Harris tightened his grip on the lantern, the faint light flickering over the thick, gnarled roots that twisted across the forest floor. Every instinct told him to turn back, to stay away from the Forest of Forgotten Souls. He knew the tales: the whispers of spirits wandering aimlessly, guarding ancient secrets, their silent cries echoing through the trees. No one entered this forest and came out the same—or came out at all.

But Elara was in there, somewhere.

He could still see the look in her eyes before she'd disappeared. Just days ago, she'd been asking about the stories of the forest, pestering him about legends passed down from their father. They'd heard them all their lives: how the forest kept the lost and took back what it was owed. He never imagined that Elara would be drawn to it, not until he'd found her tracks at the forest's edge, disappearing between the dark trees.

Now, standing at the threshold, Harris took a shaky breath. "I'm coming for you, Elara," he whispered to himself, as much a promise as a prayer.

The trees loomed overhead, their twisted branches stretching out like fingers trying to block the sky. Mist clung to the ground, curling around his ankles as he took a hesitant step forward, then another, deeper into the shadows. The air was thick, heavy, almost suffocating. With each step, he felt the forest closing in, as if watching him, judging him.

The first hour was silent, the only sound his own footsteps crunching over fallen leaves. Shadows shifted at the corners of his vision, just beyond the reach of his lantern. He kept his eyes fixed ahead, trying not to let the fear creep in, focusing instead on finding signs of Elara.

Then, he saw it: a small, delicate bracelet lying half-buried in the dirt. Harris's chest tightened as he knelt down, recognizing the woven threads. Elara had made this herself, a little charm she wore every day.

"Elara!" he shouted, his voice echoing into the vast emptiness.

Only silence answered him. And then—a whisper. Faint, almost too soft to hear, but unmistakable. It drifted from deeper within the trees, a soft murmur that sounded like his sister's voice, calling his name.

"Help me…"

Harris froze. The voice was weak, fragile, but it was Elara. His heart hammered as he strained to listen. The whispering voice came again, further off this time, fading like a gust of wind.

"Help…"

Without thinking, he plunged forward, ignoring the warning signs carved into the trees: ancient runes he couldn't read but had always been told to fear. His pulse raced as he pushed through thorny branches and twisted roots, each step feeling like it pulled him further from the world he knew.

And then, just as suddenly as it began, the voice stopped.

He came to a clearing, shrouded in mist so dense he could barely see his hand in front of him. The trees around him seemed older here, massive trunks with bark as hard as stone, their branches knotted together in impossible shapes. In the middle of the clearing stood a strange figure—a woman, clad in tattered, ghostly robes that seemed to flow with the mist itself. Her face was hidden beneath a hood, and in her hands, she held a key, its metal shimmering with a pale blue light.

Harris felt a chill crawl up his spine. "Who… who are you?" he stammered, taking a cautious step back.

The woman's head tilted slightly, as if studying him. When she spoke, her voice was like the whispering wind, ancient and weary. "You seek what is lost, but the forest does not give without taking in return."

Harris swallowed hard. "I need to find my sister. Please… I'll do whatever it takes."

The woman's hand extended, offering him the key. It pulsed with a cold light, its touch numbing his fingertips as he took it. "This is but one key," she said. "There are others, hidden in lands beyond the forest's edge, each protected by trials you cannot yet imagine."

Harris stared down at the key, feeling the weight of her words. "How many?"

The woman's eyes, the only visible part of her face, glowed faintly under her hood. "Enough to test every corner of your soul. Only with them all may you free what you seek… or lose yourself within these shadows forever."

Before he could respond, the woman dissolved into mist, her form fading into the darkness, leaving him alone with the key in his trembling hand. The realization sank in—this was just the beginning. He would need to gather these keys, face whatever trials awaited, and prove himself against forces older and darker than he'd ever imagined.

Taking a steadying breath, Harris raised his lantern and stepped forward, deeper into the unknown, knowing that the journey ahead would demand more than he'd ever thought himself capable of.