Viana jolted awake, the taste of dirty cotton filling her mouth. Bone-chilling cold replaced Whisper's warm embrace. Thick, oppressive darkness and utter silence enveloped her. The acrid stench of sulfur and stale metal tickled her throat, making her choke slightly. Where was she? Her memories were chaotic – purple mist exploding, Whisper's claws gripping tight, then... emptiness.
"Whisper!" she screamed, her voice hoarse and swallowed by the giant trees whose trunks rose like bones into the gloomy sky.
No answer came, only the rustle of dry leaves blown by the piercing cold wind. This forest was different. No birdsong, insect hiss, or babbling water. Just a crushing, dead silence.
The Dead Forest. The name surfaced in her mind unbidden, adding to her terror.
Shaking, she tried to stand. Her legs were weak, her body ached. She had to get out of here! She groped around, trying to follow what she believed was the way home. But every step only took her deeper into the suffocating womb of darkness. The sky, once gray, turned pitch black, the temperature plummeted. Her breath formed short white puffs. Irrational fear began to clot in her chest, pushing to escape as hysterical sobs she suppressed by biting her own lip.
Scrkk... Crraccck... Kre..k...
That sound! Feet scraping over dry leaves and dead twigs. Viana froze, her blood seeming to turn to ice. From behind the dark bushes ahead, a large shadow moved slowly. A black snout emerged from the gloom, followed by a pair of eyes glowing like pale green embers.
"Whoff..." A low snort resonated. A dog? But her instincts screamed.
No!
"Woof!" The sound was louder, closer. But what rooted Viana to the spot wasn't the sound, but the words that suddenly filled her mind, like a coarse whisper inside her skull.
[Who are you?]
Thump! Her heart pounded hard. This... it was like her first meeting with Whisper! But the energy radiating from this creature was far more savage, more primal.
"I... I'm lost!" Viana cried, her voice shrill with fear. A small hope stirred, maybe this creature could help? "Please... I don't know the way out!"
The creature stepped forward, emerging from the shadows. The dim moonlight illuminated its form. Not a dog. Not an ordinary wolf either. Its body was larger, more muscular, covered in coarse, dull-shimmering blackish-gray fur. Its snout was long, its white, sharp fangs clearly visible even without a snarl. Most chilling were its eyes: pale green, intelligent, observing her with an intensity that made her feel like exposed prey.
[Human?] Its mental voice was rough and suspicious.
[Hm, no... you are human but your scent is different.] Its snout sniffed the air towards Viana. It studied her from her tangled hair to her scratched legs.
[No human survives more than a day in this Dead Forest. What did you do to get this deep in?] The question was like a whip, demanding an answer.
Viana swallowed, her throat feeling full of sand. "I... don't know," she mumbled, her voice trembling. "There... there was purple mist. It burst out suddenly... everything blurred. I was thrown... separated from my friend... Whisper..." Saying the name made her tears flow. The suppressed sense of loss overflowed.
[Purple mist?] The green eyes narrowed sharply, the fur on its nape slightly bristling.
[Lingering miasma...] Its mental whisper was heavy with meaning and wariness.
Viana sensed the change, the increased tension. Her instincts said: explain! Find common ground!
"I'm not a bad person!" she protested quickly, almost breathless. "Do you know Lutishia? Luthein! She... she's my grandmother! No! My mother! She's my mother!" Her words tumbled out uncontrollably, hoping the name meant something.
The Beastfolk's reaction was faster and fiercer than she expected. Its body lowered, fangs fully bared, a low growl rumbling from its chest.
[You speak the Lord's name? You claim to be the Lord's daughter?] Its mental voice thundered, full of disbelief and unspoken threat.
Viana stepped back, panicked. "Yes! Whisper... Whisper told me so!" she whispered faintly, pointing at the empty air as if the winged cat might appear.
[Whisper...] The growl subsided instantly, replaced by clear shock in its eyes.
[The Lord's Guardian... one of the Three...] It fell silent for a moment, looking at Viana with a new gaze, full of consideration and deep curiosity.
[Follow me.] Its command was short and firm. It turned and walked slowly towards a darker part of the forest. Occasionally it glanced back, the green eyes ensuring Viana was still following.
With trembling legs and a pounding heart, Viana trailed behind. Every step felt heavy. Roots snagged her, thorns scratched her already raw skin, darkness made her stumble over unseen stones. Her breath came in gasps; keeping up was nearly impossible. The Beastfolk stopped, looking at her with what could be called annoyance.
[At your pace, dawn will find us before we reach the village.] It sighed deeply, then gracefully lowered its body.
[Climb on. Hold tight.]
Viana was stunned. Climb on? Onto the back of this savage, talking creature that had just snarled at her? But the cold and exhaustion spoke louder than doubt. Carefully, she clambered on. Its fur wasn't as coarse as it looked, but thick and warm, like a living carpet. She squeezed her knees tight, gripping a clump of fur at the Beastfolk's shoulders. As it stood, Viana stifled a small scream. The height was incredible!
[Hold on.]
And they shot forward. The world around her became a whirl of shadows. The night wind, once piercingly cold, now whipped her face fiercely. Viana closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them. The speed was intoxicating. She felt the power of the muscles beneath her, the strong, efficient rhythm of its stride. Unconsciously, her trembling hand began stroking the thick fur on the Beastfolk's neck. Warm. Soft. Soothing amidst the madness of the night.
The journey that felt eternal finally ended. The Beastfolk slowed before a large rock formation that looked like the collapsed mouth of a cave. But what caught Viana's attention wasn't the cave mouth, but a huge hole in the ground, wide like a giant well, dark and deep, carved among the roots of ancient trees. The smell of damp earth and something older, mineral-like, was stronger here.
[We're here.]
Viana stared at the hole. No stairs, no light. Only darkness that seemed to swallow all starlight. She swallowed hard. "Are... are we going down there?" she asked, her voice barely audible.
The Beastfolk didn't answer. It simply stepped to the edge of the hole, and without warning, jumped!
"AAAAHHHH!" Viana's scream was torn away by the wind whistling in her ears. She clutched the Beastfolk's fur with all her strength, squeezing her eyes shut. The sensation of freefall was brief but terrifying. They landed softly on something yielding, perhaps thick moss or a pile of damp leaves at the tunnel's bottom.
The darkness here was thicker, heavier. Only the Beastfolk's green eyes glowed like small lanterns before Viana. The smell of damp earth and stone was stronger, mixed with the scent of mushrooms and something alien, like old metal and static electricity. In the far, far distance, perhaps only in her imagination, she heard... a hiss? The sound of splashing water? And maybe, just maybe, the echo of human voices?
[The village is at the end of this tunnel, Lost Princess,] its mental voice sounded deeper in the resonating underground space.
[Hold your breath. The journey has only just begun.]
The green eyes began moving forward, following a narrow passage that descended sharply, diving deeper into the unknown belly of the earth.
Viana, still trembling but filled with a new kind of wonder, followed the shadow, stepping into the mystery of the Dead Forest hidden beneath the ground.
Where was Whisper? Was she safe? And what awaited her at the end of this tunnel of darkness? These questions swirled in her head, mingling with the hiss of the subterranean wind and the Beastfolk's sure footsteps.
Viana tried to focus on following the green eyes of her guide, trying to ignore the strange hisses and suffocating darkness. Then, the faint light from the Beastfolk's eyes swept over something on the tunnel wall – a deep scratch. A deep gouge in the wet stone, as if made by strong claws... and a small tuft of gray fur with a faint shimmer, caught on a sharp rock edge.
Whisper!" Viana sobbed, nearly shouting. "That's Whisper's fur! She came through here!"
Without thinking, she let go of the Beastfolk's fur and leaped from its back, staggering towards the wall, hand outstretched to touch the gray tuft.
[NO!] The Beastfolk's warning roar was deafening. But it was too late.
Viana's fingers touched the fur. Instantly, the entire section of the tunnel wall around her, dozens of stones, pulsed with a terrifying deep purple light.
Strange, ancient symbols flared, emitting an energy that made Viana's hair stand on end. A low rumbling sound vibrated the ground beneath their feet, and from the tunnel ceiling, massive chunks of rock began to fall, blocking their path and trapping them in a narrow space now throbbing with the deadly energy of miasma.
The Beastfolk's eyes looked at her, not with anger, but with profound despair.
[You just woke it up...]