Amelia and Philip slip into the forbidden forest hills and meet a dryad who leads them to a hidden silver door glowing with strange light.
Amelia and Philip lived on the edge of an ancient forest that everyone in the village pretended not to notice and everyone secretly watched. By day it looked peaceful enough, with sunlight pooling under the oaks and birds flashing through the branches. But the deeper paths were wrapped in warning: wild beasts, tangled roots, spider webs as big as hammocks, and plants that could grab your ankle if you stood too still.
That afternoon, the forest seemed to call to them. Beyond the trees rose a line of green hills, soft as sleeping giants, and from their tops, people said, you could see the whole world. Amelia did not believe that, exactly. Still, she took Philip's hand, and together they slipped through the tall grass, careful to avoid the fallen stones half-hidden in the earth.
The climb was steeper than it looked. Wind brushed their faces, warm and strange, carrying the smell of leaves after rain. At the top of the hill, Amelia was just catching her breath when she heard it: a quiet laugh, so close that she turned at once.
Behind an old oak stood a girl with hair the colour of new leaves. Her dress seemed stitched from flowers and threads of bark, and tiny vines curled around her ankles as if they knew her name.
"I am Lira," she said softly. "These hills belong to the dryads. Few visitors find them. I have been waiting for you."
Philip gave Amelia a look that was equal parts fear and wonder. Before either of them could ask how Lira had known they were coming, the dryad held out her hand and led them between the trees. The forest grew quieter the farther they went, until even the birds seemed to be listening.
At last she stopped beside an old apple tree twisted by age and lightning. In its trunk was a door, narrow and shining, as though it had been hammered from silver and moonlight. Amelia stared at it, her heart thudding hard enough to hurt.
"It opens only once a year," Lira whispered, and the green light in her eyes brightened. "Only when the moon is full and the wind brings the right kind of traveller. Are you ready?"
Amelia had no answer. The silver door gave a faint shiver, as if something on the other side had heard them. Then, before anyone moved, a line of gold seeped out from beneath it and spread across the roots like living fire.