Raven did not leave the circle immediately.
He remained standing at its center for a long time.
He did not know why.
But something about this place made him feel as if he should not move too quickly.
The air was still.
Even the wind that moved between the trees around the circle did not enter the center.
The place was quiet in a strange way.
Raven looked once more at the faint lines scattered across the ground.
They were extremely subtle.
If he had not been searching carefully, he would have never noticed them.
He slowly knelt down.
Then moved his fingers over one of the lines.
The soil felt slightly soft.
But the line itself was firm.
Drawn with precision.
He followed it with his eyes until it ended.
Then he looked at another line a short distance away.
Then a third.
Slowly, he began to understand something.
These lines were not random.
They were part of a very large shape.
But he could not see the entire shape from where he stood.
Raven slowly stood up.
Then stepped back toward the edge of the circle.
He tried to look at the ground from a different angle.
But the shape remained unclear.
He lifted his head slightly and looked at the trees surrounding the place.
They stood like silent guardians.
Rings of ancient trunks encircling the empty space.
As if the forest itself was hiding it.
Raven took the stone out of his pocket again.
He turned it slowly between his fingers.
The two curved lines were still the same.
But his feeling toward the stone was no longer ordinary.
It now felt as if the stone belonged to this place.
He slowly sat down on the ground.
Then picked up a small stick and began drawing what he saw in the dirt.
The first line.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Each line placed in its approximate location.
He drew very slowly.
Sometimes he paused to look around again.
Sometimes he stood up to measure distances with his eyes.
Many minutes passed.
Then the drawing in the dirt began to resemble something strange.
Not a circle.
And not a simple symbol.
But lines moving around a hidden center.
As if they were orbiting a point that had not yet been drawn.
Raven stopped.
He stared at the drawing.
Then slowly lifted his head.
He looked at the place where he was standing.
A small thought appeared in his mind.
What if…
He was standing on that point?
He looked down at the ground beneath his feet.
There was nothing visible.
Only quiet soil.
But the strange feeling returned once more.
As if the place itself… was watching.
It was not a sound.
And not movement.
Just a very faint sensation.
As if the silence here was not empty.
But filled with something unseen.
Raven stood without moving.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Then suddenly…
He heard a faint sound.
The sound of a leaf falling.
He quickly turned.
But the forest around the circle remained unchanged.
No one was there.
He looked back at the ground.
Then at the stone in his hand.
Suddenly, a simple idea crossed his mind.
He lifted the stone slightly.
Then slowly placed it on the ground in front of his feet.
Nothing happened.
The stone remained motionless on the soil.
Raven waited.
Seconds passed.
Then more seconds.
Nothing changed.
He breathed slowly.
And picked the stone up again.
But when he lifted it…
He froze.
Because something very small was beneath the stone.
A new line.
It had not been there a moment ago.
It was extremely faint.
But clear enough for him to see.
Raven froze where he stood.
His eyes fixed on the line.
He did not move.
He did not speak.
He only looked.
Very slowly…
He extended his hand and touched the new line.
It felt slightly warm.
Unlike the cold soil around it.
Raven slowly raised his head.
He looked at the other scattered lines inside the circle.
Then looked again at the stone in his hand.
Only one thought passed through his mind.
This place…
Does not only wait.
It changes.
But the question he still could not answer was simpler—and far more dangerous.
Are these lines appearing…
Because he is here?