🌌 Chapter 7.1 – The Whispering Forest

"Where silence fills the air, the invisible begins to speak."
🌸 Scene: Floriran Road – Noon
The sun stood at the center of the sky.
The fields of Floriran shimmered with golden tones and violet essence.  The breeze carried petals as if the world were saying goodbye to them.
Zareth and Sefir, far from the village… walked toward an uncertain destiny,  One traced by blurry visions and broken memories.
They stopped by a river to rest.  The water seemed to sing its own poem.  "When waters whisper, they don’t just sing… they guide."
🪨🌊 Scene: Riverbank of Floriran
The river sang.  A sweet tune gliding between rocks, as if the water held ancient secrets.  The breeze caressed the treetops with dancing gusts.  Birds swooped down, catching leaping fish, then returned to the sky with their prey.
On some rocks, Zareth and Sefir rested.  They roasted fish over an improvised bonfire: dry branches, stones in a circle.  Lit with a fire spell recited by Sefir:  > "Ignis Doralis," she said, invoking warmth without burn.
Zareth, sitting with a stick in hand, began drawing in the sand.
Sefir watched him with curiosity.
—"What are you drawing?"
Zareth didn't look up.  He kept tracing lines.
—"I saw a map… while we were running.  A massive projection. It formed before me, like the forest was showing us its path."
—"To scale?" —asked Sefir, puzzled.
Zareth paused.  Then pointed to each symbol in the sand:
—"Here we are," —he said, pointing at a line.  —"This is the forest," —he marked a tree.  —"And here… the castle," —he drew a small figure of towers.
Sefir laughed.
—"Now I get it!"
Zareth stood up.
—"Let’s put out the fire.  Night will fall soon… and with it, the nocturnal beasts."
Sefir stood, uneasy.
—"Beasts? Like the ones in the stories Dad used to tell us?"
Zareth smiled with a dark excitement.
—"Yes.  But this time… I’ll be the one to face them."
Sefir fell silent, extinguishing the fire with soil.  The two ventured into the forest.
🌌🌫️ Scene: The Whispering Forest
Zareth and Sefir ran through the shadows of the Whispering Forest.  Night fell like a slow curtain.  Tiny lights floated around like ghostly fireflies.  Light hid among twisted branches, and the forest’s green turned deep blue.
Each step deeper was an echo of tension.
Stares were felt from every direction—  Hidden behind trunks, bushes, quivering leaves…  The forest watched.  It didn’t attack.  It simply waited.
Zareth and Sefir moved among exposed roots and living vines.  Suddenly…
A sweet, seductive, familiar voice whispered in Zareth’s ear.  He felt an invisible hand touch his shoulder.  There was no pain—only weight.
> "The girl with you...  > will betray you.  > Stay away.  > Don’t trust her…"
Zareth turned.  No one was there.
Only Sefir, still at his side.
—"Zareth," —she said, eyes uneasy— "I feel like we’re being watched…"
Zareth breathed slowly.
—"Those stares haven’t stopped for a while now.  And the deeper we go… the more intense they get."
Sefir lowered her voice.
—"I hear distant cries…  Broken screams…  And a voice calling me.  Fading more each time…"
Suddenly—
The forest opened.
From the trees, two impossibly beautiful women emerged.  Pearl-green dresses. Floral tiaras. Silver hair glowing without light.
One stepped forward, her stride firm, as if walking on essence.
—"STOP!" —she cried with a thunderous voice wrapped in nectar.
Zareth and Sefir froze.  As if time had heard her and obeyed.
Three more dryads emerged from the mist.  Each looked sculpted by the world’s finest painter.  Above their heads… light spirits floated, pushing every shadow away.
Then they spoke.  Not all at once—  But one after another, like an ancient harmony:
1. —"Where are you going...?"  2. —"It is a path..."  3. —"Of death..."  4. —"Take another…"
1. —"Trail..."  2. —"If you don’t wish…"  3. —"To perish…"  4. —"Follow us…"
Zareth looked at Sefir.  Sefir looked back, hesitant.
—"We can’t follow them," —he said.  "We’re in a hurry.  This is the path we must take."
The dryads responded in unison,  Their voices like birds singing from another realm:
—"We don’t wish for you to perish.  Allow us to guide you to a safe place.  Just for tonight.  We promise you’ll come to no harm…"
Sefir, with just one look, nodded.  Zareth understood.
He turned to the dryads.
—"Alright. We’ll go with you."

🌙 Scene: The Hidden Garden  
The forest opened on one side.  A path lit by tiny spirits of light emerged between living branches.
The dryads walked first.  Zareth and Sefir followed.
Shortly after entering…  Sefir looked back.
The entrance had vanished.
Before them stretched a moonlit garden.  Gently illuminated by the moon, adorned with floral paths and scents woven into the breeze.
At the center:  A wooden table surrounded by four chairs shaped from braided vines.  Above it, a decorative canopy of leaves shielded the air from dew.
Four floral paths led to the center.  Flowers of Nerelis and Arvenae hues floated in the night breeze, releasing an almost musical perfume.
Beyond…  Giant cracked statues—  Worn down by centuries—  Covered in ancient runes.
They encircled the garden like a silent barrier.  And beyond that…  The same towering, unmoving trees of the Whispering Forest.
Zareth inhaled deeply.
Sefir touched Zareth’s side, her voice trembling:
—"Zareth… this looks nothing like the forest we were crossing…"
Zareth replied, observing every corner:
—"Maybe we’ve been transported.  Or perhaps we’re in a secluded part of the same forest…"
A dryad softly interrupted:
—"You are correct."
Sefir jolted.
—"What do you mean, correct?  Are we inside or outside the forest?"
The dryad smiled sweetly.
—"You’re still within the forest.  But this area…  Is protected by the essence of the great king…  Tenebrom."
Zareth felt the air fracture.  His chest sank as if the universe was calling him from within.  The ground quivered slightly.  The leaves shimmered.  And his essence… throbbed.
—"Tenebrom…?" he whispered, almost lost in the air.
The dryad gazed at him, a smile woven from living memory:
—"Yes.  Your father. The king not forgotten… but hidden."
Sefir stepped between them, uneasy at their closeness:
—"So that’s why you’re helping us.  You’re connected to Zareth’s father…"
But the dryad ignored her comment.
Her expression turned serious.
—"Young prince… you’re not yet ready to face what’s coming.  Monsters. Shadows. Choices.  Did you think you could defeat them without training?"
Zareth smiled nervously.
—"No… I didn’t plan on facing them… yet."
The dryad replied kindly:
—"Don’t worry.  Time will teach you."
Now… enter this chamber.
A two-meter-tall door appeared before them, carved in black wood.  Vines embraced it.  Ancient ornaments guarded it.
Zareth and Sefir were astonished.
The door creaked open deeply,  As if the world itself pushed it with effort.
The dryads spoke in unison:
—"Proceed."
They looked at each other.  And entered.
Crossing the threshold, they found themselves on a staircase of living roots and branches, lit by torches embedded in earthen walls.
Sefir clung to Zareth’s black cloak.  Zareth was alert, as if every shadow could become a threat.
—"Why so tense? We're not going to eat you, hahaha," joked a dryad.
Zareth didn’t smile.
—"Since we crossed that door… I’ve felt a strong thirst for blood.  And I’ve decided we can’t trust you just yet."
The dryad replied calmly:
—"Had we wished to harm you… we would have done so back in the forest.  That thirst you feel… has an explanation."
At the end of the staircase, a radiant light greeted them.
They entered a circular hall, with columns shaped like stone knights.  Each statue held a sword, its tip touching the ground, hands firm on the hilt.
The walls glowed with orbs of light.  The ceiling, five meters high, held a central orb that bathed the chamber in white essence.
Zareth and Sefir were in awe.
But at the center of the room…  A presence unsettled them.
A black-violet essence filled the air—  Moving like living mist.  And at the far end… chained, bound by runic chains that emitted dark energy, stood the first opponent.
A dryad pointed.
—"What you see there…  Is your first adversary, dear prince..."
There it was—  The Arkashadow.
A nightmare creature.  Like a minotaur… but taller, wider.  Its horns twisted like thorned spires.  Eyes vacant, burning with rage.  Its body appeared carved from stone and shadow-flesh.
The chains holding it were covered in rune inscriptions.  Black essence seeped from every link.
Zareth instinctively stepped back.
Sefir said nothing.
The dryad spoke:
—"Before facing him… there is something you must know."
Zareth looked at her.
—"Something important?"
—"Very much so.  This chamber and the garden above… are remnants of the ancient Castle Umbrael, your father’s realm."
Your duty now… is to find every lost part of the kingdom.  Its caretakers.  And the Memo Verum: memories of the past sealed in essence.
We… are the guardians of this section.
And now… we present ourselves.

🌸 The Garden and Chamber Guardians
1. "My name is Flora."  2. "I am Flor."  3. "Mine is Florian."  4. "And mine, Val."  5. "And I am Mel."
One by one, they knelt before Zareth.  One knee to the ground.  The other bent.  Heads bowed.  Absolute respect.
Zareth and Sefir remained silent.
Zareth murmured:
—"You shouldn’t bow to me.  I am not worthy…"
All five responded together:
—"Dear prince… allow us."
Since our king’s departure… we didn’t know what to expect.  But when we felt your essence yesterday…  We knew his lineage lives in you.
Zareth closed his eyes.  He felt the weight of the past embrace him.

🛡️ Separation and Training
The dryads approached Sefir.
—"Miss… come with us.  If you are to help the prince… you must train as well."
Sefir hesitated:
—"Train? Where?  I’m staying with Zareth."
Zareth looked at her.
—"It’s okay.  Go with them."
She turned, frustrated.  Walked to a hidden door beneath one of the pillars.
Upon crossing it… the door closed.
And vanished.
Zareth stepped toward it.  But there was no time.
The Arkashadow’s chains began to release.  > CLANK… SHHHHNK… THUD.
The metallic sound echoed.  One by one… they fell to the ground like defeated serpents.
The Arkashadow roared—  A thunder that shook the chamber as if a mountain had cried out.
Zareth unsheathed his black sword.
He took his stance.
There was no turning back.
The training… had begun.