The Redwood Expanse was wrong.
Trees leaned inward like they were bowing to an unseen king.
The soil pulsed underfoot, faint but steady, as if breathing.
Elric stood at the treeline with his team, ring pulsing on his hand, sigil burning faintly on his wrist.
"They're here," Keera whispered. "The rooted ones."
---
They moved carefully through the warped woods.
Roots twisted up like grasping fingers. Leaves bled crimson sap.
It didn't take long to find the first village.
Houses, abandoned. No bodies. No blood.
Only plants growing through doorways, windows, even cradles.
"They're not dead," Veyra said, scanning the surroundings. "The village is... sleeping."
"Preserved," Sylas muttered. "Held in memory."
Elric approached a figure rooted to a tree — a woman frozen mid-scream, vines coiling around her arms and face.
He placed a hand on her chest.
Still warm.
Alive.
But dreaming.
---
Cai tugged his sleeve urgently. "Elric! Look!"
From the center of the village, a tree was growing — tall, twisted, crowned in thorns.
At its roots, figures stirred — dozens of rooted villagers.
The Rootwalker was building its army.
And worse — it was learning.
---
Elric drew back quickly.
"We can't save them alone," he said. "We need to cut the growth off before it spreads."
Veyra nodded. "Torch it?"
"Not yet." Elric's eyes sharpened. "Find the core."
---
That night, while camped at the village outskirts, Elric placed the cracked mirror on the ground.
The surface shimmered.
A voice whispered:
"You cannot stop us. Memory is stronger than hope."
Elric didn't argue.
He simply placed the silver ring atop the mirror.
The blood-red gem flashed once.
The whispering faded.
---
Morning brought no peace.
Keera's scouts reported the rooted ones were moving — marching slowly, pulling roots with them across the land like a creeping tide.
The Rootwalker wasn't just growing.
It was marching.
Toward the capital.
---
Elric stared into the misty woods, hands clenched.
"If it reaches the throne," he said, "it won't just preserve memory."
"It will erase the future."
---