The air changed before we even stepped into the clearing.
It wasn't dramatic—no howling wind or flashing lights. Just… stillness. Heavy and unnatural. Like the forest was holding its breath.
I stopped walking and glanced at Nyssa.
She had one hand on the hilt of her sword, her other brushing a tree trunk with the tips of her fingers. Her jaw was set, eyes narrowed.
"Something wrong?" I asked, keeping my voice low.
"Don't talk," she muttered. "Just follow. Close."
I shut up.
The trees ahead were older than anything we'd passed. Not just big—ancient. Twisted trunks wrapped in thick moss, bark blackened with time. Their branches arched overhead like a cathedral.
The light filtering through was tinged green, almost sickly.
Each step forward felt like stepping deeper into something's mouth.
About ten paces in, I felt a sharp twinge in my temples. Not pain, exactly. Just... pressure. Like my head was adjusting to some invisible weight.
Nyssa didn't slow down, but her shoulders were tight. Controlled tension.
I risked a whisper. "Are these the wards?"
"Yes."
"Are they gonna kill us?"
"Not if we move carefully."
Not super reassuring.
The air shimmered slightly—just for a moment—as we passed a particular tree. The bark there was carved in looping runes, faded and half-overgrown. I couldn't read them, but they hummed against my skin as we moved past.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Environmental Alert: You are within an active magical perimeter.
Warning: Localized cognitive distortion possible.
[Jack: Observation Tier engaged. Passive mental resistance boosted.]
I blinked the message away and kept moving.
Then I heard Nyssa's voice behind me.
"Jack."
I turned, confused—she'd been in front of me.
She was still there, a few steps ahead, crouched and motioning for me to keep up. Silent.
But the voice had come from behind me. Same tone. Same cadence.
"Jack, come back here. Now."
I didn't move.
The pressure in my skull throbbed again, slightly stronger.
My pulse kicked up.
The grove was messing with me.
I took a deep breath, fixed my eyes on Nyssa's form ahead, and followed. Deliberate steps. Slow, like I was crossing thin ice.
I didn't look back.
She didn't look at me until we cleared the tree with the carved runes. Then her head turned slightly.
"You heard it too."
It wasn't a question.
"Yeah," I said quietly. "Your voice. Behind me."
"Don't speak to anything that sounds like me."
Noted.
We kept moving, but something had definitely shifted.
The wards weren't just boundaries. They were watching.
And whatever was buried deep in these woods?
I was sure as hell it didn't want us to leave.
***
After what had felt like an eternity of waddling through a myre, the air shifted.
Not all at once. Just… subtly. Like something had exhaled.
We stepped carefully between two warped tree trunks, the kind that had been twisted by magic over time—bark blackened, knots like watching eyes. I half expected another whisper, another flicker of Nyssa's voice echoing from behind.
But none came.
My boot hit the ground, and the moss felt softer. Warmer. A breeze stirred the leaves overhead—not like before, when the wind seemed to circle and trap us. This one felt natural. Free.
Nyssa slowed beside me. She didn't speak, but I saw it in her face—the same question I had.
Were we… out?
Behind us, the trees stood darker. Denser. The shimmer in the air, the strange hum beneath our feet, the heavy tension—all of it began to fade. Slowly. Like smoke dispersing in the wind.
I turned, half-expecting the grove to slam shut behind us, to roar to life and drag us back.
But it didn't.
Just quiet. Still trees. Dappled sunlight through the canopy.
No whispers. No glyphs. No presence.
We continued walking, none of us daring another glance behind.
And then suddenly, we crossed the final tree and stepped into quiet.
Just like that, the pressure in my skull vanished. The strange shimmer in the air dissolved. No whispers, no pulsing glyphs, no more of Nyssa's voice echoing from places she wasn't standing.
Just trees.
Normal, boring trees.
The canopy opened slightly, letting shafts of sunlight fall over damp earth. Birdsong returned in faint chirps, distant but real. I took a breath—and realized it was the first deep one in minutes.
I exhaled without meaning to, and the breath shook a little.
"Did we… clear it?" I asked.
Nyssa didn't answer right away. Her eyes were locked on the forest behind us, scanning, calculating. Something about her posture stayed tense.
"The pressure's gone," I added. "I don't feel like I'm being watched anymore."
She finally spoke, voice low. "That's not normal."
"What, freedom?"
"This part of the forest doesn't let people go. Not without a toll. That grove was a convergence point. It should've triggered at least one defense."
I tilted my head. "So either we got lucky…"
"Or something let us go."
The silence between us thickened, not with fear—but with unease. Even Nyssa, who normally had an answer for everything, looked… off-balance. Not panicked. Just deeply suspicious.
The path became easier.
No roots grabbing at our ankles. No sudden cliffs disguised by overgrowth. Just worn dirt beneath our boots and the occasional branch to duck under.
Even the light had changed. Less green filtering through the leaves. More open sky between the canopy. It was the kind of change you didn't notice all at once, but little by little, the forest stopped feeling like a cage.
Still, Nyssa didn't relax.
She didn't talk. Didn't look at me. Her hand hovered near her blade the entire time, eyes flicking toward every snapped twig and shifting shadow.
I couldn't blame her.
It felt wrong, walking out of something that had so clearly wanted to keep us in.
Eventually, the trees broke.
Not fully, but enough that we stepped into a clearing where sunlight spilled down in thick, golden beams. Wildflowers grew in bursts, not the twisted fungi or dark vines from before. Birds flitted through the air—not silent like the ones deeper in the woods, but chirping. Normal.
It was the first time I'd seen Nyssa actually hesitate.
She stood at the edge of the clearing, one boot planted on the boundary between shadow and light. Her eyes scanned the open field like it was a trap.
"It's clear," I said, stepping out.
She didn't move.
"Nyssa?"
"I don't like this."
"Because we're not dead?"
"Because we should be."
The look she gave me was sharp, almost accusing. Like I'd done something wrong by surviving.
"You're saying you've been through here before?"
She nodded once. "Years ago. The forest doesn't forget. Paths don't just open."
I glanced around. The trail ahead led downhill, winding toward what looked like grassland in the distance. The treeline thinned into rolling hills, and—unless my eyes were playing tricks—there was a faint line of smoke far ahead. Civilization?
"We need to keep moving," Nyssa muttered. Her voice was distant. Distracted.
"You think something's following us?"
"I think something made a choice."
She didn't wait for a response—just stepped out into the clearing and kept walking.
I followed, trying not to let her words burrow too deep into my skull.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Milestone Reached: "The Woods Let You Go"
Reward: +3 Bond Progress (Nyssa)
New Trait Development Unlocked – Passive Pending Observation
The message shimmered faintly, then faded. No chime. No fanfare.
Just a quiet note in the background of my thoughts, as if the system was as cautious as we were.
"What now?" I asked, catching up to her stride.
"Now?" she said, eyes narrowing as the last of the trees thinned behind us.
"We find a safe place to rest. Scout the hills. And figure out what the hell just happened."
The wind picked up, tugging at her cloak.
I glanced back one last time.
The forest stood behind us, still and quiet. Like a giant holding its breath.