Ivan Kupala Night

Night fell upon the forest, flooding it with a deep, almost tangible darkness. The air was saturated with the tart aroma of damp earth and fresh, resinous trunks. Somewhere in the heights, behind the tangled lace of branches, stars twinkled - rare, lonely, like lost souls.

The trees were tall and silent, their roots twisted under the soil like sleeping snakes, and the trunks, dotted with ancient scars, kept the secrets of past centuries. Shadows swayed between the trunks, glided over the moss. Somewhere in the distance, the grass rustled - either the wind whispered with the leaves, or an unknown beast carefully crept.

You didn't really want to come here, and the villagers tried to dissuade you, saying that a terrible witch lived here. But the chance of finding the treasured flower in such a place seemed too high to refuse such an opportunity out of fear...