One evening, as the sky darkened to a deep purple, L. found herself farther into the forest than she had ever been before. The trees were thicker here, their trunks twisted into unnatural shapes, as if they had been bent by some unseen hand. The stones she carried in her pouch hummed faintly, a soft pulse against her chest.

The air was heavy with something unknown, something pressing down on her, but she did not turn back. She had learned long ago to trust the pull of the forest, to follow the quiet guidance of the stones that whispered to her in the dark.

And then, in a clearing, she saw them.

The spirits—no longer the wisp-like figures she had seen before, but full-bodied, glowing, like the stones themselves, their faces twisted in expressions of longing and sorrow. Their eyes were wide, filled with a sadness too deep for words, and their movements were slow, uncertain, as though they had not yet learned how to be fully free.

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They did not speak. Instead, they surrounded her, their forms drifting like mist, as if they had always been there, waiting for someone to come.

L. reached into her pouch, her fingers brushing the smooth surface of a stone. The moment it touched her palm, the air around her seemed to change. The forest breathed. The spirits stirred, their faces softening, their shapes shifting, becoming brighter, more vivid. And the stones, glowing in her hands, pulsed with a strange energy, as if they had found their home.

The curse, L. understood now, was not in the stones. It was in the forest itself, in the spirits that had been trapped there, bound by something unseen. But with her touch, with the light she had brought, they were freed.

The spirits no longer looked mournful. Their faces were calm, peaceful, and their wings—once invisible, once mist-like—now shimmered with iridescent colors. They were not the creatures of fear the villagers believed. They were simply lost.

And with that, L. felt something stir deep inside her. Something that had been growing for days, for months—an understanding. The spirits had been waiting for this moment, for the one who would come without fear, who would offer them a touch of light.