The forest had changed again.

At first, I thought it was just my imagination—the way the shadows stretched farther, the branches curling into tighter spirals. But as we kept walking, it became impossible to ignore.

The trees no longer just shifted or grew. They were… watching.

I caught glimpses of movement out of the corner of my eye—branches twisting toward me as if reaching, leaves rustling without wind. The light dimmed, and for the first time since we’d entered this place, the whispers went completely silent.

It wasn’t comforting.

“Stop dragging your feet,” Kiera said sharply, breaking the uneasy quiet. She glanced back at me, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.

“I’m not dragging my feet,” I said, though my voice sounded small even to me. “I’m just trying not to trip over the moving trees.”

She sighed, turning to face me fully. “You’re letting the forest get in your head. That’s exactly what it wants.”

I frowned. “What it wants? You’re making it sound like the forest is alive.”

“Maybe it is,” she said simply, turning back to the path.

“That’s… not reassuring.”

“It’s not supposed to be.”

The ground beneath my feet crunched, but it wasn’t the same slick, glassy surface as before. The terrain had shifted to something softer—dirt, but speckled with glimmering crystals.

“Don’t touch those,” Kiera said without looking back.

“I wasn’t going to,” I said, even though I’d already been eyeing one of the glowing shards embedded in the ground.

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“Good. Because the last idiot who tried to pocket one of those didn’t get very far.”

Her words made me shudder. I shoved my hands into my pockets, focusing on keeping up with her pace.

“What’s up with this place, anyway?” I asked. “The trees, the crystals, the whispers—what’s causing all this?”

“Does it matter?” she said. “What you need to worry about is staying alive. Not everything here has an explanation.”

I wanted to press her, but the look on her face stopped me.

We came across a split in the path—a narrow, winding trail on one side and a wider, overgrown route on the other.

“Which way?” I asked.

Kiera hesitated, scanning the two paths. Her hand drifted to the hilt of her sword again, her grip tightening.

“The narrow one,” she said finally.

“Why not the other one?”

She glanced at me, her expression hard. “Because it’s too easy. And nothing in Aetherion is ever that easy.”

I swallowed hard, nodding as I followed her onto the narrow trail. The trees closed in tighter here, their branches forming a canopy so dense that only faint slivers of light broke through.

The air felt heavier, and I found myself struggling to breathe.

“Why do you know so much about this place?” I asked, trying to distract myself from the weight pressing down on my chest.

She didn’t answer right away.

“When you’ve been here long enough, you start to pick up on the rules,” she said finally. “Even if they don’t make sense.”

The trail opened up into a small clearing, but this time, it wasn’t empty.

A massive stone arch stood in the center, its surface covered in the same glowing runes I’d seen earlier. The air around it crackled faintly, and the ground beneath it shimmered like heat rising from asphalt.

“What is that?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“A dungeon entrance,” Kiera said, her tone unreadable.

The word sent a chill down my spine. I’d played enough games to know what a dungeon meant—traps, monsters, and danger.

“Is it safe?” I asked.

She shot me a look. “What do you think?”

“Fair point.”

She stepped forward, running her fingers lightly along the edge of the arch. The runes flared brighter at her touch, and the faint crackling sound grew louder.

“It’s low-level,” she said, more to herself than to me. “We can handle it.”

“We?” I said, raising an eyebrow.

Her eyes flicked to me, and for a moment, I thought she was going to tell me to stay behind. But then she nodded, motioning for me to follow.

“Stick close,” she said. “And don’t screw up.”

I hesitated, staring at the glowing arch. The runes seemed to pulse in time with my heartbeat, and the air around it felt thick and charged.

Something about it felt wrong—like stepping through that arch would change something I couldn’t take back.

But Kiera was already moving, disappearing into the shimmering light.

I took a deep breath and followed.