"Huh, how am I the only one that can help him?" Ayaan wondered to himself; after a bit of pondering by himself, he looked at Finn Rivers.
"Sir, you are much more experienced than me; you have seen much more than I have ever seen, so what is it that requires me in the first place?" Ayaan asked.
A small smile played on River's face as he heard Ayaan's question.
"Sometimes what we know and how much we are capable of doing what we know is a completely different thing, Ayaan, and regarding this issue, even I am just partially aware of what it is, not fully.
"Does this guy even know anything completely?" Ayaan wandered to himself but thought it was better to not say it and listen to what he was saying.
"Come here." Elder Rivers gestured to Ayaan to come towards the window.
As Ayaan made his way towards where Elder Rivers was standing, a sudden sensation grabbed Ayaan.
"Huh, what even is happening? Why am I feeling like my nose is burning?" Ayaan took a sniff, and the smell that entered his nose made him so shocked that he stepped a few steps back.
Ayaan looked everywhere, but he did not find the source of where the smell was coming from; the place was normal, the same place he had entered, the same place he had entered.
"Nothing seems out of the ordinary here, but where is this smell of blood coming from?" Ayaan wondered.
Elder Rivers, who was standing at the window, was looking at Ayaan, his eyes not leaving him. (Sorry for the interruption, guys, but Elder Rivers is Finn Rivers.)
"What happened? Did you lose something?" Hearing the Elder Rivers' voice, Ayaan snapped back to reality.
"No, but there is this sudden smell of blood coming from somewhere; that is why I was looking around."
'Smell of blood, you say?" Elder Rivers began, sniffing as well.
"Hmm, I didn't smell anything like that. Maybe it is just your senses playing tricks on you."
"Forget that come-here."
As he reached the window, Elder Rivers gently opened the window, and the moment the window opened, Ayaan was expecting a mesmerizing view, but what he saw was from seemingly nowhere: those red threads that he saw earlier in the city. Those red threads were constantly emerging, but from where exactly he got no clue.
"You see the forest there, Ayaan. This forest was the one that we were scared most of as kids. My parents used to tell me, "Don't cry if I cry; the forest will take me," and I stopped. Why? Because, of course, I was afraid, but as I grew older, I realized it is all bullshit."
"But myths are also an imagined version of reality, and apparently this forest's story is not just a myth; it was not all bullshit, which I realized way later. It never took people away, but it took something from the people."
"What do you mean by 'it took something away from the people'? Is there a thief hiding there or something?" Ayaan joked.
"Thief...indeed there is a thief hidden in the forest, but not the type of thief that steals money or material things; it's the one that steals your prana."
Prana, but how can a forest even steal prana in the first place" Ayaan asked
"That I am not aware of, and this thing about the forest stealing your prana was not something that I was actually aware of; it was my friend that told me about this, and you, my boy, must know what actually is in the forest. Why you may be wondering that is something only my friend can explain."
"Who actually is your friend? When can i meet him?"
"Yeah, let me see if he is home, and then i can have you dropped there; he is quite a restless soul." Saying that Elder Rivers went to one side of the room and dialed a number, the room was so silent that Ayaan could hear the "RING, RING, RING" from the phone.
"After some time of them talking with each other, Elder Rivers told Ayaan that he was outside and that he is going home now so he can leave now.
As Ayaan was ready to leave, his mind started to vibrate once again
"Ask him about the soul-guiding stone and take it with you," the deep voice commanded.
"Huh, but why, and more importantly, why would he even give me something he treasures so dearly?" Ayaan asked the voice.
"Don't argue with me, brat; just ask him," the voice replied back.
Ayaan, who was almost stepping out of the door, halted his steps; his face was facing the door's exit. He slowly turned back and started fidgeting with his hands.
Elder Rivers who was looking at Ayaan saw the change in Ayaan's behavior, so he asked, "What is it, Ayaan? What happened?"
"Sir, the stone that you showed me, can I take it? It somehow feels important to me." Ayaan asked in a nervous voice.
"Hmm the stone, though it deos not have any important use to me, is a heirloom, which would be hard for me to just give to you, so return it to me in perfect condition, okay?" Elder River asked Ayaan and after that handed the stone to Ayaan.