The trees breathed.
That was the first thing Rina noticed when they stepped into the woods — the air itself felt alive, every leaf and root humming with a quiet rhythm that matched her heartbeat.
Moonlight spilled through the branches in thin silver ribbons, and the mist moved like it had purpose.
Niklaus walked ahead, silent, alert. His golden eyes flickered in the dark, cutting through shadows.
"Where are we going?" she whispered.
He didn't look back. "Somewhere the Keepers can't follow. The forest was here long before they were — it remembers things they can't erase."
She frowned. "You sound like this place is alive."
"It is."
The way he said it sent a chill down her spine.
They walked for what felt like hours. The deeper they went, the thicker the air grew, heavy with a strange electricity. Every step Rina took made the hum in her chest vibrate harder, stronger, until it hurt.
She finally stopped. "Niklaus—wait. It's too much. It's like—"
"—It's calling you," he finished softly. "Because it remembers you."
Rina stared at him, her breath catching. "What do you mean?"
He turned slowly. "This is where it began. Our first life. The night we broke the sky."
Before she could ask what that meant, a sound echoed through the forest — faint footsteps, human ones.
Niklaus tensed. "Someone followed us."
Rina's heart leapt. "The Keepers?"
He shook his head, listening. "No. Someone mortal."
The footsteps drew closer. A flashlight beam cut through the mist — and Rina froze.
"Elijah?"
He stopped dead in his tracks, his expression a mix of shock and relief. "Rina? Oh my god—what the hell is going on?"
Niklaus stepped between them instantly, his hand raised, golden energy flickering along his fingers. "You shouldn't have come here."
Elijah's jaw tightened. "You again. What did you do to her?"
Rina grabbed Niklaus's arm. "Stop. He's my friend."
The word seemed to hang in the air. For a moment, Niklaus didn't move. Then the forest shifted — branches creaking, light bending. The hum rose to a trembling pitch.
Rina clutched her head. "It's—louder."
Niklaus's eyes flashed gold. "They're waking up."
Elijah's confusion turned to alarm. "Who's waking up?"
Before anyone could answer, the forest erupted with sound — a thousand whispers all at once, echoing through the trees. Shapes flickered between trunks, half-seen forms made of mist and memory. Faces, voices, fragments of what once was.
Rina's vision blurred. The world tilted. Suddenly she wasn't in the forest anymore — she was seeing it, hundreds of years ago.
The same trees, but burning.
Niklaus, standing beside her, in armor again.
And herself — radiant, terrified, clutching the same black pendant.
Then a voice, deep and ancient, filled her skull.
"The cycle turns again, Child of Light. Will you save him… or end him?"
She gasped and fell to her knees, the vision vanishing. Niklaus was beside her instantly, his hand on her shoulder.
"What did you see?" he asked.
She looked up at him, eyes wide with terror. "Us. But it wasn't the past… it felt like it hasn't happened yet."
Niklaus's expression darkened. "Then the forest showed you the truth."
Before she could ask what that meant, something screamed in the distance — a sound like tearing metal and thunder.
Niklaus stood, pulling her to her feet. "They've found us."
Elijah turned toward the sound, his flashlight shaking. "Who's 'they'?"
Niklaus's shadows flared, wrapping around them like smoke. "Run now, or you'll find out the hard way."
But the forest had already decided otherwise — trees shifting, paths closing, trapping them in.
And from the mist ahead, pale light began to emerge.
Not Keepers this time. Something older.
Something that didn't belong to either light or shadow.