Chapter 69 Chapter 69

Chapter 69 Chapter 69
Yulia

They all bowed at the same time like they were following some kind of order. Every single creature in the forest lowered itself toward me, their bodies shimmering but staying steady, all of them looking right at me.

The air in the forest changed, it wasn’t just tense, it was heavy, like something was pushing down on my chest, getting deep into my bones.

My body reacted before my mind did, the thing inside me started moving, it wasn’t weak or far away, it was strong, alive.

It was reaching out from me to them and to that thing standing deeper in the forest. I could feel it watching me… waiting for me.

“Don't move,” Luci said, his voice low and calm.

I didn’t realize I had taken a step forward until his grip on my arm got tighter, stopping me from moving. My eyes were still on the creatures. “They are not attacking,” I said quietly.

“That doesn't make this safe,” Rhys said.

He was right. This was different. “They are responding,” I said. “Not just to it… to me.”

That was the part. I knew it for sure now, I could feel it through that connection. When I focused on it, the creatures moved a little, enough to show me I was right. Luci noticed it immediately.

“Yulia,” he said.

“I'm not doing anything,” I said, even though that was not entirely true, because I was. Not with my body. The thing inside me was moving, reaching back, and the creatures were following it.

A low sound came from the forest, it wasn’t a growl, not a voice… something in between. The creatures did not lift their heads, but I felt them react, they were responding to it, not to us. My eyes lifted past them, deeper into the trees.

The figure was still there, clearer now, it wasn’t a shape anymore. It was tall, still watching me in a way that felt deliberate. It knew what it was doing.

“They are waiting for something,” Rhys said.

“No,” I replied quietly. “They are waiting for me.”

The words hung in the air between us. Luci’s grip on my arm got tighter. “We are leaving,” he said.

“They will not stop us,” I said.

“That is not a risk I'm taking,” he said.

Before I could say anything, the feeling in my chest changed again, it was sharper this time, like something was pulling at that connection. My breath caught as the feeling got stronger, it was reaching further than before. Then I felt it… something new. Not just knowing something, but a pull, it was subtle but clear, it was drawing me toward the figure.

My foot moved before I could stop it. Luci’s grip snapped tighter immediately. “Yulia,” he said.

“I feel it,” I said, my voice lower now. “It isn't forcing me… it is calling me.”

“That is much worse,” Rhys muttered.

He wasn’t wrong, because it didn’t feel like it was controlling me. It felt like an invitation. I took another step. This time Luci moved in front of me, blocking my path. His presence cut through the pull enough to make me pause, my focus snapping back to him.

“You aren't going to it,” he said.

“It isn't coming here,” I replied. “If we want answers, I need to—”

“We do not walk into something that can control you,” he said.

“It is not controlling me,” I said.

“You do not know that,” he said.

That was the problem, he was right. So was I. The connection pulsed again, stronger this time, and the creatures reacted instantly, their bodies shifting like they were responding to the same signal. I felt it again, that pull, it was stronger now.

Then it changed.

The moment stretched, the feeling got tighter until it almost hurt, and for a split second everything went still. Then the figure moved, not stepping, not rushing… just appearing closer. Too close.

The creatures didn't react, they stayed bowed, like they already knew what was happening. My chest got tighter as the connection spiked, it wasn’t a pull anymore, it was something else… like it had locked onto me completely.

“Yulia,” Luci said, sharper now.

I couldn’t answer, because I could see it properly now. Not a face, not clearly, but enough to understand. It wasn’t one of them, it wasn’t like anything I had seen before. It was looking directly at me.

Then it spoke. Not out loud, Inside my head. “You finally listened,” it said.

The words didn’t echo, they just settled, like they belonged there. My breath caught as something inside me responded instantly, the power from before rising without me trying to make it happen this time.

That wasn’t supposed to happen. “Step back,” Luci ordered.

I didn’t move, because I couldn’t. The connection got tighter again, it wasn’t painful… it was absolute.

The creatures did not attack, they didn’t move toward us either. Instead, they spread out slowly, deliberately cutting off every path without rushing, without hesitation, like they already knew we had nowhere to go.

The one in front of me tilted its head slightly, that human face shifting again, refining, adjusting, like it was learning faster the longer it looked at me. The smile got wider, just enough to feel wrong.

Then the voice spoke again, not to me this time but to all of us. “You can leave,” it said.

No one moved, no one believed it. A pause followed, long enough to make it worse. “Leave Yulia,” it said.

Luci’s grip on my arm got tighter instantly, his body shifting slightly in front of me. “No,” he said. The word came out flat, final.

For a second nothing happened.

Then the thing in front of me laughed, it wasn’t loud, not human, but it was clear. “You misunderstand,” the voice said, softer now, almost patient. “You already are,” it said.

My chest got tighter. Something in the connection snapped, it didn’t break… it opened.

The feeling inside me surged violently, stronger than before, flooding through my chest and down my arms before I could stop it. My breath caught as the power rose again, it wasn’t responding this time, it wasn’t waiting… it was taking.

“Yulia,” Luci’s voice cut in, sharp now. I tried to move, I couldn’t.

My body locked in place as that force from before wrapped around me again, it wasn’t from the outside this time, it was from within, pulling, dragging, forcing that connection wider.

The creatures reacted instantly, every single one of them lifted from their bowed positions at the same time and stepped forward.

The ground beneath my feet didn’t shift… the forest around us flickered.

Luci’s grip on my arm got tighter again, stronger this time. “Don't you dare,” he said, low and dangerous.

It was already happening.

The thing in front of me stepped closer, close… and for the first time it reached back, not toward him, not toward anyone else… toward me.

Its hand lifted slowly, carefully, like it knew exactly what this moment meant.

“Come,” the voice said again, quieter now. Closer.

This time my body moved. Not forward, toward it.

Luci pulled hard trying to drag me, and for the first time I didn’t move with him. That was when his expression changed. Because he felt it. The connection. The resistance.

The fact that something else was holding me now. The creature’s hand stopped inches from mine. My fingers twitched, not by choice.

Then it smiled wider. “Too late,” it said.