The bridge groaned under my feet, as though it were alive, each step echoing through the fog. My heart pounded louder than my footsteps, but I kept moving forward. The feeling of Liora’s presence grew stronger, pulling me like a thread I couldn’t see but knew would lead me to her.
The fog thickened as I crossed, swirling like a wall that blocked out the world behind me. For a moment, I thought I heard her laugh, that soft, lilting sound I knew so well. It seemed to drift through the mist, dancing just out of reach. My heart clenched.
She’s here. She has to be.
“Liora!” I called again, my voice trembling. My footsteps faltered as I reached the middle of the bridge, my fingers clutching the cold, worn stone of the railing.
But instead of Liora, a strange shadow materialized on the far end of the bridge. Tall, cloaked in dark, shifting mist, the figure seemed to flicker in and out, like a candle fighting to stay lit. I swallowed, my mouth dry, every instinct screaming at me to run. But something held me in place—an unshakable certainty that this shadow knew where Liora was.
“Where is she?” My voice shook, but I forced myself to stand tall. “Where’s Liora?”
The figure shifted, and for a moment, the mist parted enough that I caught a glimpse of eyes—dark, piercing, ancient. A voice drifted from the shadow, so soft I had to strain to hear it, yet it felt like it was whispering directly into my mind.
“She crossed over.”
My heart stuttered. Crossed over? What did that mean?
“You’re lying,” I whispered, though the words sounded weak even to my own ears. “She’s… she’s here. I can feel her.”
“You feel her echo.” The voice was calm, patient, but filled with a strange kind of pity. “She lingers, caught between worlds. Only those with an anchor can pass through unharmed.”
An anchor. The word settled in my chest like a stone, and for the first time, fear pierced through my resolve. What if Liora was… trapped? What if she was fading, losing herself in this strange, mist-shrouded world?
“If I cross,” I asked, barely able to keep my voice steady, “will I find her?”
The shadow tilted its head, and a faint, almost sad smile flickered across its face. “Yes… but know this. You cannot leave unchanged.”
A shiver ran down my spine. Cannot leave unchanged. I knew what that meant. Tales of the cursed forest had been passed down in Eirath, of people who returned hollow, strange, as though something precious had been stolen from them.
But I didn’t care. I’d come too far to turn back now.
I took a shaky breath, looking into the darkness beyond the bridge. I’d always feared this place, the whispers of shadows, the half-forgotten memories of travelers who were never seen again. But this wasn’t about me anymore. It was about her.
I looked at the shadow, my eyes steady. “I’m going to find her. Whatever it takes.”
The figure nodded, stepping aside as the mist parted, revealing a path that wound deeper into the trees. I felt my heart lurch, but I kept moving, crossing to the other side of the bridge. The air grew colder, sharper, like it was biting into my skin. I took one last look back, the faint outline of Eirath disappearing in the fog.
And then I stepped into the shadows, leaving the world I knew behind.
---
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She's Gone
FantasyTalia's best friend, Liora, has vanished-and no one seems to remember she even existed. In the quiet village of Eirath, where emotions are hidden and silence is survival, Talia is the only one who can feel the lingering echo of her friend. But there...
