Sarah Susago POV —
I stepped into the forest.
I had spoken with Miss Maya before passing through the red gates, and the crystal she had given me was shining brightly in my hand. The forest was enormous, and it felt like it was opening up around me as I walked in. The softwood trees were vast and white, their branches buried beneath thick layers of snow.
Everything was quiet. Maybe too quiet.
The air was cold and sharp, the sky clear, with only a few snowflakes drifting down from it. Every branch was heavy with snow-soaked needles. The tall softwoods stretched upward into the open sky above me. Even the ferns were frozen in place, each leaf dusted in white.
I stopped for a moment and stared into the forest.
Empty. Nothing to see but trees and snow. No voices. No signs of life. Just me and the mana shard Miss Maya had given me.
"I didn't know it was like this," I whispered.
„Lazar comes here all the time. How does he do it?"
I tightened my grip around the shard. It was cold in my palm, and its soft glow was the only comforting thing I had as I began to walk forward, step by step, following the footprints pressed into the snow. The snow shifted beneath my boots, and buried branches cracked underfoot, the sound echoing through the silence.
On the path were many prints. Some human, some animal.
"I hope these are his," I muttered.
With every step, the village gates fell further behind me.
I kept walking deeper into the forest, until I turned back and realized I could no longer see the entrance gates to the village. Looking back and finding nothing but an endless path between snow-covered trees was not a feeling I wanted. My chest tightened.
"I'm cold. How long have I been walking? How much further until the lake?"
It was noticeably colder here than in the village.
I kept moving. One step, then another. I didn't look around. There was only one thought in my head, to keep walking until the path split.
Then a sharp cry cut through the silence.
"KAAAH!"
A crow. My heart jumped. I spun around as fast as I could, but there was nothing. Only a black bird passing over my head, disappearing in the direction I was heading.
A shiver ran down my spine.
"That's usually not a good sign," I whispered.
I let out a shaky breath. Then another.
"Come on, Sarah. It's just a bird. Nothing serious."
I started walking again. A few steps later, a loud noise came from behind me. I turned around. Nothing but the snowy forest and the path I had come from.
"What was that?" My voice came out quieter than I intended.
The path split ahead, one branch going left and one going right. Maya's words came back to me immediately.
Go left. The lake is there.
I took the left path, holding the shard with both hands. The forest felt empty around me. Lifeless. No sounds, no movement. Just me and the snow shifting under my boots.
Then the wind started blowing.
A blast of cold air hit my face head-on, scattering my hair in all directions. I felt it before I realized what was happening. Something was wrong. I looked down at the mana-shard I was holding in my hands.
It wasn't glowing.
The bright blue crystal had gone completely dark.
I stopped walking. My heart sank and then started pounding, each beat harder than the last.
„What do I do now?"
Two thoughts filled my head at once.
„Why did I come here?"
„What am I even doing here?"
Maya's warning came back to me. If it stops glowing or starts flickering, come back to the village or hide in the forest.
Before I could even decide what to do.
DOOM.
A violent impact behind me. I whipped around and saw snow crashing down from a nearby tree, branches shaking violently as it slid off them. The needles trembled. The whole forest seemed to shudder, snow exploding in every direction, branches snapping and slamming to the ground.
I stood frozen, unable to move. My skin was crawling.
"It's just snow," I whispered. "Just snow."
I turned back and forced myself to keep walking, trying to ignore what was clearly happening around me.
Then.
Dum. Dum. Dum.
Footsteps behind me. Snow shifting. Heavy steps growing closer.
I didn't have the courage to look back. But one thing was clear. Something was there. And it was following me. Cold wind hit my back and goosebumps swept across my skin.
I screamed.
I didn't look back. I just ran.
My legs burned. My body felt heavy. My thoughts blurred. Fear pushed through me completely. The footsteps didn't stop. They kept coming. I squeezed my eyes shut and ran, one thought repeating inside my head.
„Please. Someone. Help."
I couldn't get back to the village. I couldn't hide. It was right behind me and all I could do was run.
Then, suddenly, the footsteps stopped.
The wind calmed.
The fear lifted.
I opened my eyes.
Ahead of me on the path stood a figure. A human figure. As I got closer the details came into focus, and I recognized him before I'd fully processed what I was seeing.
Lazar Kiyokazu.
He stood about twenty meters away, watching me approach. The footsteps were gone. The wind was gone. As if neither had ever existed.
"K-KIYOKAZU!" I cried out, running toward him.
I was two steps away. I didn't slow down.
Then the snow betrayed me.
My right foot slipped. I lost my balance and fell forward.
"HEY!"
BOOM.
"Ouch. That hurts."
We hit the ground together and sank into the snow. I slowly opened my eyes. And for a moment everything felt unreal. I was lying on his chest, my hands pressed against him, warmth spreading through me. My hair had gone everywhere, getting into his eyes.
"Are you okay?" he asked, pulling my hair aside and slowly opening his eyes.
"Y-Yeah. I think so."
I lifted my head slightly and our eyes met. Only then did I realize how close we truly were.
My face burned.
"I-I'm fine," I said quickly, pushing myself up. The silence between us felt heavy. Awkward. Neither of us said anything. I looked at his face, his white hair falling across it, his green-blue eyes looking directly into mine. His face was blightly red. And so was mine. My heart was pounding like it will explode every second. and neither of us dared to move.
After a few seconds I reached up and brushed his hair aside. That's when I noticed the earring on his right ear. I held it gently between my fingers.
"A gift from today?" I asked softly. "It suits you. It matches your hair."
As I said it, the necklace my parents had given me slipped from around my neck and fell onto his chest.
He picked it up carefully with his right hand, turning it over and examining it.
"Nice necklace," he said. "I didn't notice it before. You got it today, didn't you?"
I nodded. "Do you like it?"
"It looks good on you." He looked at the snow to his right as he said it.
We both stood up slowly. He brushed the snow off his clothes and then stopped and looked at me.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked.
"I was looking for you. I thought you might be here, so I came."
He paused, then noticed the mana shard lying in the snow nearby. He picked it up and looked at it with a curious expression before handing it back to me.
"What is this crystal?"
I took it, glancing at it nervously. "It's a mana shard."
His expression shifted from curious to confused. "A mana shard? What's that and where did you get it?"
"Your mother gave it to me," I said. "She said it would protect me in the forest. That as long as it glows, I'll be safe."
"But it's not glowing," he said quietly. "What was it protecting you from? Does it even work?"
"It stopped glowing on the way here," I explained the situation to him. "That's when I started running. And then I saw you."
"Isn't this forest dangerous?" I asked.
He shook his head slowly. "Not from the village to the lake. I've never had any trouble here. What you experienced, I never did. But I'm glad that you made it here safely."
"But everyone says it's full of monsters. Spiders, frostbeasts, trolls. And whatever was following me just now."
"Those are just rumors," he said, glancing back at the lake. "The scariest thing I've ever seen here is a crow. This place is so peaceful... And beautiful"
I stepped closer, watching his face as he looked out over the water. The lake lay still ahead of us, the reflection of the snow-covered evergreens on the far bank sitting quietly on its surface, a large mountain rising in the distant fog.
"Then why do you come here so often?" I asked. "Your mom told me you come here almost every other day."
He didn't answer. He just stood there, looking at the lake without moving. His face held no expression. He stared blankly at the water, at the gentle waves moving across its surface, at the mountains beyond. He stayed like that for several minutes without saying a single word.
Then the silence broke.
"What do you think?" he asked, still looking at the lake.
"What? What do I think?" I replied, looking at him confused.
He glanced at me. "What do you see right now, Sarah? What can you see in this very moment?"
I looked at the lake, then at him, then at the lake again. I turned left and right, taking in the view.
"I see nature? I guess?" I said. "The lake, the water, the endless softwood trees covered in snow, the other side of the lake, the mountain in the distance. Snow, more snow, and even more snow and snowflakes falling from the sky." I looked at him.
„Is that all you see?" He asked, tilting hishead slightly to the right.
" Is there anything else I haven't seen?"
"No," he said. "That's all there is." He straightened and turned toward me. "We should go home now."
"But I just got here. Can we stay a little longer?"
"It's dangerous out here, you know." He said it with a faint trace of teasing in his voice. "Maybe a toxic spider will show up. Or a troll. Or maybe something will start following us again and I'll have to scream in the middle of the forest."
I thought back to what had been chasing me. My left hand started to shake.
"I-I really saw it. It followed me. Something was behind me. I wasn't making it up. I swear." I grabbed the front of my sweater.
Lazar looked at me, then he noticed my hand immediately.
"I'm sorry, Sarah," he said quietly. "I didn't mean it. I was trying to make you feel better. I believe you." He reached out and took my left hand that was shaking. "Come on. Let's go home. We can come back another time."
His hand was cold. I tried to pull mine free out of instinct, but he held on, gently but firmly, reffusing to let it go.
"O-okay," I said quietly. "Let's go home."
We turned and walked back along the path together, toward the village.