The Trial of Fire

The real trial has begun for our two heroes. - Daily Flash Fiction Entry

The glowing forest was unlike anything Darius and Elara had ever seen. The trees stretched impossibly high, their trunks covered in pulsing moss that bathed everything in a pale green hue. Strange flowers bloomed in the underbrush; some blue, some silver, and some glowing orange, like tiny lanterns dangling from curling vines.

"This place feels alive," Elara whispered, brushing past a cluster of glowing petals.

"Too alive," Darius muttered, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

They followed a winding path that didn’t seem to follow any logic. Trees moved when they weren’t looking. Stones changed position. Once, they stepped into a clearing only to realize they were back where they started; though the sky above hadn’t changed.

After what felt like hours, they stumbled upon a small clearing filled with tall weeds swaying unnaturally, as though responding to an invisible breeze. In the center of the clearing stood a stone obelisk, cracked and ancient, carved with the same sigils they’d seen in the manor.

As they approached, a humming filled the air; low and vibrating in their chests. The obelisk began to glow with the same orange light as the flowers, and from it, a shape began to emerge. It wasn’t solid, not quite. More like mist twisted into form; two eyes, long limbs, no mouth.

Darius raised his weapon. “Do we fight it?”

Elara squinted at it. “I don’t know...it doesn’t seem hostile.”

The shape tilted its head, then raised a long, thin arm and pointed behind them.

They turned.

A second figure; this one solid, with armor and a drawn blade; stepped from the trees. No mist, no glow. Just danger.

“Well,” Elara said, drawing her daggers. “At least now we know who not to trust.”