Chapter 447: Hallowed Ground

ELRETH

Aaryn held her hand as they walked the final mile towards the Hallowed Grounds, the Anima's sacred site.

Elreth had been so busy, so focused on trying to make sure she didn't miss anything, she hadn't really thought about entering the grounds.

The Hallowed Grounds were an ancient site, used by the Anima for millennia. The earth around it opened, the trees giving way to dirt and grass for the final half-mile before the sides of the great bowl reared out of the forest floor, rising half the height of the foothills, yet within it, the earth hollowed. As if the Creator Himself had burst from the earth, leaving only a great crater behind. 

Despite the virulent land around it, the dirt within the Hallowed Grounds was dead and dry. Trees and bushes sprouted from between cracks in its walls and reached for the sky, yet only the driest desert grasses grew from the rocky soil itself.