The Dimensional Vagabond

As soon as Kael sets foot in the forest, the air changes. It grows heavy, thick with moisture and the scent of mold. The sky, already dark, is completely hidden by the black leaves with red veins — like diseased arteries.

Gwyneil.

A name that slides off the tongue like a threat.

They say the trees are alive there… that they watch… that they feed.

Kael moves forward slowly. Every branch cracks beneath his weight like a bone. Glowing red fireflies drift between the trunks — but they are not insects. Their wings are too thin. Too precise. Spirits.

They circle around him, curious… but cautious.

A whisper rises. It's not the wind… it's a voice.

> "Turn back… abandon… or join the root…"

Kael clenches his jaw. He keeps walking. He knows he can't turn back. The mountain awaits.

As he progresses, the trees grow tighter. Roots weave together, forming arches, natural corridors. Then suddenly, he comes face to face with her:

A woman.

Her eyes are entirely black. Her hair hangs like vines. Her skin is bark and moss.

— You are an intruder, she says.

— I seek passage. I have no time to waste.

— You want to leave? You must offer. Gwyneil demands a memory.

Kael frowns.

— What?

— A memory. The most painful. The most real.

Kael hesitates. But he knows he has no choice.

He closes his eyes and whispers:

— My life is nothing but pain.

The tree-woman gently places her hand on Kael's head.

But suddenly, she pulls it back violently, shocked.

— How can you still be alive?! How can you still be sane?!

— And they call me a monster…

A silence falls.

— You have paid, she says.

The ground opens beneath Kael's feet. He falls — not into a pit, but into a green light.

When he rises, he's outside the forest.

Behind him, the trees close, as if they were never there.

---

Next territory: The Echo Marsh.