Lost girl

Awakening in the Unseen

The first thing she noticed was the cold. It seeped into her bones, dragging her from unconsciousness, pulling her into a world that felt both familiar and strange. Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing a sky unlike anything she had ever seen-or at least, anything she could remember. An ethereal twilight stretched above her, neither night nor day, with swirling hues of indigo and gold rippling across the heavens. Stars, far too close and far too bright, blinked down at her like ancient eyes, watching.

She sat up slowly, her muscles stiff, her mind sluggish. She was lying in a field of silver grass, each blade shimmering faintly, as if touched by some inner light. In the distance, jagged mountains clawed at the horizon, their peaks lost in a haze of mist. But there was no sound-no wind, no birds, no rustle of leaves. The silence pressed down on her, thick and unnerving.

Where am I?

The question echoed in her head, but no answer came. Panic bubbled just beneath the surface of her thoughts. She searched her memory, reaching for something-anything-but all she found was emptiness. Her name, her past, her purpose-gone. All that remained was a hollow ache, a sense that something important had been lost, something that she had to find.

She climbed to her feet, her legs unsteady, and glanced down at herself. Her clothes were simple, a tunic and trousers of pale, worn fabric. No markings, no clues as to who she was or how she had come to be here. Her hands, though delicate, bore small scars, the kind earned from hard labor or long journeys. Whoever she had been, she had seen more than just softness.

The cold gnawed at her again, reminding her that standing still would bring no answers. She scanned her surroundings once more. To the east, the silver grass gave way to a dark forest, its trees tall and twisted, their bark a deep obsidian. Something about the forest called to her, though whether it was a call of welcome or warning, she could not tell. In the opposite direction, the ground sloped downward into a valley, where shadows danced on the edge of her vision. She could see no clear path, no sign of civilization.

But as she hesitated, a flicker of movement caught her eye. In the distance, just beyond the line where the silver field met the forest, something stirred-a figure, indistinct and cloaked in the strange twilight.

"Hey!" she called, her voice hoarse and unfamiliar in her own ears. She took a tentative step forward, but the figure vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

Her heart quickened. Was it a hallucination? Or was it someone-something-that could help her? She had no answers, only the gnawing fear of the unknown pressing at her back. With a deep breath, she started walking toward where the figure had stood.

As she approached the edge of the forest, the air grew heavier, laden with an energy that thrummed just beneath the surface, as if the very ground was alive. The trees loomed above her, their branches intertwining to form a canopy so dense that little of the eerie twilight filtered through.

A faint whisper brushed against her mind. She spun around, but the field behind her was empty. Just the endless stretch of silver grass.

"Who's there?" Her voice trembled.

There was no reply, only the rustling of leaves that hadn't moved moments ago. She took a step back, but before she could retreat, something appeared at her feet-a small, shimmering object half-buried in the earth. Her breath caught. Kneeling down, she brushed the dirt away, revealing a strange, silver amulet shaped like a crescent moon. It seemed to pulse with a life of its own, the light within it flickering softly like a heartbeat.

She reached out to touch it, and the moment her fingers closed around the cool metal, a jolt shot through her, images flooding her mind in rapid succession. Faces she didn't recognize, places both beautiful and terrifying, and a voice-a deep, resonant voice that echoed in the farthest corners of her consciousness.

*"You are not who you think you are."*

Her breath caught in her throat as the images dissolved, leaving only the cold and the silence once again. She clutched the amulet tightly, her pulse racing.

Before she could process what had happened, the air shifted around her, and she sensed movement from the shadows of the forest. Slowly, deliberately, something stepped into the light-a creature, its form both graceful and grotesque. It had the body of a stag, its antlers twisting like ancient branches, but its eyes were hollow, filled with swirling mist.

It regarded her for a long moment, then lowered its head as if in greeting-or warning.

"You are lost, child," the creature said, its voice a low, resonant hum that echoed through the ground beneath her feet. "But not without purpose. The world knows you, even if you do not know yourself."

She swallowed, her fingers still gripping the amulet tightly. "What is this place? Who am I?"

The creature's misty eyes darkened. "That is for you to discover. But beware, for the path ahead is treacherous. Your past holds the key to a darkness that stirs beneath this world, and if you do not find it, the darkness will find you."

The words hung heavy in the air, and the creature turned, disappearing back into the forest without another sound, leaving her alone once again. She stood there, her mind racing, her heart pounding.

She didn't know who she was, or why she was here-but one thing was clear.

Whatever was coming, she was tied to it, and there was no turning back.