We were on our way to the shrine of our deity, Glosbe, it was spring, my sister was talking about how my hair was a mess and I would not be able to appear before the deity being such a mess. Since we left home she spoke nonstop about the things I have to do to please the deity,

She insisted on how important my role is this time. It was so important to her that before we started the trip she insisted that I had to memorize many lines to not mess things up once I am in front of Glosbe.

During the trip we saw a huge forest with trees that seemed to reach the sky, she told to get down from my mount, at the end I complied even though I did not want to. She directed the wolves to a lake near an entrance to the forest to give them food and water, it was a long trip to here after all, and wolves, even though they are sturdier, bigger and stronger than normal wolves, they do not have much stamina.

She came to me again and told me “Abbey you will have to go to the shrine alone from now, we are not allowed to go to the shrine, this year it is your turn to visit him and represent our city to say thanks to him because he has always been good to us since the realms fragmented, you are not allowed to take Snowball with you, it is a trip that according to our customs it has to be done alone. Take care of the box, do not drop it! Now go. We will wait you here”.

And just like that, I ended in the middle of a forest that seemed endless to the eye, a 12-year-old girl walking in the middle of the night holding a tiny box. “The trees look way taller than where I come from, at home they are not that big, if the giants existed they would not be able to reach the top of the smallest tree here”, or so I thought.

The more I followed the stone path my sister told me to follow I realized that the leaves of the trees were no longer green like normal but crimson red just like blood, and ruins of building of old times started to appear. They were not like any building I had seen in my life, they looked more advanced but old at the same time, simple yet complex. I also saw things like metal poles pointing the sky, artefacts of all colours and forms covered in rust and roots from the trees and also signs that had things written on them but I was not able to read them, it appeared to be another language.

The more I walked I and leaving the trees and buildings behind, I started to realize that stars were appearing in the in the sky and I was entering something like a garden. The place had broken statues of all sizes, and complex arrays of flowers of all colours, everything in this garden was like it was made for giant gods so they could enjoy, but it looked like due to the pass of time nobody took care of the garden. I was still walking still over the stone path when I saw a huge building that seemed like a temple. The stone path continued inside.

I heard once my sister tell me that Glosbe lived in a garden that we humans made for him as thanks to him and he lived in the temple at the center. Even though I heard her talking things about Glosbe, I said to myself “this place looks too scary, I cannot hear anything. Since I came to this forest, I have not heard a single bird, everything is dark and everything is destroyed or in ruins. Since I came I feel like someone has been watching me”.

“I cannot go back, I need to at least leave the gift, I will enter really quickly and leave the box there” that was I said to myself. I entered the temple and moved to a huge corridor with statues of mythical animals at each side, sculped so lifelike of materials I never saw before, some were magnificent and beautiful and others scary. There was one of a black Lion covered in stars with wings and feathers in the back, a horned serpent without scales but petals of flowers as scales, a white deer that even though it was in the dark radiated like it had light, a magnificent grey bear with almost no hair who stood proud on its two legs, instead its skin looked sturdy and was like silver armour, a whale with hair, that seemed old like the world itself that seemed to fly and travel through the vast skies, and there were other ones like a horse that seemed that wanted to destroy everything that existed or a tiger that seemed ethereal that blended into the background due to its stripes changing patterns and colours.

I saw a total of 39 statues before I reached the end of the corridor. After the corridor I entered a big hall whose end I could not see, inside there were different columns, red trees and a huge mountain of rocks in the middle,

Once I entered, I heard a voice.

“come”

The voice seemed ancient yet alive, filled with boundless love.

Even though the voice was filled with love, I panicked and froze, because I could not see who was talking to me. With the events following the voice I wanted to run and cry but the fear took control over me and I could not move a finger.

Suddenly the ground started to tremble and the trees start to shake. I heard the earth rumbling and the mountain at the center with red trees over it started to move. The mountain moved like it was an ancient being awakening from an ancient slumber.

The mountain took shape before my eyes and I could make the form a wolf made of stone and earth, huge as a mountain, carrying a forest on its back.

Then It opened its scarlet eyes and saw me.

I was so scared I dropped the box into the ground which I was supposed to deliver personally to Glosbe.

“Do not be scared little girl” said the voice.

I could not utter a single word, I felt myself like a fly before an elephant, if the creature in front of me just breathed closer to me I was sure I could die.

“Even though I do not lack things here, humans tend always bring me material things” said the voice.

The wolf moved its neck slightly, the earth moved thereafter and a plant sprouted from nowhere in front of the wolf, in the center I saw the tiny golden box I dropped.

The box opened itself before the wolf and I saw jewellery that came from the best artificers who worked the best precious stones.

The wolf saw the content of the box and moved its neck slightly again and the plant went back to earth with the box.

“Little girl, since I am not a woman, and I do not have a use for it, do you want it?” said the voice jokingly like trying to break the ice with the little girl in front of him, still scared.

I woke up from my paralysis and moved my head trying to show him that I did not want it.

“A pity, you would look wonderful with it when you are older. Daughter, what is your name? said the voice,

I responded “Abbey, daughter of Abbot and Galia , from the house of Keter”

The wolf seemed think of something once I told him that.

“Glad to meet you Abbey, my name is Glosbe” said the wolf smilingly showing his pleasure.

“Welcome to my humble home, this place is a bit old but it still holds its beauty of old times. Do not be shy and come closer” said the wolf.

After he introduced himself, I stopped shaking without knowing, and before I knew I started walking to him.

“Abbey, as you can see, I live in this place with only the stars as my company. Would you be so kind as to tell me about you?

I smiled and responded “I live in a small town, called Namame, everyone is good there, we work hard every day. Sometimes I help the workers in the fields with my mom while my father helps to build the storages for the farm. I have a wonderful younger brother and his name is Thomas. We enjoy our time in family and always invite people to share our joy and happiness. My mother always worries for the safe being of the people around her and cooks for the workers once every while, I always help her. My father is quiet, not like my mother who is always talkative, but he is a good man, who even though he does not seem like it, he watches for his people. With my brother, I hope we will have more good moments awaiting us in a future”.

The wolf did seem attentive to my talking, and was resting its neck on its arms. Apparently happy from my story. Analysing that he was so attentive, I explained him how my brother got lost in the fields and was crying when we found him, the time when the workers were so touched of the kindness of my mom they made a party just for her, the time when my father found a dog in the fields apparently without owner and he named him Lucas, we raised him for a while but sadly someone stole him from us, but one day my father was walking in the town and found Lucas inside a garden of a house, he whistled and Lucas started howling like mad like telling him where he was, my dad went to the owner of the house and told him “that dog is mine”, and he got it back!, or the time I went to the river with my dad and we spent the day fishing while we watched the sun go down and the moon rise in the clear sky”.

I spoke so much about my life I started to get hungry without realizing, it has been many hours since I came to the temple. Glosbe realized the fact and without realizing many trees grew near me with different fruits.

After the trees grew Glosbe spoke “we will end today, I will prepare you a bed of leaves so you can spend the night today, tomorrow please continue telling me about your friends and your family”.

I smiled to him, showing him how happy I was about speaking about my family and then I said “Of course”.

We were on our way to the shrine of our deity, Glosbe, it was spring, my sister was talking about how my hair was a mess and I would not be able to appear before the deity being such a mess. Since we left home she spoke nonstop about the things I have to do to please the deity,

She insisted on how important my role is this time. It was so important to her that before we started the trip she insisted that I had to memorize many lines to not mess things up once I am in front of Glosbe.

During the trip we saw a huge forest with trees that seemed to reach the sky, she told to get down from my mount, at the end I complied even though I did not want to. She directed the wolves to a lake near an entrance to the forest to give them food and water, it was a long trip to here after all, and wolves, even though they are sturdier, bigger and stronger than normal wolves, they do not have much stamina.

She came to me again and told me “Abbey you will have to go to the shrine alone from now, we are not allowed to go to the shrine, this year it is your turn to visit him and represent our city to say thanks to him because he has always been good to us since the realms fragmented, you are not allowed to take Snowball with you, it is a trip that according to our customs it has to be done alone. Take care of the box, do not drop it! Now go. We will wait you here”.

And just like that, I ended in the middle of a forest that seemed endless to the eye, a 12-year-old girl walking in the middle of the night holding a tiny box. “The trees look way taller than where I come from, at home they are not that big, if the giants existed they would not be able to reach the top of the smallest tree here”, or so I thought.

The more I followed the stone path my sister told me to follow I realized that the leaves of the trees were no longer green like normal but crimson red just like blood, and ruins of building of old times started to appear. They were not like any building I had seen in my life, they looked more advanced but old at the same time, simple yet complex. I also saw things like metal poles pointing the sky, artefacts of all colours and forms covered in rust and roots from the trees and also signs that had things written on them but I was not able to read them, it appeared to be another language.

The more I walked I and leaving the trees and buildings behind, I started to realize that stars were appearing in the in the sky and I was entering something like a garden. The place had broken statues of all sizes, and complex arrays of flowers of all colours, everything in this garden was like it was made for giant gods so they could enjoy, but it looked like due to the pass of time nobody took care of the garden. I was still walking still over the stone path when I saw a huge building that seemed like a temple. The stone path continued inside.

I heard once my sister tell me that Glosbe lived in a garden that we humans made for him as thanks to him and he lived in the temple at the center. Even though I heard her talking things about Glosbe, I said to myself “this place looks too scary, I cannot hear anything. Since I came to this forest, I have not heard a single bird, everything is dark and everything is destroyed or in ruins. Since I came I feel like someone has been watching me”.

“I cannot go back, I need to at least leave the gift, I will enter really quickly and leave the box there” that was I said to myself. I entered the temple and moved to a huge corridor with statues of mythical animals at each side, sculped so lifelike of materials I never saw before, some were magnificent and beautiful and others scary. There was one of a black Lion covered in stars with wings and feathers in the back, a horned serpent without scales but petals of flowers as scales, a white deer that even though it was in the dark radiated like it had light, a magnificent grey bear with almost no hair who stood proud on its two legs, instead its skin looked sturdy and was like silver armour, a whale with hair, that seemed old like the world itself that seemed to fly and travel through the vast skies, and there were other ones like a horse that seemed that wanted to destroy everything that existed or a tiger that seemed ethereal that blended into the background due to its stripes changing patterns and colours.

I saw a total of 39 statues before I reached the end of the corridor. After the corridor I entered a big hall whose end I could not see, inside there were different columns, red trees and a huge mountain of rocks in the middle,

Once I entered, I heard a voice.

“come”

The voice seemed ancient yet alive, filled with boundless love.

Even though the voice was filled with love, I panicked and froze, because I could not see who was talking to me. With the events following the voice I wanted to run and cry but the fear took control over me and I could not move a finger.

Suddenly the ground started to tremble and the trees start to shake. I heard the earth rumbling and the mountain at the center with red trees over it started to move. The mountain moved like it was an ancient being awakening from an ancient slumber.

The mountain took shape before my eyes and I could make the form a wolf made of stone and earth, huge as a mountain, carrying a forest on its back.

Then It opened its scarlet eyes and saw me.

I was so scared I dropped the box into the ground which I was supposed to deliver personally to Glosbe.

“Do not be scared little girl” said the voice.

I could not utter a single word, I felt myself like a fly before an elephant, if the creature in front of me just breathed closer to me I was sure I could die.

“Even though I do not lack things here, humans tend always bring me material things” said the voice.

The wolf moved its neck slightly, the earth moved thereafter and a plant sprouted from nowhere in front of the wolf, in the center I saw the tiny golden box I dropped.

The box opened itself before the wolf and I saw jewellery that came from the best artificers who worked the best precious stones.

The wolf saw the content of the box and moved its neck slightly again and the plant went back to earth with the box.

“Little girl, since I am not a woman, and I do not have a use for it, do you want it?” said the voice jokingly like trying to break the ice with the little girl in front of him, still scared.

I woke up from my paralysis and moved my head trying to show him that I did not want it.

“A pity, you would look wonderful with it when you are older. Daughter, what is your name? said the voice,

I responded “Abbey, daughter of Abbot and Galia , from the house of Keter”

The wolf seemed think of something once I told him that.

“Glad to meet you Abbey, my name is Glosbe” said the wolf smilingly showing his pleasure.

“Welcome to my humble home, this place is a bit old but it still holds its beauty of old times. Do not be shy and come closer” said the wolf.

After he introduced himself, I stopped shaking without knowing, and before I knew I started walking to him.

“Abbey, as you can see, I live in this place with only the stars as my company. Would you be so kind as to tell me about you?

I smiled and responded “I live in a small town, called Namame, everyone is good there, we work hard every day. Sometimes I help the workers in the fields with my mom while my father helps to build the storages for the farm. I have a wonderful younger brother and his name is Thomas. We enjoy our time in family and always invite people to share our joy and happiness. My mother always worries for the safe being of the people around her and cooks for the workers once every while, I always help her. My father is quiet, not like my mother who is always talkative, but he is a good man, who even though he does not seem like it, he watches for his people. With my brother, I hope we will have more good moments awaiting us in a future”.

The wolf did seem attentive to my talking, and was resting its neck on its arms. Apparently happy from my story. Analysing that he was so attentive, I explained him how my brother got lost in the fields and was crying when we found him, the time when the workers were so touched of the kindness of my mom they made a party just for her, the time when my father found a dog in the fields apparently without owner and he named him Lucas, we raised him for a while but sadly someone stole him from us, but one day my father was walking in the town and found Lucas inside a garden of a house, he whistled and Lucas started howling like mad like telling him where he was, my dad went to the owner of the house and told him “that dog is mine”, and he got it back!, or the time I went to the river with my dad and we spent the day fishing while we watched the sun go down and the moon rise in the clear sky”.

I spoke so much about my life I started to get hungry without realizing, it has been many hours since I came to the temple. Glosbe realized the fact and without realizing many trees grew near me with different fruits.

After the trees grew Glosbe spoke “we will end today, I will prepare you a bed of leaves so you can spend the night today, tomorrow please continue telling me about your friends and your family”.

I smiled to him, showing him how happy I was about speaking about my family and then I said “Of course”.