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19 - Stone Chimney

作者: Grace Kara
last update 最終更新日: 2025-05-14 02:57:38

After hours of driving, he turned off the main road onto a barely visible dirt track that wound its way deep into a dense, ancient looking forest.

The trees were so thick here, the sunlight struggled to penetrate, casting the woods in a perpetual twilight. The air smelled of damp earth, pine needles, and something else something old and wild. Magic.

The track ended in a small clearing. Nestled amongst the trees was a cottage. It looked like it had grown out of the earth itself, its walls made of rough hewn logs and stones, its roof covered in moss.

Smoke curled from a stone chimney.

“We’re here,” Austin said, cutting the engine. The sudden silence was profound, broken only by the rustling of leaves and the distant call of a bird.

He got out, and I followed, feeling a strange mixture of trepidation and excitement. This place felt different. Powerful.

The door of the cottage opened, and a woman stepped out.

She was .... timeless. Her face was a roadmap of wrinkles, but her eyes were
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