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Elara sat, the warmth of the cottage seeping into her bones. Outside, the world was vast and often cold, but here, held in the wooden embrace of the Great Oak, she finally felt the ground steady beneath her feet.

As she reached the tiny circular door, it creaked open before she could even knock. Inside, the air smelled of cedar and old parchment. Books with spines made of dragon-scale lined the curved walls, and a teapot hummed a low, melodic tune on a stove carved from a single river stone. 00FE9511-78EA-49E4-A96C-66E53CACB38F.jpeg

An old man, skin as wrinkled as the tree itself, peered over his spectacles. He wasn't a giant, nor a gnome, but something in between—a Keeper. Elara sat, the warmth of the cottage seeping into her bones

"I didn't know I was invited," Elara whispered, clutching the silver key. Inside, the air smelled of cedar and old parchment