The violet leaves rustled overhead, their whispers hinting at secrets Elara felt on the verge of understanding, tying her closer to the mysteries of the forest. She walked beside the fox, whose silver fur shimmered with each step, casting reflections that danced like memories across the forest floor.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To the Echo,” the fox replied, its voice carrying the weight of forgotten memories. “It sees all of Lanternreach. Even the echoes of the past and future.”
They passed a grove of trees whose trunks bore symbols that Elara recognized from her dreams, each one a fragment of a larger mystery she felt compelled to unravel. One glowed faintly as she brushed her fingers across it, and a vision bloomed in her mind: a child laughing beneath starlight, a melody played on a flute carved from bone, a door opening in a wall of mist. The door so similar to the one in the attic.
“Echoes?” she whispered.
“Fragments,” the fox said. “Yours, and not yours. Lanternreach is made of such things.”
They reached a clearing where the air shimmered like heat over stone. In its center stood a pool, still and dark, surrounded by lanterns that pulsed in rhythm.
“Look,” the fox said.
Elara stepped to the edge and gazed into the water. Her reflection stared back, but behind it, flickering like candlelight, were other faces. Figures emerged in the reflection: a woman with antlers, a boy with wings, and a shadowy figure.
“Who are they?”
“Possibilities,” the fox murmured. “Paths you might walk. Choices you might make.”
Elara knelt, transfixed. The pool rippled, and one face rose to the surface. It was a version of herself cloaked in flame, eyes burning with purpose.
“This one is close,” the fox said. “You’ve already begun to become her.”
Elara reached out, but the image dissolved. The lanterns dimmed.
“What does it mean?” she asked.
“It means the Echo has shown you what you needed,” the fox replied. “Now, you must decide what to carry forward.”
The forest held its breath, as if aware of the transformation awaiting Elara, who stood at the edge of becoming, bound to the lanterns’ light.
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