Far, far from the carriage where Apolo slept, lay a massive forest of trees with black bark and red leaves. It seemed to be winter, and even though it wasn't snowing, many animals had begun to change their routines: the large birds had migrated to warmer areas, making it the perfect season for smaller birds to reproduce and raise their young without fear of predators that were hibernating or had migrated elsewhere.

Today, a little bird with black and red feathers was busy building a nest with fallen leaves and twigs around the tree where it perched. The bird diligently went up and down from its nest, gradually forming a bed of twigs. When the nest was finally complete, and the bird prepared to lay its eggs, it felt something flying near it. With fear of the unknown, the bird turned its beak to see what was lurking around the nest it had worked so hard on. Unfortunately, the last thing the bird saw was a gray blur flying toward its chest.

—Got it! Got it! Apolo, I got it! See, I could do it! —A girl with blonde hair and blue eyes celebrated, waving a sling in her hand with joy.

—Stop lying, Helena. You're terrible with the sling—exclaimed a plump boy with black hair and dark eyes, dressed quite elegantly, with a beautiful gold ring shining on one of his fingers.

—If you don't believe me, come see my trophy!—Helena said, pointing her hand towards a pile of fallen tree leaves.

—Some leaves?—Apolo asked ironically, approaching the mound indicated by the girl.

—No, idiot, the bird fell in there—said Helena, stirring the heap of leaves with the sling. But as she stirred, another object caught her attention. The object didn't shine much, but its circular shape and green-tinged rust stood out among the red leaves. With excitement, Helena bent down and picked up the object, realizing it was a tarnished bronze ring stained with dirt.

—What's that?—Apolo asked with curiosity, getting closer to see his friend's strange find.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Helena proceeded to clean the mud off the ring with her clothes and slipped it onto her finger, showing it to Apolo as she said:

—Look at the treasure I found. Don't you think it's pretty?

—It's hideous; it's just a rusty ring. When we get back to the castle, I'll give you a better piece of jewelry if you like—Apolo responded, seeing how happy Helena seemed with the ring.

—I really like this piece, don't you think oxidized bronze is charming?—Helena asked with joy, modeling her hands with the ring.

—It has its charm...—Apolo responded, noticing that his friend was genuinely excited about this piece of scrap metal.

—Of course, it has its charm! Its worn condition only indicates it has a great story behind it—Helena commented with excitement, imagining how the ring had ended up in the middle of this forest.

—How do you think it got here? No one can enter these woods...—Apolo commented, also interested in the story of the ring.

—No idea, but perhaps it belonged to a merchant from the Seas of Deo—Helena replied, letting her imagination run wild.

—But we're in a forest. Why would a merchant come into the middle of the forest? Are they planning to trade seeds with the birds?—Apolo responded sarcastically.

—Maybe it belonged to Echo, an old druid who wandered aimlessly through the world—Helena commented, looking at her ring with delight.

—Druids? In the Empire? This ring should be like ten thousand years old, and it's not even fully rusted—Apolo exclaimed, looking at the sky and realizing that sunset was approaching —It's getting late; we should start heading back to the castle, or my father will punish me again.

After saying that, Apolo started walking without waiting for Helena's response. The girl noticed her friend was leaving and, before being left alone, decided to run to catch up with Apolo.

—Are you sure this is the right direction? I'd think we're actually heading in the opposite way—Ignoring the boy's question, Helena looked at the orange sky with doubts.

—Of course, it's this way, isn't it?—Apolo asked nervously. In reality, he had strangely forgotten how he had come, but his young mind didn't want to admit his mistake to his friend.

—I don't think so. Look at the sky. We're walking toward the star of the Colossus, but we should be going towards the star of Thais—Helena lifted a branch from the ground, pointing at two tiny dots in the sky, barely visible due to the approaching twilight.

—You're right! We almost got lost in the forest, Helena! —Apolo shouted with fear, looking at the two dots in the sky and realizing his error.

—I'm always right...—Helena responded with a mischievous smile, advancing in the direction she had indicated.