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CELESTE & THE SOUTHERN FOREST
It is said that, deep in the great forest to the south, there is an ancient magic, a magic that none have touched for countless an age. Most say that it is lost to the world and will never be found again. However, there is a rumor, now becoming legend, which would disprove this.
There was a young woman, Celeste by name, from the city Triatha in the country Alveus, who was a most spirited adventurer. She loved the seas, having been a fisherman’s daughter, and it was her greatest desire to one day travel to the Callisto Islands by sea.
The day came when she purchased her own boat and set out alone on her voyage, a quest that most believed to be foolish and would result in her early death.
It is said that she sailed down the river and into the bay, and when she had reached the heart of the bay, a great storm came upon her. It lifted and tossed her small boat with great and terrible fury until it smashed it on the far shores of the great southern forest. There on the shore, battered and bleeding, half drowned, Celeste lay dying. But it was not her last adventure.
Rumors tell of a man-creature, fairer than any who walk, older than the trees standing in the heart of Silvia forest, was led to her by a vigilant Hippocampus. This man-creature took her in his arms and carried her on the back of a giant Tiger Griffon deep into the heart of the forest, into an unknown city. There, he used water from the magical pools which surrounded the city, and healed her.
When Celeste woke, fully healed, she found herself in the magnificent city, surrounded by the strangest creatures she had ever laid eyes on. There were bright colored dragonflies as large as horses, tiny walking trees, and large lizards with powerful nature magic. There were also massive creatures living in the forest that none could explain. Some were tall and brightly colored, with long elegant necks like dragons, legs as thick as pillars, and tails as long as trees. Others were short and strong, colored like the forest floor, with horns on their faces and huge plates on the backs of their heads. And some had massive heads filled with dangerously sharp teeth, having powerful back legs and tails, but tiny little front arms. However, despite all these wonderful creatures, Celeste and the man-creature were the only two inhabitants of the city, besides the creatures.
The man-creature introduced himself as Juraslir and called the city Collisala. He explained to Celeste that he was possibly the last of his people, an ancient race. He was tall, with green like skin and orange eyes, his hair was black and his ears were pointed. He had been keeping the city, forest, and creatures safe, casting great wards to protect them since the time of the mage wars. Having been alone so long, he was lonely for a companion. He also feared that Celeste would tell others of the location of Collisala, and therefore endanger it. So, he demanded that she stay, never to leave again. Celeste, still having family and dear friends in Alveus, begged that she could return home. After much pleading on her part, Juraslir consented to let her return home, but only after seven months, in which time he would teach her to love the forest and creatures as much as he.
Having come from Alveus, Celeste was naturally wary of this strange, magical creature. But she could see that his heart was good, and her adventurous spirit longed for the unknown. So, she consented to stay with him for seven months.
During Celeste’s stay, Juraslir taught her much about the city of Collisala and the magic within it, and also of the magical creatures which inhabited the forest. In turn, she told him the history of her country, particularly about the Mage Wars. Juraslir was deeply sorry at hearing of the incredible destruction that the war had caused, and he was particularly saddened to hear of the great creatures whose bones now lay in the Crater Lakes. He believed that many of those creatures had come from the great forest which he protected, and it made his heart sad to think that their bones now lay in a strange land, their deaths caused by a war which should not have been.
When the end of seven months finally came, it was with great reluctance that Juraslir released Celeste. On the back of his Tiger Gryphon, Juraslir carried her to the northern edge of the forest. As they said goodbye, Juraslir told Celeste that she would never be allowed to return unless she brought back a bone from the Crater Lakes.
Celeste turned her back on the forest and returned home, eager to see her family. But when she came to Triatha, it was then that she realized that she had changed. Her skin seemed to have grown green, her hair had darkened and her eyes had brightened. But, above all, she had magic flowing in her blood; magic which could make the infertile ground team with life again, and a power to make plants grow and prosper. Her family welcomed her back with joy and open arms, but all others, her friends and neighbors, saw her as an oddity… a freak… a magician. As time went on, her family began to be ridiculed and shunned by others in the city. Hostility against her began to grow. She became an outcast among her own people.
She sought to ease their misgivings of her by causing the crops to grow stronger and yield more in harvest, and by purifying some of the waters that had long been tainted by magic. However, each of her good deeds were only met with more resentment and hate. Finally, with the fear of the people on the rise, the leaders ordered her banned from the cities and demanded that Celeste leave Alveus forever.
Weeping, Celeste turned her back to her homeland, uncertain where to go. Her adventurous spirit was crushed and broken and her joy at living ripped away. During this time, her thoughts returned to Juraslir. Her heart ached to be with him again, to explore the forest at his side, and to have his gentle hands teach her the way of nature’s magic. She could not envision living any place where Juraslir was not at.
Risking all she had left, her very life, she returned to Alveus with haste and in secret. She roamed around the Crater Lakes for many days, diving into the waters and searching for the one thing that would allow her to return to Juraslir and Collisala. However, she was spotted and reported.
Fearing that she had come to curse them further with magic, the leader of Theia sent out his guard to capture her.
Before the guard arrived, Celeste was able to find and retrieve an ancient bone, still intact, from the lake’s bottom. Her joy in her success was short lived as she realized the guard had come for her. She fled and the guard laid chase, quickly taking her captive. She was taken into Theia and put in prison, and the leader ordered her execution the next morning. However, when morning came, the guard found the prison overrun by strange vines not native to their land. The vines had squeezed open the cell door and Celeste was nowhere to be found.
Never again has Celeste been seen or heard of. Whether she returned to the great forest and was granted access into it again, no one knows. As the years have worn on, many have come to disregard the tale as nothing more than a hoax. But there are some still alive who will claim they once saw the green girl, and they say that her vines, though smaller and weaker, still grow up the jail cell walls in Theia.
thats really cool, i think its amazing. your a really good writer
It takes a lot of practice, as well as trial and error.