The Tree's Heart

XXVIII

It didn't take long for Clover to experience what Willow had been talking about. At first, she wasn't sure whether it was just the potion making her feel more nervous and making her heartbeat faster, but soon she could hear whispers among the trees. She explained it as the wind rustling the trees, at first, even though there was no wind at all. But who knew? The weather could be weird in this forest.

But then she could make out the whispers and they were kind of scary. They were just calling her name at first, quietly, some of them sounding like they were far away, some of them sounding like they were right next to her. Clover almost had a heart attack when she heard her name whispered right up by her ear. She had no idea whether those voices came from actual people or whether they were just bodiless voices.

It was tempting to take off the blindfold and have a look, but Clover knew that she couldn't do that. Not when she had only just started walking back. There was no way she was in a safe place yet. She figured that wouldn't be the case as long as she was still hearing voices. Once she didn't hear any voices anymore, she might be in the clear, but until then she wasn't even going to think about taking the blindfold off.

Over time the voices got louder around her, and they weren't just saying her name anymore. Things were getting much scarier. It had started out with voices calling her to go certain ways, to follow them, to stay with them. Voices telling her to sit down and rest for a while. And then they became threatening.

"Where are you going? You're going to your death!"

"I'm going to find you. You can run all you want, I'll find you. There is nowhere that is safe for you, you should know that."

"Come on, little girl. Stop hiding. I know where you are."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"I'm going to keep you right here. You're going to be mine."

"NO! NO! DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"No one can help you. You're all alone in this world. There is no one here to save you. You can scream all you want."

"WHERE ARE YOU? Where are you? Please, just answer me! I need to find you! Why did you run away?"

"Don't... leave... me. Stay with me... please..."

"Can you hear me? Why can't you hear me?"

"I don't know if I'll ever get out of this place. I've tried everything. Maybe I should just give up. There is no point. Everything is lost."

"Come on, young knight. Stay with us for a while. We'll take care of anything you might need. You are injured, you need to rest. We have food and drink here. We'll make sure that you're going to get well."

"Why can't I leave? Why can't I get out of here? What did you do to me? Let me go back! Please... let me go back..."

The voices all sounded different, some of them slightly familiar, but Clover couldn't really place them. It felt like the forest was talking to her with the voices of all the people that had gotten lost inside it throughout the years. There were voices speaking a strange language that Clover couldn't understand or even identify. Languages that sounded ancient and mysterious, that weren't similar to anything she had heard before.

While that was all frightening and sent Clover's mind spiralling, she felt a certain calm as soon as she visualised the flame of her candle. It almost felt like she had some sort of connection to the flame, like it was an anchor that kept her in the real world. It calmed her down and when she focused on the mental image of it, it almost felt like that flame was some sort of guiding light that led her through the forest.