Chapter 103 The Whispering Roots

Chapter 103 The Whispering Roots
The hum grew louder. It was not a sound I heard with my ears. It was a vibration in my bones. In my teeth. In the gray skin of my hands. It pulled me. North. Away from the camp. Away from the safety of the pack.

I left at dawn. The sun was pale. Yellow. Weak. The air was cold. Mist hung low. Over the grass. Over the trees.

I did not tell anyone. Not Clara. Not Marcus. Not Elias. They would stop me. They would say it was dangerous. That I was fading. That I needed rest.

But I could not rest. The leaf burned in my pocket. Hot. Urgent. Come. Come. Come.

I walked through the forest. The trees were tall. Old. Oak. Pine. Birch. Their leaves were green. Real. But they seemed dull. Compared to the blue glow in my mind.

Animals fled. A deer ran. Fast. Silent. A bird took flight. Wings beating hard. They sensed what I was becoming. Something wrong. Something empty.

I did not care. I followed the pull.

Deeper into the woods. Further from the mountain. The ground was soft. Moss. Dirt. Roots twisted under the soil. Like snakes. Like veins.

The hum got stronger. Louder. It vibrated in my chest. My heart beat slow. Thump... pause... Thump. But the hum was fast. Frantic.

I stopped. At the edge of a clearing.

There stood a single tree.

It was different from the others. Taller. Thicker. Its bark was black. Smooth. Like obsidian. Like glass.

And in the bark... blue veins.

They pulsed. Bright. Electric. Like the leaf. Like Damian’s eyes.

I stepped closer. My boots crunched on dry leaves. The sound was loud. In the silence.

The tree hummed. Loudly now. A song. Low. Sad. Distorted.

Selena...

I froze. Was that his voice?

No. It was the tree. The roots. The conduit.

Damian was using the earth. The underground network of roots. To send a signal. To reach me.

But the signal was weak. Broken. Static-filled. Like a radio tuned to the wrong station.

I reached out. My gray hand trembled. Sparks jumped. Blue. White.

I touched the bark.

Cold. Hard. Smooth.

Shock.

Violent.

A vision flashed. Behind my eyes. Bright. Blinding.

Not Damian. Not his face. Not his pain.

A place.

A tower.

White. Tall. Made of bone. Polished. Clean. No moss. No life. It stood on a hill. In the distance. Surrounded by fog. By gray sky.

It looked lonely. Cold. Dead.

But it called to me. Stronger than the mountain. Stronger than the leaf.

Find me, a voice whispered. Not Damian’s. Something else. Older. Deeper.

The vision faded.

I pulled my hand back. Gasping. My arm numb. The blue veins on the tree dimmed. Faded. The signal was spent.

I stood there. Shaking. The forest was silent. No birds. No wind. Just the hum. Fading.

I knew where I had to go.

The White Tower.

It was North. Beyond the ruins. Beyond the known world.

But why there? Who was there?

Was Damian there? Or was his essence being pulled there?

I did not know. But the tree had shown me. It was a map. A direction.

I turned. To go back. To the camp. To prepare.

But as I turned... I saw him.

Elias.

Standing behind a tree. Watching. His gold eyes were serious. Sad.

"You found it," he said. His voice was low.

I did not hide the leaf. I held it up. Blue. Glowing.

"He is calling," I said. "From the North. From a tower."

Elias stepped forward. Out of the shadow. He looked at the tree. At the fading blue veins.

"The Whispering Roots," he said. "Old magic. Before the reset. Before the baby. Damian is using the earth to speak. But the earth is tired. Sick."

"I have to go," I said. "To the tower."

Elias shook his head. Slow. "It is dangerous, Selena. The North is not like here. The void is stronger there. The old wounds are open."

"I don't care," I said. My voice was flat. Cold. "I am fading anyway. If I stay... I become stone. If I go... I might find him."

"And if you don't?" Elias asked.

"Then I fade," I said. "But I will have tried."

Elias looked at me. For a long time. He studied my gray skin. My hollow eyes. My static hands.

"You are not human anymore," he said. "You are a vessel. A conduit. The bond is eating you."

"I know," I said.

"If you leave the pack's land..." Elias started. "The protection ends. The void outside... it will hurt you. Burn you."

"I can take it," I said.

Elias sighed. A heavy sound. "You are stubborn. Like him."

He stepped closer. "If you go... I must go with you."

I looked at him. Surprised. "Why?"

"Because you will die without me," he said. Flat. True. "And because I need to see the Tower. I need to know who calls."

I nodded. "Okay."

We walked back. Through the forest. The hum was gone. The leaf was quiet. But the image of the tower remained. In my mind. White. Bone. Cold.

Find me.

I would.

Even if it killed me.

Even if I vanished.

I would find the tower.

And I would find Damian.

Or what was left of him.