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Writing Exercise, Describe a Temple

The black robed man stepped from the dark woods into the calm clearing. Few had stepped from them in many centuries, and those only by invitation. This man passed without fear. The trees around him leaned away as he walked. They creaked and groaned from his mere presence. Before him stood a massive stone gate. Steel bars, cut and shaped into the form of spider webs made up the ten foot barricade. With another step it too moved away from him, allowing entrance.

The gates clashed together again as he walked through, but the man did not flinch in the slightest. He kept on forward, coming to a small hill and a path leading up it. A dense growth of great oak trees surrounded the path in many areas, restricting view toward the hill top. He crossed under the trees in the dead silence. In fact, no sound had been heard since the gate closed. He remembered that clearly now, but it did not bring back any other thoughts.

As he arrived at the top of the hill, the rock path spread outward into a stone circle. In the center flowed an immense fountain. The figures of three women, carved from the finest granite were polished to a fine shine. They were his wives. He remembered that clearly now as well.

Gargoyles lined the outside of the circle. Each was carved from black obsidian. He remembered some of those: one of a snarling creature with claws ready, one staring intently toward the passage down, one poised in a position to take flight. The Temple behind them was no less spectacular. Wide balconies hung from the second story. Their edges were chiseled into symbols and scripture. The stone itself was dark gray, and the borders and trim were black as night.

He walked confidently up to the door. It was made of thick wood that stretched five feet across and more than twice that in length. It’s front was carved into an immense scene of war. Komdons, Kroluths, and Yzendri all battling, or slaughtering to be accurate, an ancient city that once was not far from here. He remembered it all now, at last. Grinning ever so slightly he urged the door aside, and it obeyed.