I don’t remember my name. The forest took it—like it takes everything else. Every step deeper erases another memory, another piece of who I was. But I keep walking because there’s a voice calling me, faint beneath the rustling leaves, singing a lullaby only someone from my past could know. The elders say no one returns from the heartwood. But if I forget everyone I’ve loved… what’s left to go back to?

I shouldn’t have come back. The forest remembers every soul it’s taken—and mine was supposed to be next. Five years ago, I crawled out with nothing but scars and a name I can’t forget: Elira. They say she’s dead. But the dreams won’t stop. She’s calling me, not in words, but in blood. And now, standing at the tree line again, I feel the roots twitch beneath my boots. This place isn’t just alive. It’s waiting. For me. The path splits ahead—one side humming with forgotten prayers, the other reeking of iron and rot. If I turn back, I live. But if I go forward… I might finally learn what I did that night.