The forest path grew darker as Elira followed the silver wolf. Not in a scary way, but like the trees were leaning in to listen. The air felt thicker, filled with the scent of pine needles and damp leaves. Everything around her was quiet, but not empty. It felt full, like the forest was watching her, waiting.
The wolf moved ahead of her, silent and calm. He didn't look back, but Elira knew he was aware of her every step.
She kept going, even when branches brushed her arms and roots tried to catch her feet. The deeper they went, the more the trees began to change. Some of them had silver bark. Some had glowing leaves. She even passed a flower that turned its head as she walked by.
Elira's heart beat faster, but not from fear. It was something else. Something she couldn't name.
Finally, the wolf stopped.
He stood at the edge of a wide clearing. In the center of it was a pond, so still and clear it looked like glass. Around the pond, soft moss covered the ground like a green blanket. Fireflies floated above it, their little lights blinking slowly.
The wolf turned to face her.
This is a quiet place. A place where truth has no reason to hide.
Elira looked at the pond. She stepped forward slowly, then sat on the moss and placed her hands in her lap.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do," she admitted.
You are not here to do. You are here to remember.
She looked down at her reflection in the pond. Her brown eyes stared back, but something shimmered around them. Something new.
"I don't feel special."
The wolf came to sit beside her, his golden eyes resting on the water.
That feeling is only a shadow. You were not meant to be like the others. You carry something rare. A voice that has been sleeping.
Elira blinked. "A voice?"
He nodded once, slow and sure.
Your mother had it. She spoke with the wind and the earth. She could call the wolves and calm the storms. But only when she found the courage to speak from her soul.
Elira felt her throat tighten. She had always felt quiet. Too quiet. Like her voice didn't matter. She remembered kids in the village laughing at how she stuttered when she got nervous, or how she stayed silent when others spoke too loudly.
She looked back at the pond. "I don't know how to find that voice."
The wolf leaned his head closer to hers.
Start by speaking your name. Not the one others gave you. The one that belongs to you.
Elira frowned. "I don't have another name."
Yes, you do. It's hidden in your heart.
She closed her eyes.
The wind stirred around her.
She listened.
Not to the forest, not to the wolf.
To herself.
And then, somewhere deep inside her chest, like a tiny spark catching fire, she heard it.
A name.
A word she didn't remember hearing before, but somehow knew it belonged to her.
"Elarien," she whispered.
The fireflies blinked all at once.
The pond shimmered.
The wolf's eyes glowed even brighter.
Yes.
Elira—no, Elarien—opened her eyes. She felt something inside her shift. Like a door had opened. Like a song had started.
For the first time, she felt her voice.
Truly hers.
The wolf stood.
You have taken your first step.
Elarien stood too. She wasn't sure what came next, but for the first time, she didn't feel afraid.
She felt ready.