Shadow Forest by Mac Flynn

Author:Mac Flynn [Flynn, Mac]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mac Flynn

16

We continued on our way, but the forest changed. The air soon grew heavy, and I found myself tripping over not roots, but smoothed stones. The further we walked the more the rocks popped up until they covered all the ground that we could see around us. The flat form of the stones caught my attention, and I couldn’t help but squint at them as we passed them by.

After a long examination I looked up at Chris. “Do these stones look natural to you?”

He shook his head. “No. They look carved and polished.”

I noted the weathers cracks and thick layers of moss built one on top of the other. “They look really old, though.”

“Of course!” Fortia’s voice floated back to us. “You lot have been here for a long time! Too long!”

The paved road widened into a great processional route, and upright stone monoliths loomed out of the mist. The fog, too, grew thin until we stepped out into a void of open air. We were presented with the wondrous sight of a temple of stone and ancient trees. The monoliths totaled four and were spaced at intervals between the massive trees from which vines and branches hung low over the stones. The vines had entwined themselves around the upright rocks and cast strange and wondrous designs over the monoliths. The branches stretched over the path and shrouded us in their shadows.

At the far end of the procession stood a large, short platform, and atop that was a stone block some three feet high and wide, but seven feet long. Leaves draped over the lid like flowers placed in memorial.

I swept my eyes over the intertwined branches that towered above our heads. “What is this place?”

Fortia cast a sullen look at me. “It’s a shrine, stupid-hey!” She whipped her head to Chris and glared at him. “Stop that?”

He lifted the bridle in his hand and shrugged. “Stop what?”

She grasped her end of the rope and bared her teeth. “Stop yanking on it!”

“Then start behaving,” he scolded her before he nodded at the columns. “Now what’s this shrine business about?”

Fortia rolled her eyes. “It was built by you lot a while ago. They were so smitten by His Upstart Lord Silvia that they went to all the trouble of making the trees grow this way.” She sauntered over to one of the said plants and tapped a long fingernail against the wood. “My sisters thought they were so special being treated with such care by you mortals. Now here they are left all alone with no one to show off to.”

I nodded at the large sarcophagus in the middle of the shrine. “What’s in there?”

Fortia shrugged. “One of your dead. You mortals have a strange practice of taking the bodies of the earth and putting your own inside it.”

As we walked up to the sarcophagus, I noticed the beam of light stopped a few feet short of the tomb. A slight mist appeared in front of us, stopping us in our tracks as we watched the fog form into a human shape.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.