In my vision,
I see a man,
Tall and brave,
Preparing,
For the worst to come.
I wake up to see the sun glaring in my eyes, the breeze in my hair, and the grass on my back. Another day in the forest as a nymph. Being a nymph isn’t really that fun, nor is it an easy job.
I’m Erena, the forest nymph of the Western Oaks, my job, is short but sweet. I’m basically a guardian of all living and rooted within the western area of the forest. I mainly deal with small fights between bunnies who don’t feel like sharing their carrots, and bears who gripe at each other about their colliding territories.
Yeah, some may say it’s wonderful, and yeah, sometimes they’re right. But most of the time. It’s like taking care for millions of children.
As a nymph, you must do anything within your power to protect the living and rooted. Even from death. Death, as my father says, must come at the end of the root, and it mustn’t be cut too early or the tree will fall. The reason we protect the animals and tree is because every living thing has a soul, including trees, and the way the soul grows, is like a tree. There are many roots which represent memory and the leaves are the years of the one alive.
The trunks size represents how good or evil an animal or living creature is; if the trunk is thin and burnt, that indicates evil, however if the trunk is huge and has a healthy vibrant brown, that indicates good. And so whenever there happens to be an evil one, it’s my job the help regrow it in the right place.
My father taught me mercy, and that mercy is the reason he is alive. My father is the god of the forest, which is how I was born. My mother was a tree nymph, which explains me being one, except for the tree part. I grew up around all my friends, the living and rooted. Never once in my life have I seen something die, except today is different. I will witness today something both sad and remarkable.
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A man walks up to me, “Mornin’ lass, may you direct me to the nearest tavern? I haven’t the slightest clue where one is.” I reply, “Sir, the closest tavern from here will take you three nights and two mornings to get to, you should follow me.” He does as asked and starts to follow me. “You aren’t a witch are you?” I giggle, “If there were witches in this forest, you wouldn’t be here talking right now. I’m a nymph born from the God of the Western Forest, I’m Erena.” He stops and bows, “I am Leonis, Knight of the Order of Shields, it’s a pleasure to meet you Nymph of the Western Forest Erena.” I scoff, “Please, leave the formalities for later, I need you to meet my father so he knows that you just need guidance through the forest. If you will, please just keep your voice down and follow me.” He seemed shocked at my blantancy. “My apologies, I should’ve been just a tad bit nicer, taking care of an entire forest isn’t that fun.” He looks more relaxed knowing he didn’t cause my outburst.
We arrive at the Everliving Oak, also known as my home. “Watch your step, there are roots everywhere.” He heeds my words and watches the ground without looking up for even a split of a second. “Hello father, I am home. Please do not be alarmed for I have brought a lost traveler with me to get your approval for his safe travel through the forest.” Father appeared through the wood of the ground. “Why hello my beautiful daughter, yes I see. I will allow this safe travel for this human. Now may I know who this man might be?” He hovers over to the man. He introduces himself, “I am Leonis, Knight of the Order of Shields, serve all and protect all, that’s my job.” He then bows before my father. My father roars with laughter which startles Leonis, “You don’t have to be so formal around me, I’m Erethos, the god of the Western Forest. It’s nice to finally meet a human. Please, tell me about the settlements and other human thriving places while we take you to the place you need to go.” Leonis seemed excited to explain the outside world, being the god of a forest means you can’t leave the forest unless someone with equal power as you momentarily takes charge of the forest for as long as you’re gone. Leonis then starts off with the introduction of the world and as we start out the door I hear all the animals rush towards us, oh deer… Literally…
“Who’s he?”-”Is that a human?”-Who let him in?”-”That’s a human?”-”Yeah I heard they have lots of wars with each other every year!”-”Really? That’s crazy!” And there they go again… We rarely have humans visit the forest because of the ongoing wars outside the forest, and also because there is an illusionary barrier closing off the forest from and outside force, like armies or things of the sort. “Father I’ll handle them, you go on ahead I’ll catch up.” My father’s attention turns to me.
“Ah yes, sweetheart please do that, we can’t get a bad reputation because of this. Please handle it, and be careful, I sense that Barry isn’t in the mood for any movement.” “Yes father, now go on, Leonis is waiting to tell you about the outside.” He nods and I turn to the hoard of animals behind us and I start talking to them, coercing them to go back into they’re homes and continue with their lives. “Go on! It’s just a friendly human who wants to get to a tavern to rest, now please go back.” All the animals head off into the lush green mass and carry on about their day.
I then turn back towards Leonis and father and dash forwards to catch up with them. “Alright father, I’m done.” He pats me on the head without turning and continues to be at awe from what Leonis is telling him. “And there are powerful monks who visit the kingdom every full moon to teach us about the wonders of the world, one monk was interested in me so he asked me to go with him on a pilgrim’s path. He told me he wanted to see if I could make it up to the top in one night without a break, so I did that and he took me in as his apprentice-teaching me his ways in martial arts and learning how to use a whole assortment of weapons. My favorite weapon would have to be the axe-headed halberd.” My father seemed excited and summoned his own weapon which wood’nt be a surprise, it’s a titan-wood scythe. “Wow!!! Nature’s Madness!!! I knew you were a god but I didn’t know you had it!” My father strikes a triumphant pose. “Maybe one day we could spar! I’ve been looking for a sparring partner but of course no one else knows about this forest from the outside.” Leonis seemed a little down. “Maybe I could bring my master here, he’s a lot better at combat than I’ll ever be.” Father changed from triumphant to stern, “Look, you weren’t actually supposed to be alive right now, if it weren’t for my daughter finding you first, the wolves would’ve had dinner. If you bring your friends here you’d be risking their lives, yours included. The wolves in this forest do not follow my commands, their the only ones who could defy us. Thankfully the forest is huge, but that doesn’t mean we are safe. They could pop up at any given time, which is why I’m here. Running into Erena was a huge coincidence.” My father continues to explain the basic rules of the forest while walking towards the tavern, which is still a long ways away. This is going to be a long day…
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So... what do you think? I've been working on this first chapter for a while now. And I think that I am content with how out turned out. Did you guys like it? If you did, please feel free to comment below and tell me what you like! I'll try to finish up the next chapter soon.
Stay tuned for the next chapter! Chapter 2, The Encounter!
DUN DUN DUNNNNN
