Whispers of the Forbidden Gate

Arvanya's POV:

The forest around me seemed to shift as I followed the two men, the familiar canopy of trees thinning above, their branches twisting unnaturally, almost as if recoiling from the path ahead. The air grew heavier, thick with a metallic tang that clung to the back of my throat. My steps slowed as the ground beneath me hardened and cracked, like a dried-up riverbed.

Then, I saw it—a clearing unlike any I'd ever encountered. The space felt suffocating, as though the earth itself was holding its breath. Sharp, jagged rocks jutted from the ground, their shapes resembling the broken bones of some ancient beast. The shadows around me twisted unnaturally, stretching across the land in ways that defied nature, as if they were alive, watching.

In the center of the clearing stood a structure—neither a castle nor a cave, but a disturbing hybrid of both, carved into the side of a tall cliff. The entrance resembled a gaping mouth, its twisted iron bars hanging like a grotesque, silent threat. A faint, sickly green light emanated from them, casting an eerie glow that dared anyone to approach.

The walls of the structure were rough, uneven, dark stone slick with a dampness that seemed unnatural. Narrow slits marred the walls, too small to be windows, yet they gave the impression that something was watching from inside. A dim, sickly green light seeped through, casting erratic, flickering patterns across the ground outside.

Above the entrance, strange symbols were carved into the stone. Shapes that made no sense, and the longer I stared at them, the more my head throbbed. It was as if they weren't meant to be understood—at least, not by anyone wishing to stay sane.

The ground around the entrance was even more unnerving. Broken shards of crystal lay scattered, their faint glow hinting at some lingering, trapped energy. Rusted chains, large and heavy, lay tangled among the debris, their links far too massive for anything remotely normal. Just looking at them sent a chill down my spine—like they had once bound something terrible.

I couldn't understand how no one from the academy had found this place before. It wasn't far from where we usually trained, yet it felt hidden, cloaked in its own unnatural energy. The air elementals—could this be where they were being kept? Why would anyone build something so eerie to hide them?

This place felt like more than danger. It felt like a secret buried for a reason.

I turned my attention to the figures standing by the entrance. The two men I had been following were approaching the three guards stationed there. The guards stood eerily still, their faces expressionless, as though drained of all emotion. Their dark eyes never blinked, and when they moved, it was with an unsettling, precise coordination, like marionettes controlled by unseen strings.

I pressed myself closer to the jagged boulder, trying to steady my breathing, my heart racing. I strained to hear their conversation.

One of the guards stepped forward, his voice low but sharp. "When is the next target coming? We've been waiting long enough."

One of the men I had followed responded, his tone tight but controlled. "Not yet. They told us it's too risky to take anyone now. We need to wait a few more days."

The guard frowned. "Too risky? They've never cared about risks before. Why the delay?"

"They didn't explain," the second man replied, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "But you know how this works. We don't question their orders. We follow them."

I held my breath as the conversation ended. The two men nodded to the guards, exchanged a few final words, and disappeared inside the structure. The heavy iron door creaked open just enough to let them through, before slamming shut with a final, foreboding clang.

The guards resumed their positions, standing like lifeless statues on either side of the entrance, their expressions still disturbingly blank.

I remained hidden behind the jagged boulder, my mind racing. What was inside that place? It wasn't just a hideout—it felt like something far worse. The faint green glow pulsed from within, almost as if the structure itself were alive, adding to the suffocating unease in my chest.

I bit my lip, trying to piece together the fragments. They were targeting air elementals—academy students. But why? And who was giving the orders? The more I thought about it, the more one question dominated my mind: How could they abduct students without raising suspicion?

The answer chilled me to the bone. Someone at the academy was helping them. There was no other explanation for how they knew the students' schedules or how they could operate without detection. Someone inside was betraying us.

But another realization struck me like a bolt of lightning, making my breath hitch. The vision dragons whose desperate pleas I had been seeing for so long—their sorrowful cries and the faint glimpses of their human counterparts—they weren’t strangers. They were the academy students. The missing ones.

A sickening weight settled in my stomach as everything clicked into place. These weren’t just random attacks or kidnappings. This was a deliberate, calculated effort to weaken the academy by targeting its most vulnerable—those who were already looked down upon.

I clenched my fists, a mix of anger and determination coursing through me. Whoever was behind this would pay. I would make sure of it.

The forest around me seemed to hold its breath as I crouched lower, my dragons stirring uneasily within me. This place—it wasn't just a prison. It was something far worse.

I was trying to make sense of the place, wondering how I could find a way inside or gather more clues. But then it happened—a careless mistake. My foot landed on a brittle twig hidden beneath a layer of leaves, and the sharp crack echoed louder than I ever imagined possible in the silence.

I crouched behind the jagged tree trunk, straining to keep every breath silent as my heart hammered in my chest. How did I let this happen? I was so careful—until I wasn't. The crack of that twig had shattered the silence like a gunshot, and now they were coming.

The guards moved with unnerving precision, their footsteps echoing in the silence, the sound sharp against the forest's hushed whispers. Their eyes swept the surroundings, cold and calculating, while their expressions remained locked in emotionless vigilance.

Suddenly, one of them halted. "Did you hear that?" His voice was low, barely a whisper, but it carried the weight of something dangerous. "Over there."

I froze, my heart pounding as the blood in my veins ran cold. Every muscle screamed for me to move, but the guards were too close. I pressed myself into the rough bark of the tree, hoping to remain unseen, my breath shallow and ragged.

The second guard spoke, his voice thick with hesitation. "Could be an animal. We can't be too careful, though."

The first guard's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, but let's check anyway. We can't take any chances."

I couldn't wait another second. The air seemed to crackle with tension as I bolted into motion, adrenaline surging through me. My feet pounded against the forest floor as I darted between trees, my body moving on instinct. Branches whipped against my face, roots snagged at my heels, but I couldn't stop. The rhythmic sound of their pursuit was already too close.

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My dragons' warning hums echoed in my mind, urging me to push faster. My breath came in jagged gasps, but I couldn't slow down. They were closing in.

Out of nowhere, the forest shifted before me, parting like a curtain to reveal an ancient clearing. The air was thick with something oppressive, like the earth itself was holding its breath. The moonlight barely reached the ground, casting long shadows that seemed to move of their own accord.

Massive stone pillars, covered in age-old carvings, stood like silent sentinels around a raised platform at the center of the clearing. And there, in the heart of it all, was the gate—a circular, glowing stone suspended inches above the platform. Its faint light pulsed, slow and steady, as if it were alive, watching.

I didn't have time to admire it. Panic gripped me as I sprinted toward the gate, my fingers brushing the smooth, cold surface. I searched desperately for some way through, but there was nothing—no lever, no crack, no sign of how it worked.

Behind me, the guards were closing in, their voices getting louder. "This place... it's not safe for us," one of them muttered, his unease clear.

I pressed myself against one of the pillars, its cool surface offering little comfort. From here, I could see them clearly. They paused at the edge of the clearing, their eyes flicking nervously over the gate, their faces full of doubt.

"Maybe it was just an animal," the second guard grumbled, his voice low, almost too casual.

The first guard lingered a moment longer, then grunted in agreement. "It must have been. No one's stupid enough to come here at this hour."

With one last look toward the glowing gate, they turned and retreated into the forest. Their voices gradually faded as they vanished into the darkness.

I stayed hidden, my chest tight with relief and confusion, until the silence stretched out, long and heavy. Only then did I allow myself to breathe again, the air still thick with the strange pulse of energy from the gate.

I turned back to face it. The glow pulsed softly in the darkness, the symbols etched into the stone seeming to shimmer, almost alive. It tugged at the edges of my memory, a whisper I couldn't place. Something about this place—about the gate—felt so familiar, so deeply ingrained in me.

But I had never been here before.

Had I?

The sensation lingered, unsettling and undeniable, as if the gate and I shared a connection deeper than I could understand. The forest around me held its breath once more, and I couldn't help but wonder... What was I supposed to do with this knowledge?

I couldn't shake the sensation that I had uncovered something far deeper than just a hideout or a handful of guards. This place—it wasn't merely an ancient structure—it was alive with purpose, and somehow, it was meant for me. The realization hit like a bolt of lightning, shattering the quiet, my breath catching in my throat.

This wasn't just some forgotten relic in the woods. This was a part of me.

The weight of the moment settled heavily over me, my thoughts spinning as I tried to make sense of it all. The guards. The unsettling truth about the missing air elementals. And now this—an ancient, hidden place, brimming with meaning, as though it had been waiting for me. The forest around me seemed to tighten, pressing in, holding its breath, watching with silent expectation.

Why was this forest harboring such dark, powerful secrets?

I moved closer to the gate, my fingers grazing the cool stone. The intricate carvings twisted in strange, unfamiliar patterns—symbols that seemed to dance before my eyes, elusive and indecipherable. There was no sign of how to open it, no visible mechanism, but the gate's pull, its silent invitation, was undeniable. It wasn't just stone—it was a force, waiting for something, or someone. Waiting for me.

I looked around, the towering stone pillars standing sentinel in the moonlight, casting long, haunted shadows. How had no one from the academy noticed this? It was too close, too significant to remain hidden. And yet, it had stayed untouched, forgotten, perhaps for centuries.

The enormity of what I had stumbled upon crushed me, pressing down with an intensity that almost stole my breath. This wasn't just a hideout, not just a secret waiting to be uncovered. This was part of something much larger—something ancient, something alive. And it could hold the answers to everything—or unravel everything I thought I knew.

I took a step back, the weight of the moment pressing into my chest. As if in response, the glow of the gate flickered, dimming slightly. It was like the gate could sense my retreat, my indecision. My resolve hardened. Whatever secrets lay beyond this place, I need to uncover them.

I had to come back—soon.

But for that, I had to leave first.

The realization hit me like a cold wave. I was still deep in the forest, and if I didn't find my way back soon, things would spiral beyond my control. Esme would wake up and start looking for me, and once she did, the questions would come—the suspicions, the interrogations. There would be no escaping that. I had to return before sunrise, no matter what.

I forced myself to move, but the more I walked, the more lost I felt. The trees around me seemed to close in, their gnarled branches twisting above me, their roots thick beneath my feet. The underbrush whispered with movement, as if the forest itself were plotting to trap me.

My pulse quickened as panic gnawed at the edges of my thoughts. The academy wasn't far—it couldn't be. But with every step, the forest stretched further, as if mocking my sense of direction, twisting and turning, disorienting me.

My hand shot out, gripping the rough bark of a nearby tree to steady myself. My breath was uneven, my thoughts racing. That's when I saw it—just a flicker at first, like the faintest shimmer of light cutting through the oppressive darkness.

A path.

It wasn't there before, I was sure of it. The way the trees bent aside, almost as if bowing to reveal the trail—it wasn't natural. It felt deliberate, intentional, as though the forest itself wanted me to follow.

I froze, uncertainty rooting me to the spot. Could it be my nature dragon? My heart skipped a beat at the thought. It had never guided me like this before, never intervened so directly. And yet, my powers had been growing stronger, more erratic, as if they were awakening to something even I didn't understand.

The hum of my dragon stirred faintly in the back of my mind, an encouragement so soft it was almost imperceptible. It felt... right. Like the forest and my dragon were working together, showing me the way.

I swallowed hard, pushing down my confusion. There wasn't time to figure out what was happening. I had to move.

I followed the path, my footsteps quickening as the air grew lighter and the oppressive weight of the forest began to ease. The trees gradually thinned, their dense canopy giving way to glimpses of the sky. My chest tightened with hope as I pushed forward.

And then, finally, the towering spires of the academy emerged in the distance. A rush of relief coursed through me, and I let out a shaky breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

I paused at the edge of the forest, my eyes scanning the courtyard for any sign of movement. The academy lay still, its towering spires casting long, eerie shadows in the faint moonlight. Thank the stars—no one was around. I couldn't afford any suspicion right now.

After a final, cautious glance, I stepped out of the forest's shadows, my heart pounding with every step toward the north dormitory corridor. The silence was oppressive, broken only by the soft rustle of leaves behind me, making me glance back nervously. Nothing. Just my imagination.

I made my way toward the north dormitory, keeping to the shadows and walking as quietly as possible. Each step felt like it echoed through the silence, my ears straining for any sound that might indicate I wasn't alone.

I walked briskly through the quiet corridor, the soft glow from the wall sconces casting gentle shadows along the polished floor. The only sound was the faint rustling of wind outside, adding to the stillness. I moved carefully, making sure each step was light to avoid drawing attention.

When I reached my room, I paused for a moment, scanning the hallway to ensure no one was around. With a quick glance, I pulled out my keycard and swiped it against the lock. The soft beep and click of the door unlocking seemed louder in the silence than I expected. I pushed the door open gently, slipping inside and quietly closing it behind me.

The dim light from the bedside lamp revealed Esme, deep in heavy sleep in her bed. A wave of relief washed over me as I let out a shaky breath.

I shrugged off my hoodie and tossed it onto the chair, sinking onto my bed as the weight of the night hit me. My phone buzzed softly—it was 4:00 AM. Only a couple of hours until the academy stirred to life.

But sleep wouldn't come. My mind churned with questions, tangled and relentless. What had I just stumbled upon in that forest? Why were there two places so steeped in danger?

One of them—the clearing with the strange gate—still gnawed at my thoughts. Why did it feel so familiar? I had never seen it before, and yet something deep within me resonated with that place, as if it was calling to me, meant for me.

And then there was the other place—the hideout where the air elementals were being held. My fists clenched at the memory. Those men guarding them—what were they? Their aura, their scent, their very presence—it wasn't like any elemental I had ever encountered. They were something else, something far darker.

I stared up at the ceiling, my breath shallow, the weight of it all pressing down on me. How am I supposed to help those air elementals? They didn't deserve to suffer, but the odds were against me. And my powers... My dragons were acting so strangely, growing stronger and more unpredictable, like they were trying to tell me something.

A flicker of moonlight caught my eye through the curtains, and I turned toward it, my thoughts heavy with dread and determination.

For now, I was back. Safe.

But the forest wasn't finished with me yet.