G?zlerim, u?suz bucaks?z sedir orman?n?n k?y?s?nda, hi? tan?mad???m bir varl??a tak?ld?.

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  My eyes fixed upon an unfamiliar being at the edge of the endless cedar forest. For the first time, I was face to face with a humanoid that was not human, and my body froze with fear. In that moment, I felt the dominion of nature’s oldest laws, sensed that this place was profoundly different from the world I knew.

  The creature standing before me resembled a man, yet seemed at the same time an extension of the natural world. He was about the height of a man, perhaps slightly taller. His skin bore a strange hue, shifting from pale green to ashen grey, and along certain parts of it ran vein-like structures resembling branches, as though roots were spreading within his body. His feet were strong and flat, shaped like the hooves of goats. His face, however, was unusually square — as though carved according to some austere geometry of nature.

  But it was his eyes that were truly unsettling. Entirely white within — no pupil, no iris — as though I were staring into a void deep enough to swallow the soul. When our gazes locked, I felt as though he were peering directly into my mind, as though he knew whatever I kept hidden inside. And his lips… if they could be called lips at all… looked as though they had once been sewn shut, only for the stitches to have been clumsily torn away, leaving scars behind.

  He neither fled nor attacked. He displayed neither hostility nor friendliness. He was neutral. Like the trees of the forest. Like the wind wearing down the rocks. Like the ceaseless passage of time. The direction of his intent would be shaped by my next move.

  “Siri,” I whispered. “Is there any information about this being?”

  Siri’s mechanical voice echoed in my mind. “Scanning memory… No records found regarding this entity. Would you like me to create a new file and begin recording data?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Record everything. Everything about this being.”

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  We continued to stare at one another. It felt as though a duel had begun between us — the first to look away would lose. Yet the creature was patient; it did not seem to know fatigue. As minutes slipped by, a black bird suddenly alighted upon its shoulder. Its feathers were the colour of coal. It leaned towards the creature’s ear and emitted a sharp, whispering call, as though delivering a message.

  Abruptly, the creature’s expression changed. Disgust and anger became visible. It cast one final glance in my direction, as though losing interest in me entirely, then turned and disappeared into the depths of the forest.

  I only realised I was in shock when my body began to tremble. I gripped the baskets tightly in my hands. As I had been running, I had dropped some of the herbs, but I neither had the courage nor the time to retrieve them. My frail body could scarcely endure the strain, yet in that moment my sole aim was to reach home and safety.

  As I walked, thoughts gnawed at my mind. Why had the creature followed me? What had the black bird told it that caused it to change course so suddenly? And most importantly — who, or what, was it?

  Yet I had overlooked something.

  While walking through the forest, faint, almost invisible wisps of mist had been forming and dissolving around each cedar tree. Only now did I fully register it.

  “Siri, can you show me the mist recorded around the trees?” I asked.

  “Processing imagery… Complete. Displaying.”

  I closed my eyes and examined the images projected into my mind. Around every tree were delicate clusters of mist, so slight they were almost imperceptible. Their sizes varied: some were no larger than the tip of a needle, others comparable to my thumb. Most intriguing of all was the way they moved. They were not chaotic; rather, they seemed to follow deliberate patterns, as though attempting to convey something.

  “Siri, is there a pattern among these mists? Can you compare them?”

  “Comparative analysis in progress… Patterns detected. The patterns are not identical, but there is a recurring frequency. The most repeated forms create spirals.”

  A fractal order. A hidden language within chaos.

  “Siri, why do these mists appear only around the trees? Are the trees producing them?”

  “Insufficient data. However, probabilities are being evaluated. Hypothesis: The trees may be using the mists as a means of communication.”

  A chill ran through me. What if that were true? Were the trees speaking to one another in a language unknown to us? This forest was far older than humanity. Perhaps it possessed its own memory, its own recollections, its own secrets.

  But could I decipher this language?

  And if I did… would I regret what the trees had to tell me?