Truth about Jungle

I sat on the edge of the bed, exhaling sharply. My mind was a whirlwind of questions, tangled in a web of confusion and disbelief. A lost kingdom, a curse, a prophecy about someone from the future—me, of all people? It sounded like a twisted bedtime story, yet the weight of reality pressed against me. I was here, in the past, trapped in a palace that shouldn't exist.

And then there was her.

Calyra. The way she looked at me—intense, piercing, as if she were searching for something inside me. And that unfinished sentence… I saw y- Saw me? In what way? Did she know more than she let on?

I rubbed my temples, still trying to process the conversation with Khastor. He knew me. Every inch of me, as he said. But how? And who was she that had chosen me? The one bound to my timeline?

A heavy silence settled over the room, the flickering torchlight casting shifting shadows on the stone walls. The air smelled of ancient oils and faint traces of incense, blending with the distant murmurs of the palace guards outside. I was supposed to be resting, yet sleep was impossible with my thoughts in chaos.

I need answers.

I stood and walked to the wooden lattice window, peering out at the courtyard below. The palace was alive even at this hour, torches illuminating the grand stone pathways as guards patrolled in a synchronized rhythm. In the distance, I spotted a figure moving swiftly between the pillars.

I thought of Calyra—she was my first suspect, of course.

I narrowed my eyes. She was sneaking around, dressed differently than before, her golden attire replaced with something darker, more discreet. Where is she going?

Instinct told me to stay in my room. Common sense screamed at me not to get involved. But the part of me already tangled in this mess knew—if I wanted the truth, I had to follow her.

With a deep breath, I pushed the door open and stepped into the unknown once again.

I followed her from a distance, my steps light against the cool stone. We were now at a part of the alley drenched in darkness, the air thick with an eerie stillness. A strange, uneasy feeling crept up my spine, but I had already crossed the point of no return.

"Calyra!" I called out, my voice cutting through the silence.

She stopped.

I expected her to have already noticed my presence, yet she stood still, as if debating whether to acknowledge me or not.

"Calyra" I called again, stepping forward.

This time, she turned around—but she wasn't wearing a mask anymore.

I walked closer, squinting through the darkness, trying to make out her face. As I neared, my breath hitched. Her eyes held confusion, scanning me like she was trying to figure out who I was. This wasn't the same gaze from before, not the sharp command I had seen in Calyra's eyes.

Something was off.

I looked closer. It wasn't Calyra.

"Who are you?" she asked, her tone cautious, yet firm.

I hesitated. If she wasn't Calyra… then she could only be—

"I'm Kylex, I act—" I started, but before I could finish, she grabbed my wrist, pulling me swiftly into the shadows.

"Kylex?" she whispered sharply. "The one from the future?"

"Uh… yeah" I replied, still trying to piece together what was happening.

"So, you are the one meant to break the curse?" Her voice held a mix of skepticism and curiosity.

"Yeah, apparently" I answered.

She exhaled and took a step back. "I'm Princess Menyara" she finally introduced herself.

My mind reeled. The elder princess.

Before I could ask anything, she grabbed my wrist again. "Come, let me show you something" she said, urgency lacing her voice.

She led me to the end of the alley, where an old, worn-down structure stood. But as we stepped inside, I realized—it wasn't just an old house. It was a hidden passage, a concealed pathway leading somewhere beyond the kingdom.

As we emerged from the other side, my breath caught in my throat.

The jungle.

The same jungle that had brought me here.

"M-men—Menya—" I fumbled over my words, barely able to believe what I was seeing.

A small part of me—the foolish, desperate part—whispered that this could be it. That maybe, just maybe, I had found my way back home.

"Yes" she said, her voice steady. "The jungle that connects this kingdom to Egypt."

I turned to her sharply. "So you're telling me that when this kingdom was destroyed, the jungle disappeared as well? That's why no one in my time has ever heard of it?"

"No" she corrected. "My mother, a great seer, foresaw the fall of our kingdom. She knew it would be destroyed—by someone closest to the king."

The weight of her words sank in.

"So she used magic to hide it" she continued, leading me deeper into the jungle. "She erased it from the maps. The only way to enter this kingdom is through the jungle… but the jungle only appears on a no-moon night."

And then, suddenly, everything clicked.

The night I arrived—the no-moon night.

"But in my time" I argued, "if the jungle appears only on those nights, then people should have noticed! Someone should have discovered this place!"

Menyara chuckled softly. "Kylex… have you ever heard of myths? The stories that say dark creatures gain their power on no-moon nights? That people should never wander outside on those nights?"

A shiver ran through me. "So it was created… to protect the kingdom?"

"In a way" she nodded, "but it's true—dark entities do grow stronger on no-moon nights."

I exhaled, trying to process everything. "You know a lot about my timeline" I noted, feeling almost like a detective with all these questions.

But before she could respond, she crouched down, picking up a tree branch and tearing a small strip of fabric from her cape. She pulled out a tiny bottle filled with oil and poured it over the branch.

I watched closely, my mind already predicting her next move.

Then—

With a flick of her hand, the branch ignited into flames.

I froze. She had no matches, no flint—nothing.

Magic.

Menyara smirked at my reaction. "You look surprised, Kylex."

I stared at her, my breath caught between awe and disbelief. The firelight cast a warm glow on her face, illuminating her dark brown eyes, her sharp features, and her long hair, now slightly undone from her earlier disguise.

She was fully dressed as a commoner, her royal presence masked so perfectly that if I hadn't known better, I would never have guessed she was a princess.

"How did you—?" I started, but she cut me off.

"There's a lot you still don't know about this kingdom" she said, her voice dipping into something almost… mysterious.

Something told me this was only the beginning.