The little one glanced at me, then at the locket, while the larger deer watched from afar. Something in the air shifted. I felt a quiet urgency stir inside me. I crouched down and picked up the bundle, then called out, “Hey, are you… trying to tell me something?” Without answering, the deer turned its head toward the treeline. Strangely compelled, I followed.

We walked through the forest in silence, golden light slanting through the trees. Eventually, they brought me to a wide clearing, dominated by a massive, ancient oak. The smaller deer looked back one last time and then vanished. Drawn toward the tree, I noticed a faint shape in the dirt. Beneath it lay a stone with the same symbols as the locket, and underneath, a parchment that read: “For those who seek the truth, the journey is never easy. But those who are brave enough to face it shall be rewarded.”

That night, I couldn’t sleep. The next morning, I searched for answers and found an old book titled The Secrets of the Forest. It described an ancient order of guardians who protected secret knowledge. The symbols matched the ones on the locket.