Writing Feedback / Endowed - Prologue [4]

The midnight forest came alive when the moon rose. Everything that was in plain sight was illuminated by the soft, dappled rays of moonlight. Everything was silent, broken only by the occasional cricket chirp and the croaking of bullfrogs from the lake nearby. However, such serenity was not to last. A faint rumbling sounded through the forest. Night creatures sat up alert and ready to spring. The rumbling slowly increased in volume, and stopped. The entire forest had gone eerily silent, saved only for the small rustling of leaves as animals darted pass undergrowth and plants. As quickly as it came, an enormous explosion of solid concrete and metal followed by a wave of power swept across the area and faded away. Foul smoke and dust filled the air. Two figures clad in white robes streaked with ash and grime emerged from the dust and smoke. Moving as if they possessed the speed of light, the figures swerved in and out between trees, and across dark chasms. Dead leaves that littered the forest floor rustled and flew up into the air; forming small typhoons of leaves, only to fall back onto the ground with a small sigh later.

Everything was still except for the occasional thud of human feet on the forest floor. Snaking their way steadily around trees and moving towards the white robed figures, black shadows took form in front of them. The shadows twisted and coagulated before morphing into human figures, each with a pair of eyes too pale to be registered as those of living beings. No life flickered behind those pale, expressionless eyes. As if on cue, fingers of mist accompanied by the pungent smell of something vile started to weave around them. Thinking nothing of it and slowing to a stop, the white robed threw out their arms and started chanting what could only be remnants of an ancient language. Before the dark figures of evil could reach them, beams of light shot out from the fingertips of the figures in white. Shaping these beams into large spheres of energy that pulsed with brightness and power, they blasted them at the dark creatures. With screams of agony, they trembled as the immense power filled their bodies. They clawed at air as if they were struggling to breathe. Slowly, spots of light emerged. Thin hairline cracks of bright light began to emerge on their bodies before they exploded in a blinding flash, withering into nothingness. The forest fell silent again. The white robed paused and looked around. Satisfied that the coast was clear, they nodded to each other, spun on their heels, and flew swiftly through the forest back home. Not once did they look back for if they did, they would have seen the silhouette of a Giant as he stepped into plain view. The Giant let out a deadly cackle as he removed his gas mask and looked around. The trees that were touched by the mist he had created earlier were started to wither and shrivel up. With a satisfied grin he gazed down upon a half-filled bottle in his hand. It was filled with the deadly essence of the Hydra's blood...