Al stopped at the edge of the old forest north of the village. There was a different air to the woods this day. The shade of the trees seemed deeper and richer than usual. He looked the shadows with uncertainty but pressed on into the dark. The woods itself was silent. No birds to sing to the new light shining down on the earth below. No small animal to scurry by Al's feet as they do. The forest smelled of fresh earth which drawed Al to a clearing. A spring of cool water churned and bubbled as if it were singing. Beyond that a door without a handle or keyhole. Al remembered when he and kid used to gaze at the door fantasying what could be inside. He then remembered when he first used magic. Water was Al's first choice and so his master taught how to make an icy rose from the spring. The overwhelming heat on his coat snapped him to reality and he went back to the trail. Under the shade of the trees away form the eyes of the relentless sun, Al made his way though the maze of large roots and vines for what it seemed an hour, until at last he reached his mentor's home on a cliff surrounded by the forest and sea. It was a quaint cottage with a rose garden fenced off by white marble spikes, thatched roof with a timber trim, a fountain that served as a well, a training area to hone apprentice's skills, and a little astronomy telescope to view the sky above. His master was one of the seven elemental sages whose sacred duty was to preserve the peace in Avalon. Al approached the oak door and knocked. No answer or sound came to echo the knock. He tried again to knock but something caught his eye, no light shone through the black abyss inside the cottage. It was pure day outside so his master would let the sunshine in to greet the inside. But only still emptiness could be seen. Al slowly opened the door to reveal that no light entered the open space but instead disappeared into the dark. "Get away from the door!" a familar voice rang out. Al turned around to see his master running at break-neck speed to prevent his pupil from dying. "Get away from the door!" his master repeated. "wha-?" Al was then smacked by a powerful blow from behind sending him straight onto his master. They collided with extreme force knocking each other down. Al sat up aching all over and said to his master "what was that creature that struck me master Gargeron?" Gargeron glared at his young pupil with vicious aggression then set his gaze on the hooded monster that slamed Al head first into him. "That," he replied, "is a cultic,a vile a despicable ghoul that serves the God of Souls Payne and attacks any who threaten its lord." Al, petrified with terror, stared at the bony hands that knocked him into his master. The cultic stood at the doorway as if it were looking at him. Then the ghoul raised its arm, the bone itself cracked multiple times as if it had not moved in years, and beckoned the shadows inside the cottage to follow. Obediently, the moved out unto the ground and rose into smaller and fiercer creatures. "By the gods," his master said awing at the grotesque piles of bone that molded into a miniature army, "they're bone scythes."
[jackal] · Mon Jan 21, 2008 @ 03:37am · 0 Comments |