Chapter 120 The King Belongs

Chapter 120 The King Belongs
The first voice appeared shortly after we crossed the northern border.
Soft.
Distant.
Sad.
“You’re back…”
My whole body shivered on the horse.
The cold wind swept through the dead forest as Conrad guided the group a few meters ahead of me. Kael walked beside me, intently observing the surroundings.
No animals.
No birds.
Not even insects.
The silence of that place was wrong.
The trees began to change as we advanced.
The trunks gradually darkened, like wood charred from the inside, and enormous roots broke through the frozen ground like fingers trying to escape the earth.
I discreetly placed my hand on my belly.
The baby was awake.
Quiet.
Attentive.
“Maya?”
Kael’s voice pulled me back.
I realized he had been staring at me for a few seconds.
“You’re listening again, aren’t you?”
I hesitated.
Then I nodded.
Kael let out a low sigh.
“Is it the heiress?”
Before I could answer…
the second voice emerged.
“LIAR.”
My heart pounded so hard I almost lost my balance on the horse.
This voice was different.
Deep.
Distorted.
Like several creatures speaking at once inside a bottomless pit.
“She opened…”
“She feeds…”
“The keys bleed…”
I closed my eyes tightly.
No.
No.
Not now.
“Maya.” Conrad pulled on the horse’s reins immediately upon noticing my state. “What is it?”
I opened my eyes quickly.
But the shadows between the trees were moving.
Watching.
My stomach churned.
“There’s something else here.” Silence fell over the group.
Conrad dismounted first and came straight to me.
“What do you mean?”
I swallowed hard.
“The voice has changed.”
His golden eyes hardened immediately.
“Can you understand?”
“Some parts.”
Kael dismounted as well.
“The shadows?”
I nodded slowly.
“They seem… confused.”
The second voice laughed inside my head.
A horrible sound.
That made my skin instantly freeze.
“HUNGER.”
My breath hitched.
Conrad immediately grabbed my waist to help me down from the horse.
As soon as my feet touched the ground…
the entire forest seemed to react.
The wind died.
Completely.
The shadows between the trees vibrated slowly.
And the baby moved violently.
A sharp pain shot through my abdomen.
I gasped immediately.
“Maya!”
Conrad caught me before I fell.
I put my hand to my stomach as I tried to breathe.
The baby was restless.
No.
Terrified.
Then I heard the first voice again.
The sad voice.
“Run…”
My whole body froze.
The fog appeared instantly.
Thick.
Dark.
Too fast.
In seconds it enveloped the entire forest.
The horses began to stir violently behind us.
“Formation!” Kael shouted to the guards.
But the trees…
the trees were shifting.
I could see.
The trunks moved slowly within the fog, rearranging the forest around us.
“Conrad…” my voice came out trembling.
Then I heard it.
“MAAAAYA…”
The voice came from the mist.
Familiar.
My heart stopped.
My mother.
No.
She was dead.
I took an involuntary step toward the sound.
“Maya, no.” Conrad grabbed my arm immediately.
But the voice continued.
Closer.
“Daughter…”
Tears filled my eyes instantly.
It seemed real.
So real.
The mist began to slowly part before me, revealing a distant female silhouette among the trees.
My breath hitched.
“Mother…?”
The baby reacted brutally.
A burst of heat shot through my belly so strongly it made me scream.
Golden shadows exploded around my body.
The illusion vanished instantly.
The silhouette distorted.
And for a brief second…
I saw what was truly standing between the trees.
Something too tall.
Too thin.
Covered in liquid shadows.
With enormous white eyes watching me from the mist.
The creature smiled.
Then it disappeared.
Silence returned abruptly.
Conrad immediately pulled me against his chest.
“Maya, look at me.”
Trembling, I slowly raised my eyes.
His face was tense.
Frightened.
Kael surveyed the surrounding forest with his sword already drawn.
“The place is alive,” he murmured.
But I could barely hear.
Because now I understood.
The heiress wasn't the only thing trapped in Eredh.
The silence after the creature's disappearance was worse than any scream.
No one moved for several seconds.
The guards kept their weapons raised as they watched the surrounding mist, too tense even to breathe aloud.
But I…
I could still feel those eyes on me.
Even without seeing them.
Conrad held my face firmly, forcing me to remain focused on him.
“Maya, listen to my voice.”
Blinking seemed to require effort.
The voices still echoed inside my head now.
Mixed.
Confused.
“She can't control it…”
“The hunger grows…”
“RUN…”
I closed my eyes tightly.
“I can hear both at the same time,” I whispered.
Conrad exchanged an immediate glance with Kael.
“What are they saying?” Kael asked.
My throat tightened.
“The heiress is trying to warn us.”
The mist seemed to vibrate around the forest at that instant.
As if something had heard my comment.
Conrad immediately pulled me closer.
“We keep walking,” he said firmly. “We won’t camp here.”
Kael nodded without hesitation.
The guards quickly rearranged their formation as the mist slowly began to lift.
But the atmosphere didn’t return to normal.
Nothing there seemed natural.
The cold was too intense.
The trees seemed to lean towards us.
And the ground…
the ground pulsed slightly beneath my feet.
Like a distant heart buried deep in the forest.
We returned to the horses.
Conrad practically helped me up as if he were afraid to let go for even a second. And perhaps he had.
Because his eyes never left me.
Not for a moment.
We continued our journey in silence.
Only the sound of hooves breaking dead branches echoed among the black trees.
Then we began to notice something else.
Marks.
Ancient symbols carved into the trunks.
Elyrion runes.
My heart raced immediately.
Kael dismounted first to observe one of them.
“They’re still charged with magic,” he murmured as he ran his fingers over the symbol burned into the wood.
Conrad approached slowly.
And I saw the exact moment he recognized it.
His expression changed immediately.
Pain.
“My father did this.”
The air seemed even heavier around us.
There were dozens of the marks scattered across the trees now.
Like a forgotten trail in the middle of the dead forest.
Kael observed the path ahead.
“He’s been here many times.”
Conrad remained silent.
But I could feel the conflict growing within him.
Because that meant the former king never truly abandoned Eredh.
Even cursed.
Even losing his own mind.
Part of him kept returning to that place.
As if something within the forest repeatedly called him back.
Then the baby moved strongly again.
I looked ahead at that same instant.
The mist was beginning to part.
And beyond it…
something gigantic emerged from among the trees.
A structure.
Dark.
Ancient.
Covered in pulsating black roots.
And, at its center…
a door marked by golden runes gleaming faintly in the darkness.