Chapter Eight
Before Ben was a set of stairs that lead down into a grey cobblestone tunnel. Its archway was adorned with elaborate carvings that caught his attention. Two fruit trees, one on each side of the archway, reached up and bent toward the sun. The intricacies exhibited on each tree were amazing, ranging from the elaborate patterns carved into the bark, to the jeweled leaves and fruit. Each stone in the tunnel glinted in the full moon’s light, challenging the celestial body for dominance with its luster.
Ben wasn’t confident he was ready to keep moving forward. He hadn’t quite gotten over the fear he was trying to leave behind. That moment of hesitation still stalked him like a predator in the night, striking at the most inopportune moments. His legs were ready, but he was not. Before he knew it, though, he was down the stairs, with the tunnel entrance passing above head.
The walk through the passage was almost pitch black, except for the jewel of light that glowed in the farthest reaches, beckoning him to stay the course. The illumination got larger until it threatened to swallow Ben whole. It was blinding to stare into, so he kept his head down and moved forward until the familiar sound of sea gulls broke through the silence. The scent of ocean water hung in the air, thick like morning dew that covered everything it touched.
Outside the tunnel, Ben found himself standing at the top of another set of stairs, looking out at a vast sea. He took a sip from his water skin and then walked over to the edge to look down. Giant roots, bigger than most trees, had erupted from the cliff side and dangled down, reaching for the water below. From his position, it looked like the mass of land was floating above the water, but he couldn’t get a good enough vantage point to figure it out. This idea lingered in his mind for a moment longer until he got up and turned around.
“Wow,” escaped his lips as an overwhelming sense of minuteness hit him. Standing before him was a mass of gigantic trees, larger than skyscrapers. They stood still, never swaying or rocking, no matter how hard the wind blew. Like sleeping giants, each threatened to be a catastrophic force of destruction if anything ever woke it. The roots that had crawled out of the earth and now rested on the ground were taller than hills. Luckily he wouldn’t have to go over them because a worn path twisted through the trees, leading deeper into the forest.
”Holy…” he said to himself, standing at the line of trees that separated the ocean and the inner forest. He looked into the depths trying to make out any possible danger but couldn’t see past the mighty hardwoods. The forest was dead quiet, save for Ben’s rapid heartbeat and slow, heavy breathing. More than a little nervous, he drew a deep breath and took off down the path, holding his fear in check with a tiny thread of determination.
With a quick pace, Ben rushed through the trees toward an unknown destination. The stone walkway itself was weird since it was suited for a person his size in a sea of wooden giants. People must have traveled through here often; he rationalized. Trying to figure out any way to calm his anxiety, he convinced himself that this was a trade route or some other road that people used with regular frequency. Right at that moment, a monstrous, bellowing sound tore through the trees, freezing Ben in his place.
Unable to think, his body’s only reaction was to kneel down as the sound came again. Ben was terrified as a gigantic being stirred off in the distance, moving farther away from him. The only thing he could see was a massive shadow moving through the dark recesses of the forest. He watched for as long as he could, exhaling only after it was gone. The blood returned to his face, but he felt sick to his stomach. The queasy feeling of helplessness erupted out of him, landing on the path in a messy pile of puke. He wiped it away from his mouth and got up to leave. Everything in him screamed to turn back, but for the sake of a promise, he stayed his course.
It wasn’t long before he found a small clearing in the woods. It was a circular patch of grass that held a camp, hidden away beneath the trees. There was a fire pit in the middle, and two dwellings on the outsides. Ben crept around the houses, looking through the windows trying to find any source of life. The small huts were covered in dust and spider webs. It was obvious that no one had lived there in a very long time. The place was deserted, but the plates and other household wares were lying around as if abandoned in a hurry. It didn’t take him long to leave, following the trail back into the woods.
The trail crawled through the forest for miles, leaving Ben exhausted before he saw the first signs of light tearing through the thinning canopy. Hours must have passed since he last saw the strange camp in the woods. He was almost ready to give up when the still air picked up a subtle breeze. There, in the distance, was the first bit of hope to come his way since he had started his journey. A bright world was just ahead of him, past the final lines of trees and something else he couldn’t make out yet.
Ducking down, he sneaked around the roots and trees until he could get a better view. There, racing along the tree line, was a being that could only be described as an angel. It was a nude man with a muscular build and a long piece of cloth between his legs covering his genitalia. A golden helmet shrouded his face; devoid of any human visage, the headgear was a smooth and reflective metal, with subtle patterns etched into it. On its back was a large set of wings that caught the sun and blurred its rays until they seemed to be a part of the light itself.
In its hand, a bold flame rose up and ended in a tip. The angel’s weapon, a sword, was emblazoned with a white-hot fire that looked like it could melt the resolve of any foe. It glided back and forth as if it was protecting something, and then finally moved on, leaving Ben unseen. He got up as soon as it was gone and made his way past the trees and into the light.
Standing there, out in the open, Ben looked down on a large valley. At the bottom of the slope was a garden full of wildlife and vegetation. Every color you could imagine was down there in the form of flowers and other plant life, creating a tapestry of vibrant beauty that took Bens breath away. The place was overgrown with vegetation, and the comforting warmth and glow it released was welcoming. In the sky sat the most amazing thing he had ever seen in his life. Resting above everything, suspended in the air by an unseen force, were two gargantuan trees. Their branches pointed towards the ground and their roots crawled up into the heavens. The trees reached so far into the sky that it was hard to see where they even stopped. It was bizarre to see such a phenomenon, but their existence seemed so natural that he couldn’t question it. He knew then that he had found his destination.