Kieran stood at the edge of the pool, the reflection still rippling with images that weren't his own. The monolith. The cathedral. The corridor. Then back to him.
He turned away.
The forest pressed in tighter now. The trees leaned closer, their branches arching like ribs. The paths narrowed, then split, then narrowed again. He followed none of them. He walked where the ground felt wrong, where the hum beneath the soil was weakest.
He was looking for an opening.
A break in the pattern.
A way out.
But the forest offered none.
He passed a tree with no leaves. Its bark was cracked and blackened. Dead. The only one of its kind. He circled it once, then moved on.
He found a slope, barely noticeable at first. The ground dipped, the trees thinned. He followed it down into a hollow, where the air grew colder and the light dimmed to a dull grey.
There was something here.
A wall.
Not stone. Not wood. Something in between. It rose from the earth like a spine, curving upward until it vanished into the canopy. Its surface was smooth but not clean; it was covered in red handprints. Hundreds to thousands of them, Kieran thought they were clay.
It was not.
All of them facing inwards, this wall is warm; there must be something behind it.
Something hot.
Then nothing.
Kieran stepped back.
"It's not time to leave," he thought, "Not yet, at least."
He turned around.
And began the walk back.
The forest didn't resist him. It didn't help either. It simply watched.
When he reached the clearing again, the monolith was waiting.
Still. Silent.
Nothing had changed.
His 2 traps were not activated.
The bark ring was not disturbed.
And he went to the tree where he originally rearranged the roots to check on the leaf; it was dim and then glowed due to Kieran's reaction with it.
Kieran then sighs in relief. "I guess nothing came through."
Now that Kieran has proved that there was nothing following him, he can relax a bit and find an answer for all of this.
Kieran then looks over at the offering he made with a little smile with ease.
His smile disappeared.
The leaves that were against the tree are now dim.
Kiearn gulped a mouthful of saliva down his throat.
"Something is here with me."
Kiearn started to think to himself.
The quiet offering he had made was his 3rd trap.
One thing Kiearn noticed about that rock is that it holds a reaction and can transmit a reaction.
When the leaf fell onto the rock, it was glowing, and it dimmed when it touched the rock, and when Kieran originally left it, the rock was dull and the leaves were glowing.
But now.
The rocks were glowing, and the leaves are dim.
Meaning that something else has caused a reaction.
Keiran knew it wasn't a leaf, as there was no wind; a lead only fell on the rock as he touched the tree earlier.
Kieran didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
He looked at the monolith.
It was still.
But the air around it wasn't.
Something had come through.
Kieran started to think to himself, "I am not scared; I just want to find an answer."
Kieran started walking.
Not with purpose.
With necessity.
The forest didn't guide him this time. It allowed him. The paths didn't twist; they now opened, like something wanted him to go back, like something was done hiding.
It wanted to show itself to Kieran.
He retraced his steps toward the slope, toward the hollow, toward the wall.
Each footfall felt heavier now. Not from exhaustion, but from pressure. The air thickened. The hum beneath the soil returned, but it was different; erratic, pulsing in bursts, like something breathing just beneath the surface.
He passed the dead tree again.
Its bark was darker now.
The cracks are deeper.
He didn't circle it this time.
He didn't look.
He reached the hollow.
The wall was waiting.
Still warm.
Still covered in handprints.
But something had changed.
The red had deepened. The prints looked fresher. Wet. Some of them had begun to smear, as if something had pressed against them from the other side.
Kieran stopped.
His breath caught.
"Maybe I am scared."
Not the kind of fear that makes you run.
The kind that makes you freeze and listen.
The forest was silent.