"The forest remembers every secret that man forgets."
Morning light crept slowly into the village, pale and uncertain. Smoke still hung over the northern path where the cloaked figure had appeared the night before. Few villagers spoke. Those who did kept their voices low, as if afraid the mist might return if they spoke too loudly.
Lior had barely slept. His mind replayed every word, every flicker of golden eyes. The phrase echoed endlessly, "the child of two worlds has awakened". He didn't understand what it meant, but he could feel it pulling at something buried deep inside him.
He sat on the steps of his cabin until Elder Thane approached, leaning on his staff. "You look like a man who has stared too long at his thoughts," the old man said.
"I can't stop thinking about what that thing said," Lior replied. "Why me? What did it mean by child of two worlds?"
Thane studied him quietly. "Perhaps it speaks of the life you had before this one. You came from a world unlike ours. Maybe that makes you something neither entirely of one nor the other."
Lior frowned. "But how would it know that?"
Thane's eyes softened. "There are forces older than the gods, boy. Some see more than even I wish to believe."
He looked toward the forest beyond the fields. "There is a place called the Whispering Grove, not far from here. The trees there are ancient, and some say they carry memories older than the world itself. If you listen, truly listen, you might find an answer."
Lior hesitated. "You want me to go there?"
"I want you to understand yourself before the world forces you to," Thane said gently. "But do not go alone. The woods are alive in ways you are not yet ready to face."
By midday, Lior found Kael waiting near the edge of the village, sword slung over his shoulder and a determined grin on his face.
"You're really going into the Whispering Grove?" Kael asked. "Most people won't even look at it after sunset."
Lior nodded. "Thane thinks I'll find answers there."
Kael sighed but followed. "Then you'll need someone to drag you back if the trees start talking too much."
They entered the forest as sunlight filtered through the canopy, painting the ground in gold and shadow. The deeper they went, the quieter it became. No birds sang. No wind stirred the leaves. Only the steady crunch of their boots on the soil broke the silence.
The air grew colder, heavier, until Lior could see faint wisps of white mist curling between the roots. His pulse quickened. "Do you feel that?"
Kael glanced around. "Feels like the forest is holding its breath."
They walked until they reached a clearing surrounded by massive trees whose trunks were marked with strange carvings. The air vibrated softly, as though the earth itself hummed beneath their feet.
Lior stepped forward, feeling an invisible pull toward the largest tree at the center. Its bark shimmered faintly with an otherworldly light. He placed his hand against it, and the mark on his skin began to glow.
A rush of sound filled his mind. Voices overlapping, whispering, crying, chanting in languages he couldn't understand. Then one voice rose above the rest, calm and clear.
"You are far from home, child of crossing light."
Lior's breath caught. "Who are you?"
"I am the memory of this land," the voice replied, echoing like wind through the branches. "Long before men learned to name the stars, I witnessed the birth and death of worlds. And now, I see one bound within you."
Images flooded his vision, fire raining from crimson skies, a city made of glass and steel crumbling into dust, a sword of light shattering in a man's hand. He saw his own reflection split into two, Aiden and Lior, one fading, the other awakening.
He fell to his knees, clutching his head. "Stop!"
The vision faded, and he gasped for breath. Kael rushed to his side, shaking him. "Lior! What happened?"
Lior's eyes were wide with shock. "I saw… my world. The one before this. It's gone."
Kael frowned. "Gone? What do you mean gone?"
"Destroyed," Lior whispered. "Burned into nothing. And somehow, it's connected to this place."
Before Kael could reply, the air shifted again. The ground trembled, and the light dimmed as the mist thickened around them.
A figure emerged from the fog, not the golden-eyed being this time, but a woman in flowing white robes, her hair drifting like smoke. Her eyes glowed faintly blue.
"The threads are fraying faster than I feared," she said softly. "The veil weakens, and the bridge between worlds stirs once more."
Lior stood slowly, his heart pounding. "Who are you?"
"I am Lysara," she said. "Guardian of the Veil, Keeper of the Divide. You should not be here, child of two lives. Your very presence tilts the balance."
Lior swallowed hard. "Then why am I here?"
"Because you defied the law of endings," Lysara said. "You died where you should not have, and something, or someone pulled you back. The soul that refuses its rest becomes an anchor, and anchors draw storms."
The forest groaned around them as if alive. The mist swirled violently, and for a heartbeat, Lior saw faces in it, familiar ones. A mother, a little girl clutching a teddy bear, a man with tired eyes.
Aiden's life. His memories.
He fell to his knees again, tears burning his eyes. "I didn't ask for this."
Lysara knelt before him, her expression almost kind. "No one ever does. But destiny seldom waits for permission."
She touched his forehead gently, and warmth spread through him. "Seek the Shard of Dawn in the ruins of Vareth. Only there will you find truth and the choice that binds all worlds."
Then she was gone. The mist thinned, and the forest fell silent once more.
Kael helped him to his feet. "You're going to tell me what that was, right?"
Lior looked toward the direction Lysara had vanished. "Later," he said quietly. "Right now, we need to get back."
As they walked out of the grove, the whispers followed them like echoes of ghosts. The last voice that brushed Lior's mind was neither cruel nor kind, only tired.
"Light and shadow cannot exist apart. When one falls, both must fade."