Chapter two part two

Under the influence of the mysterious voice, Arin's hands dropped to his sides abandoning everything he was doing and instead he turned to look towards a certain spot on the horizon. Although there was nothing different about it than any other area in the desert he could feel the the temptations calling out to him. Unable to resist, slowly his legs started to move towards that direction.

In the blink of an eye, the area that was bare a second ago now stood a majestic tree. It emmited pure and holy aura captivating anyone who laid eyes on it.

A great urge to get near it seized Arin, as trance his mind was in a trance it made him muddle headed. He had not even thought of how the nature of the tree was an anomaly not to mention its existence. Anyone who even spend half a day in the desert would be familiar with the nature of any vegetation in the desert. The were often of short stature and thorny, whilst the tree that had appeared was large and brimming with life. It had lush green leaves and thick branches that spread imposingly into the sky.

As he approached the tree and was in its close proximity, he could subconsciously feel the atmosphere around him changing. The scorching hot air of the desert slowly started to cool down and the loose soil on the ground that sank as he walked seemed to harden. Strangely he could hear the sound of flowing water and rustling leaves in the background that made him feel for a second that he was standing in the midst of an ancient forest.

It was only was his body came to a stand still that Arin had realised that he was now standing directly in front of the great tree. Due to the fact that Arin was not in his right state of mind he did not notice that now that he was standing nearer the tree, the pure and holy aura it exuded previously had vanished. Instead the great tree had barely visible shimmering black light, its current aura was more inclined towards a dark and malevolent nature.

Directed by the invisible pair of hands Arin raised his head and saw a silver fox sitting on the most prominent branch at its very centre. Seemingly unperperturbed by his presence and swung its tail lazily but Arin could feel its sharp gaze on him.

The second he locked eyes with it, the little control he had left was stolen causing him to stand there unable to move even his fingers.But Arin failed to notice that as well because he was enamored with the figure of the silver fox. His attention was on the unique pair of eyes the fox had. Its left eye had a bright green color while the one on the left was deep red. Yet despite the fact that they had different colors, they were still in perfect harmony with each other.

As Arin stood there the shimmering black light slowly descended from the tree to merge with its shadow, with the shadow providing it a cover it slithered its way towards Arin. It reached his feet and started to steadily cover his body from bottom to top. As it wrapped Arins body his dull senses picked up a feeling of intense pressure, that allowed him to momentarily snap out of his trance.

Before he could react the fox that had laid lazily on the tree stood up. For a second Arin thought he saw the fox smirk at him

' No thats not right,' Arin thought ' How could a fox smirk.'

The gentle breeze that was blowing a moment ago instantly changed into raging winds. Dark clouds instantly materialised in the sky, enshrouding the land in darkness. The roaring sounds of thunder could be heard as lightning streaks constantly danced on the dark clouds.

' The hell ' Everything happening around him induced feelings of panic, fear and desperation.

At this point the shimmering black light that was faint now darkened as if strengthening, Arins entire body was already enveloped in it. The darker it grew the intense the negative feelings within Arin boiled.

When the black light completely condensed Arins body was no longer visible from the outside. The next instant Arins heart could no longer contain the pressure and he directly fainted. He felt his mind and soul detaching from hsi body.

Everything halted.

The dark clouds that had appeared from thin air also disappeared in the same manner and the raging winds collapsed instantly. The sun once agin poured down sunlight lighting the ground up as everything went back to its place. The spot where Arin had seen the majestic tree standing reverted to a bleak land covered with layers of sand. Everthing vanished including Arin himself.

As if everything that had occured previously was merely a mirage, a childish trick played by the barren desert.

Perhaps this was the reason why the local nomads that roamed the sorrounding areas never ventured near this part of the desert.The firmly believed the warning of their forefathers that claimed that a maleolent devil slept underneath the land. Why the desert guide who heard the local stories abandoned him in the dead of a night when a mysterious voice warned him to turn back.