Alex walked along a narrow path that stretched through old, rusty trees. The leaves trembled under the touch of an invisible wind, and the air was suffused with the smell of metal and dampness. The Iron Forest had long been known among the townspeople as a place to be avoided - not because it swarmed with animals, but because of the whispers carried by the roots and the echoes that could repeat a passer-by's own name once they were far from the entrance. Seventeen-year-old Alex didn't believe any of these stories. His friends, Lena and Igor, also approached them with aloofness, although they both had a strange gleam in their eyes when they suggested a night hike to a copse on the edge of the forest. They left just after sunset, skirting the lodge and passing an abandoned narrow-gauge railway that ended its run among the scrub. Alex carried a rucksack full of provisions, Lena an old pair of binoculars, and Igor a torch that was meant to shine even if the batteries failed. With each step, the air grew thicker and the light of the torch began to refract in a strange way, as if every particle of air fought against the glow. At one point, Lena stopped and pointed at something in the distance: - Can you see it? - she asked, squinting her eyes. In the gloom, a shape was looming - something between a tree and a steel structure. Its crown shone blue, and around it pulsed luminous streaks that resembled orbiting planets. Igor wanted to come closer, but Alex stopped him with his hand. He felt a sudden tingling under his skin, as if something invisible was flowing through the air between them and that structure. A protracted creaking sound came from the distance, as if hundreds of hinges were opening simultaneously, and the ground beneath his feet began to vibrate slightly. - This is no ordinary tree," whispered Alex. Lena squeezed his shoulder, feeling the situation slipping away. A shadow emerged from behind the steel trunk. It didn't have distinct features, but it was too black, too perfectly blended into its surroundings, not to draw attention. Two cold lights shone where the eyes should have been, watching them without blinking. Suddenly, the glow of light from the torch went out, and a deafening silence fell around them. Alex felt the air around him thicken and every sound become an echo. Before they had time to decide to retreat, the shadow made a barely perceptible gesture, as if inviting them inside the forest. The ground beneath their feet moved gently, and a narrow path opened up in front of them that had not been there before. He swallowed his saliva and looked at his friends. Each of them knew that they had just crossed into a world from which it might not be so easy to return....