The summer twilight over the village of Modrowie filled the air with warmth and the whisper of crickets. It was when the sun was already barely touching the crowns of the tall pines that Lila, Natan and Igor slipped out again behind the village houses. Each of them carried a strange premonition that tonight would bring something more than mere wandering in the woods. They crept through the tough grass hidden between the twinkling birches. Lila, the bravest of the two, led the way, holding an old piece of wood in her hand - a stick forged by her grandfather that was said to protect against evil. Igor, somewhat thoughtful, walked behind, his phone acting as a torch. Natan, on the other hand, tried not to lag behind, although he would sometimes prefer to stay by the fire with his grandmother, listening to stories about ancient gods and demons. As soon as they crossed the border of the Dark Forest, the air became completely different - heavier, as if the forest was watching their every step. "Something smells of incense here," Lila whispered, and Igor nodded as he too smelled the herbal smoke, although no campfire was visible. They stopped abruptly as footprints appeared in front of them, on the soft moss - round as from a bare foot, carved into the wet earth. Lila crouched down and touched the ground with her fingers. "Someone has been here. Not long ago. And not just one someone." Natan tried to joke, but laughter stuck in his throat. The forest seemed to whisper in its own language. A sort of protracted howl, unnatural and disturbing, came from the distance. Igor leaned closer to the footsteps and found something else: a piece of red ribbon, pinned to a small pine tree. "It's a protective sign - like in the old rituals," he said quietly, recalling his grandmother's words. "Someone left something here overnight. Maybe they were watching over something?" Suddenly, a light flashed from behind more trees - not a torch, but a golden glow, as if invisible fires were burning. The leaves rustled violently and a chill pierced the air. Lila squeezed the stick tighter. "Shall we go on?" she whispered, and her voice trembled with more than just emotion. No one answered, but they all moved towards the light. The closer they got, the clearer they heard voices - neither human nor quite animal, more like a song that had been passed from mouth to mouth for hundreds of years. When they stopped at the edge of a mid-forest clearing, they saw a strange silhouette standing right next to an altar made of stones and deer antlers. Nobody even dared to reach for the phone. In that moment, time stopped and the three friends felt that they were in a place where the world of humans was mixing with something older and much more powerful....