The small house nestled within the roots was bathed in a soft golden glow from a magical oil lamp.
The crackle of fire mixed with the bitter scent of herbs, filling the space and drowning out the damp, fungal stench that lingered outside.
Ly placed a wooden tray before the group. On it sat several bowls of dark green liquid, thin steam curling upward, carrying a pungent, earthy smell.
"Drink it," she said quietly. "It'll help your wounds heal faster. But don't ask what's inside."
Kael stared at the bowl, then glanced at Renar. Both swallowed hard. Renar frowned but eventually lifted the bowl and downed it in one go.
The bitterness struck like iron and ashes sliding down his throat.
"Kh—Gods…" Renar coughed, face contorted.
Sill covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, while Senki muttered between gulps, "If this is what survival tastes like, then maybe death's not so bad after all."
Ly only smiled — calm, but cold enough to chill the air.
"If I wanted to kill you, you would've died the moment you stepped into the mushroom forest."
Kael paused mid-sip, narrowing his eyes. "That doesn't exactly make me feel safer."
"I'm not here to make you feel safe," Ly replied softly. "Only strong enough to keep moving."
No one said another word. The strange liquid coursed through their bodies, first making their muscles tingle, then slowly easing the pain.
Sivall and Senmi's wounds stopped throbbing, their skin regaining faint color. Yet along with relief came a strange unease — as if something foreign was flowing inside their veins.
After a while, the air grew calm again. Kael leaned against the wall, exhaling.
"At least… we're still alive."
"Better than dead," Renar muttered, his face still twisted from the aftertaste.
As the others rested, Renar tilted his head up. The lamp's glow flickered against several pieces of hide hung across the wall.
Curious, he stood and moved closer.
They were maps — or rather, dozens of them. Each was covered with twisting lines, like veins or roots, sprawling into every corner.
They weren't rivers or mountains… they were roots.
Interconnected, tangled, and sprawling into an immense network reaching far beyond the walls.
"This…" Renar whispered, tracing a thick red line, "looks like an underground map."
Senki approached, pointing at several circled spots marked with strange symbols — an eye, a bone, an inverted sun.
"What do these mean? Landmarks?"
Ly's voice came from the shadows, calm but carrying an edge like a knife.
"Forbidden places. Places where the living shouldn't tread."
Sill frowned. "Then why keep maps of them?"
Ly set her cup down, looking up. The lamp's light reflected in her eyes — deep, like still water.
"Because no one else remembers the paths in this forest anymore."
The room fell silent. Only the crackling of fire and the faint herbal scent remained.
Renar noticed the red ink still looked unnaturally fresh, as if recently drawn. Yet other lines had nearly faded, showing their age — decades old, maybe centuries.
"You drew all these?" he asked.
Ly shook her head.
"No. They were passed down. I just… update them."
From one corner, the lamp cast a crooked light that made the map seem to breathe — the tangled roots shifting in shadow, as if alive.
Kael frowned, his voice heavy.
"Update them? You mean… the forest changes?"
Ly didn't answer right away. She smiled faintly — a cold, mist-like smile.
"Because it never stands still."
The lamplight quivered, flickering across the walls like the pulse of something alive.
No one spoke.
Kael's voice broke the quiet, low and steady.
"Could you explain? You talk as if this forest has… a soul."
Ly tilted her head, gaze distant, as if seeing through layers of roots above. Her voice was slow, even, and heavy.
"This forest… is part of something far greater. It lives, yet it doesn't. It's a creature, but not entirely alive."
Renar scratched his head.
"I don't get it… sounds like one of those fairy tales."
Ly's lips curved in a faint smile.
"Maybe. But sometimes 'fairy tales' are just what humans call the things they're too afraid to believe.
This forest didn't grow from the earth — it grew from memory. It absorbs what's forgotten — things, souls, even whole cities — and turns them into roots.
And when those roots grow deep enough… they begin to remember."
Sill shivered. "Remember? You mean the forest has… memory?"
Ly nodded slightly, voice dropping lower.
"Yes. Everything that's been forgotten — names, cities, souls, the past — all become nourishment for it.
You're standing on the memories of thousands of years."
No one dared to speak.
The air felt heavier, as if words themselves might wake something sleeping beneath.
Only the brittle crackle of the oil lamp broke the silence.
Kael rested his elbows on his knees, voice rough.
"That sounds like a nightmare. You're saying the forest is… a living creature?"
Ly gazed into the flame. Reflections of gold and amber shimmered in her eyes.
"If that's how you want to see it, fine. But it's not just a creature. This forest is a layer of the world itself — something that exists to balance what humans have broken above."
Renar blinked. "The world… has layers?"
"It does," Ly said softly. "And right now, you're at the bottom of the second one."
Sill glanced at Senki, both too unsettled to speak further.
Under the warm lamplight, Ly's face flickered between shadow and glow — half real, half unreal, making everyone's skin crawl.
Kael took a deep breath.
"Alright. I don't understand half of that, but if you really know how to get us out, then tell me — what do we do next?"
Ly looked toward Sivall and Senmi, still asleep, their breathing steady but weak.
She rose, pulled a folded cloth from a shelf, and spoke slowly.
"You should all rest. Tomorrow, I'll take you to the Square of the Forgotten City."
Senki lifted his head. "The Forgotten City? What's that?"
"A place that used to be the first capital of those who lived down here," Ly said.
"Now it's nothing but rubble and mushrooms. But within it lies what I need — the final ingredient to purge the spores still left in their blood."
Sill bit her lip. "Is it dangerous?"
Ly smiled faintly. Yet somehow, that smile felt colder than silence.
"If we're lucky, we'll only meet what's already dead.
If not…"
Her gaze drifted toward the door, where the violet mist outside pulsed softly — as if something vast was breathing beyond it.
"…then the things still alive will know we're here."
No one spoke again.
Kael nodded, eyes drawn to the glowing root-map on the wall.
Before lying down, Renar swore he saw the strange symbols flicker faintly — as if the forest itself were waiting.
Ly blew out the lamp.
The house sank into darkness, leaving only the purple haze outside — shifting, trembling, like the slow breath of the forest.