Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Into the Whispering Woods

The path fades beneath our feet, swallowed by the creeping embrace of the Whispering Woods.

The air is colder here, thick with an unnatural stillness. Sunlight barely clings to the edges, struggling to penetrate the dense canopy above. Shadows twist and shift, never quite settling into their proper places.

I step forward.

The Queen lingers behind, stopping just before the threshold of the ancient oak.

"Beyond this tree, the woods truly begin," she murmurs.

She does not step closer.

Even she knows better.

"The air itself feels… wrong. I sense a malevolence far greater than even the Shadow's influence. Be cautious, Defaulger Trice. And may the gods guide your steps."

She lowers her head in silent prayer, her lips moving without sound. Then, with the same regal grace, she turns and walks away, her crimson gown the last vivid color before the forest swallows us whole.

---

The Weight of Silence

The Mad Hatter, normally a storm of eccentric energy, is quiet.

Too quiet.

He fidgets with his hat, adjusting it one way, then another, then back again.

"These woods," he mutters, voice lower than usual. "They whisper secrets… and not all of them are kind."

The rabbit shudders, ears pinned back.

"They whisper back?" it asks, voice barely above a squeak.

The dragon, ever composed, narrows her emerald eyes, scanning the treetops.

There is tension in her frame, a slight stiffness that betrays her wariness.

Even she feels it.

I feel it too.

A low hum, distant at first. Almost imperceptible.

Then—

Stronger.

Like a wave pressing against my mind, testing, searching.

The Whispering Woods are already reaching for us.

They do not simply exist.

They acknowledge.

They judge.

And now, they watch.

---

The First Choice

I do not hesitate.

Instead, I respond.

A slow expansion of my power, pressing back against the unseen force. It does not retreat.

But it pauses.

It assesses.

The whispers begins again.

Soft. Indistinct.

Then—

"Who dares walk this path?"

"Who carries secrets untold?"

"What are you hiding, Defaulger Trice?"

The trees shift, the ground ripples, and for the first time, the world itself feels as though it is watching us back.

The Mad Hatter stiffens.

The rabbit shrinks into itself.

The dragon says nothing—but she is waiting.

I exhale.

"Seriously!? Again?"