Mortalized

Intruder (23)

><> Another POV <><

     Strange...

     My hand grazed over a large stone wall. It was taller than I, and massive ferns snuffed out any attempts to hop and peer over it. The rock was chiseled and course, not natural in the slightest! I stared for a good long while at the wall. It...wasn't here last time I passed through this forest. And WHAT could possibly have made this?! Were there others out here like me??

     The thought was certainly an intriguing one. Tapping my fingers along the stone wall, I rounded it in search for an entrance of some kind.

     ...Odd. I found none. Luckily, I had my pickaxe with me. Unsheathing it from the latch on my back, I held firmly the large tool and set to picking away at the stone wall. All the while I tried to imagine how I might apologize for this. Whoever had built it was likely at the very least intelligent enough to hold a grudge against me. Hopefully there was a way in which I could communicate. If that were at all possible, then consider this the luckiest day in my life.

     I pried just enough stone bricks out of the wall to squeeze through. Thankfully, as I pushed forward into the thick shrubs beyond, the bits of the wall overhead did not stumble. It was risky, but unfortunately for everyone I was a risk taker.

     Once in, I crawled over the damp soil, under the thick bushes. Unlike everything outside the walls, everything in here was still very much green and alive. A safe haven for the critters of the forest now that winter was coming again.

     I pushed myself to my feet and had a look around. Color. Far more than green. Pretty flowers blossomed from the green, rows of ever-blooming flowers grew in both a natural and unnatural sort of way. I just had to gape in awe. Maybe if the owner of this garden didn't hate me...perhaps I could move in here?

     I wandered around in the maze of plants, getting lost many times. On my little quest, I ran into another stone wall. This one was different than the other. Looking up, I saw a roof over the top of it. Ah. So this must be a house? Wait- a house?! Someone LIVED here!? Pssh! Stupid. Of course someone loved here!

     I continued as before, this time searching for whoever might own the place. The maze of ferns was easy to get lost in--

     I crouched down, breath catching in my throat. I hid behind a bush beside the tall house wall, peering into the clearing. Sitting on a large, smooth stone, was a small, long black haired human. Their back was facing toward me, sprinkling little pellets into a small pond full of bright colored fish with a little waterfall trickling down into it. For a long while, I just stared in utter shock... Another?

     Before I could build up the courage to talk to this stranger, a door opening sounded from the house beside me along the other wall. 

     "Maple." A low voice called casually. My joints locked up. There was something instantly terrifying about hearing it. An ancient terror I only knew by instinct. The little girl spun around to see the stranger who was only one thin layer of rock away from me. "Lunch is ready." The little girl smiled up at the stranger, but then her blue eyes wandered downward...to me.

     "Aaa! Look!" The girl squeaked. Immediately, the man peered around the corners. He glared down at me with two blank, glowing white eyes. Before either of us could think, a sword appeared instantaneously in the man's fist. I yelped and scurried away. "COME HERE!" Nope! Not falling g for that! Who cares that these were human, I wouldn't trust someone with such magic!

     The exit thankfully wasn't far. I slipped through the wall and ran into the forest, tripping over my own feet all the way.

><> Hero's POV <><