17th February, Stellar Year 2924
Northern City of Leal
it was almost 7 in evening, it was already dark when they step in the Night Forest.
Evelyn had sworn she would never return to the legendary Night Forest alone.
And yet, fate had a peculiar sense of irony.
Once again, the towering black trees rose around her like silent sentinels, their branches interlocking high above to block the sky. Moonlight slipped through in broken shards, barely touching the forest floor. The air was thick, humming faintly, as if the forest itself was breathing.
Evelyn walked ahead with practiced steps, her boots brushing against roots she remembered too well.
Beside her was a junior lab member, young, anxious, and far too aware of the warnings stitched into every official report. Evelyn guided him through the twisted patterns of the Night Forest as if following an invisible map only she could see.
"This path bends left,"
she said calmly. "Then straight for a while."
