Three animal friends find strange carvings on the oldest tree in Green Forest and follow a trail of clues into a misty clearing.
In the heart of Green Forest stood the Old Oak, so vast that its crown seemed to brush the clouds and its trunk needed a whole ring of squirrels to reach halfway around. Every branch knew the wind there. Every root seemed to remember secrets. That morning, three friends gathered beneath it: Kika the squirrel, quick as a spark; Hela the owl, calm and sharp-eyed; and Fredzia the mouse, small, clumsy, and clever enough to notice what everyone else missed.
The forest was quiet when the sound began.
Tyk-tyk-klik. Tyk-tyk-klik.
Kika froze, her tail twitching. The sound came again, this time from the bark of the Old Oak itself. She scampered closer and found fresh marks cut into the wood: tiny stars, crooked arrows, and a line of scratches so neat they looked planned rather than made by claws. Hela landed beside her, tilting her head until one eye nearly disappeared under a feather. Fredzia arrived last, puffing a little, then pulled a small magnifying glass from her satchel.
“Someone wanted these to be noticed,” she said, peering at the carvings. “And look here.”
She brushed away a curled leaf and uncovered another symbol hidden beneath it.
Hela’s feathers lifted. “A code,” she murmured. “Or a warning.”
Kika felt a shiver of excitement run through her paws. The marks were too careful to be random. They pointed deeper into the forest, toward an old clearing where the trees grew thin and the light always seemed pale, even at noon. The friends followed the arrows between ferns and mossy stones, past brambles that snagged at Kika’s fur and roots that nearly tripped Fredzia twice.
The clearing appeared all at once, open and still, with an ancient juniper at its centre. Kika spotted a sudden gleam near its roots, a flash of something small and bright. She took one step forward.
Then a thick, milky mist rolled in so fast it swallowed the juniper, the arrows, and the path behind them. Hela reached for Fredzia, and Fredzia grabbed Kika’s paw.
A branch creaked somewhere in the white haze.
Then, just behind them, a quiet voice said, “What are you doing here?”