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Chapter Seven

The next morning, the group of girls and boys all joined together in the kitchen and waited patiently for Fawn to finish preparing her egg sandwich breakfasts that they all craved. Urchin's feet tapped on the ground while she leaned back in her seat, with Raven sitting across from her. Glory, Astro, and Ember all stood outside on the wide circle balcony and watched Peril while she did tricks in the air. It required at least twenty minutes of backflips and barrel rolls upward before Fawn announced the start of their meals, and Peril landed down with a dizzying headache. She stumbled around after the rest of them, trying to reach the kitchen, but veering off to the far right just before she came through the doorway.

Everyone grabbed a plate obliviously, and Peril righted herself again. Then she ran in and shoved through the crowd to get her own plate. Their mouths watered even after they sat down and took the first bite. Glory's eyes tilted toward the back of her head, and she leaned back in awe at the deliciousness. "Oh, man. I've really missed these!"

"Agreed." Ember nodded next to her and bit into his sandwich again.

They all moaned and sighed as they continued eating their sandwiches, then they wiped their mouths, thanked Fawn, and left. It was an off day, as Glory had said, so she and Ember met up at the mouth of the forest just as everyone else was out of sight. She greeted him since she'd gotten there first, and he smiled. Then when they were ready, she led the way through the woods, and smiled freely with the gloomy fog that shone down and dimmed everything in sight, making everything shine out like a portrait. Their clothes wrinkled and started getting damp with the misty illumination. Even with the spooky, yet beautiful glow, the sun doomed down on them and made every droplet of water stand out magnificently.

Glory had a wide, toothy grin on her face, and she held her arms out while she ran and spun in slow circles, like a girl dancing in the rain. Her hair whipped around in the air and she closed her eyes. Normally, Ember would've figured she'd be embarrassed to do something like this in front of people, but then again, Glory was hardly ever embarrassed to do anything in particular. So he laughed and put his hands in his pockets while he walked along with her and she continued running through the forest, past pine tree by pine tree. The mist and fog gave off an adventurous gloom now, like it was something straight out of a story book. The soil was dry to run on, and fall leaves littered the floor, leaving the trees hollow and bare, but still beautiful, given the hordes of ivy that raced up the trunks.

They both started at a jog now, closely followed by a free run, not quite a sprint. It filled their lungs with open oxygen and amazing bewilderment. Ember's thick, dark hair blew back childishly as he ran, even with it cut just above his neckline. Glory's did the same, and she was much faster than him, also her hair was much longer, at least down to the small of her back. It blew around wildly, as if she was riding a horse. It's color matched the fog's shade, and it looked magical to Ember.

They ran along the leafy trail for a few more minutes before Glory side-flipped over a fallen tree log and skidded to a stop. Ember copied her movements and stopped just where she had. He looked up to see what she was staring at, and he held his mouth agape to the sight ahead of him. A tall--maybe twenty foot tall--stone building covered mostly in ivy and moss, towered over them. The roof spiked up and left castle-like pillars around it. The entrance was open, letting a dark, open curiousness creep their way. A curtain of ivy hung down to block the opening, and Glory reached forward to push it aside.

The walls of the temple were cracked to the full bit, showing how plainly old it really was. Grass and moss leaked out of the cracks, making it look more old than it probably was to begin with. Ember reached out and let his open palm trace and feel along the greenery around the building, mostly out of fascination. He stopped and returned to Glory's side when he saw her start to disappear behind the curtain of loose vines that covered the entrance. He followed closely behind and was only inches behind her as he descended beyond the thick ivy. The loose strands skidded along his shoulders and then fell back down to their usual position at the doorway.