Chapter Two - The Breathing Forest
Elias slowly opened his eyes, his breath ragged like someone who had survived a long drowning.
There was no more trace of the earth… no sounds of cars, no noise of the city, no people's faces.
Everything dissipated, as if existence had rewritten itself.
He stood in amazement, contemplating his surroundings. The forest that surrounded him stretched endlessly, its trees towering like pillars supporting the sky. Their trunks were as wide as castles, and their shimmering leaves reflected a strange light, a light unlike the sunlight he had known; a blue-green light, as if the forest were pulsing with its own life.
The air was fresh, but saturated with an invisible energy. When he inhaled it, he felt his chest glow from within, as if his breath carried sparks of distant stars.
He reached out to touch the trunk of one of the trees, and the trunk trembled as if responding to his touch, emitting a faint throb, a throb like a heartbeat.
He took a step back, his eyes shining with wonder.
"Are… are the trees alive?"
The entire forest was breathing slowly, a great sigh permeating the roots, the branches, and the air. The sounds of leaves moving without wind, faint echoes like whispers. He didn't understand the words, but he felt them inside him:
"You're not from here… you're a stranger… but you're chosen."
His body shuddered.
Just minutes before, he'd been a simple young man waiting for a university exam, and now… he stood in the middle of a cosmic forest talking to him.
He looked up.
The sky here wasn't like the sky he'd known. It wasn't blue or dark, but a patchwork of colors: purple rippling with turquoise, shooting stars crisscrossing the horizon like silver threads. The scene was magical, majestic, but at the same time, it filled his heart with a sense of insignificance… as if he were a speck of dust lost in a cosmic sea.
He sat on a small rock, placing his hand on his chest, trying to calm his pounding pulse. The pain that had swept through him a moment earlier had left a strange sensation: a warmth glowing beneath his skin, as if he were carrying an unquenchable ember.
"What's happening to me?" he whispered to himself.
Before he could find an answer, the ground shook slightly.
The sounds of heavy footsteps were approaching from deep within the forest. Sounds that didn't sound like human footfalls, but rather something larger, heavier.
He hid behind a tree trunk, watching from afar.
Then the creature appeared...
A creature like no other he had ever seen. It resembled a giant antelope, but its body was covered in luminous crystals that pulsed with every movement. Its horns glowed like two arcs of light, and its eyes sparkled like two crystal lakes. It walked with confident strides, and each step caused the soil to suddenly bloom, sprouting tiny plants that bloomed and withered in an instant.
Elias held his breath.
The creature stopped abruptly, turning its head toward him.
His crystalline eyes met his.
At that moment, Elias didn't need language. The sight alone was enough to make him realize: this being wasn't just an animal, but a forest spirit, an ancient guardian who saw beyond appearances.
Elias felt the creature examine him from within, reading his fear, his pain, his loneliness, and even the hope hidden deep within.
It didn't attack him, didn't flee.
It simply let out a strange sound, like a monotonous song, that made the leaves around it tremble. Then it slowly turned and disappeared among the trees, leaving behind a trail of tiny, luminous crystals falling to the ground.
Elias approached with cautious steps and picked one up. The crystal was warm, glowing dimly in his hands.
As soon as it touched his skin, he felt energy surge through him, illuminating his veins for a brief moment.
"What is this...?" he muttered in surprise, sensing that something had begun to stir inside him, a new seed awakening.
But before he could think further, a distant scream rang out.
It wasn't a random scream, but a human voice, sharp, tinged with terror.
His heart trembled: he wasn't alone here.
He hesitated for a moment, between the desire to run away and remain hidden, and an irresistible curiosity that drove him toward the source of the sound.
He took a deep breath, then dashed through the trees, the crystal still glowing in his hand.
The further he advanced, the more the screams became clearer, until he reached a clearing in the middle of the forest.
There, he saw the scene that would change everything:
Another young man, roughly his age, lay on the ground surrounded by strange creatures that looked like wolves, but their bodies were made of black smoke, and their eyes glowed a fiery red. They were surrounding the boy and slowly approaching, their fangs flashing bloody.
Elias froze.
"What should I do...?"
He wasn't a fighter; he had never learned how to face a monster, let alone creatures like these?
But he felt the crystal in his hand glow brighter, as if it was calling him to action.
He looked at the trapped boy, then at the wolves, then at the sky illuminated by its strange colors.
The decision was clear… even if he was weak, he couldn't stand by and watch.
He tightened his grip around the crystal and rushed forward, into the unknown.