How it all started
The smell of damp earth and vibrant foliage filled the air, creating a symphony of nature that was both comforting and invigorating. A mélange of muted greens and browns sprawled before the six friends, their eager faces reflecting the fading rays of the setting sun.
“Are you sure about this, Tom?” The tallest among them, Sarah, questioned, her eyebrows arched in a mixture of anticipation and concern. The dense wall of trees ahead didn’t invite, it warned.
Tom grinned, pulling out an old, crumpled map from his backpack. “Absolutely. This is the adventure we’ve been waiting for, remember?”
Their laughter echoed in the forest, a jarring contrast to the somber silence that lingered. As they stepped onto the carpet of leaves, every crunch seemed to ripple through the vast expanse of trees, the woods swallowing them whole.
The group ventured deeper into the woods, their chatter subsiding, replaced by the harmonious whispers of the forest. Light waned, the sun replaced by a soft, eerie glow from their flashlights. The nocturnal orchestra of the forest was punctuated by the occasional snap of twigs under their sturdy boots.
A couple of hours into the hike, Mike, the ever-curious photographer of the group, noticed an odd formation of rocks. As he approached, his flashlight illuminated what appeared to be primitive cave paintings hidden away in the overgrowth.
“Guys, come check this out!” he called, his voice barely more than a whisper yet heard by everyone.
The friends huddled around the discovery, their beams of light dancing over the depictions. It was a curious scene etched into stone, a collection of humans bowing before a towering, faceless figure, its body etched with a plethora of enigmatic symbols.
“Whoa,” breathed out Liz, the history major among them, her fingers tracing the aged etchings. “This…this could be from the lost tribe, the one I told you about.”
Silence blanketed them as they absorbed the gravity of their discovery, their minds racing with the stories those symbols could tell. The thrill of adventure was now mixed with an ominous undercurrent, the eyes of the faceless figure seemingly watching them from the depths of ancient stone.
As Liz’s fingers brushed one of the symbols, the forest around them seemed to sigh, a gust of wind rustling through the leaves, extinguishing their flashlights. In the sudden pitch-black darkness, the sound of their own heartbeats filled their ears.
The friends froze, the faceless figure etched onto their minds as they fumbled with their torches. The forest felt alive, its whispers echoing around them, almost as if responding to an age-old call. Unseen eyes seemed to watch from the darkness, and the friends could not shake off the feeling that their adventure was just beginning….