Friend Fiction: Number One, Part Three

The wooded hallow was nothing if not completely peaceful. Amanda noted that the birds sang only relaxed songs of joy. Katy smiled and drank in the sunlight as Jaspers wandered off through the flowers. "Pretty cool, huh?" Patrick laughed. Amanda and Katy nodded in astonished agreement. "But wait! There's more!" He laughed  and strode off through the trees singing at the top of his lungs. The girls followed, entranced. Katy recognized the soft pulse of magic as they neared the opposite end of the little glen. Amanda noticed that some of the mossy trunks were actually mossy pillars of the same grey worked stone. The trees broke, opening into a wide clearing. Katy and Amanda stopped and stared.
Broken, weathered arches soared into the clear spring sky. Grasses grew tall between floor stones. A carpet of the small white flowers, like the brush stroke of an artist, curved off to their left. Part of the structure still stood; part of the ancient wooden roof, and most of the walls. It appeared to be the ruins of a long forgotten temple.
"Wow..." Katy whispered in amazement. "Yeah..." Amanda whispered back.
They could hear Patrick singing somewhere deeper in the ruins. The two approached in the temple in awe. The construction was elvish. It wasn't ancient, as the wooden beams were still mostly intact. Every pillar was covered in elaborate depictions of the forest, flowers and a few of wild hunts. This seemed to have been the main worship area. The far end was raised up two or three steps, but it was hard to tell how many. An oak tree grew straight up through the ceiling. It's growth had pushed aside a simple, but elegant alter. Patrick leaned on the alter, plucking out a tune on his mandolin.