The Ruins

By Nikki Bollman

The ruins in the hills above Mély's family's farm have always been a place of escape for her. But one day a stranger appears and claims them as her own, and draws the attention of mages in the process. Can Mély fend off the stranger and save her forest refuge? What magic secrets of its past will she uncover?

This is a short story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nikki Bollman
• Release date: Apr 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223632511

Book preview

The Ruins

The Ruins

A SHORT STORY BY NIKKI BOLLMAN

NIKKI BOLLMAN

STICKS AND SCRIBBLES PRESS

The Ruins

The ruins sat atop the tall hill and were almost buried by the years and the creeping forest. Red stones crumbled and fell from the walls, and wood ceilings had long since rotted away. Arches carved with flowers and vines had become mostly obscured by real vines and flowers, and trees had grown up within the walls of the once magnificent castle.

Mély first came upon the vagrant woman while she was hunting rabbits near the ruins. She had stopped to collect berries from among the brambles that had grown around the toppled walls. As she balanced on a large stone and picked her way through the thorns, a sound startled her. Instantly, she had her bow in hand and an arrow ready, surveying the space across the ruins. A rock the size of her fist tumbled down a hill of rubble from the upper floor and came to a rest on another pile of rocks. Mély relaxed her bow but scanned the upper wall. It must have been a bird or a squirrel that had loosened the rock. No floors remained in the upper levels of the ruins, only stone ledges that had once held the heavy wooden beams.

Keeping her eye out for game, Mély slung her bow onto her back and tucked the arrow into her quiver before she returned to foraging for berries. She clambered over the low wall to follow the clusters of berries that she spied just out of reach.

Then she saw them. Clothes, laid out across the stones in a sunny spot in the middle of what Mély thought of as the Great Hall. They had been pinned down by heavier rocks on the corners. A patchwork blanket fluttered softly in the warm breeze that drifted gently through.

Now Mély's hand went to her bow again, and she scanned the corners of the Great Hall, stepping carefully to make as little