Julia propped open the door with a big rock. The sun was fading fast, and she needed to light a fire. However, she did not expect to be standing on piles of rocks and dirt. The inside reminded her of a bio-dome, but everything inside was dead.

There was a disturbing amount of fusion between nature and the structure. The telescope was impaled by a tree, while the base was a combination of rock and steel. Consoles and decks were absorbed by the terrain and reappeared at random intervals. Nothing flows in here, it’s purely chaotic.

Disclaimer: This excerpt from Dark Hearts is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. The image is sourced from Pixabay.

Julia was faced with a steep incline that went past the point where it was swallowed up by mist. She had seen something like this before, where mountains appeared to be floating atop a bed of clouds. —Clearly, the world was up for the challenge.

“Great,” Julia said. “I should’ve taken the word mountain literally.”

Disclaimer: This excerpt from Dark Hearts is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. The image is sourced from Pixabay.

“Lift up your hearts,” the soft voice said.

“We lift them up—” Julia replied.

“We lift them up to the Lord,” said a mass of voices surrounding her.

Being in the presence of such a powerful echo overwhelmed Julia. She gasped, covered her mouth, as her eyes darted from point to point in the chapel. Before the manifestations could continue, she was out the door and ran without pause until she tripped on a root.

“Fuck,” Julia said after spitting out a bunch of dirt.

Disclaimer: This excerpt from Dark Hearts is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. The image is sourced from Pixabay.

Julia saw red and pounced, but sailed through instead of making contact. She slammed face-first into the dirt.

“Fuck!” Julia swore.

She pounded a mound of dirt, succeeding only in making her fists sore. Imagining it to be that miserable woman’s face more than balanced things out. Worth it!

Disclaimer: This excerpt from Dark Hearts is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. Image is sourced from Pixabay.

“Always a pathetic failure,” Adrienne said.

“You’re dead,” Julia countered softly.

“Just like your father…” Adrienne said and let those words soak in.

“That wasn’t my—” Julia replied after counting down from five to calm down.

“Pathetic,” Adrienne said. “You should be in that grave.”

“I’m not the one who picked a fight with the harpy,” Julia said, employing the nickname her pack used for Clara.

Disclaimer: This excerpt from Dark Hearts is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. Image is sourced from Pixabay.

When the sky was a quarter of the way down, Julia realised her error. Four hours of hiking without encountering another soul should have been a clue. All on account of being on autopilot, mindlessly putting one foot in front of the other.

“An easy hike, why avoid it?” Julia asked. “Oh right… something about a mountain.”

Disclaimer: This excerpt from Dark Hearts is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. Image is sourced from Pixabay.

Further up ahead, Julia caught sight of domes that were indicative of an observatory. That in itself would have been a rare find, but dead trees were protruding through the walls and dome made it doubly so. These had not grown through the buildings, but were occupying the same space.

Disclaimer: This excerpt from Dark Hearts is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. Image is sourced from Pixabay.

Julia sailed through the air until she collided with loose dirt at high speed. When the dust settled, she was partially buried into the soft earth, nestled in what used to be a network of roots for the tree tumbling into the void.

“Well… that could have gone better,” Julia said.

Disclaimer: This excerpt from Dark Hearts is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. Image is sourced from Pixabay.

“You were always a failure,” Adrienne said.

“You’re dead,” Julia countered softly.

“Just like your father…” Adrienne said and paused to let those words soak in.

“I had nothing to do with it—” Julia replied after counting down from five to calm down.

“You’re pathetic,” Adrienne said. “It should be you in that grave.”

“It wasn’t me who decided to pick a fight with the harpy,” Julia said. using what her pack often referred Clara as.

Disclaimer: This excerpt from Dark Hearts is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. Image is sourced from Pixabay.