The square was still charged with the morning's tension when Miguel made his decision. If they continued to argue between science and curse, the city would crumble on its own. They needed answers—and fast.
Elisa was the first to understand his gaze. She approached and wrote on a piece of paper, which she then held up in front of him:
"Are you going out?"
Miguel nodded. "The runes aren't just here. Someone said they've already appeared near the forest. I need to see for myself."
Elisa didn't hesitate. Scribbling the chalk on the makeshift blackboard was almost automatic:
"I'll go too."
Other residents glanced at each other. Few were willing to stray from the relative safety of the square, but two names emerged among the volunteers. Raul, the young troublemaker who had spent the morning sowing intrigue, offered to accompany them, perhaps driven by pride or a desire to show courage. And Sofia, the local school teacher, joined in silently, her expression firm—she wanted to protect the few remaining students.
With the group formed, they set off toward the woods.
The forest began a few streets away from the central square, but the transition felt like a passage to another world. The sounds that had previously filled the air—birds, insects, the rustling of leaves in the wind—had completely disappeared. Only the friction of footsteps on the damp earth broke the silence, and even that sound seemed muffled, as if swallowed by the air.
Sofia was the first to write something in one of the notebooks she carried:
"My students always came here on field trips. Today it feels like a dead place."
Elisa replied right below:
"It's as if the silence has spread. It doesn't belong only to the city."
Raul, for his part, simply rolled his eyes, tearing out a page and scribbling:
"Superstition. This is all collective fear. I bet we'll only find marks made by human hands."
Miguel ignored the comment. His eyes were already capturing something ahead: marks on the trees, deep, curved carvings that resembled the spring's runes.
Individual Perspectives
Miguel:
The medallion pulsed against her chest, warming her skin and emitting a faint golden glow. As she touched a rune carved into the bark of an oak tree, the light intensified, vibrating with an almost living energy. Miguel felt a shiver run down her spine. "It's responding... as if it recognizes the place," she noted mentally.
Elisa:
The notebook seemed to tremble in her hands. Each step in the forest brought the words written the night before to her mind, but jumbled, jumbled. She felt the fear of the children and elderly in the city reflecting in the trunks and leaves. The touch of Miguel's medallion brought a sense of protection, but only temporary.
Sofia:
The teacher tried to maintain her composure, but her stomach churned. The shadows between the trees not only moved, but seemed to form long arms, touching the leaves, making them bend as if they were alive. A smell of damp earth mixed with something burning made her swallow hard.
Raul:
The young troublemaker refused to admit fear. Every twig that cracked beneath his feet, every rune that glowed in the distance, made his heart race. He began writing disjointed words on the paper, as if recording the chaos he felt within. But even he couldn't ignore the feeling that something was watching him, moving silently in the shadows.
The runes weren't isolated. They formed a path that wound between ancient trees, crooked trunks, and moss-covered stones. Some glowed golden, others pulsed with a bluish light, as if each color indicated a different intensity or purpose.
Miguel brought the medallion closer to one of the blue runes. The stone shimmered violently, and he felt the air vibrate around him. The shadows, for a moment, retreated, almost as if respecting the magic.
Elisa saw it and touched his arm, worried. Miguel simply wrote:
"They react to it. As if it were a key."
Raul smiled wryly, but his eyes betrayed nervousness. He wrote on a piece of paper and showed the others:
"If this medallion is part of all this, maybe you're the one to blame."
Miguel narrowed his eyes, but before he could respond, Sofia intervened, writing firmly:
"No one is guilty. We need to understand before we accuse."
As the group advanced deeper, they began to notice subtle movements in the shadows. Branches trembled on their own, leaves fell from windless trees. A shadow crossed the path, passing over Sofia's body. She felt a shiver, as if something had tried to pull her memory by the arm.
Raul backed away, tripping over a root. He looked back and saw an elongated shape, made of darkness, that seemed to writhe on the ground before disappearing among the trunks. He tried to write something to warn the others, but the words jumbled together on the paper.
Elisa realized that the closer they got to the runes, the more fear affected each person. Each character began to feel fragments of forgetfulness: Miguel, for a few seconds, forgot the name of the medallion; Sofia, the face of one of her students; Raul, the very purpose of being there.
As the sun began to sink below the horizon, the darkness of the forest deepened. It was then that Miguel saw them. Not exactly figures, but outlines moving among the trees, as if the very shadows of the leaves had come to life.
One of them crossed the path ahead, and for a moment it seemed to have arms, legs, and an indistinct face, made of solid smoke.
Elisa grabbed Miguel's arm. Sofia dropped her notebook. Raul took two steps back, but tried to hide his terror.
The shadows made no sound, but their presence was felt. The air grew heavy, and each breath seemed to steal fragments of memory.
Sofia, in panic, lost her breath a shadow approached more aggressively, almost as if it were alive. Touching Sofia on the shoulder, she fell into a trance, her hands trembling, and her memories began to fade in seconds. She wrote in despair:
"Who am I? Where am I? Who are you?"
Panic swept through the group. Elisa tried to shake the teacher, but it was no use. It was only when Miguel lifted the medallion and placed it on her arm that the shadow retreated, dissolving like smoke in the wind. Sofia blinked several times, regaining consciousness, though tears streamed down her face.
Raul, overcome with fear, ran into the forest, he dropped the papers he was carrying. His footsteps quickly disappeared, swallowed by the darkness.
Miguel shouted his name, but no sound came out. Only emptiness responded.
Elisa wanted to go after him, but Miguel shook his head. He quickly wrote on a piece of paper:
"If we go any deeper now, we won't come out alive."
Sofia, still trembling, nodded. The shadows continued to prowl, watching from afar, like patient predators.
The group retreated slowly, holding the medallion in front of them like a shield. The shadows didn't follow them beyond a certain point; it seemed as if there was an invisible boundary delimiting how far they could go.
When they finally saw the first houses of the town, the relief was almost physical. Elisa fell to her knees, breathing deeply, and Sofia hugged her notebook as if it were an anchor against oblivion.
Miguel, for his part, remained silent, his gaze fixed on the dark line of the forest. He knew Raul probably wouldn't return. And worse: he knew the shadows weren't trapped inside. The forest was just another reflection of the curse, a mirror of what was already corroding the city.
He wrote in his notebook before putting it away:
"Silence has eyes. It watches us."
That night, the town couldn't sleep. News from the forest spread quickly—shadows, glowing runes, and Raul's disappearance. Some said he had been devoured; others, that he had become a shadow himself.
Elisa locked herself in the library, compulsively writing down each rune, trying to organize notes and cross-reference symbols. Sofia couldn't stop crying. Miguel, alone at the edge of the fountain, raised the medallion, feeling the weight of responsibility and—the silence, denser than ever, seemed to nod, as if the forest itself were listening.