The Shattering

At the base of the waterfall, shrouded by mist and water billowing hundreds of feet in the air, trees and vines lay sprawled along the stone, green, beautiful, and vibrant. The waterfall was nearly a hundred meters tall. Aquatic monsters roamed, some nearly twenty feet long, leaping out of the water to snatch frogs as tall as two men. Saber Panthers howled, nearly the forest edge as Shadow Cats fled in droves. 

Zariel soared to the highest peak of the waterfall, spying on an abandoned temple of sorts that seemed to have been unattended for hundreds of years, perhaps thousands. A tangle of bushes, leaves, flowers that smelt oddly sweet, and vines barred windows and doors, curling around the iron gates rusted after countless years. 

Clearing the way with a sweep of his sword, he frowned at how quickly the foliage regenerated. He tried again, pushing forward before nature could bar his way once more.