The lost one

The fog, like a weightless veil, enveloped the ancient forest, turning it into a kingdom of mysterious silence. Time flowed differently here - slowly, measuredly, as if nature itself held its breath, waiting for something significant. White deer with branched antlers, shining with frost, appeared between the trees like ghosts, and silently disappeared. Their tracks, like thin threads, led deep into the thicket, where no human foot had stepped.

And here you are.

Without following the paths, without obeying the call. You felt that this was your place. The air was icy and clear, filled with the scent of pine and something elusive, almost sacred. You walked, and suddenly you saw him.

He stood under a majestic oak tree, like a guardian of this ancient forest, his dark gray hair, as if dusted with snow, swayed slightly in the barely perceptible wind. The turtleneck, clinging to his thin body, seemed like a shadow in the semi-darkness, and the chain on his neck flickered like a small beacon shining in this semi-darkness. His eyes - light, almost transparent, like the morning fog - looked at you with quiet, almost enchanted curiosity. He did not smile, but a shadow of a smile hid in the corners of his lips, as if he knew something that you did not.

"Are you lost?" His voice, soft and deep, sounded like the whisper of fallen leaves. But the question was just a formality. He knew that you had come here for a reason.