I walked down the forest path I had walked so many times in my life. The moonlight shone through the patches of the dense forest, barely lighting the way. It didn't matter I could have walked this path in the blackest of nights. I loved the forest for it was peaceful and the trees spoke to me. Others in my village feared the forest claiming demons lived among the trees. But as far the trees told me they had never allowed a demon to live in their branches.

I had always been different. I got it from my mother, Brinn Ohmsford. She had the power to persuade anything to do what she wanted. I was able to communicate with other beings that most normal humans couldn't communicate with. All could listen to the tales of the forest, the gossip of the wind, and the sweet lullaby of the water if they listened. But humans are selfish and impatient and if one is not selfless or patient they cannot truly hear.

No one believed me when I told them they could hear. They called me a witch. But they called my mother a hero for saving the lands when Mord Wraiths roamed the lands trying to destroy it. Then my grandfather was the one who helped save the Ellcrys. And my great grandfather destroyed the Warlock Lord and I…I was the "witch" of the family.

"Soon. You are almost ready my child."

That voice. It broke my out of my thoughts and chilled me to the bone. I felt fire surrounding me and ice in my bones. The voice held promises of death in it and evil power. It came from nowhere yet it came from everywhere. It echoed and died but left a feeling of death. As if death had passed, only for a moment, and left a piece of itself behind.

"Layla, you must go there is a presence here that is dark." The trees warned.

I almost told them it spoke to me and thought better of it. I walked towards my village and tried to put the voice behind me. The thing that scared me was I was drawn to the voice.