The rest followed, a mix of excitement, tension, and anticipation rippling through the crowd.
The moment Icard crossed the threshold, a vaguely familiar sensation washed over him.
[Warning: You Have Entered a Gate!]
A forest of strange, alien trees unfolded before his eyes.
Their trunks twisted in unnatural spirals, bark layered in plates like hardened scales rather than wood.
Some trees pulsed faintly with dull bioluminescent veins, while others hung low with drooping, thread-like leaves that whispered against each other though there was no wind.
The forest was alive with sounds no one could place, distant clicks, hollow croaks, and low, resonant hums that seemed to vibrate through the ground rather than the air.
This was a forest, but nothing about it felt like Earth.
The unfamiliarity alone put everyone on edge.
It felt as though the forest had noticed them the instant they arrived, danger pressing in from every direction, invisible yet suffocating.
