And so, I set off, determined to reach the center of Valenthar Forest. Along the way, I cut through the dense vegetation with my improvised medium dagger, always attentive to the sounds around me. I was alert to both the sounds of insects and larger animals, trying to discern if they posed any danger or if I had entered the territory of a predator. Luckily, I didn't encounter any hostile creatures on that initial stretch.
As I advanced, the landscape began to change. The tall vegetation that once dominated the forest floor gradually disappeared. In its place emerged a peculiar space: a sea of trees extending as far as the eye could see. But these trees were different. At first glance, they seemed normal, but soon I noticed their peculiarities.
The trunks, although seemingly ordinary, emanated heat and energy that pulsed gently, like a beating heart. Touching them was like touching something alive, conscious. There were no birds or insects on their branches, and the soil around them was soft, as if frequently turned. That place left me intrigued and suspicious.
I stopped for a moment, pondering whether I should continue or seek another route.
- "...Damn, what is this? Could this be the home of a predator?... Maybe I should try to bypass the forest... No, that would be useless. This forest seems to extend in a circle. Argh… Focus, Dravyn. Let's pass through here carefully... May the universe help me." I said
I took a deep breath and, cautiously, entered that strange part of the forest.
I had walked quite a while through that peculiar place, but the feeling of being watched persisted. Despite not encountering any animals, the sensation was suffocating. I gripped my dagger tightly and moved forward, trying to ignore the discomfort.
At a certain point, I came across a crystal-clear mineral spring. Without thinking twice, I approached it. The water was refreshing and pristine. I filled my canteen, washed my face, and took a long drink. Curiously, after drinking that water, all my fatigue vanished. I felt as if I had just woken up, renewed and full of energy.
"Haha... This is great." I murmured to myself, satisfied.
Before I could reflect more on it, however, I heard cracking sounds behind me. I slowly turned, my heart racing, and was met with something unbelievable: a row of trees was moving. They seemed to be watching me, as if they had witnessed everything I had done at the spring. Shock and fear paralyzed me for a moment, but soon reality set in.
The trees began to uproot themselves with a deafening sound. It was as if they were awakening to hunt the intruder — me. Without a second thought, I started running.
As I ran, more trees awakened around me, joining the pursuit. The sound of their trunks tearing from the ground and the echo of their movements were terrifying. My mind raced as fast as my legs, desperately trying to find an escape.
- "…HUFF…HUFF… D-damn… my stamina... HUFF..." I said.
When I started to believe I would be crushed by those colossal creatures, something extraordinary happened. An animal emerged from the forest, glowing as if made of ether. It looked like a Howlith, but its form emanated a pulsating, almost divine light. It looked directly at me, as if calling me, and then darted in a specific direction.
Without thinking, I turned in the direction it was running and followed it. My intuition screamed that this was my only chance of survival. I ran after that Howlith, even though my strength was already at its limit. When I looked back, I saw that the trees had stopped. They seemed unable to cross an invisible line, as if there was a limit to their pursuit.
The landscape then returned to normal. The vegetation, this time low, reappeared, and the forest's sounds seemed natural again. Only then did I stop running.
I sat near a rock, trying to catch my breath.
- "Huff... Huff... What was that?... Huff... What the hell were those trees... and that Howlith? Where is it?" I asked, looking around for the animal.
No matter how much I searched, it had disappeared. Deep down, I began to believe that it was the universe helping me, an intervention I would only fully understand later.
- "I can't find it... Could it be... it was really the universe helping me? Well, whatever it was, thank you very much, wherever you are. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here." I said, bowing in gratitude in the direction it had come from.
After that, I got up and continued my journey. After all, I was close to reaching the center of Valenthar.
So, I turned towards where I believed to be the center of the forest and quickened my pace. Estalyrion, at that moment, was already marking something close to four in the afternoon in the sky, and it would soon get dark.
I moved forward, trying to push the events I had just experienced out of my mind. The terrain ahead became increasingly irregular, punctuated by rocky formations.
The rocks rose like white spears, reflecting the last rays of daylight. After a few minutes of cautious walking, I saw something that seemed to be the work of human hands — an ancient structure. It was a ruin, made of extremely white stones, with statues worn by time flanking an entrance that led to what appeared to be a cave.
- "What place is this? It looks… like an abandoned temple?" I murmured, straining my eyes to catch the details in the distance.
Now, Estalyrion was already inclined on the horizon, indicating that night would soon take over the landscape. Even aware of the danger of exploring at that hour, curiosity got the best of me. I decided to continue, even if darkness reached me before arriving at the place.
- "I can't wait until tomorrow... I need to know what this is," I whispered to myself as I resumed my march with determination.
The path there was challenging. Passing by a large lake — certainly the destination of the river I had crossed earlier — I noticed the vegetation becoming increasingly sparse. Twisted, dry-looking trees rose here and there, and there were no signs of animal life. That quietness only made the environment more unsettling.
When I got even closer to the entrance, something unexpected hit me. A wave of energy enveloped me like a silent thunder, so intensely that it made me stagger and fall to my knees.
…Vooosshhh…
- "W-what was that?!" I asked, breathing heavily.
It felt like I had crossed an invisible barrier that separated the natural world from that strange place.
I got up with effort and, after breathing for a while, I continued. At that moment, twilight gave way to the stars and moons. The cave entrance was now right in front of me, with sculpted pillars standing like silent guardians. The figures at the top seemed to represent something or someone, but they were too worn to be recognizable.
- "Impressive... whoever made this had extraordinary talent," I said, reverently touching one of the columns.
I decided then to advance into the cave. Darkness was almost total, and my steps echoed strangely, as if the space ahead was larger than it seemed. However, as I advanced, blue crystals began to glow on the walls, casting a supernatural light that illuminated the path. The sight was both terrifying and fascinating.
- "This... is incredible. These crystals… how can they emit light like this? It's like living magic," I murmured, impressed.
I continued down a winding corridor, increasingly enveloped by the magical atmosphere of that place until I finally reached what seemed to be the heart of the cave.
It was a large chamber, illuminated by hundreds of crystals radiating an almost ethereal glow. In the center, a carved staircase led to an elevated platform covered by a red carpet that stood out in the rocky environment. It was impossible to ignore the feeling that this space had been made for something important. Perhaps an altar, or the center of a ritual.
With my heart racing and my body tense, I chose to hide behind a pillar that was there, trying to understand what was unfolding before my eyes. The hall around me seemed to breathe along with me, echoing every beat of my heart in the vastness of that ancient and almost sacred space.
- "... This hall... is immense... Surely a very ancient people lived here..." I murmured to myself, although my voice came out more like a trembling whisper. But then my eyes were drawn again to the center of the stone platform.
There was a sort of indistinct mass, hidden by shadows and the oscillating light of the crystals, which began to move slowly. First, a small tremor ran through the environment, as if the very ground resonated with its awakening. It stretched something that looked like legs... and after that, what seemed to be wings, yes, WINGS.
The air around me seemed to freeze. My body was completely paralyzed as that being stretched with a majesty that defied anything I could imagine.
- "This... This isn't real... It's impossible..." I whispered, but my words barely came out as tears streamed down my face.
I fell to my knees, completely unable to move. Everything I had been through up to that point — the fear, the pain, the loneliness — disappeared as if it had never existed. In that instant, something in me reconnected with life. There it was: a dragon.
- "It's a dragon..." I repeated, my voice barely more than an incredulous breath.
Throughout my life, this was my greatest dream, the reason my heart still beat, even in the face of everything that had happened to me. To see a dragon — that was my goal, my fuel to keep going, no matter how difficult the path.
And now, there it was, in front of me. The most magnificent creature I had ever seen or would likely ever see. Its scales gleamed faintly under the bluish glow of the crystals, as if every inch of its skin was sculpted from living metal. Its wings extended with a breath-taking elegance, and even in that dim light, its eyes shone like lost stars.
I was absorbed. For the first time, I felt complete. For the first time, I felt that being Dravyn Skaroth, despite everything, made sense.