The forest was alive.
Leaves whispered though there was no wind, and the silver-veined branches seemed to shift when no one was looking. Strange flowers glowed faintly among the roots, casting pale light over the clearing. Bella had never seen anything like it.
"This… this can't be real," Amira whispered, clutching her sketchbook tight. Her wide violet eyes reflected the light of the two moons above. "I must be dreaming."
"You're not," Nia said flatly, though her own golden eyes were fixed on the shadows beyond the clearing. Kiro stood rigid, his lips curling back in a silent snarl. "And whatever's out there—it's real too."
Bella swallowed, her pulse hammering. The forest beyond the glow of the flowers was too dark, too deep. And something was moving through it. She could hear the crunch of twigs, the low hiss of leaves being pushed aside.
Then came the sound.
A whisper, soft and eerie, like dozens of voices speaking at once. The words were in no language Bella knew, but they slithered across her skin, raising goosebumps.
Amira took a step back. "W-what is that?"
Before anyone could answer, the shadows stirred. Figures emerged, tall and thin, their bodies woven from mist and branches. Their faces were hidden, but their eyes glowed faintly like dying embers. They moved silently, surrounding the clearing.
Nia stepped forward, chin high, even as Kiro growled deep in his chest. "Back off," she warned, her voice steady. But the forest spirits—or whatever they were—kept coming, their whispers growing louder.
Bella's heart pounded. She wanted to run, but her feet wouldn't move. The air felt heavier, pressing down on her chest. One of the figures stretched out a long, branch-like hand toward her.
"Bella!" Amira cried.
The figure lunged.
And then—something impossible happened.
A burst of light erupted from Bella's hands, sharp and blinding, like lightning striking from her palms. The forest spirits recoiled, hissing, their ember-eyes flaring before they melted back into the shadows. The clearing fell silent again, except for the ragged sound of Bella's breathing.
She stared down at her hands, trembling. "W-what… what did I just do?"
Amira's jaw dropped. "You—you lit up like a storm. That was… magic."
Nia's golden eyes gleamed, though her smirk was strained. "Looks like Miss 'No Magic at All' has been holding out on us."
"I didn't—" Bella shook her head frantically. "I didn't know. I didn't even mean to—"
But deep inside, she remembered the spark she had felt before, the way the carvings had pulsed like a heartbeat against her skin.
It hadn't been her imagination.
The air around them was still humming faintly, as if the forest itself had felt the power Bella unleashed.
Amira clutched her sketchbook tighter, eyes darting nervously to the shadows. "If those… things come back—"
"They won't," Nia interrupted, though she still looked uneasy. "Not right now. But they'll be watching us. This forest isn't safe." She turned, her eyes catching the faint glow of a path that wound deeper into the trees. "We move. We find out what's waiting for us here."
Bella hesitated, fear twisting inside her. But when she looked at her hands, still tingling with energy, something else stirred too.
For the first time in her life, she didn't feel powerless.