---
The slumbering wolves lay still in the underbrush, their breaths shallow but steady. Elira leaned against a tree, her chest rising and falling with exhaustion. She had forced the power back into submission, but it had left her hollow and light-headed.
Lumi crouched beside her, offering a waterskin. "Here," she said gently. "You're pushing yourself too hard."
Elira accepted it with a grateful nod and took a sip. "I had to," she murmured. "That energy… it wasn't just power. It was like a voice—something in the forest was *pleading* for me to act."
Lumi tilted her head, watching her closely. "You're starting to sound like Yuki."
Elira gave a tired smile. "Don't tell him that. His ego's already big enough to fill the whole forest."
"Oh, he'd *definitely* start calling himself Forest Whisperer," Lumi smirked, placing a hand on her hip.
"Guardian of Green," Elira added with a laugh.
"Protector of Pinecones."
They both burst into soft chuckles, the tension between them finally loosening. For a moment, the weight of the battle, the looming curse, and the dangers around them faded behind that shared laughter.
Kael, leaning against a nearby rock, raised an eyebrow. "Glad to see you two have time for a comedy show. Should I sell tickets?"
Lumi waved him off with mock indignation. "You'd just spend it all on enchanted combs for your hair."
Brann, sitting cross-legged beside the still-sleeping wolves, muttered, "I could use an enchanted comb…"
Kael blinked. "Wait, do you even *have* enough hair to comb?"
"Not the point!" Brann huffed.
The levity helped settle the group, even as Elira's thoughts churned. Deep down, she could still feel the roots of something ancient pulling at her consciousness. The curse affecting these wolves—it wasn't natural. Something had twisted their essence, and the forest was beginning to fight back through her.
"I think I need to go deeper," Elira said at last, standing slowly. "The curse isn't just corruption. It's spreading from somewhere… something beneath the roots. If we're going to stop this, I have to find it."
Kael pushed off the rock. "Then we follow you. You're the only one who's managed to purify them without killing them."
Brann grunted. "Let's hope whatever's at the root of this doesn't need to be cuddled into submission."
As they began moving again, Lumi walked beside Elira, her voice quiet. "Do you think this has something to do with what that spirit showed you?"
"Maybe," Elira answered. "But whatever I saw… it felt incomplete. Like I was only shown a piece of a much bigger story."
Lumi didn't reply at first. She just glanced at Elira, her expression softening. "Then let's find the rest of it. Together."
---
**Elsewhere, Deep in the Northern Glade…**
The leaves rustled softly as a lone figure moved beneath the shadow of ancient trees. The girl wore a travel-worn cloak, the silver badge on her belt glinting faintly in the dim forest light. She knelt, touching the moss-covered earth where unnatural scorch marks marred the ground.
Her elven ears twitched.
"You're late," said a familiar voice.
Lumi stepped out from behind a thick tree, arms crossed. "You're the one who insisted on moving alone, Sieris."
The silver-badged elf girl—Sieris—smirked. "I work better without distractions."
"Says the elf who once walked into a mimic because it was shaped like a crate of wine."
"That mimic was deceptive."
"You *hugged* it."
"I said it was well-camouflaged."
Lumi sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, I didn't come here to argue. I came to ask if you found anything."
Sieris nodded and pointed toward a twisted tree root pulsating with a sickly, violet glow. "There's void energy laced in the soil. Something's seeping into the land—like a poison."
Lumi's eyes narrowed. "It's spreading faster than we thought."
"Then we'd better act quickly," Sieris said. "Before the forest turns completely."
---
**Back with Elira's Group…**
The deeper they ventured, the thicker the vines grew. Strange flowers bloomed along the path, their petals tinged with dark hues and their scent cloyingly sweet.
Elira paused, placing a hand on a tree's trunk. The bark pulsed faintly under her touch—alive, aware, and in pain. Her eyes widened. "This tree… it remembers something. A battle. Flames. Screams."
"Memories of the forest?" Lumi asked.
Elira nodded slowly. "The corruption began long ago. Something was sealed deep beneath this glade, and now it's waking up."
The group continued onward, unaware that something *was* watching them from the shadows—something ancient and furious, stirring beneath the roots of the world.
---