Chapter Three :What's happening?

Elara’s Pov

I've always thought my village was strange but the strange occurrences in the village were becoming more regular.A shepherd claimed that the bells tied around his goats had rung long after the animals had settled for the night. When he went to check on them, he found the herd pressed together beneath the trees, staring toward the old road.

By morning, everyone had heard about it.

By midday, people were saying the bells had rung in three different fields.

By evening, the story had changed again. Some said the dogs had seen a ghost. Others insisted a pale light had moved between the trees.

No one agreed on what had happened, only that something had.

Similar stories had begun spreading beyond Briar Glen. A miller in the next village swore that his wheel had turned against the current. A woman from the northern kingdom claimed that frost had appeared inside her locked room during the summer. Travelers spoke of birds abandoning entire stretches of forest, while merchants whispered that certain roads no longer led where they should. The occurrences did not happen to everyone, or even in every place at once.

That was what made them worse.They appeared without warning, then stopped before anyone could understand them.

I tried not to think about the stories as I carried a basket of apples home from the market. The afternoon had been ordinary enough, though the village felt unsettled. People spoke in low voices, pausing whenever someone unfamiliar passed by. Near the well, I noticed a dark mark in the dirt.

It was small, no larger than my palm: a circle crossed by three narrow lines, with a crescent beneath them.I crouched beside it.

The mark looked freshly drawn, though the ground around it was dry and undisturbed. I reached toward it, then stopped when a faint sound came from inside the well.

Not a voice.

More like a breath moving through stone.

I stood quickly.

The sound faded.

For a moment, I heard nothing but the market carts creaking behind me and the distant hammering from the blacksmith’s forge.

Then the water below the well rippled.

I stepped back.

A whisper brushed the edge of my thoughts.

Found you.

I froze.

The words were so faint that I almost convinced myself I had imagined them. Then the rope beside the well shifted, scraping softly against the wooden beam.

I grabbed my basket and hurried away.

By the time I reached home, my hands were shaking.

Mira was waiting on the doorstep. She straightened when she saw me.

“What happened?”

“Nothing.”

She looked at the basket, then at my face. “You look like something chased you.”

“Something spoke to me.”

Her expression changed. “What?”

I told her about the symbol, the sound from the well, and the whisper. I tried to explain it calmly, but the words came out unevenly.

Mira listened without interrupting.

When I finished, she glanced toward the village square.

“Did anyone else hear it?”

“I don't know.”

“Then we should ask.”

“We should do nothing near that well.”

“That too.”

Before she could say more, Mother opened the door.

“Both of you, inside.”

Her voice was sharper than usual.

Mira and I exchanged a look before following her.

Father was already in the kitchen, speaking quietly with a neighbor. The woman had come to tell him that the lamps in her house had gone out one by one, though the rest of the village remained lit.

When she noticed us, she lowered her voice.

“They say the same thing happened in Westmere,” she said. “Only there, the lamps came back on by themselves.”

Father thanked her and closed the door after she left.

Tessa sat at the table with a blanket around her shoulders.

“Are the strange things happening here too?” she asked.

Mother placed a cup of tea in front of her. “Eat your biscuit.”

“That isn't an answer.”

“No,” Mother said. “It isn't.”

Father turned toward me.

“What did you see at the well?”

I hesitated.

Mira answered for me. “A symbol. The same one Elara saw in the old records?”

Father's face tightened.

I noticed.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

“That isn't what your face says.”

Mother looked at him, and something passed between them—fear, perhaps, or recognition.

Father crossed the room and took a small wooden box from the shelf. He set it on the table but did not open it.

My stomach tightened.

“What is in there?”

For several seconds, no one spoke.

Then Mother reached for my hand.

“We found you outside our door during a winter storm,” she said. “You were only a few weeks old.”

I stared at her.

“You told me I was born in Briar Glen.”

“We told you what we thought would keep you safe.”

Father opened the box.

Inside lay a folded piece of pale cloth, worn thin at the edges. He unfolded it carefully, revealing the same symbol stitched near one corner: a circle crossed by three narrow lines, with a crescent beneath them.

The room seemed to grow colder.

“That was wrapped around you,” Father said.

I touched the cloth with one finger.

“Who left me?”

“We don't know.”

“Then why hide this?”

“Because someone came looking for you,” Mother said.

Her voice trembled.

“A stranger?” I asked.

Father nodded. “Years ago. He asked whether we had taken in a child with unusual markings.”

“What markings?”

Neither of them answered immediately.

I looked down at my hands.

There had never been anything unusual about me. At least, not that I knew of.

“What did he want?”

“We didn't wait to find out,” Father said. “We told him nothing.”

“And you never told me?”

“We were trying to protect you.”

“From what?”

Mother squeezed my hand. “From anyone who might still be searching.”

A knock sounded at the front door.

Everyone went still.

Father closed the box and moved toward the entryway. He took the knife from beside the breadboard before opening the door.

A man stood outside in a dark travelling cloak. His horse shifted uneasily behind him, its breath pale in the evening air.

The man held a silver badge stamped with the royal crest.

“I am Captain Rowan of the royal wardens,” he said. “I’m investigating reports of unusual disturbances in this region.”

His gaze moved past Father and settled on me.

“Are you Elara?”

I lifted my chin. “Who wants to know?”

“By order of King Aldric Draven, I need to ask you several questions.”

Father stepped into the doorway. “About what?”

“The disturbances. The symbol appearing near the well. And any unusual events Elara may have witnessed.”

My pulse quickened.

Mira moved closer to me. “She hasn't done anything wrong.”

“I didn't say she had.” Captain Rowan’s tone remained calm. “But the reports are spreading across the villages and kingdoms. They are not happening everywhere at once, and no one has found a pattern yet.”

His eyes returned to me.

“Your name has appeared in more than one account.”

I stared at him.

“What accounts?”

“A light seen near the eastern road. A voice heard at the old well. A mark found in the dirt.”

I glanced at my parents.

Mother had gone pale. Father’s hand tightened around the door.

Captain Rowan continued, “I’m not here to arrest you. I’m here to understand what is happening.”

For the first time since he arrived, he sounded less like an officer and more like someone who was afraid of the answer.

Behind me, Tessa whispered, “Is the strange thing coming here?”

No one replied.

Outside, somewhere beyond the houses, a bell rang once.

Then another answered from far away.

Captain Rowan looked toward the sound.

The village remained quiet. No lamps went out. No shadows moved across the walls.

But the mark on the cloth seemed darker than before.

I looked at my family.

“What’s happening?”