The Mystery of the Temple in the Forest: Part 1

Aghat had heard about the myths that the forest had held. Many years ago, a sacred book was placed in a temple. The book held many secrets of the past.

But, the woods have grown a lot over time and have become mysterious. Most people never returned. The people who did were confined to mental hospitals, after what the woods had done to them.

Aghat decided that this would end now. He wanted to know all about the mystery that lurked inside these trees.

An old dirt path ran into the forest, as this was a trail that people used to use from getting across the woods faster, now this bustling roadway has become desolate. Aghat walked down the path, cutting any tree branches or shrubs that came in his way.

The wind howled in the branches, emulating voices of the adventurers who never came back. "Turn back, Aghat, turn back," they seemed to say. Nevertheless, he forged on.

Soon the trail ended at a giant tree, sprouting blossoms of multiple colors. The wind screamed louder. "You will die if you don't turn back," it seemed to say.

But, there was nothing to do to waver Aghat. He would not stop looking for the temple and the sacred book. He examined the tree to look for any clues. Etched on one side, a message read, "Follow the branches."

He looked up at the tree's branches, but nothing seemed unusual there. They did not seemed to point in a certain direction, although there was more on one of the sides.

"That's it!" Aghat exclaimed. He was supposed to walk in the direction that the branches pointed. The branches were leaning eastward. He walked in that direction for some time until he came upon a tree that looked identical to the first one, but this time the tree's branches were leaning northward. Triumphantly, Aghat sprinted in the direction of the tree's branches.

The deeper and deeper he ventured, the wood grew more and more ominous. Figures that looked like the lost adventures flew around him, trying to warn him to turn back. For the first time, Aghat wondered if it was reasonable. But, why should he? He had come so far only to give up? No. Aghat forged onward.

The old adventurers were now ghosts, but they wondered how Aghat could have gotten this far. Surely, the woods would consume him, like they did to them, unless he was the hero the world was waiting for. To rid darkness and evil from the universe. The old adventurers decided to sit back and spectate Aghat's journey.

Aghat soon came to another one of those ginormous trees, but this time, the trees branches were perfectly symmetrical. "Follow the branches. Since this is perfectly symmetrical how can I follow them? Wait, but what if the temple was underneath or above the tree! That would make total sense!" Aghat thought.

Gracefully, he put foot on each branch as he climbed to the top of the tree. It took a while, but eventually he made it to the top. The view of the forest, the mountains behind, and the villages were spectacular, but there was no temple. He sighed and slid down. Couldn't he have just gone underneath the tree. Isn't it so obvious that the tree could not hold a temple on top? Aghat scolded himself.

He tried digging through the ground with bare hands, but the ground was as solid as diamond. "There must be another way!" Aghat thought. He examined the tree to look for any clues, hoping that something will reveal itself, like the clue that led him here. As he was going around the tree, he found a small part of it that caved inward. Deciding that it looked suspicious, Aghat crawled inside. Then, the ground gave way underneath him. He fell and fell for what seemed like hours. Then, he slammed into the ground.

Surprisingly, he felt intact and nothing hurt. "Huh, weird," he thought. In front of him, there was a broken down building, presumably the temple. He walked inside. Cobwebs covered the ceilings. He tripped on a brick that had fell off the structure many years ago.

Soon, he stumbled upon a pedestal. On a red cushion, there was the book. "YES!" Aghat yelled in delight. He took the book and put it in his pouch as he would read it later, because it was dim.

An elevator that was not there before popped up. "I will take you to the ground," it said robotically.

Aghat walked into the elevator, and it took him back into the forest. He opened the book and began reading...