Rites

The new mystic finds strange magic in the mountain forest…

Illustration by author.

The elders told many strange tales about the forest under the mountain; travellers never seen again or those who returned as shadows, nameless trees, blind beasts that took the shapes of children, nights with no end. The heart of the forest held the power. It was the rite of the apprentice to venture there, the final act before replacing the old mystic in the village, when the secret fire…