The revelation hit her with unexpected force, leaving her trembling with disbelief and fear. She, a witch? The hunter's daughter, marked by the very essence her father swore to eradicate. It was a cruel irony, a twist of fate that left her breathless.
As she tried to assimilate the idea, the sensation of subtle energy in the forest intensified. The trees seemed to whisper around her, the leaves trembled with unusual vitality and the air vibrated with barely contained force. It was as if the forest itself was responding to something inside her, an invisible connection that had just awakened.
A rustling of branches brought her out of her reverie. Eliza jumped to her feet, her heart pounding. She was not alone.
Among the trees, a few meters away, a figure appeared. It was a woman, tall and elegant, with hair as dark as night, braided with wooden beads and feathers. Her eyes, of an intense and penetrating green, watched her with an intensity that made her feel uncovered. There were fine lines on his face, silent testimonies of a long life, much longer than his appearance suggested.
Eliza felt a shiver run down her spine. There was something in that woman's gaze, something ancient and powerful, that intimidated and attracted her at the same time.
The woman approached slowly, moving with a feline grace that seemed to defy the undergrowth of the forest. She showed no hostility, but her presence exuded an undeniable authority.
When she was a few steps away from Eliza, the woman stopped and examined her up and down, her scrutinizing gaze pausing for an instant on her hands.
"Who are you, child?" she finally asked, her voice soft but firm, with a slight echo that seemed to resonate with the forest itself.
Eliza swallowed saliva, her throat feeling dry. "I am... Eliza. Eliza Rowen."
A shadow crossed the woman's face at the sound of her last name. "Rowen? Caleb's daughter?" Her tone had changed slightly, losing some of its softness. Eliza nodded, suddenly feeling vulnerable and exposed.
"What are you doing so far from town, Eliza Rowen?" the woman continued, her gaze now more inquisitive.
Fear prompted Eliza to answer truthfully, a sudden need to confess to this strange figure in the woods. "I ran away. My father... accused me of witchcraft."
The woman arched an eyebrow, her expression now tinged with surprise and disbelief. "He accused you? The great witch hunter accused his own daughter?"
"He...he found something. And he spoke of my mother...," Eliza's voice cracked at the mention of the woman whose memory was now a mixture of warmth and growing mystery.
The woman seemed to instantly grasp the meaning of those words. Her green eyes softened, showing an unexpected understanding, tinged with an ancient sadness.
"So... Caleb has finally succumbed completely to his grief," she murmured to herself before looking back at Eliza. "Do you feel anything, child? Any.... awakening?"
Eliza hesitated for a moment, remembering the blue flower, the energy she had felt. She nodded slowly.
The woman sketched a small smile, a spark of something akin to hope shining in her eyes, mixed with deep nostalgia. "So, it's true. The ancient blood still flows.... as it flowed in her."
Before Eliza could ask what that meant, another figure appeared through the trees, moving with the same silent agility as the first woman. She was younger, with dark hair as well and the same piercing green eyes. At the sight of Eliza, her expression hardened slightly.
"Mother, who is she?" the young woman asked, her voice tense and protective.
The first woman placed a hand on the young woman's arm, her gaze reassuring. "Lira, calm down. This little girl is Eliza Rowen. And it seems things have changed drastically in Oakhaven."
Lira examined Eliza with distrust, her eyes scrutinizing every detail of her appearance. Eliza felt uncomfortable under her intense gaze.
"The hunter's daughter? What is she doing in our forest?" asked Lira, her tone still filled with suspicion.
"Ran away," the older woman replied, looking at Eliza with a mixture of pity and curiosity. "Her own father accused her."
Surprise flashed across Lira's face, replacing distrust for an instant. "Her father...?" she murmured, incredulous.
"Caleb became a man consumed by grief and guilt after the death of his wife, the mother of this child," Maera explained, her voice now laden with a melancholy tinge. "In his grief, he became convinced that magic was the cause of his loss, seeking a twisted redemption through hunting those he considers heretics."
He turned his attention back to Eliza. "My name is Maera. And this is my daughter, Lira. This forest has been our refuge for a long time. And it may now be yours as well."
Eliza looked at them both, feeling a confused mixture of fear, hope and a pang of inexplicable recognition. Maera... the name echoed with a strange familiarity in her mind, like an echo from a forgotten dream.
"Refuge?" asked Eliza, her voice barely a whisper.
Maera nodded. "If you wish it. But you must understand that things are different here. Here... magic is real. And so are we." Her green eyes glowed with an ancient intensity. "I... I knew your mother, Eliza. A long, long time ago. It was I who showed her the first secrets of the forest, the first whispers of the magic that ran through her veins."
Eliza gasped, the revelation hitting her like an electric shock. Had Maera known her mother? Had she taught her magic? The world she thought she knew was crumbling around her, revealing hidden connections and a past far more complex than she had ever imagined.
Lira watched Eliza's reaction carefully, her green eyes still full of wariness, but now with a hint of curiosity.
"I don't understand...," Eliza began, her voice trembling, questions crowding her mind.
"You will understand," Maera replied with an enigmatic look, her eyes full of ancient wisdom. "If you are willing to learn. If you are willing to accept who you really are. Your mother did it once. And now, perhaps, you must too."
At that moment, Eliza knew that her life had changed forever. The escape into the night had led her to an unknown place, but perhaps also to the truth about herself and about the past that her father had tried to erase with his hatred. And these two women, with their piercing green eyes and aura of silent power, were now the key to that new and dangerous path, a path that connected her present with forgotten secrets of the forest and her mother's mysterious legacy. The encounter in the forest had not been by chance. It was the beginning of her awakening to a truth that awaited her in the shadows of her own family history.