Chapter 4 — Threshold of the Forbidden

Alina

Twilight draped Willow Hollow in a shroud of indigo as I hurried along the uneven cobblestone streets, the stolen map fragment a searing weight in my sweater pocket. Each step away from the library felt like a thread snapping, severing me from the safe, suffocating world I’d always known. The mist that had clung to the town all day was thinning, revealing the jagged silhouette of the Forbidden Forest ahead, its pines piercing the darkening sky like the teeth of some ancient beast. My heart thundered in my chest, a frantic rhythm that matched the urgency of my whispered vow from moments ago: “I can’t turn back now.”