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Chapter 18 - The Forest’s Wrath

The silence did not last.

It began with a ripple, subtle at first branches trembling though no wind stirred, roots flexing beneath the soil like muscles testing their strength. Aira pressed her back tighter against the tree, every sense screaming at her that the forest had been listening.

Rejecting the lure had not freed her, It had provoked something.

Leaves rattled overhead like the hiss of unseen serpents. A low groan rolled through the ground, deep enough to shake her bones. She pushed herself up, legs unsteady, and the earth buckled beneath her heel. A root snapped free of the dirt like a striking snake, narrowly missing her ankle.

Aira lurched forward, breath sharp, dodging as more roots heaved upward, twisting like ropes that wanted her bound.

The trees shifted. Not swaying, but leaning their heavy trunks bending toward her as if drawn by her defiance. Bark split with sickening cracks, spilling sap that gleamed in the moonlight like blood.

The forest was no longer indifferent. It was furious.

A voice not Kieran's, not human slithered through the air, drawn from the rustling of branches, the splintering of wood.

"You were warned."

Panic surged, but beneath it a sharper thought cut through: this was a trap woven into the curse itself, a consequence of denying the lure. Kieran's influence had infected even the ground she walked on.

Aira ran.

Roots tore upward to block her path, branches whipped across her shoulders, leaving burning welts. Every step felt stolen, every breath torn from the jaws of something ancient and vengeful. She ducked, rolled, scrambled through undergrowth until her lungs screamed for air.

A sudden snap her foot caught. A root had coiled tight around her ankle, jerking her to the ground. The soil beneath her hands shifted like quicksand, dragging her down.

For a moment, terror blurred everything. The pull was relentless, the earth swallowing her inch by inch. Her cries echoed uselessly into the trees.

Then like a shard of memory breaking through Kieran's oath scar burned hot again, searing her skin. The mark flared against the forest's grip, not freeing her completely but loosening the root's hold just enough for her to wrench herself free.

She staggered forward, mud smeared up her arms, chest heaving, the whisper still chasing her.

"Reject me, and I will consume you."

The forest quieted only after she collapsed against another trunk, shaking. The roots stilled. The branches froze. Yet the threat lingered, heavy in the air.

Aira understood now rejecting the shadow didn't sever it. It only forced it to bare its teeth.

And it would not stop until she chose.

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