A thick mist had descended upon the forest, shrouding everything around them, like a veil between two worlds. Melania felt each breath grow heavier, her lungs filling with damp air laced with the scent of pine and earth. Her steps slowed as she became increasingly aware of how the space around them seemed to shift. Their path felt less like a straight line and more like a maze, winding in unpredictable directions, leading them who knew where.
Endar walked beside her, his expression focused, but a flicker of unease glimmered in his eyes. He halted, resting his hand against the trunk of an ancient tree.
The forest seemed frozen in time. The mist blanketing the ground blurred the edges between the tangible and the unknown. Melania slowed her pace, sensing how the world around her subtly changed. A faint whisper rustled among the trees, as though they were speaking to one another in a language she couldn’t understand.
Endar stopped next to her, his gaze sharp, and his every move deliberate. Placing a hand on the tree, he appeared to be trying to grasp something unseen.
“Do you feel it?” he asked softly.
Melania closed her eyes, focusing inward. At first, she thought it was only the wind’s rustle, but then she realized it was something more—something that didn’t belong to nature but to Eternity itself.
“It’s… streams,” she said, her eyes opening. “They’re here.”
Endar nodded.
“Time and space are unstable here. We’re in a zone where layers of reality overlap. These are the traces of those who came before us.”
“Others?” Melania asked, her voice tinged with curiosity.
“Not just others. It could even be echoes of ourselves,” Endar replied.
His words gave her pause. Could their own presence here have caused these ripples, or was this the lingering effect of the Eternity they had irrevocably altered?
Their conversation was cut short when Melania spotted something in the mist. A faint silhouette moved between the trees. She froze, her hand instinctively brushing the hilt of the dagger at her belt.
“We’re not alone,” she whispered.
Endar immediately tensed.
“Who is it?” he asked, following her gaze.
“I don’t know,” Melania said. “But they don’t move like an ordinary person.”
The figure in the mist halted for a moment before dissolving into the white haze, leaving behind only a faint resonance.
“It’s a trace,” Endar said. “A trace of time.”
“Eternity leaves its marks,” Melania murmured.
Their words hung in the air like pieces of a larger puzzle. They pressed on, the mist thickening with each step, forcing them to grope for direction. Eventually, they emerged onto a small rise overlooking a place that felt alien even within this strange world.
Before them lay a smooth stone circle, at the center of which rested a mysterious symbol. The stone seemed to pulse softly, emanating a gentle light.
“It’s a beacon,” Endar said, stepping closer. “It holds the layers of time and space together.”
Melania couldn’t take her eyes off the symbol. It seemed familiar, yet she couldn’t recall why.
“Is this… a trace of Eternity?” she asked.
“Perhaps. But it’s too ancient to be part of what we created. It’s from an older era,” Endar said, crouching to examine it. “But if it’s here, it still holds power.”
Melania reached out, as though to touch the symbol, but a strange mix of familiarity and foreignness stopped her.
“Careful,” Endar warned.
“I know. But this… it feels like a part of me,” she whispered.
Once more, she heard the whisper from the forest, clearer this time, as though it were speaking directly to her.
“This is our next answer,” she said, stepping back from the symbol. “But we need to understand how to unlock it.”
Endar nodded.
“This place will be our key. But every time we touch Eternity, we risk destabilizing it.”
They stood together, gazing at the symbol pulsing softly beneath their feet. The mist began to dissipate, revealing the forest once again. But this place remained a mystery, waiting to be unraveled.
Their journey was only just beginning.