Whispers of the Forgotten Forest (Sample)

Prologue

The Forgotten Forest was dying.

A suffocating silence hung in the air, broken only by the occasional rustle of dying leaves. Once, the trees had stretched toward the heavens, their emerald canopies whispering with life, but now they stood gnarled and twisted, like old men bent beneath the weight of sorrow. Ancient trunks, blackened with rot, oozed a dark sap that pooled around their roots. The ground was soft with decay, and where sunlight should have danced between the branches, only shadows crept.

At the heart of the forest, in a sacred glade untouched by time, the last of the forest's guardians knelt before the Tree of Elysia. Its silver bark shimmered faintly in the dim light, and its golden leaves, once radiant, now flickered weakly as if fighting for their last breath. The tree was the soul of the forest, and as it withered, so did everything around it.

Jake, the Guardian, pressed his palms to the earth beneath the tree, feeling the life force of the forest slipping away. His body trembled with exhaustion, his once-glistening armour dull and dented from years of battle. The sigils of the Guardians of Elysia etched on his chestplate flickered weakly, barely visible through the grime.

"We're losing it," Jake whispered, his voice rough and strained. He had fought for centuries to protect the forest, but this was a battle even he could not win alone.

The forest's magic, its ancient power, was fading. Slowly. Inexorably.

A gentle breeze stirred the glade, carrying with it a faint whisper. It was soft at first, almost indistinguishable from the rustling of the leaves. But then it grew louder, filling the air with a thousand voices—voices of those who had once protected the forest, who had bled for it, and died for it. The voices were filled with both sorrow and hope, a contradiction that sent a chill through Jake's bones.

"She must come..."

Jake stiffened, his heart skipping a beat. He had been waiting for this moment, dreading it, and yet, he knew it was inevitable.

"She?" he muttered, rising to his feet and staring into the depthless shadows of the forest. His mind raced. Could it be possible? After all these years, could Lira, the last descendant of the Guardians, finally be the one to fulfill the prophecy? The one they had hoped for, feared for, since the dark days of the war?

The whispers grew louder, more insistent, like the wind was alive with their urgency. 

"She must come... before he rises."

Jake's pulse quickened. Gideon, the dark sorcerer who had once laid claim to the forest, had been defeated long ago, sealed away by the Guardians in a desperate act of sacrifice. But even the strongest bonds weaken with time, and the magic that had held him at bay was unravelling, just as the forest was unravelling.

He looked up at the Tree of Elysia. Its bark was riddled with cracks, and beneath the cracks, a dark, pulsing energy thrummed like a heartbeat. Gideon's corruption had reached the tree's core. The whispers were right—if the girl did not come, if she did not awaken the ancient power that slept within her blood, the forest would fall. And with it, the world would follow.

Jake clenched his fists, his jaw tightening as the weight of responsibility pressed down on him. He had been the last line of defence for so long, holding the darkness at bay, watching over the forest like a sentry. But he could no longer do it alone. Not against the force that was rising in the depths of the Forgotten Forest.

Turning away from the tree, Jake moved swiftly through the glade, his heavy boots sinking into the damp earth. He knew where he had to go, what he had to do. Lira, the daughter of the forest, the one who had been born to save it, had to be found.

And yet, finding her was only part of the battle. Convincing her to accept her destiny—convincing her to believe in the ancient powers she had been taught to fear—would be the true challenge. Lira had grown up far from the forest, in a village that had long since turned its back on the old ways. She did not know the legacy she carried in her blood, nor the price she would be asked to pay to save the forest.

As Jake moved deeper into the forest, the whispers followed him, weaving through the trees, urging him onward. He could feel the presence of the forest spirits watching him from the shadows, their once-bright forms now dull and fading, like embers slowly losing their glow. They, too, were waiting for her. They had been waiting for generations.

The journey to find her would not be easy. Dark creatures had begun to stir at the edges of the forest—shadows of Gideon's army, twisted remnants of those who had once served him. They prowled the night, their eyes glowing with malice, and Jake knew they would soon be on the hunt. They could sense the weakening of the forest's defences, and they were eager to reclaim the territory that had been denied to them for so long.

Jake emerged from the dense thicket onto an ancient stone path, long overgrown with vines and moss. The stones, once laid by the Guardians to mark the way to the heart of the forest, were now cracked and broken, like the forest itself. The path led to the world beyond—the world that had forgotten the magic of the forest, that had forgotten the sacrifices of those who had protected it. But Jake had not forgotten. And he would not allow Lira to forget, either.

As he moved forward, a strange calm settled over him. He had faced countless battles, stared death in the face more times than he could count. But this... this was different. This was the beginning of the end.

The wind picked up again, colder this time, biting through Jake's armour as it swept past him. He could hear the whispers still—soft, urgent, ancient.

"She must come... before it's too late."

With one last glance back at the dying forest, Jake set his sights on the distant village where Lira lived, oblivious to the fate that awaited her.