The forest loomed before her, ancient and dark, its twisted branches clawing at the sky, tangled and gnarled, their silhouettes stark against the pale, shrouded sun. Fog curled between the trees, swirling in the undergrowth, weaving through the fallen leaves like ghostly serpents. The air was cold, heavy, saturated with the scent of damp earth, decaying wood, and the faint, sickly sweetness of rot.
Eleanor stood at the edge, her heart pounding, her breath shallow, her body trembling. A shadow passed over her, cold and hollow, prickling at her skin, curling around her like a whisper. The forest watched her, ancient eyes staring from the shadows, hidden faces twisted into the bark of the trees, their mouths open in silent, eternal screams.
She took a step forward, her foot sinking into the cold, wet earth, the ground soft, spongy, curling around her boots. The fog coiled around her legs, damp and cold, swirling, twisting, whispering. The air was heavy, suffocating, pressing down on her, sinking into her lungs, filling her chest with cold, hollow dread.
She took another step, and another, her body trembling, her heart thudding painfully, her breath catching, her fingers curled into fists. Her mother's words twisted through her mind, cold and hollow, echoing in the stillness. "The woods are cursed… a prison… a labyrinth… it binds The Echo… and all who wander within…"
She swallowed, her throat tight, her vision blurring. But she couldn't turn back. Not now. Not after everything she had learned, after everything she had seen. The truth was buried here, among the twisted roots and ancient stones, hidden beneath the fog, waiting in the shadows.
Her fingers tightened around the journal, the leather cold and damp, her mother's words etched into the brittle pages, ink smeared, broken, tangled. "The Echo is bound to the land… to us… it feeds on memory… on sacrifice…"
The melody echoed through the woods, hollow and broken, curling through the fog, twisting between the trees, seeping into her bones. A cold shiver ran down her spine, her heart skipping a beat, her breath catching. It was faint, distant, fractured… a child's voice, high and sweet, singing a lullaby she almost remembered.
Her feet moved on their own, her body trembling, her vision blurring, the world spinning, twisting, shifting around her. The trees loomed above, their branches curled, twisted, reaching, clawing. The fog grew thicker, heavy, suffocating, curling around her, cold and damp, whispering, murmuring, shadows twisting in its depths.
The melody grew louder, curling through the air, broken and fractured, tangled, echoing off the trees, whispering against her skin. It called to her, pulled her deeper, guiding her through the labyrinth, through the twisted paths, between the ancient stones, the moss-covered roots.
Time lost meaning as she walked, her body moving on instinct, her mind fractured, tangled in the melody, in the whispers, in the shadows. The woods grew darker, colder, the air heavy, bitter, laced with sorrow, with death. The trees twisted around her, their branches curled, clawing, faces hidden in the bark, eyes hollow, empty, mouths open in silent screams.
A whisper curled through the fog, hollow, broken, curling around her, seeping into her bones. "Eleanor…" Her heart stopped, her blood running cold, her breath catching. She knew that voice. It was soft, gentle, fractured… her mother's voice, calling to her from the shadows, from the fog, from the depths of the woods.
Her vision blurred, tears burning in her eyes, her chest tight, her heart breaking. She reached out, her fingers trembling, curling around nothing but cold, empty air. "Mother?" Her voice was small, broken, her words fractured, trembling. The shadows curled around her, cold, hollow, whispering, the fog seeping into her skin, into her bones.
The melody grew louder, sharper, broken, tangled, echoing off the trees, curling around her. It was everywhere, echoing in her mind, in her heart, in her soul. It was her mother's lullaby, the one she used to sing when Eleanor was small, when the nightmares came, when the shadows crept beneath her bed.
A shape moved in the fog, shadowed, fractured, hollow. Her heart stopped, her breath catching, her body trembling. It was faint, distant, blurred, tangled in the mist, its form shifting, flickering. A woman, tall and slender, her hair long and tangled, her dress tattered, stained, flowing around her like smoke.
Eleanor's chest tightened, her heart breaking, her vision blurring. "Mother…" Her voice was a whisper, broken, trembling, a sob caught in her throat. She took a step forward, her body trembling, her fingers reaching out, her heart aching, her soul breaking.
The figure moved, turning, her face hidden, shrouded in shadows, her hair curling around her, the fog swirling at her feet. Her form flickered, blurred, fractured, hollow. And then she was gone, swallowed by the fog, by the shadows, by the ancient trees.
A broken sob escaped Eleanor's lips, cold, hollow, curling through the air. Her legs gave out, her body sinking to the cold, wet ground, her fingers curling into the earth, dirt and moss tangled in her hands. "Mother…" Her voice shattered, echoing off the trees, curling through the fog, broken, hollow.
The melody echoed around her, hollow and broken, tangled in the fog, twisted through the trees. It was faint, distant, fractured, curling through the air, seeping into her bones. And she realized, with cold, sinking dread, that it had never been her mother. It was The Echo… calling to her, guiding her, binding her to this place.
The woods were a prison, a labyrinth… a curse. It bound The Echo, and all who wandered within. It would not let her leave. Not now… not ever.
The fog closed in around her, cold and damp, suffocating, curling through her hair, whispering against her skin. And the melody echoed through the woods, hollow and broken, curling through the fog, whispering her name. "Eleanor…"