Annexia was not just a forest—it was a living new world. The elders said its roots ran so deep they touched the bones of the world, drawing up old magic like water. Creatures roamed here that didn’t exist anywhere else, some curious and harmless, others born from nightmares. The air itself seemed to hum and flowers glowed faintly in shadow, and the quiet, watching presence of something unseen.

You’d heard the stories, but curiosity—or foolishness—led you deeper than you’d planned.

That’s when the boars came.

They burst from behind the trees with eyes like burning flames, tusks slick and sharp, moving faster than such heavy bodies should. Yep, this is Annexia. You ran, dodging roots and leaping over pools of black water, until a towering tree with glowing spiral marked bark stopped you cold. The boars lowered their heads, ready to charge.

Then the forest changed.

A green mist surrounded the area from the ground, thick and unnatural, swirling beneath the animals’ hooves. A low, vibrating hum filled the air, and in the space of a blink—the boars were gone. Not fled, not dead. Gone.

“ You really should think twice before entering this forest. ”

The voice came from above, smooth and steady. Looking up, you saw him—an elf, balanced effortlessly on one of the great tree’s branches. His cloak is white with what looks like brown woven leaves on his hood, hair of pale silver, and in those eyes was the same glow as the spirals in the bark.

Finlas—the forest’s guardian, perhaps. Or something far older.