The Prophecy of Fates

CHAPTER LXIX (i): Η αλυσίδα που δένει τον φλεγόμενο ήλιο

069- THE CHAIN THAT BINDS THE BLAZING SUN

NICOLLIEN

The sound of crumbling leaves and dried branches beneath my feet echoed throughout the woods. I'm currently struggling but very determined to find my way out of this maze-like place despite the darkness of the night. But still, this is taking forever.

"Where in Olympus did they even send me?", trying my best to lower my voice, I made sure not to alert creatures that might be roaming around these parts of the woods as I am doing right now. I didn't want to cause a commotion in the middle of the night either.

Stopping from my tracks to settle my gaze yet again towards the infinite, dark blue tapestry that spread thousands of miles above me; otherwise known as the night sky, I began positioning my hand into a couple of gestures as an attempt of navigating my way using constellations like what we've learned from Madame Luna during our Celestial Navigations class back at the academy.

"Whew. It was a good thing that I listened to that discussion too o baka kung saan na ako pupulutin ngayon sa kagubatang to.", while in the middle of tracking the location of Orion's belt, just beyond my peripheral vision, I caught a glimpse of some... thing. Something that glistened past the tall trees to my left.

A path suddenly opened out of nowhere, and trailing the path were luminescent flowers that led to the opposite direction sa kung saan sana ako papunta kanina. Although I found it suspicious, I couldn't actually fathom the fact that something in my head tells me that I really should follow where that particularly strange path leads to.

The strange road stretched longer than I expected it to be. And with every step I took following the enchanted path, my breathing became uneven. It's as if the oxygen surrounding the place has become thinner and thinner the deeper that I explored, o sadyang masyado lang talagang nagiging mabilis ang paghinga ko dahil sa kabang bumabalot sa dibdib ko.

Either way, I needed to be careful, because if I didn't know better, I'd say that I'm currently walking to my own tragic death sentence. Well, let's just hope for the best na walang Chimera na posibleng lalapa sakin pagkarating ko sa dulo ng daanang toh.

"W-Woah.", I was almost left tongue-tied after witnessing what had unexpectedly lingered at the end of the luminescent path.

It stood about ten meters tall infront of me. A huge, prehistoric-looking stone forgotten even by time itself. Halos natatabunan na ito ng mga baging at lumot sa paligid ng kagubatan, pero kahit na isa ka lamang normal na tao ay hinding-hindi mo parin maipagkakaila na may kung anong misteryo talaga ang bumabalot sa batong ito. It's emitting a powerful aura, urging anyone to become wary of its presence at first glance.

And this huge prehistoric stone... is a Megalith.

During the ancient times, Megaliths were considered magical and sacred to the people, for these large stone boulders were often used to mark tombs or burials sites of cardinal beings, such as the kings of old or even their powerful mages.

"I wonder whose grave this is, then?", I suddenly felt goosebumps as I slowly stretched my right hand forward in order to touch the surface of the huge stone boulder infront of me... pero halos mapatalon naman ako sa gulat dahil sa sumunod na mga nangyari.

Because the moment that my fingers made contact with the megalith, it caused the stone boulder to tremble, followed by the unexpected manifestation of ancient markings that were written---no, carved in golden ink that covered the anterior of the megalith.