Elyre was like a shadow when she arrived back in Wild Wood, covered by a gray cloak. She arrived at night. She used magic to make a torch that illuminated the space around her. She felt that she'd been away for so long and now everything seemed different.
She was trying to find the right path but in the darkness it was hard to recognize where she had ended up. Strange. She was supposed to be somewhere in the middle of the forest. Her shoes became damp in the grass, which hid the droplets of recent drizzle.
Usually she knew the forest so well, but now she felt disoriented. The place where she had teleported had to be in the center of Wild Wood. Then why… there was no one around? Yes, it was in the middle of the night, but still… This was a busy part of the forest.
She couldn't even hear animals nearby. She couldn't see trees. The darkness and fog added for poor visibility. Where exactly was she?
Elyre groped for the pack tied to her waist where she carried the cure for maginopia, just to check if it was still there.
She stopped in front of a stump illuminated by the torch in her hand. The wood-nymphs who lived in the forest had many healing abilities and they often helped trees. As a result, there were rarely any stumps in the middle of the forest. It was surprising to find one here.
Elyre hoped the tree hadn't been cut down because of maginopia. It wouldn't be good if the disease had spread so further into the forest. She bent down and noticed that the stump was strangely burnt and dry, as if withered by magic. She got frightened.
She walked around and saw another stump.
And other stumps.
For a moment, she slowed down her pace as she could not believe her eyes. She thought that she might have teleported herself at the wrong location. Then, she noticed different objects that hinted she was at the right place.
But the forest was destroyed.
What could have happened to Wild Wood?
Her hand that held the torch trembled, her heart beat fast, tears fell from her eyes so spontaneously that she didn't even frown. Then she went further and further away, looking around as much as this was possible in the almost impenetrable darkness, but she couldn't see a single healthy tree. She increased her pace, then slowed down. Her hands grew cold.
How was this possible? Who would attack trees with magic?
Elyre unwittingly clutched the pack with the cure for maginopia. Now it was of no use. She was so devastated, she couldn't even cry or speak. There was no one around.
A single moment seemed to have put an end to her existence the way she knew it. Now what? She was helpless to do anything about it. She walked for a little while; she was out of her senses. There was no Wild Wood. How was it possible?
Time passed. It was raining lightly, but Elyre ignored that. A feeling of bitterness filled her heart.
She collapsed on the ground. Maybe the next morning this would turn out to have been just a nightmare?