Unspoken Yearnings

The days that followed felt like walking a tightrope between reality and the unknown. Elara tried to cling to the familiarity of her daily routines — tending to her small garden, wandering through the market, sharing quiet moments with Marin — but the pull of the shadows was relentless.

Every night, the whispers returned.

They didn't always speak words. Sometimes, they came in the form of feelings — sorrow heavy enough to drown her or longing so raw it left her breathless. She couldn't explain why she didn't feel fear anymore. The terror from their first encounter had faded, replaced by something far more dangerous:

Curiosity.

And something deeper — something that left her heart aching in the stillness of the night.

"Why do I feel like I know you?"

Tonight, the moon hung low, casting a pale silver glow through her window. The forest called to her again, a whisper on the wind she could no longer ignore. Wrapping her shawl around her shoulders, she slipped out of her cottage, the silver pendant resting heavily against her chest.

The clearing welcomed her like an old friend.

She stood beneath the moon's gaze, the cold air brushing her skin as though the night itself recognized her. "I know you're here," she whispered into the silence. "You always are."

No response. But she could feel him — sense him — lurking in the shadows just beyond her reach.

"I can't keep speaking to someone who won't show themselves," she said, her voice steady despite the tremor running through her.

The wind shifted, cool and deliberate, carrying the familiar voice to her ears.

"It's better this way."

Elara took a deep breath. "For who? You or me?"

A pause — long and heavy.

"For both."

She stepped forward, heart pounding louder than reason. "I don't believe that. You're scared. You're hiding from something… or someone. But you don't scare me."

The air thickened, and she could feel the presence closer now — so close she imagined she could feel the brush of his breath against her neck.

"You should be afraid, Elara."

"Why?" Her voice was a challenge now, steady, and unwavering. "Because you think you'll hurt me? Or because… you're afraid of what it means if you don't?"

The silence that followed was like a wound opening — raw, bleeding sorrow into the space between them.

"I don't want this," the voice broke, cracking under the weight of centuries. "I don't want you to feel what's inside me."

Elara took another step forward, clutching her pendant as if it could anchor her to the earth. "Maybe I already do. Maybe that's why I keep coming back."

The forest seemed to shudder around her, every tree, every leaf vibrating with the tension between them.

"I… was not always this," the voice finally confessed. "There was a time when I felt the sun on my skin, when laughter wasn't a memory but a reality. But that was stolen from me."

Elara's breath hitched. "By who?"

"The ones who cursed me. The ones who decided that love was a weakness, and that punishment should last an eternity."

The weight of his sorrow settled heavily on her chest. Every word carried centuries of regret, pain, and an endless longing for a life lost.

"Maybe… maybe you don't have to carry that alone," she whispered.

The air shifted violently, as if the shadows recoiled from her kindness. But she didn't back away. She stood firm beneath the moon's glow, her heart racing with a mixture of fear and compassion.

"You don't understand," the voice murmured, closer than ever — almost inside her thoughts. "Every time someone has tried… they've paid the price for their kindness."

Elara swallowed hard. "What if I'm willing to risk it?"

The silence was suffocating, every second stretching into eternity.

Then, in a voice so soft it nearly shattered her heart, he asked:

"Why would you risk everything for a monster?"

Elara's pulse thundered in her ears. But as she stared into the darkness, she realized the answer had been growing inside her all along.

"Was he truly the monster… or just a man forgotten by time and cursed by those who feared his heart?"