StormborneLore

Tag: Whispering Woods

  • The Mystery of Callum Hargreaves: A Ghostly Tale

    The Mystery of Callum Hargreaves: A Ghostly Tale

    A Ghostly Encounter 2

    A round painted stone featuring a landscape with trees, grass, and a bright blue sky with a sun.
    A painted circular stone depicting a serene landscape with trees and a sun, contrasting the eerie atmosphere of the forest.

    The air was wrong.

    Callum Hargreaves opened his eyes to silence so deep it pressed against his chest. No engines in the distance. No birdsong. No radio crackle.

    Only the trees. And the damp earth beneath him.

    He sat up slowly, wincing. His body felt heavier, like the atmosphere itself had thickened. The forest wasn’t just quiet it was ancient. The trunks were massive, rough with moss and lichen, and the undergrowth twisted in ways he didn’t remember. Even the colours seemed muted. More… real. Older.

    His phone was dead. No signal. Not even a flicker of battery life.

    The feather was still in his hand.

    White. Burnt at the edge.

    He stood, breath visible in the still air. The mist clung low to the ground, like it was trying to hide something.

    The stone was gone. The path was gone.

    He turned full circle. No trails. No signs. Just forest. Endless.

    “Okay,” he whispered to himself. “Get your bearings. Pick a direction. Stay calm.”

    But as he moved ahead, he noticed something.

    There were no footprints. Not his. Not animals. No trash. No broken branches. Nothing that said people had ever been here.

    Except one thing.

    A shape in the clearing ahead barely visible in the haze.

    It was another stone.
    Taller. Deeper carved. The same symbol as before a spiral, or a horn, or… something.

    At its base, a small pile of bones. Clean. Arranged in a ring. And at the centre, an ash-blackened tooth.

    A round painted stone featuring an abstract mountain design with a spiral shape, placed on a textured dark fabric.
    A vibrant painted stone featuring a spiral design, symbolizing mystery and connection to nature.

    Callum backed up a step.

    A low growl rippled through the silence.

    His eyes snapped up.

    A wolf stood across the clearing.

    It wasn’t moving. Just watching.

    Eyes like molten gold. Fur dark and matted. Muscles tensed, but not ready to strike.

    Behind it… a second figure. Not a wolf.

    Human.

    Massive. Silent. Cloaked in furs. A silhouette against the trees.

    Callum couldn’t breathe.

    He blinked.
    And they were gone.

    Just trees again. Just mist.

    But the whispering had changed.

    Not words anymore.

    A name.

    One he didn’t know.
    One he couldn’t pronounce.

    But it curled in his head like smoke:
    Taranis.

    To be continued…

    From the Author

    I grew up visiting the Chase, walking the woods and hearing the stories. Have you experienced anything unusual in woods? The whispers among the trees?

    If you enjoyed this please read part 1

    Read more: The Mystery of Callum Hargreaves: A Ghostly Tale
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    A colorful sign inviting readers to like and subscribe, featuring a sun and grassy landscape.

    Further Reading

    The Prophecies and Tales of Taranis Unfolded

  • The Secrets of the Haunted Chase

    The Secrets of the Haunted Chase

    A Ghostly Encounter

    A round, hand-painted stone depicting a landscape with trees and a sun, resting on a dark fabric surface.
    A hand-painted circular stone depicting a serene landscape, featuring trees and a bright sun, symbolizing a connection to nature.

    They always said the Chase held secrets. Over the years rumors of ghost sightings, lost children, lights that danced just out of reach.

    But Private Callum Hargreaves had grown up nearby. He’d run through these woods with scraped knees and muddy boots, long before he wore the army’s green.

    He used to love the quiet, the peacefulness that the woods brought.

    Tonight, it felt wrong.

    The mist had rolled in fast, blanketing the forest floor. Dusk bled into night like ink in water. Callum’s breath fogged in front of him not from cold, but from the weight in the air.

    His squad had finished training hours ago, but he hadn’t gone back. He couldn’t. Not yet. His thoughts were loud again memories knocking like fists on the inside of his skull.

    “Just walk it off,” he muttered, his voice low. “Like always.” he told himself.

    He followed an old deer track or maybe just instinct into the dense pines. The kind that made their own darkness even before sunset. The ground was soft, smelling of wet leaves and something older.

    He paused.

    There at the base of a gnarled tree was a stone. Half buried, bone coloured. Not shaped by nature. Carved. Faint, but deliberate.

    Callum crouched. A breeze touched his neck, oddly warm.

    “Someone put this here.”

    A round painted stone with abstract designs in purple and yellow on a gray background, encircled by a green rim, resting on a dark fabric surface.
    A mysterious token featuring a swirl design, symbolizing the secrets of the woods.

    He brushed aside the moss. A symbol. A swirl or a horn. Beside it a feather. White. Slightly scorched at the edge. When he reached out to touch it.

    The air twisted.

    Like the world held its breath.

    He blinked. Once.
    The trees around him… changed.

    Taller. Closer. Ancient.

    No wrappers underfoot. No footprints. No signal bars. The forest felt closer, like it was listening.

    Then came the whisper.

    Not from behind him.
    Not from the side.

    From below.

    “He’s returned…”

    The voice wasn’t human but it wasn’t wind either. It filled his ears like rising water. Callum staggered back, instinct flaring.

    The stone was gone.
    The trail behind him, vanished.
    Even the smell was different no exhaust, no cordite, just wood smoke and something sharp: iron? sweat? blood?

    “No. No, no what is this?”

    He turned toward where the training grounds should’ve been.

    Nothing.

    Just trees.
    And silence.
    And the whispering louder now. Familiar. Calling him by name without speaking it.

    And then… a howl.

    Low. Echoing.

    Not quite wolf. Not quite human.

    Callum’s breath caught. He gripped the feather tight in his palm.

    To be continued…

    © written and created by ELHewitt

    A circular wooden sign with colorful hand-painted text that reads 'Thank you for reading. Please like & subscribe.' The background features a blue sky with a yellow sun and green grass.
    A colorful wooden sign encouraging readers to like and subscribe, with a vibrant sun and blue sky backdrop.