Arythia: Into the Flames

Chapter 3

"We've been out here for hours!" I whine.
"We have," states Ruundel.
"We will never find the whisperwood. It is a myth. Such a plant would never exsist. Plants do not glow," I reply.
"This is part of your first training. You wouldn't want to return to Sigurd explaining you gave up would you?"
"Well of course not. He'd have my head! But you aren't even looking! You're just sitting on that rock," I retort.
"It's your task. Not mine."

Frustrated, I go to sit on a rock, too. I also noticed my hands hold fire.

"You must learn to control your magic. No matter what emotion overtakes you," claims Runndel.

Still somewhat frustrated, I begin to look at the beauty of the forest. The trees glisten in the morning dew. Strange glow-creatures hover around Ruundel and I. This forest is a strange one. Filled with magical anomalies almost none can comprehend.

A deer is in the distance. It is a female. She has two fawn with her. She seems quite frantic. Curious, I tap into her thoughts.

Fire flashes before her eyes. She's worried for her fawns' safety. She's no true idea why fire has been scattered across the leaves, but it has.

With swift movements, I stand from the rock and hop over a few logs beckoning Ruundel to follow.

We race to edges. He begins to question me.

"Arythia, what are we doing?"
"The forest has caught on fire. We have to put it out. The animals will die. It may reach Hightower," I reply.

Understanding, we race towards the fire. The aroma of burning wood becomes stronger with every step I take.

We arrive at the edge of the forest. Before us lies scorched ground. Dead plants and slightly to our left the fire spreads.

"Ruundel, you must put the fire out!" I cry.

But he does nothing. I assume this is another part of my lesson. The only problem is, I know not of any elemental spells. Except fire, of course.

"Focus on water. The clouds in the sky. The way water moves. How easily it can be manipulated. Yet how powerful it truly is."

I tuned in to Ruundel's words as he describes water to me. I try to focus my energy into casting water the same way I would fire. Yet instead if heat, It is the coolness I attune to.

I shut my eyes and I begin to feel the coolness drip onto my shoulders and head. I hear the whistle of fire being extinguished by water. But follwing the soft whistle I hear crackling. The soft water droplets come to an end. I open my eyes and the once burning trees are now covered in a sheet of ice.

"That was good for your first try," Says Runndel, "Make sure you focus on rain rather than ice."

After that fiasco, I begin to smell something else. Ruundel smells it, too.

It is a very pungent sickening scent. And it's coming from outside of the forest. Rarely do I leave the forest. For this strange forest is my home. Whether I was born here or not, the anomalies of this forest soothe me.

I look past the trees to an open feild. Skylengths of meadows open up before me. At the end of the meadow lies the Sun just above the horizon. Indicating it only morning. The dark, thick leaves of this forest tend to hide the Sunlight on the occassion.

But to my left I see the devastating site. Where the deathly smell has been coming from. A pile of dead bodies lie just on the outskirts of the forest. They are elves. Draped in finely crafted silver armor.

Their seems to be a circle of blood around them. And an elven head on a stake that has been shoved into the ground. A battle has occured here.

"It is war, Arythia," says Ruundel.
"Yes. But why?" I question.
"It is the battle of the three kingdoms. It has lasted for 10 years now."
"The three kingdoms? Why are they at war?"
He chuckles, "So many questions the young ask. Dwarves, Men, and Elves. They are at war with eachother. It's quite a long story to be exact. But that is another story for another time."

I sense fear in Ruundel's words. Something I rarely see out of these old Mystics.

Before Ruundel can speak, something strange begins to happen to the world. The birds stop chirping in the distance. The soft breeze stops blowing. The heat of the sun just seems to come to a halt. As if the tips of the tall trees are not soaking up the suns energy and the flow of life as come to an end. It almost feels as if the Earth has stopped spinning and life has been paused.

Another strange thing occurs. A shape appears before me. It is like a dark void at first, then begins morphing into a lovely lady. Her hair takes a lovely dark shade of purple and her skin is pale and illuminating. Her long flowing dress falls perfectly down her lean body and her dark purple hair cascades down her back. I also notice she wears the same necklace as I. Made of gold with a mysterious blue gem on the chain. She gives off a peaceful aura.

"Arythia..." The mysterious woman whispers in a song-like tone, "do not let the pain and terror of this world affect you. Your destiny is great. And I long to meet with you again. You musn't worry. You must stay strong. Be weary of who is your friend and who is your foe," she says. And then, she seems to disappear. Back into the black void she arrived. And I had yet to say one word to her. How odd that was.

"You've completed your lesson. We must return to Hightower. We must tell the others what we have discovered," explains Ruundel. Well that's odd. It is as if he did not know what happened at all.

"But we have yet to find the whisperwood!" I say.
"There is no such thing as whisperwood, young one."

I knew it! That bastard Sigurd sending me on some wild goose chase.

"This was not some 'wild goose chase' might I add," continues Ruundel, "It was a lesson of persistence. You were given a task and expected to follow through. You must never simply give up when dealing with magic."

I wonder who that mysterious woman was...