The sun barely rose behind the thick mist that draped the Velinar's Spine like a mourning veil. Trees loomed tall and skeletal, their branches clawing at the sky. The road they followed faded into overgrowth, barely more than a memory between the roots.
Elara walked at the front, Seris at her side, Kael close behind, ever-watchful. Lysar muttered a warding spell every few steps, his staff glowing faintly in the gloom.
"This place doesn't feel right," Elara said.
Seris nodded. "It's not. This is the Forest of Echoes."
"I've read of it," Lysar added. "A place twisted by the Starfall. Magic lingers in the air — warped, hungry. It pulls from the mind. From memory."
Kael tightened his grip on his sword. "So what, the trees whisper scary stories?"
"No," Lysar said grimly. "They whisper yours."
As if summoned, the forest stirred.
A cold wind swept through, carrying faint voices — familiar ones.
"Elara…"
She froze. That voice — it couldn't be.
"Elara, you left me…"
Her breath hitched. "Aunt Neris?"
The mist thickened. Shapes formed ahead — half-shadow, half-light. Elara saw the form of her aunt, twisted in agony, eyes hollow. "You let them burn me," the figure rasped. "You ran. You let them take everything."
Elara stepped forward, shaking. "That's not true. I didn't know. I—I couldn't—"
Kael grabbed her wrist. "It's not real, Elara!"
But the voices multiplied.
Kael heard his brother's scream — the moment he died. Seris saw a child in the fog, crying her name. Lysar stumbled, murmuring something about a broken oath.
The forest fed on regret. On grief.
"Fight it," Seris hissed, gripping Elara's shoulders. "This isn't your truth."
Elara shut her eyes.
Flame does not fear shadow, her mother's voice whispered.
She clenched her fists. "No more lies."
Light flared from her palms — bright, raw, real. The illusions shrieked and disintegrated in golden fire. The forest recoiled.
Kael fell to one knee, breathing hard. "Well… that was fun."
Seris looked at Elara with a strange awe. "You burned through an Echo. Only flame-blooded seers can do that."
Elara swayed but smiled. "Guess I'm not as helpless as I thought."
Lysar regained his footing. "We must hurry. The gate draws near — I can feel it. And if the Hollow Star knows we've survived the forest, they'll be waiting."
They pressed on, the shadows finally retreating behind them.
But far above, hidden in the boughs of a dead tree, two silver eyes watched.
And somewhere, deep within the Ruined Star, something shifted — awakened by her fire.