Dusk settled over the forest like a cloak of shadows, smothering the dying light with its slow embrace. Elena pulled her tattered cloak tighter, her fingers numb against the icy air. The muddy path stretched ahead, winding through a maze of skeletal trees that whispered secrets in a language she couldn't understand.
She had grown used to the dark.
"Beyond the forest lies the cursed throne," the village elder had murmured, his voice trembling. "The Rose Crown waits, surrounded by thorns and shadows. But beware, child. It only bows to the chosen—and devours the unworthy."
Those words had haunted her for days. Now they guided her feet.
Her breath curled in faint plumes as she pushed forward, her boots sinking into the mud. The forest was unnervingly quiet. No rustling leaves, no chirping birds—only the sound of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. The deeper she ventured, the heavier the air became, as if the forest itself were watching, waiting.
Why am I doing this? she asked herself for the hundredth time.
The truth gnawed at her like an unrelenting hunger. The kingdom was collapsing. The throne had fallen into the hands of Lucian, the Usurper, a man as cruel as the winter's frost. She had watched helplessly as her village was burned to ashes, her people slaughtered or scattered like dust. She had run. Run until her legs ached and her spirit splintered. But running wasn't enough anymore.
The whispers of the Rose Crown had found her, promising salvation—and perhaps something more.
Suddenly, a sound.
Elena froze.
The snap of a twig echoed unnaturally loud, reverberating through the still air. She turned sharply, her eyes scanning the gloom. The shadows pooled together, shapeless and unyielding. She tightened her grip on the dagger strapped to her thigh.
"Who's there?" Her voice was steady, though her pulse betrayed her.
Silence.
Then—movement.
A figure emerged from the shadows, cloaked in black and edged in steel. The stranger's armor glinted faintly, his silhouette sharp against the mist curling at his feet. His face was hidden beneath a hood, but his presence felt like a blade against her throat—dangerous, deliberate.
"A girl alone in the Thorned Forest?" His voice was low, smooth as velvet yet cold enough to bite. "Brave… or foolish."
Elena raised her chin, though every instinct screamed at her to run. "Who are you?" she demanded.
The man stepped closer, the shadows clinging to him like loyal servants. "A question for a question, little dove. Who are you to tread where others fear to walk?"
The chosen, a reckless part of her wanted to say. But the words caught in her throat.
"I'm looking for something," she said instead.
He tilted his head, amused. "The crown? How predictable."
Her heart skipped a beat. "You know of it?"
"I do," he said softly, his gloved hand resting on the hilt of a long, wicked sword. "But I wonder… do you know what it costs?"
Elena's breath hitched. "What do you mean?"
He took another step forward, and the forest seemed to darken around him. "The Rose Crown is not for the faint of heart. It tests. It chooses. And it devours those who are unworthy."
The words struck her like a blow. It devours. The elder's warning echoed in her mind, but she pushed the fear down.
"Then I will prove myself worthy," she said, her voice firm.
The man stilled, as if surprised. For a long moment, he said nothing, and Elena wondered if she had overstepped, if she had unknowingly sealed her fate. Then, to her astonishment, he laughed—a low, hollow sound that made her skin prickle.
"Very well, little dove," he said at last. "If you seek the Rose Crown, then I will guide you to it."
"Why?" she asked warily.
"Because," he replied, and for the first time, she glimpsed the faintest glint of his eyes beneath the hood, sharp as a predator's, "I am bound to it, as you will soon be."
The wind picked up then, swirling around them in a frenzy of dead leaves and cold whispers. Elena shivered, but she held her ground, even as her mind screamed that this man—this knight of shadows—was not to be trusted.
The crown, she reminded herself. Find the crown. Save the kingdom.
"Lead the way," she said.
He smiled, though she could not see it. "As you wish."
And so, Elena followed the stranger deeper into the forest, unaware that with each step, the thorns of fate wrapped tighter around her, pulling her ever closer to a destiny she could not escape.