Run: 2026-02-17-01KHMR43MFKWDHGF6WS8X7T3F7

The morning mist clung to Richmond Park as Aurora Carter followed the silver-haired woman between ancient oaks. Rory's bright blue eyes darted from tree to tree, searching for the entrance Isolde had promised. Nyx, the living shadow, drifted soundlessly beside her, their form occasionally dissipating before re-solidifying with each step. "Are you certain this is the place?" Rory asked, fingertips brushing against the small crescent-shaped scar on her left wrist—a nervous habit she'd never broken. Isolde turned, her pale lavender eyes seeming to pierce through the mist. "The path reveals itself to those who listen. Not all who wander are lost, but all who seek must first surrender certainty." Rory exchanged a glance with Nyx, who responded with a whisper like wind through leaves. "Time behaves differently here." They continued in silence until Isolde stopped abruptly before three massive oak standing stones that Rory could have sworn hadn't been there moments before. The air between the stones shimmered, a distortion that made Rory's eyes water when she tried to focus on it. "The Veil is thin here," Isolde explained. "Step with purpose, Aurora Carter. Hesitation invites confusion." Rory squared her shoulders and followed the Half-Fae between the stones. The sensation was like plunging into cold water—her ears popped, and the world tilted sideways. When her vision cleared, she gasped. The Fae Grove unfolded before her in impossible splendor. Wildflowers bloomed in impossible colors—some that seemed to shift from blue to purple to gold depending on how she tilted her head. Trees stretched skyward with bark that shimmered like mother-of-pearl. The air smelled of honey, ozone, and something ancient and wild. Most astonishing, the Grove was bathed in a soft, golden light despite the overcast sky they'd just left behind. "By all that's holy," Rory breathed, her hand instinctively going to the Heartstone Pendant at her throat. The deep crimson gemstone pulsed faintly with warmth against her skin. Nyx drifted forward, their shadow form becoming more substantial in this place. "The spaces between realms welcome us," they whispered, their voice sounding clearer than Rory had ever heard it. Isolde smiled, a mysterious expression that didn't quite reach her ageless eyes. "The Grove remembers its visitors. It has been waiting for you." Rory frowned. "For me specifically?" "The threads of destiny weave patterns beyond mortal sight." Isolde gestured to the path before them. "Come. The heart of the Grove holds answers you seek, though you may not recognize them as such." As they walked deeper into the Grove, Rory noticed that the flora seemed to react to their presence. Flowers opened wider as they passed, and the branches of the trees seemed to bend slightly, creating a canopy overhead. The temperature remained perfect—not too warm, not too cool. "This is incredible," Rory said, reaching out to touch a flower that sparkled like diamonds. As her fingers made contact, the flower emitted a soft chime, and a trail of light traveled up her arm before disappearing. She snatched her hand back. "What was that?" "The Grove acknowledges your touch," Isolde explained. "Everything here has consciousness of a sort. The Fae realms do not separate life from matter as your world does." Nyx reached out with a shadowy tendril toward a nearby pool of water. As they touched it, ripples spread across the surface, but instead of reflecting their shadowy form, the water showed brief images—a woman with hair like starlight, a book bound in human skin, a door carved from bone. "The water shows truths," Nyx said, their voice filled with wonder Rory had never heard from them before. "Not what is, but what could be." Rory knelt beside the pool, watching as more images flickered beneath the surface. "It's like a scrying mirror." "Less controlled, more honest," Isolde corrected. "The Fae dislike deception. We cannot lie, though truth can be shaped in many ways." A rustling in the nearby bushes made Rory's hand instinctively go to the Fae-Forged Blade at her belt. Isolde had given it to her weeks ago, but she'd never had cause to use it. The moonsilver dagger felt cold against her palm, as always, and it glowed with a faint luminescence in the Grove's golden light. A creature emerged from the foliage—something like a cross between a fox and a deer, with fur that shifted colors like oil on water. It approached cautiously, nose twitching. "A grove sprite," Isolde said softly. "Harmless unless provoked." The creature moved closer to Rory, sniffing at her boots before butting its head gently against her leg. Hesitantly, she reached down to stroke its fur, which felt like silk beneath her fingers. The creature purred—a sound like tiny bells ringing—and then bounded away into the undergrowth. "They're curious about newcomers," Isolde explained. "The Grove doesn't get many visitors from your realm these days. The Veil has strengthened." Rory's hand went to the Heartstone Pendant again. It had grown warmer since they entered the Grove. "Is that why this pendant is reacting? Because of the Veil?" Isolde's gaze sharpened. "Where did you acquire that?" "An unknown benefactor left it for me at the bar where I live," Rory explained. "It's warm for the first time since I've had it." "Interesting," Isolde murmured. "The Heartstone resonates with the boundaries between realms. That it pulses here suggests..." "Suggests what?" Rory pressed when Isolde fell silent. "Suggests that your path is more entwined with the spaces between worlds than even I had foreseen," Isolde finished cryptically. They continued walking until they reached the center of the Grove, where a massive tree grew, its trunk wider than a house, its branches stretching impossibly high. Beneath it grew a circle of mushrooms that glowed with soft blue light. "The Great Oak," Isolde said reverently. "Older than human memory. It stands in all worlds at once." As they approached, Rory noticed that the space beneath the tree was somehow larger than it should have been—the laws of physics seemed to bend around it. Nyx drifted closer, their form becoming indistinct at the edges. "It's calling to me," they whispered. "The spaces between... I can feel them more clearly here." Rory stepped beneath the branches, and immediately the world changed. The sounds of the Grove faded, replaced by whispers in languages she didn't understand but somehow comprehended—visions of other places, other times, flashing behind her eyes. "What's happening?" she asked, reaching blindly for support. Her hand found Nyx's, which had solidified into something vaguely human-shaped. "The tree shows you what is hidden," Isolde's voice said, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere. "All who stand beneath its branches see truth." Rory closed her eyes as images flooded her mind—a figure in shadow waiting at a crossroads, a door standing open between worlds, a crown made of thorns and stars. When she opened them again, she found herself kneeling on the soft moss, tears streaming down her face. "I saw..." she began, but couldn't find the words. "The path ahead," Isolde finished gently. "The Grove has welcomed you, Aurora Carter. It has shared its secrets. Now you must decide how to use them." As they prepared to leave the Grove, Rory noticed that the Heartstone Pendant had cooled again. The Fae-Forged Blade at her belt seemed to hum with potential energy. And Nyx, beside her, had grown somehow more substantial, as if this place had fed their essence. "Will we return?" Rory asked Isolde as they approached the standing stones that marked the boundary. "All who enter the Grove leave changed," Isolde replied, her silver hair catching the impossible light. "The Grove remembers. It will call you again when the time is right." With that, they stepped back through the Veil, the impossible world of the Fae Grove disappearing behind them like a dream upon waking.