The deeper they went, the stranger the forest became. At first, the path was clear—roots twisting like natural stairways and glowing veins lining the way forward. But after only minutes, the trail seemed to shift. Trees bent inward. Shadows rearranged themselves.
Eris frowned. He had walked straight, yet now the same crooked tree with a split trunk loomed ahead, its bark pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.
Mara spat on the ground. "We've circled. I know it. This place is playing games with us."
Jonas leaned against a root, his breath shallow. "And if it wants us lost?"
Liora's eyes fluttered shut. She tilted her head, listening, her lips moving as if repeating something no one else could hear. Then she spoke aloud, her voice low: "They whisper directions… but they whisper lies too. If we follow all of them, we'll walk forever."
Eris narrowed his gaze. "So we need to choose which voice to trust."
The forest trembled in response, a long sigh that rattled branches and scattered fine red dust from the canopy. The whispers grew louder. Some begged for them to go left, others urged right, still others murmured for them to turn back.
Mara unslung her rifle. "Voices in dirt aren't something I trust. We're burning daylight—"
But before she could finish, a figure shifted in the branches above. Silent. Still. Watching.
A remnant.
Its crystalline body glowed faintly green, its form humanoid yet imperfect, as though sculpted from broken shards. Where its face should have been, only jagged light pulsed. It clung to the bark without effort, its head tilting slowly at them, curious, unblinking.
Jonas froze. "Tell me it's not hunting us."
"It's guiding," Liora whispered, stepping forward despite Mara's warning hand. "This one isn't like the others. It's waiting."
The remnant moved, climbing higher, then leaping to another branch. It didn't attack. It paused, turned its faceless head, and began moving deeper into the glowing maze—each movement silent, deliberate.
Eris's hand tightened on his blade. "It wants us to follow."
"And if it's a trap?" Mara shot back.
He glanced at her, his expression hard. "We're already in one."
The remnant leapt again, vanishing briefly in the thick branches before its glow reappeared, waiting for them to take the first step.
Eris started forward. The others, after a heartbeat of hesitation, followed.
And so the whispers dimmed, replaced by the soft echo of crystalline footsteps leading them deeper into the forest's living maze.