The jungle swallowed him whole.

  Alex had taken just three steps before the lantern’s glow vanished behind him, as if the trees themselves had closed in. The air changed—denser, colder. The village sounds—crickets, wind, the distant call of birds—fell away, replaced by something else.

  Whispers.

  Faint and fleeting, like breath on glass. They curled around his ears, impossible to hold onto, impossible to forget.

  Alex paused, heart hammering. He gripped the strap of his satchel and whispered, “Don’t stop walking.”

  The forest was darker than he had imagined. Moonlight barely reached the ground. The trees towered like silent giants, their bark twisted and veined with glowing moss. It cast a faint, ghostly light—just enough to see a few steps ahead.

  He moved carefully, scanning every shadow. Listening.

  And then—he heard her.

  Not Caelum. Not his mother.

  Her.

  The girl from his dreams.

  He froze.

  “Alex…” the voice came again, soft, melodic, drifting like mist through the trees.

  He turned in a slow circle. “Where are you?”

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  No answer.

  Only silence—and then, a pulse in the ground. Like a heartbeat.

  He stumbled back as the moss beneath his feet flared, briefly glowing brighter. A path emerged—a narrow, winding trail lined with trees black as obsidian, their branches hanging low like eaves, like they were listening.

  He stepped onto the path.

  Each footfall echoed—not through air, but through something older. Something watching.

  Then he saw it.

  A small wooden box, half-buried under tangled roots. The name carved into it made his breath catch.

  TAVIAN.

  His father.

  Alex hesitated, then knelt. Slowly, with shaking hands, he opened it.

  Inside: a sword.

  Its sheath was aged, the leather worn smooth with time, but the blade itself gleamed as if untouched by years. Alex lifted it gently, fingers tracing the symbols etched into the steel. It felt heavy, alive.

  And then—

  Rustling.

  From the leaves.

  A low growl followed.

  Alex looked up—and locked eyes with a demon beast.

  A massive black wolf with coal-red eyes, lips curled back to reveal glistening fangs.

  He froze.

  If you see one… you run.

  He bolted.

  But the wolf was faster. It crashed through the underbrush behind him, breath hot and foul. Alex darted between trees, leapt over roots, but it was closing in. He had no choice.

  He turned to fight.

  With a shout, he drew his second blade—one Caelum had trained him with—and struck. The blade hit the wolf’s neck.

  Nothing.

  The wound closed in seconds.

  The core. You have to find the core.

  But where?

  Alex circled the beast, panting, desperate. The wolf lunged again—he dodged, barely—but its claw raked across his arm. Blood spilled. Pain bloomed.

  He fell to one knee, dizzy.

  There’s no way. I can’t—

  And then—time slowed.

  A whisper.

  Sacrifice.

  The voice came from the sword.

  The old sword. His father's sword.

  His hand, slick with blood, gripped the hilt—and the blade drank the blood like it was thirsty. The symbols on the steel began to glow.

  His vision blurred, then sharpened.

  And in that moment, his eyes changed.

  From black to glowing yellow.

  He could see it.

  A pulsing dark knot of energy, glowing faintly—hidden in the wolf’s tail.

  The core.

  He didn’t hesitate.

  Alex dodged the next lunge, rolled under the beast, and drove the sword straight into the tail.

  The wolf shrieked.

  Its body erupted into smoke and ash, vanishing into the air with a sound like wind being torn in two.

  Alex dropped to his knees, chest heaving.

  The forest was silent again.

  He looked at the sword in his hand—now dull, as if it had gone back to sleep.

  “What… just happened?” he whispered.

  But there was no answer.

  Bleeding and exhausted, he reached into his satchel and pulled out a small vial—one of the healing tonics Caelum had given him. He poured it over the wound. The burning was immediate, but the bleeding slowed.

  Night crept in around him, the forest growing colder.

  Alex climbed the nearest tree—just as Caelum had taught him—and settled into the crook of two branches. His sword rested in his lap.

  Above, the stars flickered.

  Below, the forest whispered.

  And somewhere in the distance… she was waiting.