*Mila*
The fog closed around like a blanket. I had to admit, thick fog was the best way to stay hidden and move unnoticed through a creepy village like Miltern.
My feet seed to know exactly where to go as I moved closer to the center of the village and the Central Temple.
I hesitated and glanced back toward the hotel. It was completely hidden in the fog.
I snuck off again. I couldn’t help but feel uncertain about neglecting to tell Soren I was leaving.
Soren had been nice to and saved my life. What if he could help ?
Shaking my head, I kept forging through the fog.
“Get a grip, Mila,” I muttered to myself.
Soren could play the “nice guy” all he wanted but he had secrets and ulterior motives.
I sniffed. And he accused of being the secretive one! Hadn’t he made so big deal with his n about not prying into anyone’s past? Why did he feel the need to pry into mine?
Groaning, I picked up my pace. It was so quiet in the night and no one was around but my steps barely made a sound, like the fog absorbed them.
When I got to the center of the village, the fog parted slightly and moonlight stread down on a large, majestic building. Or, it would have been majestic...
The temple was a huge, square pagoda that rose so high it practically blocked out the stars. Crows sat on the edge of the roof tiers, pecking and warbling to each other. I could see their eyes flashing in the dim moonlight.
They looked like guardians of the temple, or maybe they were harbingers of death.
Did they ever sleep?
Vines and moss clung to the exterior of the building. In so places, the walls had crumbled away and the plants had forced their way inside.
It must have been abandoned for a long, long ti.
What kind of person would want to et them in a creepy place like this!?
Looking at the temple, I thought it felt familiar. Not the way it looked now. I could almost imagine what it looked like when it wasn’t falling apart. A green, tin gilded with gold. The stone exterior polished and carved with familiar designs.
I could practically envision the cherry trees growing out front with their pink and white blossoms. Those trees were rotted, now.
How was it possible I could imagine what a building looked like that I’d never seen before? My imagination wasn’t that good.
This temple must have been great and beautiful once. My heart thrumd and I felt a strong desire to see it restored. It was a symbol of hope and life, two things Miltern was desperately missing.
If their temple was restored, perhaps their vibrancy would be too.
Sighing, tears stung my eyes. Seeing the temple so ruined and broken made my heart ache. I didn’t know why it was so sad, but my heart went out to the people here.
Why did I care if their temple was destroyed? I had no ties to these people.
But I couldn’t shake the feeling or the desire to see it back to its forr glory.
A crow cawed and suddenly, all the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood on end. A shiver ran down my spine and I stared at the looming, eerie temple. The fact was, this place wasn’t as beautiful as it once was and it was falling apart.
It could be dangerous to go inside, for more than one reason.
I chewed my lower lip and glanced around. Maybe, I shouldn’t go in...
I sucked in a sharp breath and shook my head. No, I’d co here for a reason. I’d co here for answers and I wasn’t leaving without them!
I climbed the crumbling stairs and went inside. Wrinkling my nose, I looked around in the dimness. Rotten wood perated the air and I could see why. Several beams had rotted through and fallen across the temple. Plants clung to them, devouring them back into the earth.
Crows pecked at the outside of the temple, sending horrible, clicking echoes throughout.
I waved my hand in front of my nose but the sll remained strong.
It was so dark I had to squint my eyes to see anything at all. Other than invading plants and fallen beams, there wasn’t much to see. Everything else had either been destroyed or removed.
There was one, narrow path that had been cleared through the rubble. One path that led deeper into the temple and into darkness.
I took a step forward and paused. Sothing was scratching and crawling around in the corner, a rat or a mouse. When I listened more carefully, I could hear other things moving around on the edge of my vision.
Mice squeaked and I heard the buzzing of insect wings. Shuddering, I wrapped my arms around myself. My skin crawled and I tried to rub the goosebumps away. The beams creaked, threatening to break apart even more. The stone walls seed to shiver and tremble and I wondered if it was even safe to walk through this place.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” I muttered to myself.
The card that had been left with the bouquet didn’t have very good instructions.
Sighing, I pulled the card out of my pocket and examined it again. Before, I’d had the hotel lights on when I read it.
Now, in the dim light of the moonbeams that penetrated holes in the temple roof, the card looked completely different. The edges were gilded in a silvery, glow with a lovely, elegant swirling pattern.
Sothing new was written on the card now, in the sa invisible, moon-activated ink.
“The end of the path, where it ets the moonlight.”
I flipped the card over, wondering if there were more hidden instructions on the other side.
Well, that wasn’t very descriptive. My eyes wandered down the dark path again. It looked like I had no choice. To get my answers, I’d have to follow the path.
I hesitated again and then slipped the card into my pocket. I’d co this far on my own and so far, I had no answers. I didn’t co all this way to leave empty handed!
Holding my breath, I carefully maneuvered down the narrow path. I sucked in my stomach and navigated around fallen beams and crumbling walls. If I nudged anything at all, the carefully balanced temple might crumble on top of .
The cleared path led out the back of the temple. As soon as I was outside again, I took a deep breath of fresh air. I fanned myself with my hand, sweat making my shirt stick to my body.
That had been hairraising.
I looked around at all the stone statues I’d wandered into. There were so that were so beautifully carved with intricate detail. Others were less elaborate and only had nas written on them.
“Oh...”
I was in a graveyard. Swallowing hard, I rubbed my hands on my thighs. eting a stranger at night in a foggy graveyard. I was counting the ways this could turn into an urban legend.
The fog seed to clear again and a moonbeam lit up one specific gravestone. The others stayed hidden in shadow.
Shrugging, I headed toward the illuminated grave. I couldn’t get a clearer sign than that. Maybe it was magic or the Moon Goddess guiding .
The headstone I approached didn’t have a na on it. At least, not one that I could read. There were deliberate carvings on it that could have been a language or so kind of writing. It was faded and did not have any symbols or characters I was familiar with.
The headstone was made out of white marble. It was a carving of a woman in a flowing dress. She was kneeling down, her arms wrapped around the neck of a large wolf. The statue was absolutely beautiful, even if it was a headstone.
There was no doubt in my mind that this was what I was looking for.
I walked around the headstone and ran my fingers over the smooth marble. Maybe there was a secret compartnt or hidden button that would lead to the next clue.
There was nothing... I examined the headstone twice just to be sure.
“What now...”
I tapped my foot on the ground and the strong scent of freshly turned earth hit my nose. Glancing down, I noticed that the ground at the base of the headstone had been disturbed recently.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding ,” I grumbled.
Was I seriously going to dig up a grave!?
Maybe it wasn’t a grave. Soone had obviously moved the dirt around and maybe they buried sothing else here.
I pulled my knife out and dropped to my knees. Careful to limit my search to the area where the dirt was freshly turned, I started digging with my knife blade.
I dug and dug until my knife hit sothing with a loud thud. Setting my knife aside, I started clearing the dirt away.
“Please don’t be a coffin,” I whispered to myself.
I brushed the dirt away and saw a wooden box buried at the base of the gravestone. It definitely wasn’t a coffin! The box was small enough for to hold and I pulled it out of the dirt.
There were no markings on it but it had brass hinges and a matching lock. I tipped the box this way and that. A locked box... that’s what I’d co here for.
Of course, whoever led here couldn’t be bothered to put a key in the flower bouquet.
That was another puzzle for another ti. The point was, I found what I ca here to find.
“Why are you digging up a grave?”
I froze, box in hand, halfway between kneeling on the ground and standing up.
I set the box down and grabbed my knife. Jumping up, I blocked the headstone from view and swiped at the air with my knife.
“Don’t co any closer!” I warned, slashing again.
“Mila, put your knife away. It is just ,” Soren’s voice said with an amused sigh.
“O-oh,” I whispered, relaxing slightly. “Do you make it a habit of sneaking up on people in ceteries?”
Soren chuckled and ca closer so I could see him better. I kept my knife raised. If he tried to take the box from , I’d defend it.
“Why did you follow ? What do you want?” I asked the sa questions I’d been asking him all day.
“Tsk. Tsk.” Soren crossed his arms and shook his head. “We had an agreent. You were supposed to co to if you needed anything.”
“Well, I didn’t co to you because I didn’t need anything from you. This is none of your business,” I pointed out snippily.
“Put the knife down,” he said again, ignoring my reply.
He walked around and I turned, keeping my eyes on him at all tis. Soren cocked his head when he saw the gravestone.
“This is... interesting,” he said, squinting in the darkness.
“What is?” I asked. I relaxed my knife hand.
“I haven’t seen this language in... well, since I arrived in this kingdom. It is an ancient language, long-lost to most,” he explained.
I licked my lips and looked at the headstone again. All I saw were little scratch marks. To Soren, they actually made words.
“A dear one who couldn’t rest in peace,” he translated. “That’s gloomy.”
“That doesn’t an anything to . So, I’m going to be going now,” I said. I reached for the box and Soren grabbed my elbow firmly, pulling toward him.
Frustrated and pissed off I burst into tears. Why couldn’t he just leave alone!? Why couldn’t he just let find my answers in peace? Didn’t he want to be left in peace?
Soren imdiately released my arm. He creased his brow, looking worried that he hurt .
I sniffled and blinked my tears away. Thinking fast, I punched him in the chest.
Soren groaned and staggered back.
I grabbed the box and scrambled to the other side of the gravestone.
“Get back here,” Soren rasped, rubbing his chest where I struck him.
“Don’t co any closer,” I warned when Soren took a step. “I will destroy this box and then neither of us will get what is inside.”
I raised my arms up, ready to smash the box against the headstone.
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