The sound of rushing water grew louder.
At first it was faint, a steady hiss beneath the mist. But as they walked, it thickened until it pressed against their ears like a tide. The path itself seemed to hum with it, each step vibrating faintly beneath their feet.
Jayden grimaced. "Okay, tell me I'm not the only one hearing that."
"No, we hear it," Mira said softly. Her eyes darted across the mist. "But where's it coming from?"
Ash didn't answer. He knew. The dreams had shown him. That black water wasn't behind them or ahead of them it was below. The path was just a thin skin stretched over something waiting to break through.
The forest around them grew darker. The mist swallowed the trees until they were walking in a tunnel of gray, shadows pressing at the edges.
Then, without warning, the path split.
Two trails unfurled before them, both made of the same shimmering dark stone, both winding deeper into the mist.
Leo cursed. "Which way?"
"There's no difference," Jayden said, glancing between them. "They look exactly the same."
"Nothing here is the same," Ash muttered. His skin prickled. He could feel it one of these paths led deeper, the other into something worse.
Windy took a step back, hugging her cloak. "We shouldn't even be here! We should've refused. We should've..."
"Too late for that," Leo snapped.
But as Windy stepped back, her heel touched the edge of a shadow that stretched unnaturally across the ground.
The moment her foot brushed it, the shadow moved.
It snapped.
Like water breaking open, it lashed upward, a dark tendril twisting into the air. Windy screamed, stumbling forward as the thing clawed toward her ankle. The air dropped to ice, and the rushing water roared in Ash's ears.
Mira grabbed Windy's arm, yanking her back. The tendril struck the ground where her foot had been, hissing, leaving a black scorch mark that spread across the stone like oil.
Jayden swore, his voice cracking. "What the hell was that?!"
The shadow writhed, stretching across the path like a hand, fingers clawing toward them. More shadows began to ripple in the mist, twitching like something just beneath the surface.
Ash's voice broke from his throat. "Don't step in them! Don't touch them!"
The others froze, terror locking them in place.
The girl's warning blazed in Ash's head that's where it waits.
The shadows hissed louder, writhing now, reaching across both paths. The air grew thick, heavy, suffocating.
Leo gritted his teeth. "We have to move. Now. Pick a path!"
Mira pointed to the left. "That one it feels clearer."
Jayden threw up his hands. "Feels? That's your plan?"
But the shadows were closing in fast, tendrils lashing upward like spears.
Ash grabbed Windy's wrist, dragging her toward the left path. "Run!"
They bolted, cloaks snapping behind them, caps rattling as the crocodile teeth gleamed in the dim light. The shadows struck at their heels, slamming into the ground with bone-jarring force, but the teens leapt over them, breath tearing from their lungs.
The mist thickened until Ash could barely see Mira's hand gripping his. The rushing water grew deafening, drowning out their own shouts, until it felt like the whole forest was collapsing into sound.
Finally, the path narrowed, funnelling them into a tighter stretch of trees. The shadows fell back, slithering into the mist, but Ash knew they weren't gone. They were waiting. Always waiting.
The group collapsed against the trees, gasping for breath. Windy clutched her ankle, shaking violently. Mira's face was pale, her hands trembling. Jayden pressed his back to the bark, muttering curses between ragged breaths. Leo bent forward, fists on his knees, glaring into the mist.
Ash closed his eyes. His chest heaved, but his mind was burning.
The girl had been right. The shadows weren't just tricks of light. They were alive. They were hungry.
And the path wasn't leading them out.
It was leading them in.
---
They rested only a moment before the chanting began again.
It came from everywhere this time—above, below, the mist itself. Low, guttural, rhythmic, too slow to be human.
The words weren't English. They weren't anything Ash recognized. But he understood them.
Step deeper. Step truer. Step where the river waits.
Ash shivered violently.
Jayden whispered, "Please tell me I'm not the only one hearing voices."
No one answered.
Because they all heard it.
The chanting pressed them forward, tugging at their feet. The path gleamed faintly, waiting.
Windy sobbed, clutching Mira's arm. "It wants us to go. We can't go. We can't."
Mira hugged her back, though her own eyes brimmed with fear. "We don't have a choice."
Ash looked at the others, then at the path stretching ahead into mist that seemed thicker, darker than before.
Somewhere inside, he knew this wasn't just a test. It was a trap. A trap set long before they had ever come here.
And step by step, it was closing around them.
---