Girl's POV
The light enveloped me completely. It was warm—comforting, even—and for a moment I felt something I hadn't known in what seemed like forever: peace. It wrapped around me like a soft blanket, melting away every trace of pain and fear. The glow pressed softly against my eyelids, humming faintly, as if the light itself was breathing with me. But as quickly as it came, it began to fade, and unease crept back in to take its place. It felt like losing something precious I couldn't name.
When my eyes finally opened, the world that greeted me stole the breath right out of my chest.
I was standing in the middle of a forest unlike anything I'd ever seen. The air shimmered faintly, touched by drifting motes of light that danced between the trees like dust caught in a sunbeam. The trunks around me were colossal—at least four times the size of any tree I remembered—and their leaves shimmered silver, glinting when the sunlight struck them. Their bark was white, smooth and luminous, like the surface of polished marble. When the wind stirred their branches, the forest seemed to glow, as if a thousand diamonds were swaying above me.
It was beautiful. Unbelievably, heartbreakingly beautiful. So still, so impossibly quiet that my heartbeat felt too loud.
Almost without thinking, I reached out toward the nearest trunk, wanting to feel it—to know it was real. But I froze halfway when I caught sight of my own hand.
"...Were my hands always this small?"
My voice sounded strange in the still air. I held my hands up, flexing my fingers. They were small, delicate. Definitely mine, but not the way I remembered them. My skin looked smoother, unblemished, almost porcelain-like, and faintly luminescent in the filtered light.
I brushed my hair back, and that's when I noticed the dark red strands falling past my shoulders. Straight, silky, a shade I was certain I'd never had before. I caught a lock between my fingers—it gleamed faintly, catching the silver light like liquid fire. I glanced down at myself—a simple sleeveless white dress that stopped at my knees, and bare feet half-covered in dew that sparkled on the grass like tiny glass beads.
I frowned. I was… smaller. Not childlike, but not quite adult either. My body felt lighter, more fragile, as though even the air around me might bruise me if it pressed too hard.
"Am I… a teenager?" I murmured. My voice trembled slightly, unfamiliar even to my own ears.
That thought unraveled everything.
How old was I? Who was I? What was my name?
Where was I before this? How did I get here? Why was I alone? Did I have a family? Friends? Anyone?
Each question struck harder than the last until the weight of them all nearly made me dizzy. I searched my mind desperately, clawing for anything familiar—a face, a name, a single comforting memory—but there was nothing.
Not a single person came to mind. Not my mother. Not a father. Not a friend. No one.
It was as if I had lived in a world full of people, yet never truly met anyone—not even myself.
My heart started to race. What happened to me? I remembered things—concepts, words, places—but they felt detached, like they belonged to someone else. Trees, for example. I knew what trees were supposed to look like, how the bark should feel rough and the leaves should be green—but these? These weren't normal trees. This wasn't a normal forest. Even the air tasted different—cool and sweet, tinged with something metallic beneath the damp earth.
The silence pressed in around me, thick enough to hear my own pulse.
Before my thoughts could spiral any further, I felt it—a presence.
Someone was watching me.
I froze. Every muscle in my body tensed as I slowly turned, scanning the trees behind me. At first, I saw nothing but white bark and silver leaves glinting in the breeze. Then, movement—a flicker of motion behind a trunk.
My breath caught.
Three men emerged from between the trees, moving cautiously, their eyes fixed on me.
They looked… rough. Their clothes and armor were filthy, dented, and patched in strange ways, as if they hadn't seen a proper bath—or civilization—in days. Each one wore what I assumed was meant to be a "friendly" smile, but the greed and calculation in their eyes ruined the illusion entirely.
Their faces unsettled me—the kind of unsettling that made your instincts scream to run. One of them even had a twitchy, eager grin that looked far too happy for the situation.
But the strangest thing of all? Their outfits.
They looked like they had stepped straight out of a medieval painting. One wore a metal chest plate with rusted edges, another wore rough leather armor, and the third was draped in a dark robe that might've once been black but had faded to a sickly gray.
They started to approach, spreading out slightly.
It was almost comical, how obvious they were about it—trying to surround me while pretending they weren't. On my left was the man in leather armor. On my right, the robed one. The man in metal took the lead, stepping forward slowly, like a predator sizing up prey.
I backed away, heart pounding, scanning for any escape routes. The forest stretched endlessly in every direction. No signs of life. No paths. No one coming to help. Even the wind had gone still.
The man in metal raised a hand and said something— "Rha'tien vel'kora saen!"
The words he used struck a strange chord within me.
I blinked. What—what did he just say?
It wasn't a language I recognized. His mouth moved like he was speaking normally, but the words came out as crude nonsense.
He spoke again, slower this time— "Vel'kora draen ethiel."
I had no idea what it meant. Was that even a real language? Did he just… Is he trying to confuse me? Is this a stall tactic?
My confusion lasted only a moment before instinct kicked in. The man in leather's hand had moved behind his back, slowly reaching for something.
A weapon.
That was all the prompting I needed.
I turned and ran.
"Rha'tien! Kareth'na!"
They shouted behind me, voices sharp and urgent, but I didn't care what they were saying. I just kept running.
The forest blurred around me as I sprinted, my bare feet slapping against damp earth. My lungs burned, and the wind tore through my hair. The shimmering trees became streaks of silver and white, and the world itself seemed to stretch endlessly ahead of me.
Why aren't they catching up? I thought, glancing back briefly. I could still hear their pursuit—the snapping of branches, the pounding of boots—but somehow, they weren't closing the distance. I wasn't fast, not really, and their strides were longer. So why…?
Maybe the forest itself was protecting me. The thought was absurd, but it clung to me like a whisper of hope as I stumbled forward.
My breaths came ragged and uneven, every inhale scraping my throat raw. The air felt heavier the farther I went—thicker, denser—like the forest was trying to keep me from leaving. The ground dipped unexpectedly beneath my feet, and I nearly tripped before regaining my balance.
Then—movement ahead.
A flicker of fabric.
The robed man leapt out from behind a tree, arms wide, his eyes wild and triumphant.
I was too close to stop. Too close to turn.
So I dropped.
I slid under him, the ground tearing into my skin as I shot between his legs. His hands grazed my shoulder, but he overbalanced and went sprawling forward with a startled yell that echoed through the clearing.
Pain flared up my right leg as I slammed into a tree root, bark scraping my skin raw. But I used the momentum to roll, my body screaming in protest as I forced myself back to my feet. Behind me came the crash of the man hitting the ground—and the hysterical laughter of his companions.
Their mocking voices followed me as I limped onward, their laughter fading into curses and snarls. My heart pounded so hard it hurt, my pulse a drumbeat of survival. Every step burned. Every breath felt like fire in my chest.
Still—I didn't stop.
Then I saw it.
A break in the trees ahead. Sunlight. Open sky.
The forest was ending.
A wave of relief crashed over me so strong it nearly broke me. My body screamed for rest, but hope—fragile, trembling hope—pushed me onward. If I could just make it out… if I could just get beyond the trees… maybe there would be people. Civilization. Safety.
I ran faster, ignoring the ache in my leg, ignoring the blood running down my shin. The exit was close enough to taste. The wind changed—it smelled of open air, of freedom.
Then—arms.
Out of nowhere, two strong arms wrapped around me and yanked me backward.
I screamed, thrashing violently, but a rough hand clamped over my mouth.
The man in leather.
His other arm locked around my waist, pinning me against him as he dragged me back into the shadows of the trees. His breath was hot and sour against my neck as he muttered something guttural, foreign, and full of menace into my ear.
"Velk'ra tenash mora…"
His tone made my skin crawl.
I struggled harder, twisting, kicking, clawing—anything. Desperation drove me past exhaustion. My nails raked across his arm, but he didn't loosen his grip. His chest pressed against my back, his laughter low and cruel as I fought uselessly against his strength.
My mind went blank. Then something primal took over.
I bent forward slightly, twisted my neck, and bit down—hard.
The taste of iron filled my mouth.
He screamed and jerked back, shoving me away in pain.
"Vaelth'raen!" he bellowed, clutching his bleeding hand.
I didn't hesitate. I turned and ran again, harder than before, ignoring the pain that lanced through every muscle. The forest rushed by me in a blur of silver light and shadow.
Behind me, he shouted something—an order, maybe a curse—but I didn't look back. Every step was agony. Every heartbeat screamed that I wouldn't make it.
But I refused to stop.
Branches whipped my arms and face as I tore through the last stretch of forest. My lungs burned. My vision tunneled. The light ahead was blinding now, so bright it stung my eyes.
Just a few more steps—
The silver trees parted.
Sunlight exploded across my vision as I broke through the forest's edge—
—and the ground vanished beneath me.
For one dizzying moment, there was nothing but air.
The world tilted, spinning, and my stomach lurched into my throat. The sound of rushing wind roared in my ears, tearing through my hair, ripping the scream from my chest before I could stop it.
It wasn't freedom waiting beyond the forest.
It was a fall.
And I was already too far gone to stop it.