looked out through my window toward the dark forest.
The moon hung above the trees.
For the first time, I wasn't asking whether I was ready.
I knew I wasn't.
But the truth was waiting.
And I was going to find it.
Even if I had to walk beyond the northern mountains to do it.
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