جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 135

ARIA'S POVMy breathing caught. The world around me suddenly felt very still, until a horn echoed.“What is happening?” I panicked, looking around to catch a glimpse of the elder’s and Darren’s face.There was already enough uncertainty in my mind, I could not afford any more disturbances. Not at the moment.The haunting sound of the horn rolled across the Hidden Forest, sending flocks of glowing birds into the sky, but at least the look in their eyes was calming.I think.It wasn’t fear. It was an expectation.I looked from Darren to the Elder."What is happening?" I was quickly losing my patience and there were only so many times I could ask.The Elder folded his hands behind his back. "The forest has welcomed another traveler."His voice was bland, it was hard to tell whether that was a good thing or not. So I just stared for more information. Even though none seemed to be forthcoming.For a long moment, he simply watched me. Then he gestured toward the crystal pool. "Come." His vo

ARIA’S POVThe ground beneath my feet was shaking.My first instinct was to guess it was another test, but the Elder was trying hard to hold on to Darren and she was trying hard to hold on to him too.They looked panicked and that was not a good sign, or something that I thought to be calm about.I stretched my hands and tried to grab onto a tree or anything else for support, but I couldn’t seem to reach anything. I could have sworn all the trees moved, because a minute ago, there was one within arm’s length.“What is going on?” I yelled.The shaking came with rumbling and I had to yell at the top of my voice, just to be heard.The horror lasted at least ten minutes and finally stopped.It had shaken every bit of food in my stomach.I tried to catch my breath and closely watched Darren and the Elder, until there was some calm around us.“What happened?” The fact I had to ask a third time was making me lose my mind. Just how exasperated I had gotten was evident in my tone.“The guardia

ARIA’S POV“I can’t take away the barrier, but at least this way, you both can talk.” Tapio disappeared into nothingness as soon as he said so, leaving everyone in confusion. Everyone but me.“What was that about?” Draven inquired.“The ancient myth has that the moon goddess and the forest god had a relationship that was never meant to be, millions of years ago.” I explained. “I read it in one of the many history books Agatha has.”“They were inseparable, but also never meant to be. They had a conflict over the forest. A long time ago when werewolves were primitive and lived in the forest. It was Tapio’s responsibility to guard the forest and pretty much that of the wolves to tear it down.” I continued.“The wolves ate everything in the forest with no regard for the continuity of life and in his anger, Tapio struck them down and the moon goddess could not take it. It was her responsibility to protect her people.”“They both failed to come to an agreement, even though that was what the