The rusted iron key grew warmer.
Not painfully.
But steadily.
Like a heartbeat against Noah’s chest.
He slowly withdrew his hand from the freshly carved sparrow.
The warmth immediately faded.
Damien noticed.
"...Something wrong?"
Noah hesitated.
Then quietly answered,
"My key reacted."
Only his squad heard him.
Sophia looked surprised.
"The one from the Hall of Oaths?"
Noah nodded.
"It has never reacted like this before."
Chief Elias looked between them.
"...What key?"
Noah simply shook his head.
"Something personal."
The old chief didn’t press further.
The villagers carefully collected Old Marcus’ belongings.
His daughter fell to her knees beside the empty boots.
She didn’t cry.
She simply stared.
As though tears had already run dry years ago.
Rowan removed his hat.
"He was with me just yesterday."
No one answered.
An elderly shepherd stepped forward.
"I saw him this morning."
Everyone turned toward him.
"He crossed the pasture."
"He waved at me."
"Then..."
The shepherd frowned.
"...he stopped."
"What do you mean?"
Noah asked.
"He looked toward the forest."
"Like someone had called him."
The old man’s voice became quieter.
"...He smiled."
"And walked away."
Eric’s expression hardened.
"He just... left?"
The shepherd nodded.
"He walked normally."
"He wasn’t running."
"He wasn’t frightened."
"It looked..."
"...like he was meeting an old friend."
Noah remembered the smiling guard.
His smile.
His calm walk into the forest.
A pattern was forming.
Back at the chief’s house...
Squad Seven gathered around a large map of Eldermere.
Noah placed small wooden markers where each disappearance had occurred.
Whisper Creek.
The northern pasture.
The old road.
The abandoned mill.
The eastern orchard.
Eric frowned.
"They’re all over the place."
"No."
Damien corrected.
"They only look random."
Sophia leaned closer.
"What do you see?"
Damien drew imaginary lines between the markers.
Slowly...
A rough circle emerged.
At its center...
One location remained.
The old shrine.
Silence filled the room.
Luna folded her arms.
"So everything points there."
Chief Elias slowly nodded.
"My grandfather once believed the same thing."
"He searched for weeks."
"And?"
"He found the shrine."
Everyone leaned forward.
"But..."
Elias lowered his eyes.
"...he couldn’t remember how he got back."
He opened another old journal.
This one belonged to his grandfather.
Most of the pages were filled with notes.
Until one section.
Where the handwriting became shaky.
I reached the shrine.
I saw...
...
...
(The rest of the page had been violently scratched away.)
The following page contained only one sentence.
Written over and over again.
Do not open the door.
Dozens of times.
Until the ink had torn through the paper.
Eric swallowed.
"...That’s not creepy at all."
Noah closed the journal gently.
His mind was racing.
Something inside the shrine was important.
But...
This early in the story...
It couldn’t be the final truth.
There had to be layers.
A knock interrupted them.
One of the village guards hurried inside.
"Chief!"
"What now?"
"The old bell..."
"...It’s ringing."
Chief Elias froze.
"...Impossible."
"No one’s touched it for years."
The villagers rushed outside.
Squad Seven followed.
At the highest point in Eldermere stood a weathered stone bell tower.
Covered in vines.
Abandoned decades ago.
Yet...
The ancient bronze bell swayed gently.
DONG...
A slow...
Lonely chime echoed across the valley.
No one stood beneath it.
No rope moved.
No wind blew.
Yet the bell rang again.
DONG...
Every villager lowered their heads.
Some whispered silent prayers.
Others quietly led their children indoors.
Chief Elias looked toward the distant forest.
His face had turned pale.
"It only rings..."
"...when someone has crossed into the forest."
Another guard came sprinting up the hill.
Completely out of breath.
"Chief!"
"What is it now?"
The guard could barely speak.
"...The eastern gate..."
"...it’s open."
"It was locked this morning."
Noah immediately looked toward the forest beyond the village walls.
The gate stood wide open.
Slowly creaking in the breeze.
And leading away from it...
Were a single set of fresh footprints.
Bare feet.
The size of a child.
The old bell rang again.
DONG...
Its mournful echo drifted across Eldermere.
No one spoke.
The villagers simply stared at the open eastern gate.
The barefoot footprints continued beyond the village walls.
Small.
Fresh.
As though whoever had made them had left only moments ago.
Chief Elias looked at Noah.
"...We never follow after sunset."
Noah looked toward the fading sky.
The sun had already begun dipping behind the mountains.
"We’re not."
He answered calmly.
"We’ll investigate at first light."
Several villagers visibly relaxed.
Eric whispered,
"I was worried you’d say we should go now."
Noah shook his head.
"Whatever’s out there..."
"...has waited over a hundred years."
"It can wait one more night."
Damien gave a quiet nod.
"The correct decision."
That evening...
The atmosphere in Eldermere had changed.
The streets emptied before darkness fell.
Doors were barred.
Windows were shut.
No children played outside.
It felt as though the entire village was holding its breath.
Squad Seven gathered inside the chief’s house.
A detailed map of the surrounding forest lay across the table.
Noah drew a circle around three locations.
Whisper Creek.
The Northern Pasture.
The Old Shrine.
"They’re connected."
Sophia nodded.
"The disappearances."
"The carvings."
"Lily."
"The smiling guard."
"They all point toward the shrine."
Luna tapped the map.
"But we don’t rush in."
"No."
Noah agreed.
"We observe first."
Damien added another thought.
"...There’s something else."
Everyone looked at him.
"Has anyone actually seen someone disappear?"
Silence.
Chief Elias slowly shook his head.
"...No."
"We only find what’s left behind."
"The boots."
"The sparrows."
"The walking sticks."
"But never..."
"...the moment itself."
Noah frowned.
"So we’re assuming they’re taken."
"...But no one has ever witnessed it."
A heavy silence followed.
That single realization changed everything.
A knock sounded at the door.
Knock. Knock.
A young girl entered carrying a basket.
She couldn’t have been older than twelve.
"My grandmother baked these."
Fresh bread filled the room with a comforting aroma.
Chief Elias smiled warmly.
"Thank you, Emma."
She placed the basket on the table.
Then looked curiously at Noah.
"...You’re the academy students?"
"We are."
She hesitated.
Then quietly asked,
"...You’re going into the forest, aren’t you?"
Noah didn’t answer immediately.
"...Eventually."
Emma lowered her eyes.
"If you see Lily..."
"...tell her..."
She smiled sadly.
"...Grandma still leaves flowers on the bridge every spring."
The room became silent.
Emma bowed politely before leaving.
Eric blinked.
"...People still do that?"
Chief Elias nodded.
"Every year."
"No one remembers why anymore."
"They simply continue the tradition."
Professor Astrid’s note echoed once more in Noah’s mind.
Do not ignore what the villagers consider ordinary.
He finally understood.
The traditions.
The flowers.
The closed windows before sunset.
The old bell.
None of these were random customs.
They were memories.
Echoes of forgotten events.
Later that night...
Noah couldn’t sleep.
He stepped outside.
The village was silent beneath a sky filled with stars.
He walked toward the eastern gate.
The barefoot footprints were still there.
Untouched.
Waiting.
He stopped several meters away.
Not crossing the gate.
Not yet.
The rusted iron key beneath his shirt grew warm again.
Fainter than before.
But steady.
Then...
A voice whispered through the night.
"...Noah."
He froze.
It was soft.
Gentle.
It sounded...
Like his mother.
He closed his eyes.
Old Bram’s warning returned.
"If you hear someone calling your name... don’t answer."
Noah remained silent.
The voice came again.
Closer this time.
"...Noah..."
"...Come home..."
His fists tightened.
For just a moment...
The words tugged at something deep inside him.
A memory.
A longing.
Then Ragnar’s voice cut through his thoughts.
"Don’t listen."
The single sentence shattered the illusion.
The warmth in the key disappeared.
The whisper stopped.
When Noah opened his eyes...
The footprints beyond the gate had changed.
They no longer led into the forest.
They now faced...
The village.
As if whatever had made them...
Had been standing just outside the gate.
Watching him.
Far beyond the tree line...
Hidden in the darkness...
A pair of ancient golden eyes slowly opened.
A deep voice, older than kingdoms themselves, echoed through the silent forest.
"...The Key Bearer..."
"...has finally arrived."