Unwitting Witness

It was enough to walk amongst giants whose roots outreached the manor's crumbling walls.

I walked deeper into the forest, fascinated yet also uneasy in my unknowing. Around me, great trunks stretched towards the sky as if in prayer, their branches sturdy with leafy roof that blocked out the rising sun.

Birdsongs and the whisper of a breeze were my only companions on pathways grown over by moss and rotting leaves.

I didn't not where I was led. Only that some nameless longing pulled my steps onwards, as irresistible as the rising of the morn. Part of me yearned to hasten back to the safety of walls and rules, yet my feet refused to turn.

Catching my breath upon a rise, mountains came into view and stole it away once more. I stood transfixed, chest heaving in awe. Never had I glimpsed such wild, grand scenery, at least not in person. Mountains, an immense chain of peaks, piercing the skies with jagged fangs. Their lofty peaks were crowned not with forests but robes of the purest white s