The Darkness of Castle Lleuad [Alex & Artsy]

Castle Lleuad was a dark and imposing Gothic palace deep into one of the darkest forest of England, the previous owner long gone in mysterious circumstance. In fact, all the previous owners from the end of the twelfth century, at the time of the castle's creation, some two hundred years ago. The forest it haunted was called the Starlit Forest, for it's dark foliage that made even the strongest sunlight seems like distant stars. The night, itself, made for a near total darkness in the ancient and sprawling gigantic corpses of trees.

Tonight was a full moon as a sole soul found itself lost in the forest, only to find, by some miracle... or was it bad fortune... the castle, it’s towers glinting in the faint moonlight and it's stained glass windows illuminated from the inside in a bright show of colors and shapes. Who lived here? Would they help?

Only one way to find out...

Maven, lost in the forest and short of breath, ran one hand over his forehead and through his short burgundy hair, the sweat that drenched his brow spiking his bangs as he did so. He'd been chased by the hounds of his father after escaping the unenviable life of a slave to his own kin, opting for the freedom the rest of the world may bring him. His body was toned but lanky, betraying his life of hard work and limited nutrition, his skin was of gold due to extensive exposure to the sun and patches of dirt here and there demonstrated a lack of bathing. Just as he thought he could no longer run, his right leg caved beneath him as he tripped over a branch and his calloused bare hands dug into a stone-clad path. A path? What an unusual thing to find in such a place. Quickly, his harlequin orbs traveled to both extremities of the path. The left had nothing interesting in sight but the right revealed to him a magnificent castle. Slowly, he would stand, patting his bare torso in hopes of removing some dirt and lifting the belt of his leather trousers, attempting to make himself look as presentable as his current limits allowed.

He then walked down the path, the occasional sound of snapping twigs and swaying branches frightening him. The forest was scary at night now that the sound of his own running and heaving no longer filtered the environment. Arriving at the door, he would give it three loud knocks with the back of his left fist. "HELLO??" He yelled out, hoping to be heard.

As soon as the last knock echoed in the strangely still forest, a dreadful feeling of imminent danger filled Maven as the forest started to act like it should, save for the now present glowing eyes in the corner of the man's eyes and the approaching sound of stealthy step as well as the dark sound of an equally dark forest.

Slowly, with a great amount of creaking and groaning, the immense doors opened, the luxurious interiors inviting as the sound of wolves resonated in the forest, closer and closer until they seemed to be just behind Maven. A sense of dread took over the man as the inviting glow of the castle brightened, as if beckoning it's potential guest to enter the castle.

An elegant hall could be seen as the young man ran inside, the doors slamming shut behind himself and the sound of wolves and darkness stilling as suddenly as they had appeared. A soft whisper, androgynous and powerful, sounded inside the young man's cranium.

“Welcome to Castle Lleuad, beloved guest.”

"Dear lord thank god I made it in..." The man let out on an exasperated tone as he heard the door slam. He imagined he must have unconsciously pulled the gate close as he ran in so as to avoid being followed into the castle by wolves. He couldn't remember the last time he was so scared for his life. No... that was a lie, he could remember very clearly.

Suddenly, just as he'd finished catching his breath after the short but excessively exciting event, a voice resounded inside his ears. Quickly, with widened eyes, he began looking around for the source of the voice. Of course, this act had poor results as he did not see a single other person within this large castle. He would've then and there began to wonder if the castle was haunted under normal circumstances, but he was too panicked to presume as such.

"Who said that?!"

He'd inquire loudly, continuing to examine the glorious hall for the source of the unknown sexless monotone.

'Click... SLAM!' The doors locked then and a soft music coming from everywhere at once sounded inside the great entrance hall of the castle. It was a beautiful but haunting melody as a strange light paved the way up the elegant staircase, leading to the second floor as the same voice as earlier sounded.

“Who? You enter me without a word and then are rude enough to ask who I am? I am the Castle Lleuad, of course, and you are my guest for as long as I like, so be a good boy and listen to the rules, child.” Said the voice, coming from the same unknown source as the ambient music.

“The path of lights was made more insistent in it's luminosity then, as the voice once more sounded in Maven's ears.

“Now is the time for a nice bath, so be a good guest and make yourself presentable. I won't have filth laying around my entrails.”

As the door locked, Maven instantly turned back and attempted to rectify the situation to no avail. The gate, oddly enough, appeared to have been locked form the exterior. He thus had no means of escaping. To think he'd just escaped from an earlier unenviable situation, this day was becoming worst by the minute. Resigning himself, he turned once more towards the interior of the castle and that is when a path of light formed.

"Whoah..." Though his situation was one of dread, the young man remained genuinely impressed by the unusual display and could not help but watch with an expression of wonder, only half-listening to what - apparently - the castle itself was saying. While he doubted the claim the voice came from the fortress itself, everything that was currently occurring appeared to support the claim.

The idea of a bath, to the young man, actually appeared quite enchanting. In his poor life as the slave of his own father, this type of luxury was only given to him on a monthly basis, if that. "If I must..." He uttered on a resigned tone, opting to humor his captor for the time being, if only to avoid potential brutality. "Very well, Lleuad. I can call you Lleuad, right?" He inquired in curiosity, finding himself completely ridiculous for addressing a building. Hesitantly, he began to walk over the path set before him and attempted to shake off the allegory that he found himself forcibly residing within the speaker's entrails. "Have I just been swallowed?" He could not help but wonder.