10,000Earth — United States of America
Tennessee — Great Smoky Mountains National Park
35.703818° -83.492040°
The forest was black; all things indistinguishable in the dark, save for the shapes of the branches overhead, where dark twilight bled through. Lit by white images of twinkling stars, the last quarter moon, and the red & yellow pinpricks that represented Mars, Venus, and Saturn.
Two tall pine trees stood like a threshold amidst countless others. Crickets, beetles, and worms wandered around in the underbrush. The fresh corpse of a deer lay on the ground beside the two trees, and a pair of living deer tread through the grasses & fallen leaves a few meters away. They stopped, then twisted their heads towards the two trees. Even the bugs halted their calls to one other, as all held still and mute.
There was no transition— no explosion, dramatic rumble, or shift of earth. In silence, inset into the ground, a stone staircase had appeared between the two trees where leaves and grass were before. The space within had an unnatural maroon glow, enough to see into the portal, but too dim to reach far beyond. A slow shuffle of light footsteps faded in. A figure: tall, dark, and emaciated, rose up from the stairs. The first part that was visible was the mask: smooth white, but with painted‐on eyes and mouth in an expression of boredom or apathy. The mouth was a straight black line, but the eyes were more complex: black bordered red half-circles, with three black sunbeam‐like eyelashes that trailed down from the bottom of the painted eyes. It was difficult to distinguish the figure’s dress— where long, straight, black hair ended, and where the black robe she wore began.
Every small creature that had decided to hide, to wait it out, abandoned their positions upon the figure’s appearance, and there was a flurry of movement away from the threshold. Brush crashed, trampled underhoof by the two living deer as they ran.
As she continued to walk out from the stairs, more of her was visible. She was gaunt, so thin as to be skeletal, but this and all her skin was covered by the long black dress. Behind her was a massive sword shaped like an oversized steak knife: its handle behind her head & neck, and the sheath pointed down her back. The handle looked like it was formed from the bones of a spinal column warped and reshaped, both ends frayed out where nerves would be. The sword was contained within an equally massive sheath, black and angular, which concealed the blade completely. As she continued to walk up, one could see she wore no strap or holster, no physical connection between her and the sword. It floated behind her back, attatched in relative place by some invisible force. Delicate white lace gloves worn on her hands rose high enough to be seen as she continued to walk upward. The figure —her footwear hidden by the robe— took her first step onto the ground. She had arisen, a miraculous conception from the earth.
The mask turned— her attention snapped to a forest-colored beacon, an anomaly only she could sense. After a moment, she lurched toward it.
The two trees stood silent, and the stairs that were there an instant ago had vanished. The sounds of a forest at night, and at peace, slowly returned.