"Keep your pace, children. Don't forget to let me know if you hurt yourself on anything or see anything dangerous... We'll rest in half an hour," Joel ordered firmly, looking back at the line of children following him. The group advanced between twisted roots and low branches, making their way through the dense forest.

  One of the problems Joel never anticipated—and which turned the final stretch of his journey into a slow and exhausting march—was the carriage's inability to cross the forest. He didn't realize it until the trees were in front of him, too late to think of any way other than walking.

  Unfortunately, he couldn't carry ten children on his back as he had once done with Ariel and Liam. The only option was to improvise: he tied the children together with a rope and led them on a journey that had already been going on for weeks, marked by fatigue and monotony.

  As expected, at first many were reluctant to enter what they considered a gloomy forest. Crying and complaints multiplied, forcing Joel to impose discipline with the severity of someone who knows there is no alternative. However, fear soon gave way to bewilderment: the forest, so intimidating in appearance, was empty. There were no roars in the distance, no insects buzzing, not even the song of a bird.

  The absolute silence eventually calmed the children, although none understood the reason. But Joel did, because thanks to the medallion hanging around his neck, he emitted an invisible aura that repelled animals within a radius of hundreds of meters. A small safety trick that transformed the forest into an inexplicably peaceful wasteland.

  Fortunately, feeding the children wasn't as difficult as Joel had feared. Thanks to his unique ability to recreate modern, easy-to-prepare foods, all he needed was a pot and clean stream water to work wonders. Thus, amid the crackling of the improvised fire and the steam rising in the humid forest air, the children enjoyed instant noodles, freshly cooked rice, exotic soups, and even hot chocolate that seemed to bring smiles to their faces even in their exhaustion.

  For the children, those meals were a treasure; they had never tasted such intense flavors or such comforting textures. Hunger gave way to fascination, and soon the endless march through the dark trees became more bearable. Amid laughter, games, and shared conversations during the stops, the children began to forge bonds of friendship, a small brotherhood born in adversity.

  Even Joel, always distant and calculating, couldn't help but feel a pang of envy. They shared something that had been taken from him long ago: the innocence of a sincere bond, devoid of ambitions and complex burdens.

  It wasn't until the fourth week of the journey that Joel and the children finally reached their destination: the immense tree that housed the shelter. Just seeing it rise from the dense forest was enough to make the accumulated fatigue dissolve in a sigh of relief.

  Before Joel could even attempt to climb the tree, a cheerful voice descended from above. Ariel, beaming with excitement, nimbly scrambled down, closely followed by Liam. Apparently, Nana had already detected their presence long before they entered the tree's visual range.

  As soon as she touched the ground, Ariel threw herself into Joel's arms with overwhelming enthusiasm. She hugged him tightly, protesting between laughter and complaints because he had taken too long to return... and because, unfortunately for her, the batteries for her portable console had already run out. Liam, on the other hand, was more reserved, maintaining a composure that attempted to hide his emotion, although the expression of relief on his face completely betrayed him.

  Both siblings, however, were astounded when they saw the procession waiting behind Joel: a line of ten children, tired but expectant, watching them with a mixture of shyness and curiosity.

  If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  Joel simply told Ariel and Liam that these children were going to be their new companions, and that he planned to show them many more amazing things than they had already seen. Far from being uncomfortable, they both accepted him without hesitation. Ariel, in fact, seemed delighted with the idea, especially when she noticed the presence of the four girls within the group, whom she immediately wanted to take by the hand and lead around, full of curiosity.

  Trusting them, Joel left it to them to help the children climb into the shelter and assign them a room to rest. The murmur of footsteps and children's voices began to fill the air, transforming the place into something much more alive than it had been until then.

  Joel, for his part, had other immediate priorities. He entered the house with a serene stride, looking for someone in particular. But in the living room, he was greeted by an unexpected sight: Oscar, the owl, was watching him from atop a piece of furniture, his feathers ruffled and his eyes wide open, as if he had seen an invisible predator.

  Only then did Joel realize that he still had the medallion's aura active, the same one that had kept all the animals away from the forest for weeks. As soon as he deactivated it, the change in Oscar was immediate. The bird gave a couple of nervous blinks, flapped its wings to shake off the tension, and then gently descended to perch on the back of a chair, emitting a low, friendly sound.

  "Easy, boy," Joel murmured with a half smile, reaching out to gently stroke the feathers on his head. Oscar tilted his neck, accepting the gesture with a slow blink that seemed almost human.

  Without further delay, Joel headed to his room. There, the presence he most wanted to meet was waiting for him: Nana. The conversation he planned to have with her was important, because now not only were Ariel and Liam under his care, but ten more children who would depend on him in every way.

  "I've felt an additional presence since you entered the house," was the first thing Nana said as soon as Joel crossed the threshold.

  The statue, still covered in that matte black hue, no longer looked the same as before. Its features had taken on a surprising delicacy, as if it were slowly coming to life. And now it was wearing a white robe, evidently made by Ariel, which gave it an almost solemn air.

  “If you’re referring to the children, there are actually ten of them,” Joel replied, dropping his bag to the floor and beginning to unpack its contents. “I plan to make them my future helpers.”

  “I’m not referring to the children,” the statue insisted, its expressionless eyes boring into him. “I detect the presence of someone else, right around you… I don’t know how to describe it, but that presence is very close to your chest.”

  Joel froze for a moment, but it didn’t take long for him to understand what she meant. The medallion.

  “Do you feel it right now?” he asked softly. “Is there danger involved?”

  “Not at all. If there were, I would have acted by now,” Nana replied sternly. “That presence… it feels familiar. Very similar to you and me. I dare say we share the same origin.”

  "That thing you can sense... can you tell if it's conscious and able to hear us?" Joel asked, taking the medallion in one hand.

  "I can't confirm that," Nana replied calmly. "But from the moment we started talking about it, I've sensed small emotions coming from that object."

  Joel held the medallion for a few seconds, frowning as he studied it, trying to notice any differences. "Do you think you can gain something if you devour it?" he finally asked, with a hint of irony.

  "Wait a minute..." a strange, deep, and clear voice suddenly boomed from the medallion.

  "You son of a bitch!" Joel exploded, immediately dropping it and letting it fall to the floor with a loud crash. "Since when have you been spying on me? Wasn't all the time you stole from me enough? Now you want to watch the rest of my life too?"

  "Calm down," the voice replied, its tone calm and in sharp contrast to Joel's fury. "I wasn't spying on you at all. The only reason I'm conscious now is because of the presence of that entity you call Nana."

  “So you're like me?” Nana asked, her voice tinged with curiosity.

  “Not at all,” the voice from the medallion replied. “But the simple fact that you can sense me says a lot… you are more than just the conscience of this house.”

  Joel frowned, clenching his fists. “Why are you still here, Ashoka?” he said, anger still fresh in his voice.

  “Actually, I've never moved since my ascension,” the voice replied, calm, almost with a hint of superiority. “The simplest way to explain it is that I exist right now on a different plane, something you might call the spirit world. From my perspective, you haven't moved; your world is moving around you. The medallion is my only window into your reality.”

  “It sounds complicated… but it still doesn't explain why you're here,” Joel insisted, his eyes fixed on the medallion.

  “To be honest, I don’t even know,” Ashoka replied after a brief silence, his voice reverberating in the room. “I shouldn’t exist, and yet here I am… I’ve achieved what I so longed for, Nirvana. But nothing is as it should be… This place is nothing like my home world, and every day I struggle to get used to this new condition.”

  His voice deepened, almost solemn. “Of one thing, at least, I’m sure: my debt to you is immense. And I will do everything in my power to help you.”