Chapter 48 The Forest’s Secrets
Amara’s POV
The woods had a new feel.
It became quieter as I went farther. No wind. No birds. Only the sound of my breathing and the gentle crunch of leaves under my boots.
Something inside of me told me to go back. However, like a quiet compass, the mark on my skin pulsed, warm and steady, guiding me forward. I only knew I had to keep walking; I had no idea where I was headed.
"Where am I?” I said as I looked about. "Spirits, please show me if you're here."
The air had been calm a moment before, but now a soft breeze coiled around me. Like a hand drawing me forward, it pulled at my cloak.
I did the same.
Ancient stones, moss-covered and fractured with age, replaced the trees. They resembled forgotten pillars from another era, standing in odd patterns.
There was a secret grove where the land slanted downward. Something there, in the middle, stopped me cold.
An altar in ruin.
I could see the carvings on its surface, but it was half-buried in the ground, suffocated by plants and roots. In the moonlight, weak symbols, such as the ones on my wrist, flickered dimly.
My pulse quickened. "This is something I dreamed about."
I moved closer, raking the dirt and leaves away. Despite the coolness of the night, the air surrounding the altar shimmered a little, like heat rising off stone.
My arm began to warm as my fingers touched the edge.
I heard them after that.
Whispers.
Soft and ancient, rather than mocking or cruel like the Hollow Witch's voice. Like a lullaby in a tongue that has been lost.
I leaned closer.
"Who are you?” I whispered. "What are you hoping I'll see? "
The trees rustled as a burst of wind blew through the forest. Under my hand, my sigil, the one on the altar, came to life.
Furthermore, I was no longer in the jungle.
The world was altered.
The sky became crimson. The trees turned to ash. Wolves howled in agony as fire danced across the air. I was standing in the centre of a battlefield, yet that wasn't the case right now. It reminded me of... earlier. A long time ago.
A woman wearing white and silver garments stood in front of the altar. Her hair resembled mine. I looked into her eyes.
I was her.
Or a different self.
Moon Priestess, the first.
I wasn't sure whether she could see me, but she turned her head and stared directly at me.
"I let them down," she said. "You can't."
The Hollow Witch reappeared in my vision, younger and yet stunning. She was not yet the monster.
Her eyes, however, were already dark.
At one time, she stood by the Priestess.
Sisters?
Friends?
I had no idea.
However, the pain between them felt to me like an unhealed wound.
The vision broke when the altar surged once more beneath my palm.
My knees were weak and I was panting as I returned to the grove.
Even brilliant were the sculptures beneath my hand. I felt a tingle in my fingers.
I was unable to read the words that emerged in the stone, yet I managed to understand them somehow.
"One heart must be broken. One bond must be sealed. One soul must rise."
"What does it signify? I said. "Who needs to be damaged? "
Once more, the woods were quiet.
The light from the altar intensified, enveloping me in a silvery flame.
The mark on my arm had altered when I looked down.
It had become widespread.
Swirling across my flesh, new sigils climbing up toward my shoulder like roots.
They were the same ones I had seen in the dream.
I shuddered and retreated.
"No. No, this is excessive. I am unable to—”
Abruptly, the wind howled.
In my ear, a voice whispered.
"Now she remembers you."
My blood froze.
"The Hollow Witch"
She was aware of my presence.
She was aware that I had located the altar.
She wasn't pleased either.
The ground beneath the altar suddenly cracked. The entire forest trembled as if something beneath the ground were awakening, and the engravings shone brighter than before.
I spun around and took off running.
I knew something had shifted inside of me, though, even as I ran away.
The mark. The idea. The altar.
I was more than simply a girl torn between two partners.
I was the difference between this war ending and something worse beginning.