Chapter 6: A Ash Tree

SIENNA

The smell of smoke and burnt flesh clings to my skin. The cabin burns behind me, flames devouring everything that once tied us to that hell. I don’t look back. There is nothing worth remembering.

Astrid breathes raggedly in the wooden cart I push with hands stripped raw. Every gasp from her is a lash against my chest. Sweat and blood mix on my skin, but the pain doesn’t stop me. I can’t stop. Not until I find the portal. Not until I save her.

The road is endless. The forest closes in around us, its shadows stretching under the waning moon. My legs tremble, but I keep moving. Day and night, without rest.

Three days.

My body is a collection of open wounds, my feet leave streaks of blood on the earth. But just when I think I can’t take another step, I see it.

A tree. Gigantic. Ancient as the world itself. A great ash tree, its thick roots emerging from the ground like exposed bones. Its trunk is wide, its silver bark glowing with a light of its own.

The portal.

My bloodied hands grip the cart’s handle as I push Astrid beneath its branches. Desperation blinds me. Her lips are pale, her skin cold. There’s no time left.

— Just a little more, As, — I whisper, my voice wrecked.

Every step is a battle against exhaustion, but I press on. My hands touch the tree’s bark, and a shiver runs down my spine. A tingling spreads across my skin, as if the tree were… alive. As if it recognized us, as if it knew who we were and granted us access to its world.

The light shifts. The air grows lighter. The pressure in my chest disappears.

I take one more step, and the forest before me is no longer the same.

The world changes.

The ground, once rough and tangled with roots, is now soft, covered in thick grass. The air smells of flowers and pure water. Everything is… brighter. Purer. As if life itself feels different here.

I collapse to my knees beside Astrid, my chest burning for air. We did it. We did it.

— We made it, As, — my voice is barely a whisper, but the promise breaks in my throat. — I’m going to save you. I swear. —

Astrid whimpers, a faint, muffled sound of life. Her body trembles with spasms of pain. Her cold fingers search for mine, and when they find them, she barely has the strength to hold on.

— Leave me here… — Her voice is nothing more than a breath, broken, filled with a weariness that goes beyond the body. Her tear-filled eyes plead with me to let her go.

— No.”— I shake my head violently, rejecting reality, rejecting what she’s asking of me. — Don’t say that. We’re going to make it. You’re going to be okay, I promise. —

She closes her eyes for a moment, silent tears slipping down her bloodstained face. When she opens them again, the weight of defeat darkens her blue gaze.

— It hurts more here… — Her trembling hand rests on her chest. — It’s not my body, Sisi… It’s something inside me. Something that won’t leave… —

Her voice breaks. And something inside me shatters too.

— Please, don’t say that, — I beg, my voice drowning in sobs.

— If not for yourself, then do it for me. If you die… I swear I’ll follow you. We were born together. We’ll die together. —

Astrid looks at me, heartbreak in her expression. Her lips tremble, but she doesn’t answer. Slowly, her eyelids fall shut, her breathing grows unsteady. She’s giving up. She’s slipping away.

A primal panic chokes me, my hands clutching her in desperation. I shake her gently, as if I could bring her back just by touching her.

— No! — I scream, but my voice is no longer mine. It is a torn howl, a desperate wail. — Please, someone, help me! —

My screams echo through the night, tearing through the air with agony. I scream until my throat is raw, until the pain consumes me whole, until I feel my very soul shattering with each plea.

— Please! — I beg, over and over, my voice reduced to a broken sob. — Please, please, please! —

Each word is a choked lament, a desperate plea that fractures in the air. I clutch Astrid tightly, as if holding her could keep her life in my hands. But I feel her slipping away, feel death claiming her, and the despair drowns me harder than ever.

The forest falls silent.

And then, I feel it.

A presence. Something moves among the trees.

I lift my head, my face streaked with tears, my throat burning. Before me, emerging from the thicket, stands an enormous silhouette.

A giant.

His skin is dark as damp earth, his musculature chiseled as if sculpted by nature itself. His eyes are not just golden embers; they are molten honey, deep and hypnotic, holding an intensity that steals my breath. He is majestic, imposing, a creature that seems torn from an ancient myth. He is not like the monster that hunted me nights ago. There is no cruelty in his expression, only an unfathomable curiosity and a presence so immense it shakes me to my core.

— Please... — I whisper, drained, desperation bleeding through every word. — I’ll do anything. Just save her. —

The giant watches me in silence. Then, without a word, he crouches, his massive presence eclipsing the faint moonlight. His burning honey eyes lock onto mine for a moment before shifting to Astrid. He looks at me once more, as if measuring my desperation, as if feeling the anguish overflowing from my chest.

With terrifying ease, he lifts her into his arms. Astrid, my life, my everything, looks even smaller and more fragile against him. The contrast is brutal: she, barely clinging to life; he, the embodiment of strength itself.

My body moves before my mind can catch up. I stumble to my feet and follow him without hesitation, my heart hammering in my chest. He is carrying the only thing I have left, the only thing keeping me standing. He holds her with the same care one would cradle something precious, and though my reason screams not to trust him, my feet move after him.