Nyssa’s breath caught in her chest as she paused to look up at the gateway formed by two ancient trees, their massive trunks framing either side of the road. Their limbs merged high above to create an arch so seamless it was impossible to tell where one branch ended and the other began. Beyond the living arch the forest looked much the same as on this side of the border, but she could sense a quiet prickling of power emanating from the archway itself, and from the way Kellam was having to calm his uneasy horse, the animal could surely feel it, too. Perhaps that was one of the reasons most of the elven pilgrims to Aelinor came on foot, to avoid risking distress or injury to panicked horses.

  Apparently the gate affected everyone — and every creature — differently. As far as she knew, fae creatures such as goblins and fairies felt unbearable pain if they tried to cross through, which made her curious about how any of them had managed to reach her village. She turned to ask Kellam, but the ranger appeared to be drinking in the sight of the living pillars with an expression of profound wonder on his face — even after the many hundreds of times he must have passed through this entrance.

  "Beautiful, aren't they?" he said.

  “Are they soul trees?” Nyssa asked. She had only ever heard vague references to soul trees, but surely if anyone knew about the mysterious sentient giants it would be a forest warden like Kellam.

  She caught the brief, guarded look in his eyes, then he replied, “These two are known to be soul trees, yes.” He reached out to one of the trunks, trailing his fingers along the smooth bark with a tenderness that seemed so unlike his usual playful attitude. "They've seen more than we could ever imagine."

  Nyssa felt another prickle of discomfort when she thought what it must be like to stand for hundreds of years in one place, just watching. Her own hand ventured out to touch the bark of the nearest pillar, but as soon as her fingers grazed the surface of the ancient tree, she snatched her hand back, fingertips tingling. She had been through the border before, but each time she felt a stronger reaction. Just in that moment of contact she had thought she could hear or sense it whispering something, and it had sent a chill through her. It almost felt as though the ancient being had been trying to communicate with her.

  She thought about mentioning it to Kellam, but the friend she knew from his visits to her village — the carefree flirt with a ready grin — seemed someone different here in the forest, and it left her feeling a little off balance. Although he had frequently regaled her with tales about his life as a forest ranger, he never spoke about life inside the inner community of Aelinor itself. She had very little knowledge of deep elven lore, and suddenly felt the lack very keenly.

  "Scared?" Kellam teased, although his eyes betrayed a flicker of concern.

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  “Cautious,” she corrected. “I always wonder if the border’s energy comes from the trees, or if it’s the other way around.”

  Yet again the ranger regarded her for a moment before answering. “Maybe that’s something you’ll learn when we get to Aelinor.”

  Nyssa’s expression instantly pulled into a frown when Kellam named their destination. “Really? Or perhaps I’ll discover that Aelinor is full of prejudiced, privileged elves who won’t share any information with me except for their opinions about my ‘mongrel heritage’.”

  The elf looked shocked and hurt at her outburst, but didn’t try to defend his kindred.

  “Even the trees feel like they’re judging me,” Nyssa blurted out, gesturing at the two giant trees keeping their silent vigil. “They stand there on the edge of both worlds, buzzing and whispering, and it feels like they don’t want to let me into either one.”

  “It sounds like you’re doing some judgement of your own, at the moment,” the elf said quietly.

  Nyssa’s frown became a glare. But then she shook her head in irritation and resignation. “Let's just... move forward," she said, stepping towards the space between the two massive trunks, but then hesitated again. Kellam silently extended his free hand to her, while he held the horse's reins in his other hand.

  The ranger’s hand was a comfort, she had to admit. She took a deep breath, then let him draw her with him as they stepped together under the living arch. She looked up at the interwoven boughs as she passed beneath their canopy, then fixed her gaze on the path ahead, where shadow and light created a bright mosaic on the forest floor beyond.

  Still holding hands, they took another step. The air was instantly filled with the scents of moss and magic. It hummed and pulsed with a mixture of unseen energies that danced across her skin like a sudden hailstorm. It was exhilarating and terrifying all at once; as though the forest’s magic was tasting her, testing her. The border wasn’t just a line, it was a reckoning.

  Then suddenly they were on the other side.

  Kellam released her hand so he could calm the startled horse again, patting and soothing it into stillness. “I know, I know, it’s like being touched by the world itself," he murmured to the animal, his voice holding a note of awe.

  "Or being slapped by it," Nyssa muttered. Her instincts were still tingling with a sense of unease that pricked at the edges of her rational mind, but she had no way to diagnose whatever the problem might be. Ahead lay the road to Aelinor, and at the moment she was in the mood to slap it right back.

  As the ranger led his mount away from the magical gate, Nyssa followed them a few paces before slowing. Something tugged at her attention.

  She glanced back at the gateway.

  The two immense trees stood exactly as before, their smooth trunks rising like silent pillars on either side of the road, their branches interwoven high above to form the living arch. Nothing moved.

  For a moment she thought she heard something. It could have been the rustle of leaves, but on the edge of her mind something was almost forming into a word. She held her breath, straining to catch the sound.

  “Kellam?” she called quietly.

  But the ranger was already disappearing into the dim forest ahead, the horse tossing its head as he led it onward.

  Nyssa cast one last uncertain look at the silent trees, then hurried after him before he vanished completely into the shadows.