It was Elder Rowan, his lips curled with disapproval, as though he chastised a child. She recognized Elder Rowan's stern tone, which caused her heart to skip a beat as anger swept over her, turning her blood cold.

"I'm sorry, Elder," Seren replied.

"Now you knew not to go poking around where you shouldn't," Elder Rowan scolded gently. "You were going to get us all into trouble if you kept this up."

He let go of her ear, and Seren stood silent, staring at the ground while trying hard not to show her disappointment. Rowan sighed before speaking again. "I thought you might enjoy a tour around the mountain. It wouldn't be long, but you should see the views before it got dark."

She stared at him for a minute as an idea formed in her mind. Slowly she smiled and raised her chin. "Thank you, Elder Rowan."

Rowan studied her silently before finally smiling back. "Don't forget the torches!" His voice faded as he disappeared.

"Sure, Elder." Her mouth stretched into a wide grin as she looked into the distance. Without wasting a second, she turned and ran toward the direction of the stream. Once the water flowed out of her sight, she stopped and glanced around nervously as she heard some voices before stepping forward cautiously. She quickly bent down, put her ear against the ground, and started listening for the footsteps. She could hear them quite clearly now, and they were coming from the opposite direction from where she wanted to go. They were definitely coming closer, and she didn't want to risk getting caught in their way when she had already made it so far away from the village.

Her eyes darted between the approaching footprints. As the people got closer, she slowly inched backward, ready to run for cover. The sound of shoes clicking together on the wet stone grew louder with each passing second until one pair of feet stepped right into the stream. With a start, Seren dropped behind a nearby rock, pressing herself against the smooth rock wall. The person paused for a moment to look over his shoulder before continuing his journey toward the cave. Seren held her breath, watching as the footsteps got quieter and quieter until eventually they completely disappeared. She waited until after she couldn't hear any more, just in case, then peeked over the boulder to confirm that there was no one there. Taking a deep breath, she began moving. She began to walk toward the cave when someone pulled her back again.

"Seren?" A young girl's voice called out. Her green eyes pierced through her, and her brown hair was tightly braided into two ponytails.

Seren felt herself yanked backward forcefully, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground. Panic surged through her as she tried to move away and evade whatever threat she faced, her eyes darting about wildly in search of an escape.

When she looked behind her, she gasped. Standing at the edge of the clearing was another girl, but this one was older, with brown hair tightly braided against her head in a single ponytail. Seren attempted to push past her, but the young girl grabbed her hand. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

"Nowhere," Seren managed to gasp out, struggling against the strong grip on her wrist.

The other girl frowned deeply and crossed her arms across her chest. "Well come on. You can't go around by yourself without anyone noticing." Seren looked at them warily, waiting to be dragged back into town or even worse. When neither of them moved, though, she hesitated, unsure what else to do. “Look, I really don't know who you are. But you can't leave town alone like this. Why don't you take us along?"

Seren shook her head violently. "I'm not going anywhere! I was just... just...." The words wouldn't come out. She knew that if she told the truth, that would make everything even worse.

"Looking for something?" the other girl supplied helpfully.

Seren nodded and swallowed thickly. "Yeah."

"Maybe Kielia was going to see Garrick Lucan," the young girl said, looking at the other girl.

"Or maybe not," Kielia said quietly. "Come on, Lira. We don't have to talk about it here—"

"It's not like that! I don't know Garrick. I was just... Elder Rowan asked me to go out, so I came here to see the mountains..."

"Girl, you're literally standing near the border and still managing to lie to us," Kielia snapped angrily. "You've been acting suspicious since we found you outside of town. What's going on?"

Seren bit her lip. "Nothing is."

"Come on, Seren Dorian! The whole village knows the story about how you always cross the borders into the Golem Realm. What is it this time? Looking for shiny rocks, if not Garrick?" Lira leaned against the rock, arms crossed expectantly.

"Yeah, or maybe you’re trying to befriend a boulder. What do you think? ‘Hey, Mr. Golem, want to grab a drink?’" Kielia snickered.

Seren opened her mouth, closed it, and finally spoke. She wasn't sure why she was telling these strangers anything. Seren stood there, a mischievous glint sparking in her eyes as she eyed the two girls curiously. Her fingers curled into tight fists. "If you insist," she answered finally. They were relentless, and while she loved them both, their teasing made it harder to focus on her mission.

She took a step back, pretending to consider their words seriously. "You know, maybe I should just tell you my plan."

Kielia raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on her lips. "That's what we want."

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Lira crossed her arms, grinning. "Yeah, we’re all ears."

Seren's mind raced. If she could distract them long enough, she might slip away unnoticed. "Well," she began slowly, "I was thinking about finding a rare flower that only blooms at the edge of the Golem Realm. You two wouldn’t want to miss that, right? It’s supposed to be absolutely breathtaking!"

Lira leaned in, intrigued. "Really? A flower? What’s so special about it?"

Seren shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "They say it has magical properties. You know, the usual—grants wishes, brings good luck. The kind of thing you’d want to show off to the whole village."

Kielia’s eyes lit up. "That does sound interesting! When do we go?"

Seren feigned reluctance. "Oh, I don’t know... it might be a bit dangerous. Maybe I should just go alone."

Lira’s expression turned thoughtful. "But what if you get into trouble? You know we’d never let you live that down!"

Seren leaned closer, lowering her voice. "Honestly, you two would only slow me down. It’s a treacherous place, and I’d feel terrible if something happened to you."

Kielia frowned, considering. "Yeah, but we want to keep you safe! What if you run into a golem?"

Seren waved her hand dismissively. "If I do, I can handle it. I know how to stay out of their way. You wouldn’t want to risk getting caught up in any danger, right? I mean, what if we get stuck out there? Besides, I heard Elder Mara talking to the chief that the Golem Realm is in danger and something bad is going to happen there...." Seren’s eyes widened slightly in panic, and she took a few steps back from the rock to avoid being seen. Kielia and Lira followed suit, staying close by and keeping their eyes on her. "So anyway, you guys should probably get back home before it gets too late," she muttered in a rush.

Lira nodded, her excitement waning. "Yeah, okay. Maybe it’s better if you go alone. Just… be careful, alright?"

Seren smiled, relief washing over her. "I will! I promise. And I’ll bring you both back something special."

They watched silently as she slipped away, disappearing into the magical borders. Lira sighed in annoyance. "What an odd girl...." she muttered, shaking her head. "I can’t believe she lied about the flower. But I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. Let's go back."

After a short while, Seren emerged from the shadows near the cliff face, carefully moving toward the entrance of the tunnels and the secret chamber inside of them. There was a soft rustling of movement somewhere in the darkness ahead of her. She froze as she noticed an orange glow from the corner of her eye and quickly looked back toward her hiding spot, afraid of what might be lurking there. The faint glow continued to grow brighter as she stared into the dark, growing ever nearer. "Shit..." Seren murmured under her breath. This definitely didn’t seem good. Without hesitating, she took off running deeper into the passageway in search of safety. As she ran, however, she heard a sudden rumbling sound and realized the stone walls shifted. She had no idea what was happening but figured it was best to get farther away before she ran into whatever caused the rumblings. After a few minutes of sprinting, she reached a fork where both paths met; one went left toward the front of the mountain, and the other continued forward. She glanced around for a moment until she spotted a narrow opening between the wall opposite her and decided to take that path.

Seren kept going further and further into the passageways and tunnels. Every once in a while, she stopped to listen and look around for any signs that there might have been people who came here before her, but they were gone. All she had was herself and her thoughts. She began to feel completely alone, and more than once, she thought she saw figures moving through the darkness ahead of her, but when she looked again, they were already gone.

Eventually, she made it to the point where she had to start climbing. That meant climbing the sheer walls of the cave, with the only access to the surface being through another opening at the end of the tunnel. She didn’t particularly enjoy climbing up cliffs because they were slippery and dangerous, especially when they were covered with small sharp stones. Still, she had to find a way out sooner or later. Suddenly she felt herself slipping, sliding across loose rock and dirt. She reached out desperately to pull herself up just before she lost control and fell, her entire body crashing to the floor below. She groaned softly when she hit the hard cave floor, the impact knocking the air from her lungs.

After recovering from the shock, she tried to regain her bearings. It didn’t really help much. The passage was empty except for the sounds of heavy breathing and footsteps echoing through every direction. Slowly, she crawled across the dusty floor, trying not to let her fear overwhelm her. It sounded like they were heading right in her direction, and she couldn’t afford to be distracted. She heard something move above her, the noise almost silent. She froze for a moment, unsure of whether to continue crawling blindly onward. Then she forced herself to crawl faster, praying silently that it wasn’t someone following her. She knew she was not alone, and that frightened her more than she cared to admit.