The forest grew darker—not with fear, but with mystery. Shadows danced gently along the mossy trunks, and the wind moved as if it were humming a tune only trees could understand.
Elarien walked quietly beside the silver wolf, her footsteps soft on the leaf-laced path.
Then she saw it.
A great tree, taller than any other around it. Its bark was deep brown with lines like old wrinkles, and in its middle was a large hollow, shaped like a door.
"This tree…" Elarien whispered.
The silver wolf nodded.
The Tree of Knowing.
The hollow pulsed with a golden light. Not bright, but soft, like a lantern hidden beneath blankets.
"Do we go inside?" she asked.
If you are brave enough, the wolf replied.
Elarien stepped forward. Her heart thumped, but not with fear—with wonder.
Inside, the tree was warm.
The walls glowed faintly, and tiny symbols moved across the wood like drifting fireflies. The hollow was bigger than it looked from the outside, almost like a small room, round and still.
Then, from the walls, a whisper.
Not one voice—but many.
They didn't speak with words, but with memories.
Elarien felt them.
The first sprouting of leaves.
The joy of rain after a long dry spell.
The sorrow of a broken branch.
The laughter of squirrels playing tag through the boughs.
"This tree remembers everything," Elarien said aloud.
Yes, said the silver wolf. It holds the memories of all who have passed beneath it. And now it will offer one to you.
A curl of light lifted from the wall.
It floated toward Elarien, slow and glowing, then touched her forehead.
Suddenly, she saw a girl—not herself, but someone very old. She wore clothes made of leaves and sang to the trees.
Then another memory—of a storm, and a boy who hid beneath the hollow, keeping a tiny fox cub safe.
Then—Elarien herself.
A moment from her past.
Crying alone beneath the same tree, years ago, when she was small and lost.
She had forgotten it.
"I was here," she breathed.
And the tree remembered you, the silver wolf said.
Elarien reached out and placed her hand on the wall.
"Thank you," she whispered.
The glow shimmered in response, gentle and kind.
She stepped back, and the hollow brightened for a moment, then dimmed.
Outside, the forest waited.
But now, Elarien carried something new.
A memory not lost.
A place that remembered her.
And a strength she hadn't known she had.
They continued on.
The leaves whispered gently behind them, as if saying goodbye.