17th February, Stellar Year 2924
Northern City of Leal
it was almost 7 in evening, it was already dark when they step in the Night Forest.
Evelyn had sworn she would never return to the legendary Night Forest alone.
And yet, fate had a peculiar sense of irony.
Once again, the towering black trees rose around her like silent sentinels, their branches interlocking high above to block the sky. Moonlight slipped through in broken shards, barely touching the forest floor. The air was thick, humming faintly, as if the forest itself was breathing.
Evelyn walked ahead with practiced steps, her boots brushing against roots she remembered too well.
Beside her was a junior lab member, young, anxious, and far too aware of the warnings stitched into every official report. Evelyn guided him through the twisted patterns of the Night Forest as if following an invisible map only she could see.
"This path bends left,"
she said calmly. "Then straight for a while."
He swallowed hard. "Evelyn… this area is prohibited ahead. We've crossed the marked boundary already. Let's get back."
His voice trembled, bravery cracking under the weight of legends whispered in laboratories and taverns alike. The Night Forest was not merely uncharted. It was remembered by stories, by fear, by the dead.
"You're so boring,"
Evelyn muttered, pouting in mock annoyance. She stopped walking and turned to him.
"You go back if you want."
"What?" His eyes widened. "Alone?"
Before he could argue further, Evelyn stepped off the path, disappearing between the trees.
The forest welcomed her like an old secret. Leaves rustled, shadows shifted. The lab member hesitated only a moment before retreating, relief outweighing guilt.
Alone now, Evelyn walked deeper.
The wind rushed suddenly, sharp and cold, brushing her face like unfamiliar fingers. She inhaled sharply as the temperature dropped without warning. A chill crawled down her spine.
"Get out of here," a voice whispered.
"Before it's too late."
Her breath caught.
The voice was familiar. Painfully so.
But her mind refused to place it, sliding past recognition like water over stone. Evelyn slowed, heart pounding, and turned her head slightly, trying to catch the source.
"Don't you remember,"
the voice continued, closer now, intimate, "in the old fairytale… the one who looked behind turned into stone."
Her steps quickened.
The warning echoed in her memory, told to her once under dim lights, laughter softening fear. She didn't look back. Instead, she focused forward, feet moving faster, pulse racing. The sensation of being watched intensified.
Someone was walking behind her.
Strangely, she wasn't afraid.
Warmth spread through her chest, subtle and steady, chasing away the cold. It felt like protection. Like recognition. Like something ancient reaching out, not to harm, but to guard.
But who?
And how?
The forest thinned suddenly, trees retreating as if satisfied. Moonlight widened. Evelyn stumbled out onto the open road just as her colleague's car engine roared to life.
"You're insane,"
he muttered as she approached.
"I'm leaving. Don't ever drag me here again."
He didn't wait for a response. Tires screeched. The car vanished into the night.
Evelyn stood alone beside her own vehicle. The silence pressed in. She felt it again, the gaze. Heavy, unseen, unwavering. Her fingers twitched. Every instinct urged her to turn around.
Just one glance.
But the warning held.
She stayed still, breathing slow, heart loud in her ears. After a long moment, the presence receded, warmth fading gently, like a promise withdrawn rather than broken.
Eva slid into the driver's seat and drove.
Only when the Night Forest was far behind did she finally breathe freely.
At her apartment, memories surfaced unbidden, another visit, another day. Dylan's quiet focus. Lena's sharp laughter. The way the forest had felt different then. Less hostile. Almost… respectful towards her if not to Lena. Eva remember Lena's teary eyes that she saw in café.
Evelyn opened her terminal and sent Dylan a brief mail. Nothing dramatic. Just enough.
***
"Eva…"
"Eva…"
The Prince sighed as he stepped into his residence. The lights turned on automatically, responding to his presence. Everything appeared unchanged.
No alarms.
No disturbances.
And yet, something was wrong.
Caelum Remmirath, Prince of Leal, laid himself down on the couch, exhaustion sinking into his bones. Deadly tired. Ancient tired. He covered his eyes with one arm, as if blocking out the world might quiet the weight pressing against his mind.
"I'm sorry, Aeonian," he murmured. "I forced you."
A presence solidified before him.
"Looks like our dear Caelum is back from the depths of Acheron."
The voice rang through the wooden house calm, amused. Acheron. The river of sorrow said to flow beneath the land, made of grief and tears.
Caelum's arm dropped instantly.
Before him stood a boy, too young in appearance, too familiar in essence.
"Arin Remmirath,"
Caelum said slowly, eyes sharpening.
"You should not be here."
His gaze shifted, iron-grey and cold, guarded to the core. For several heartbeats, that gaze remained unyielding, stripped of warmth. Then, deliberately, it softened.
Arin dropped beside him carelessly, barefoot, grinning.
"I haven't seen you in a long time, brother, and that's the first thing you say?"
He pouted, voice light with mock hurt.
"Don't you miss me?"
Caelum exhaled, a rare smile touching his lips.
"Alright,"
he said quietly.
"Come here."
Acceptance, reluctant but real.
***
It was 9 pm when the door burst open.
"That was very wrong of you, Caelum Remmirath."
Aeonian stormed inside like living light, her presence crackling with restrained fury. The sacred people of light despised control. And Caelum knew that well, because he was one of them.
She hurled a cushion at him without hesitation.
Caelum caught it reflexively and stood.
"I'm sorry, Aeonian. Truly. That was my mistake."
Her eyes burned.
"It's not over yet," she whispered.
"What's going on?"
Arin asked, stepping closer, curiosity overtaking caution.
"Nothing,"
Caelum replied firmly.
Aeonian's form shimmered, light unraveling as she faded from the room, her warning lingering in the air like an unfinished sentence.
Silence returned.
The house breathed again.
And far away, in the depths of the Night Forest, something settled ,patient, watchful, and shadows accompained it. Night forest no longer remains what it was once, the dark stays there now, lingers there in each and every corner.
"I need to find a way to warn her. "