It was late in the day and the sun would be setting soon. The cold autumn air blew through Mika's long gray hair. She pulled her hood over her head and continued walking. Her withered spotted hand clutched her walking stick tightly as she let out a sigh. The journey had been longer than she remembered from her childhood but she would not be deterred. She was in the twilight of her life and she knew that this was her last chance to return to the Hidden Grove she remembered so vividly from her youth.

The memories of that day never left her. The beauty of the grove was like nothing she had ever seen before or since in all these long years. The vivid colors, the lush green plants and the magic in the air. Everything there was just so much more alive. Perhaps it was that life Mika sought to feel one last time driving her on this journey or perhaps it was just the young mischievous girl she once was wanting to defy her father just one last time.

Her Fathers warning was as strong and as firm of a memory as the beauty of the grove. She had never seen such a look on her fathers face before that day but in all the days afterward it never quite faded. It was as if the events of that day had changed him somehow. Her mother hid it better but Mika would catch the look in her mothers eyes from time to time.That was the day that everything changed. Her parents never ventured back to the Hidden Grove and they never spoke of the Guardians again. Each of the Guardians that Mika had known growing up had gone their own separate way taking with them their acorns never to be seen again. Her parents planted theirs and Mika watched it grow from seed to sapling and from sapling to a great tree over the course of her life. All these years Mika only had that tree to remind her of the beauty she saw that day. She had obeyed her fathers wishes and never returned to the grove. This would be her only and last time to return. She didn't quite know why she waited so long or why the drive to go back was so strong now but she knew she had to go.

When Mika finally arrived at the grove she could not believe what she saw. The vibrant forest she remembered was gone. Where once stood great and majestic trees there were nothing but dead rotting husks. The lush grass was withered and yellowing and not a sign of wildlife could be found anywhere.

Despite all of this Mika knew she had gone too far and waited too long to turn back. Pressing forward deeper into the grove Mika could feel the air growing heaver. This was like no place she had seen before. It was as if this place was shunning the warmth and light from the sun. Mika dismissed this and the feeling she was getting as her old mind playing tricks on her in the failing light of the setting sun.

The long dark shadows cast by the twisted decaying trees seemed to reach out to grab Mika as she approached the center of the grove. She did not know what to expect to see when she arrived. She remembered the great tree that once sat in the center of a beautiful grove but the grove was no longer beautiful and she shook at the thought of what could have happened to the tree.

Mika felt her breath leave her when she set her eyes upon the tree. It was twisted an rotting, crimson ichor oozed from its graying bark. What was once the center of life was now the source of death in the grove. She felt the need to come closer perhaps to see if there was some sign of the cause of this sickness, perhaps because she had come to far to turn her back on the memory that had sustained her for the journey. She did not know why she was drawn to the tree but she knew she had to keep going forward.

She reached out and touched the tree, as someone would reach out to comfort a old friend in need. Like the tree, her best days were behind her and she felt that perhaps her presence there would somehow show the tree that it wasn't alone. She laughed at her thoughts, it was silly to think that the tree could be comforted by her and it was much more likely that she sought comfort from the tree in the waning days of her life.

Surrounded by the death and decay of the grove Mika knew she should be terrified, she should want to leave as soon as possible, yet she didnt. She was quite comfortable there. It was as if being this close to the tree soothed her and she began to grow tired. It was perfectly reasonable to her, she had walked so very far and the emotional drain of the day would have been enough to wear out anyone. Even the hard bark of the tree seemed to cradle her weary back as she sat down against the tree to rest.

Mika was so content there resting she either did not notice or did not care when the ground began to crack and swell as something pushed its way upwards next to her. She sat and remembered that day so long ago and how this place was so full of life. She could see the lush trees and the vivid colors in her minds eye as something clawed its way through to the surface. There was no need for Mika to leave.

Like her the grove was old and dying, she belonged there in the grove, she was content to stay there forever. So content she did not turn to notice the cold dried earth crumbling off of the form emerging from the base of the tree.

Mika looked up at the sky and its golden hue as the sun slowly set on the horizon. She smiled, knowing that even now there was still beauty to be found in this dead place and she closed her eyes, never to open them again.