VISUAL PROMPT
by Diginout @DeviantArt

Write a fantasy story that begins in this setting.
The Lantern Bearer.
The night time air whispered its way around His neck and sent chills throughout His body,breaking the concentration to His meditation.
He opens His eyes slowly feeling a sense of total bliss,His mind was cleared and He could finally think.
It had been days since He could form a single thought without panicking,after what He saw,who could blame Him?
He takes one deep breath before venturing into the waves of trees that stare back in His direction.
It must’ve been an hour before he heard the sound of water nearby.
**_“Finally a drink” _**
He thought to himself as He ran His hands through the thick brush revealing a vast landscape,a Tori gate stood in the far distance leading to a village and that is as much as He could make out from where He was standing,but that was enough as His eyes gleamed with hope,a body of water separated Him from the distant village,He began to look around and then he saw it,a canoo big enough for just one person.
**_“One of the merchants must’ve left this behind,lucky me…I guess.”_**__
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He grabs the cannoo and guides it into the water before gently stepping onboard.
The water is gentle as the cannoo glides down stream,passing a secluded temple in the middle of the river.
As He approaches the Tori gate the rich smell of Jasmine tea tickles His nose,His mouth begins to water with anticipation as He hopes to be greeted by the villagers.
The canoo comes to a stop and He steps off slowly,lowering His ore before taking in the surroundings.
The Tori gate stands in all of its spiritual glory,while the crickets chirp at one another and the fireflies flutter around the bushes illuminating the path leading to the village ahead.
As He makes His way up the path,many recognisable aromas fill His senses and He smiles remembering His village,but as He reaches the end of the path,He is thrown into disbelief,the supposed village is ghostly in appearance and the aromas have vanished.
**_“No?!”
_**He screams into the barron village.
He wanders,hoping somebody will come and comfort Him in His moment of desperation and yet nobody comes.
He falls to His knees and unsheaves His katana before placing it down in front of Him with the rest of His armour,He kneels in silence as He takes out the final item,a kanto made to bring the end of His days.
**_“So this is how i am to die? alone in the middle of nowhere with no comrades or enemy to share one last memory with.”
_**He stares blankly when just then a door opens from the furthest house,a single lantern illuminates the doorway.
**_“Thank god,i thought i was going insane.”
_**He puts His Kanto on the floor before wandering towards the house,He peeks His head inside before entering as an eerie figure stands behind Him,its veiled face lingers behind the man’s shoulder,the man opens the door more before heading inside,the creature blows out the lantern on the door before closing it entirely.
Just like the rest of His men,the creature came and took Him just as fast.
No man has ever been to the land where it roams again.__
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