I felt a shiver run down my spine as the figure stepped out of the shadows. It was a man, or the outline of one, wearing the darkness like a cloak.

"You shouldn't have found that," he said again, his voice low but carrying clearly to where Agnes and I stood by the tree.

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice stronger than I felt. The metal plate under my fingers felt like a cold weight in the suddenly tense atmosphere.

The man stepped forward, into the light. He had a cruel, angular face. "It doesn't matter who I am," he said. "What matters is that you're interfering with things you don't understand."

Agnes stood next to me, suddenly straight and tall. "And what do you know about it?" she demanded.

He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "More than you can possibly know."

I could feel the energy of the earth beneath me. I knew it should be scared, but I also felt a sense of responsibility to protect whatever secrets this tree held.

"We didn't mean any harm," I said. "We just want to understand."

He looked between us, weighing us up. "Understanding can be dangerous," he said. "Some secrets are best left buried."

"Some secrets need to be uncovered," I said, feeling emboldened by the steady beat of the earth beneath me.

He paused for a moment before retreating into the shadows. "Be careful, Evie Hartwell," he said, and my name sounded like a threat in his mouth. "Not everyone will be out to warn you."

With that, he was gone.

Agnes and I looked at each other. We both knew the gravity of what we had found and the potential danger that came with it.

"Should we tell Gethin about this?" Agnes asked after a moment.

I nodded. "Yes, but first we need to find out what this plate and these symbols mean." I looked back at the green-tinged metal in the tree.

Agnes put her hand on my shoulder. "Let's do this together," she said.

"Together," I agreed.

Agnes didn't hesitate; she was straight onto her phone, tapping away as urgently as my heart was beating. "Gethin, we need you at the inn," she said into the phone, her voice a mix of steel and velvet. I only caught snippets of his hurried response, but the words "on my way" cut through the tension in the air.

The only sound was the leaves rustling and my breath, which seemed loud in the garden's quiet. The ancient oak tree stood like a sentinel, its branches reaching up into the darkening sky as if in warning.

It wasn't long before Gethin arrived, striding through the garden towards us. He looked into my eyes, concern flashing across his face. Before I knew it, he had enveloped me in a protective hug. His touch was warm and reassuring, but he let go almost immediately, perhaps realising he had overstepped the mark.

"Sorry," he said, stepping back. He ran a hand through his hair, looking anywhere but at me.

I was about to tell him it was fine, but Agnes spared me from having to find the right words. She drew his attention to what we had found.

"This," she said, indicating the metal plate embedded in the tree trunk. "We found it after the man threatened Evie."

Gethin's gaze searched me as if he was assessing if I was OK before his attention snapped to the plate. He crouched down beside it, running his fingers over the symbols etched into its surface.

"This lettering," he said. "It's like what we found in the scorched earth." He looked up at us. "Did he say anything else?"

I shook my head. "Only that some secrets are best left buried." I watched Gethin's expression darken with every word I repeated from the stranger's warning.

He stood up. "We need to find out what this is connected to."

"Do you think Elias might know something?" Agnes asked.

Agnes's suggestion resonated. "Elias, of course," I said. "He might have come across something like this in his travels."

I returned to the cottage, leaving Gethin and Agnes to talk about what to do next. I found Elias and Everett Montague in the middle of a heated debate. The room was filled with the scent of old books and cut flowers.

"It's amazing," said Elias. "Every flower has its own language. Did you know white lilies signify purity, Mr. Montague?"

Everett adjusted his glasses with a frown. "It's all just sentimental nonsense," he grumbled. "People don't realise the damage they do, taking flowers from their natural habitat for some romantic notion."

I coughed to get their attention. "Elias, I need your help with something."

He turned to me. "What is it, my dear?"

"Agnes and I found something," I said. "A metal plate with symbols on it, embedded in an old oak tree at the inn."

Elias frowned. "Symbols, you say? Let me see."

Everett looked between us, clearly irritated. "I'll come too. I know more about plants than anyone," he announced.

We made our way to the tree where Agnes and Gethin were waiting. Elias crouched down in front of the metal plate as soon as we arrived.

"These are ancient markings," he said. "Yes, I've seen similar inscriptions before."

Everett peered over Elias's shoulder at the metal plate, and his eyes widened.

"This is sacrilege!" Everett exclaimed. "People have no respect for nature anymore! Carving into a living being like this is vandalism! It's unforgivable!"

With that, Everett Montague stormed off down the garden path, leaving behind a trail of muttered curses.

Elias watched him go before turning back to the plate. "Now that's over, I might have something that can help us understand this," he said.

Elias rummaged in his bag and pulled out a battered leather-bound book that looked as old as the tree we were gathered around. He thumbed through the yellowed pages.

"These symbols," Elias said, running his finger over the text, "are part of the language of the ancient warlocks. They believed words could control the elements." He looked up at me. "I think this symbol here," he pointed to one that looked like twisted vines, "means 'to bind' or 'to seal'."

Agnes leaned in. "To bind? Could it be binding something within the tree? Or sealing something away?"

Elias nodded. "It's possible. But why here? And what are they trying to contain?"

Gethin crouched down next to Elias. Instead of speaking, he looked at the book almost as if he expected it to share more secrets.

"Let's see if there are more references in your book," I said.

Elias continued to flip through the pages until he halted. His finger landed on an illustration that made my blood run cold.

"This is it," he said. "The same symbols surrounding what looks like that."