The echo of the sound stretched far into the distance. Without thought, every face turned instinctively toward it.Adrien stood a little apart from the tree, facing them. His face had grown pale; his eyes flickered uneasily, shadows of fear etched into their depths. In their trembling outlines lay both dread and a trace of revulsion.
Seeing him so stricken, Thursday and Mave asked in unison,"What is it?"
He gave no reply. Instead, he shifted slightly aside and raised his hand, pointing toward the thorny tree.
The moment their eyes fell upon that ominous sight, they froze.Yet within the flowers, the strange flickering light continued its measured rhythm, as if untouched by terror. Some among them grew shaken like Adrien himself, while the others—Thursday, Drace, and Keave—found themselves ensnared in riddles of dread. And deep within that fear, even their steps had begun to falter.
Mave's body and mind struggled to contain the terror of that dreadful sight.The result was inevitable… her stomach churned, and she vomited.
With no water to rinse, her mouth felt strange. In irritation, her lips muttered—"Adrien, couldn't you have told us before showing what's here?"
Thursday, wearing a faint smirk, whispered words in reply—"Mave, you need to get used to this. Who knows what else awaits… You'll have to be stronger."
Amid their bickering, Keave's heavy, measured voice echoed—"We've found the sign ."
Adrien was the first to answer,"How? What are you even saying?"
Everyone's pupils locked onto Keave.The scene felt as though it belonged to the 18th century, in some French city where a revolution stirred—and its creator, its wisest soul, was awakening the people.
Turning his eyes toward them, Keave declared,"These wretched flowers… will be our mark."
In their ears, the words sounded unreal. No one could believe them.To bring weight to the matter, one of them finally asked,"What do you mean to say?"
In the crowds of France, some ordinary people even mistake a wise soul for a fool.Here, it was the same—but the difference was that in France, only a few were like that, while in this scene, everyone stood against him.
Drace spoke,"You're saying these strange and terrifying flowers will be our mark?"
Carrying the thought forward, Rudra added,"How can you be so sure these flowers aren't dangerous? And… there is only one such flower here."
Everyone nodded in agreement with their words.
Hearing the question, Keave first gave a mocking, critical smile.Seeing him laugh like that, everyone inside longed to grab his neck and beat him, but they held themselves back.
Still laughing, Keave spoke with great caution,"If you noticed carefully—there wasn't a single such flower here before. right?"
He turned toward Adrien and asked,"Adrien… was there any flower here earlier?"
Adrien didn't say anything while trying to explain; he just shook his head. His eyes were lost in his thoughts, as if some things were slowly beginning to make sense to him.
Keave muttered,"If this flower didn't exist just a little while ago, then how did it suddenly appear?"
He looked at everyone and spoke deliberately, in a low voice.
Rudra asked,"You mean to say the flower just appeared, and we could make more such flowers appear?"
Keave, keeping his smile, said,"Exactly, you understood correctly."
Thursday murmured, lost in thought,"But how will we know how these flowers appear?"
Immediately answering, Keave said,"Only Adrien can tell us that, because he was the first to see the flower being formed."
Adrien looked at everyone. He attained the demeanor in resonance with was Keave and Drace, calm like the still water.Emerging from the depths of his thoughts, he muttered,"I don't know. I was just reaching out to touch the thorns lying on the surface of the tree, but before my fingers could even touch them, I suddenly fell a little away. When I looked again, a flower had already formed there."
Suddenly, Mave exclaimed in excitement,"You mean we have to touch the sharp thorns of that tree!"
"I'll try it right now."
Without thinking, lost in the waves of her own excitement, she began to reach out to touch the sharp thorns.
Thursday watched Mave do this and muttered softly,"Crazy! What on earth is she doing?"
Mave's fingers were just brushing the thorns when she suddenly felt a strange warmth on both her hands. Looking down, she saw that Adrien and Liam were holding her hands from both sides.
Her eyes locked onto Adrien, who immediately let go.But Liam still held her hand, his grip steady, as if he didn't care at all what Mave might say.
Mave shot a sharp glance at Liam and let out a frustrated breath,"What?"
Liam was about to speak, but before he could, Keave's voice cut through the tension:"This forest is strange. We shouldn't be touching anything."