As they walked, the sounds changed again.
A faint laughter.
Soft footsteps.
Whispers that were almost words but not quite.
The trees themselves leaned in strange ways, branches twisting gently as if observing the travelers.
Lira stopped.
She heard it—clear, crisp, right beside her.
"Lira…"
Her name. Whispered like breath.
She turned sharply, only to see pale blue mist swirling beside her.
Renkai stiffened.
"What was that?"
"A mimic echo," Serelyth said calmly. "The vale is trying to test her fears now."
"But… it sounded like my mother," Lira said quietly.
The others went silent.
Illusions shifted around her, forming hints of familiar silhouettes. A hand reaching. A soft smile. A shape she remembered from nights long past, before pain and hardship.
But when she blinked, the shape flickered and shattered into rainbow shards.
Fluffy hissed at the drifting light, his back arched.
Lira exhaled.
"I'm not following illusions. I'm here for a reason."
