The pendant
The forest of Elaria had never known the sound of an engine.
No cars rushed through its paths. No machines disturbed the silence of the trees. No towers touched the sky.
Instead, the forest breathed.
Tall ancient trees stretched their branches toward the clouds, their leaves dancing whenever the wind passed through them. Small streams ran between moss-covered stones, and wildflowers grew wherever the sunlight reached the ground.
This was home.
For generations, animals had lived here—not as ordinary creatures, but as people.
Rabbits built wooden houses beneath enormous trees. Foxes ran small shops in the village markets. Deer worked as healers. Bears were known for their strength and craftsmanship. Birds carried messages between distant settlements.
They lived with the forest rather than against it.
And somewhere beyond the eastern hills stood a small wooden house.
That was where Aren lived.
“Aren!”
The young rabbit stopped tying the bundle on his back and looked toward the doorway.
His grandmother stood there, leaning heavily against her walking stick.
“You're leaving again?”
Aren smiled.
“I'll be back soon, Grandma.”
“You said that yesterday.”
“Because I was back yesterday.”
“You were back after sunset.”
Aren laughed softly.
His grandmother tried to hide her smile, but her tired eyes gave her away.
She had been ill for weeks.
At first, everyone had thought it was nothing serious. A little weakness. A little fever.
But the illness had grown worse.
The village healer had tried everything.
Nothing worked.
Aren couldn't simply sit and watch her become weaker.
“I heard there may be a doctor in the northern settlement,” he said, adjusting the strap of his bag. “I'll find them.”
His grandmother's expression changed.
“Aren…”
“I'll bring them back.”
“You don't know how far the northern settlement is.”
“I'll manage.”
“You always think you can manage everything.”
“Someone has to.”
She sighed.
Then she reached out and touched his cheek.
“Be careful.”
Aren nodded.
“I promise.”
He stepped out of the house.
Behind him, his grandmother remained standing in the doorway, watching him disappear between the trees.
She knew something Aren didn't.
And she prayed he would never have to find out.
The journey took longer than Aren expected.
He crossed the forest, followed the river north and climbed two steep hills before reaching the neighboring settlement.
The doctor wasn't there.
Aren searched the market.
Nothing.
He asked travelers.
Nothing.
He even waited until evening, hoping the doctor might return.
But no one came.
By the time Aren finally returned home, darkness had covered the forest.
He pushed open the wooden door.
“Grandma?”
Silence.
His heart sank.
“Grandma?”
He rushed into the room.
She was lying on her bed.
Her breathing was weak.
Aren dropped his bag.
“No…”
He hurried to her side.
“I found another doctor,” he said quickly. “I'll go again. I'll bring them. Just wait.”
His grandmother slowly opened her eyes.
“Aren…”
“Don't speak.”
“Come here.”
“No. I'm getting help.”
“Come here.”
Something in her voice made him stop.
Aren sat beside her.
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then she whispered,
“You remember the old wooden box?”
Aren frowned.
“The one you never let me touch?”
She nodded.
“Go there.”
“Why?”
“Just… go.”
Aren stood and walked toward the corner of the room.
Behind an old shelf was a small wooden box covered in dust.
He had seen it countless times.
He had never been allowed to open it.
He brought it to the bed.
His grandmother looked at the box.
“Open it.”
Aren slowly lifted the lid.
Inside was a single pendant.
It was unlike anything he had ever seen.
A transparent crystal hung from a thin silver chain.
Something moved inside the crystal.
Not a reflection.
Something that looked almost like a tiny swirl of blue light.
Aren picked it up.
“What is this?”
His grandmother's eyes filled with fear.
“Listen carefully.”
Aren looked at her.
“Never lose that pendant.”
“Why?”
“Never give it to anyone.”
“Grandma—”
“And whatever happens…”
She struggled to breathe.
“Never let them take it.”
Aren's expression changed.
“Who?”
His grandmother's lips trembled.
“They will come…”
“Who will come?”
She grabbed his paw.
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
“Take care of it.”
“I will.”
“Otherwise…”
Her voice became weaker.
“Otherwise…”
Aren leaned closer.
“Otherwise what?”
But she never answered.
Her paw slipped from his.
The room became silent.
“Grandma?”
Aren stared at her.
“Grandma?”
Nothing.
The pendant rested between his fingers.
Aren lowered his head.
For the first time in his life, the forest outside felt frighteningly quiet.
Three days passed.
Aren barely left the house.
He buried his grandmother beneath the old oak tree where she used to sit every morning.
Afterward, he returned home and placed the crystal pendant around his neck.
He didn't know why.
Perhaps because she had asked him to.
Perhaps because it was the last thing she had given him.
The pendant was cold against his chest.
But sometimes…
when Aren touched it, he thought he could feel a faint heartbeat coming from inside the crystal.
He told himself it was his imagination.
Then strange things began happening.
Birds stopped singing whenever he entered the forest.
Animals he had known for years suddenly avoided him.
And twice, Aren noticed unfamiliar figures watching him from a distance.
He tried to convince himself that he was imagining it.
Until the third time.
It happened in the village market.
Aren was buying bread when he heard someone whisper behind him.
“That's him.”
He turned.
Three strangers stood at the edge of the market.
They weren't from his village.
One of them looked directly at the crystal around Aren's neck.
Aren's hand instinctively covered it.
The stranger stepped forward.
“Give us the pendant.”
Aren froze.
“How do you know about it?”
The stranger didn't answer.
Another figure moved behind him.
Aren's instincts screamed.
Run.
He turned and sprinted.
“Catch him!”
Aren raced through the market.
He knocked over a basket of apples and jumped over a wooden cart.
He could hear footsteps behind him.
He didn't look back.
The forest.
He needed to reach the forest.
Aren ran between the trees, branches scratching his face.
His breathing became heavier.
His heartbeat thundered.
But the footsteps continued.
He climbed higher.
Higher.
Until the trees disappeared.
A cliff stood before him.
Aren stopped.
Below him was a deep valley.
Behind him—
the strangers were approaching.
He had nowhere to go.
Aren stepped backward.
His paw touched the crystal pendant.
Suddenly—
CRACK.
Blue light exploded from the crystal.
Aren stared.
“What…?”
The air in front of him began twisting.
A circle of light appeared between the trees.
A portal.
Aren had never seen anything like it.
The strangers stopped.
One of them shouted,
“Don't let him enter!”
Aren looked at the portal.
Then at the people coming toward him.
He had no idea where it led.
But staying meant losing the pendant.
And perhaps his life.
He took one step forward.
The portal suddenly pulled him toward it.
“Aren!”
The world disappeared.
The forest.
The mountains.
The strangers.
Everything.
Aren felt himself falling through darkness.
The crystal pendant burned against his chest.
And somewhere far away, in a world he had never seen before, a clock began to strike midnight.
Then—
he fell.
Straight into another world.
