Ch 2:The Forgotten Castle
1107 Words
Elena stood frozen before the silver tree.
The forest around her was silent. No birds sang. No insects chirped. Even the wind seemed to have disappeared.
Yet she could hear it.
A voice.
Soft and distant.
Calling her name.
"Elena…"
Her pulse quickened.
She looked around, searching the darkness between the trees, but there was nobody there.
"Elena…"
The voice came again.
This time it felt closer.
Not from the forest.
From the tree itself.
Every instinct told her to run, but curiosity rooted her to the spot. The silver leaves shimmered under the moonlight like thousands of tiny stars. There was something beautiful about the tree, something ancient and lonely.
Without realizing it, she stepped closer.
Then closer again.
Until she was standing directly before it.
Its trunk was wider than any tree she had ever seen. Strange patterns twisted across the bark, almost like symbols carved by nature itself.
Elena slowly raised her hand.
The moment her fingers touched the bark, a sharp pain shot through her skin.
"Ouch!"
She jerked back.
A tiny bead of blood appeared on her fingertip.
Before she could wipe it away, the drop fell onto the silver bark.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then the world changed.
The tree began to hum.
A deep vibration traveled through the ground and up Elena's legs.
She stumbled backward.
The silver leaves burst into light.
Not ordinary light.
It was a pale blue glow that seemed alive, flowing through every branch like liquid starlight.
"What is happening?" she whispered.
The symbols on the trunk suddenly ignited.
One after another.
Hundreds of glowing runes spread across the bark.
The air grew heavy.
The earth trembled.
A powerful gust of wind exploded outward from the tree, forcing Elena to shield her face.
The forest shook violently.
Branches snapped.
Leaves swirled through the air.
Then a blinding flash erupted from the tree.
Elena squeezed her eyes shut.
When the light finally faded, she slowly lowered her arm.
And forgot how to breathe.
A castle stood before her.
It hadn't been there a moment ago.
Yet now it dominated the entire landscape.
Its towering black spires pierced the clouds like dark spears. Massive stained-glass windows reflected the moonlight in shades of silver and crimson. Stone arches rose toward the heavens, and enormous flying buttresses stretched between towering walls.
The castle resembled an ancient Gothic cathedral more than a fortress.
Beautiful.
Majestic.
Terrifying.
For several seconds, Elena simply stared.
Her mind refused to accept what her eyes were seeing.
"This has to be a dream."
She pinched her arm.
Hard.
The pain was very real.
The castle remained.
A nervous laugh escaped her lips. "No one is ever going to believe this."
Quickly, she pulled out her phone.
If nobody would believe her, she would prove it.
She snapped a picture.
Then another.
And another.
The castle looked incredible through the camera screen.
The towering spires.
The black stone walls.
The glowing windows.
Everything seemed impossible.
She zoomed in on the highest tower and took several more photographs.
For a moment, she felt like an explorer discovering a lost kingdom.
But when she opened her gallery to check the images, her excitement vanished.
Every photograph was distorted.
The castle appeared blurred and twisted, as though hidden behind a veil of mist.
"What?"
She opened another picture.
The same thing.
And another.
And another.
All of them were ruined.
Only the surrounding forest appeared normal.
The castle looked like a shadow that refused to be captured.
A chill crawled down her spine.
Slowly, she lowered her phone.
The excitement she had felt moments ago began giving way to unease.
Still, curiosity pushed her forward.
If the camera couldn't capture the castle, she would simply have to see it for herself.
Elena walked along the outer walls.
The closer she got, the larger the structure seemed.
The walls were covered with strange carvings.
Dragons coiled around pillars.
Winged creatures stretched across stone arches.
Ancient kings and queens stared down from the walls with expressions carved so perfectly they almost seemed alive.
Every image appeared to tell a story she couldn't understand.
She traced her fingers across one of the carvings.
The stone felt strangely warm.
As if it contained a heartbeat hidden deep within.
The thought made her pull her hand away immediately.
A little farther ahead, she discovered statues.
Dozens of them.
They stood silently along the pathways leading toward the castle.
Knights.
Nobles.
Women in elegant gowns.
Children holding flowers.
Each statue was incredibly lifelike.
Too lifelike.
Their eyes seemed to follow her as she walked.
Elena tried to convince herself it was only her imagination.
Yet she found herself avoiding their gaze.
One statue in particular caught her attention.
It depicted a young woman with long flowing hair.
Unlike the others, she looked frightened.
As though she had seen something terrible moments before being frozen forever.
I looked at the blood-stained trekking stick in my hands. Then I thought of the woman statue in the garden. Her dress was modern. Her face was frozen in terror. She had come here before me. And she never left
Elena quickly looked away.
For some reason, she didn't want to stay near that statue.
The path eventually led her to the front of the castle.
She stopped.
The entrance was enormous.
A massive black gate towered before her.
Silver vines twisted across the metal, forming intricate patterns. Strange symbols were carved into every inch of its surface.
At its center was an ancient crest.
A crown surrounded by roses and bats.
The sight made Elena's stomach tighten.
For the first time since arriving, she seriously considered turning around.
Nothing about this place felt normal.
Nothing about it felt safe.
Yet beneath her fear was another feeling.
A strange certainty.
As if the castle had been waiting for her.
As if her arrival had been expected.
The thought should have frightened her.
Instead, it made her curious.
Taking a deep breath, Elena stepped forward.
The night air felt colder near the gate.
The silence felt heavier.
She swallowed nervously.
Then reached out her hand.
Her fingertips touched the cold black metal.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the symbols carved into the gate began to glow.
A deep rumble echoed through the ground.
Elena's eyes widened.
The enormous gate trembled.
Ancient gears groaned somewhere within the walls.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
The gate began to open by itself.
A cold wind rushed out from the darkness beyond.
And from somewhere deep inside the castle, a distant bell rang.
Once.
The sound echoed through the night like a welcome.
Or a warning.
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