The forest stretched wide and still.
Lyra walked half a step behind Nyri, mostly because it gave her an excuse to keep her eyes moving. The path was overgrown in places, but Nyri didn't hesitate. She moved like someone who'd walked this trail too many times to count, and hated every step.
"So," Lyra said eventually, "do all your family traditions involve magical entrapment, or is that just a clan special?"
Nyri glanced back, unimpressed. "We have built our own culture and songs, too. But they're less dramatic."
"Pity. I was hoping for a full musical number at the ritual."
They walked for a while more before the air shifted.
It wasn't obvious, no glowing barrier, no wall of thorns. Just a pressure. Like walking into deep water.
Nyri stopped. "Here."
Lyra stepped forward.
The pressure intensified. Her skin prickled. Something inside her chest tightened, like her body wanted to turn back even if her feet didn't.
She reached out, slowly.
Nothing visible. But her hand stopped midair, blocked by something she couldn't see.
"Yeah," she muttered. "That's a problem."
Nyri didn't speak.
Lyra turned to her. "So this is it? You've tried every inch of it?"
Nyri nodded. "People used to think there might be gaps. Weak spots. But we always came back. Or didn't go far before collapsing."
Lyra pressed both palms against the barrier. "It doesn't even hum. Just holds."
Nyri watched her. "You don't believe in things easily, do you?"
"I believe in what kills me fastest," Lyra said. "Everything else is optional."
Nyri didn't argue.
They stood there in the thick quiet, the kind that pressed between ribs and reminded you how long it had been since anything felt free.
Meanwhile, in the heart of the village, Kaal watched a group of children weaving silver thread through bark-stripped sticks.
"Charms," the old woman beside him said. "Protection, mostly. Against corruption."
"Does it work?"
"Sometimes."
Kaal didn't press. He understood the weight behind half-answers by now.
Thalin approached, a small pouch in hand.
"I've been collecting plant samples," he said, too brightly. "There's a vine that grows here that shouldn't exist past the border. It's completely unique."
Kaal didn't respond.
Thalin tried again. "These people aren't just relics. They're part of a sealed ecosystem. Studying them, studying this, could help us understand how magic adapted when it disappeared elsewhere."
Kaal turned. "You're not worried about what it costs them?"
Thalin shrugged. "If the ritual works, they can break the curse and be free. And we're out. Everyone wins."
"And if it doesn't?"
Thalin's smile didn't fade. "Then we're still stuck. Might as well make use of the time."
Back at the edge, Lyra stepped away from the barrier.
"Alright," she said. "I've seen it. Congratulations. You're properly trapped."
Nyri didn't smile. "That's not why I brought you."
"Let me guess..."
"No Lyra," Nyri stopped. "I just wanted you to understand we're not lying. That we're here. And we don't want to be."
Lyra exhaled slowly. She didn't look at the wall again.
"Come on," Nyri said. "I want to show you something else."
"And if it's another cursed rock, I'm turning around."
"It's not," Nyri said.
She started walking.
Lyra followed.
This time, closer than before.