The Fireborn Chronicles: The Lost Maiden

Chapter 3: A Forgotten Past

Where am I?

Silva felt the calm breeze of the wind brushing her silver-colored hair back, and she heard the glistening waves of the ocean again quietly drift along the crescents of her ears. Am I back at the orphanage? She wondered. When I had been kidnapped, was that all just a nightmare? I hope that's the case. Silva opened her eyes, and there before her lay the most breathtaking sight she had ever seen.

She was standing in a large garden, where there were many kinds of plants and flowers growing that Silva couldn't recognize at all. She looked behind her and saw a huge cliff overhang right before her eyes, and an enormous waterfall crashing down below her. There alongside the cliff overhang stood massive trees, almost as tall as the sky. Their texture and shape amazed Silva, as she had seen trees nothing like these before.

The trees then formed together into a massive archway, and this archway gave way to a palace unlike any other. It was a palace that Silva always had dreamed of. She felt like this was where she was supposed to be. She turned from behind the garden and saw that there were no more trees from her line of sight. Silva was standing right on the cliff overhang, outside the palace castle grounds. This was where the beautiful garden was.

Right after the garden, Silva saw the vast sea, roaring with life again. Silva felt at ease because the sea had always calmed her senses at times like these. She walked through the garden, taking whiffs of all the flowers and plants. Soon she arrived at the most beautiful ones of all, a batch of cherry blossom trees that lay in the center of the garden, and they produced a glistening color of white. There Silva spotted someone sitting on one of the cherry blossom trees by the oceanside, and she wondered who it was.

She looked very relaxed, and she was painting something with a wooden palette of many colors. SIlva first noticed the lady's golden-colored hair, as it was gracefully reflecting off the Sun's rays. Then Silva recognized her ears and realized that she was an elf, just like her.

Wait, does that mean...

Silva's thoughts trailed off in delight, as she discovered this place to be an elven city, a place that was right where she belonged. She took a closer look at the elf woman, and Silva had a lot of facial features that looked just like the lady. With bright green eyes, pale white skin, and a sharp but gentle complexion, Silva wondered whether she knew this woman or not.

Not long after Silva's observation, the elf woman retracted her brush and looked up into the sky. Relaxing her shoulders, the lady began to move her lips and sing in a beautiful tune. Before her song, the sky turned to night, and the moon rose out to greet the grand forest again.

Beneath the stars, beyond the clouds

To that, I leave behind,

The ocean breeze, flowers that bloom

I wish I wondered why,

Why I must go to places where

The tears would leave my eyes.

The heavens roar, the skies unite

The gods above proclaim their might,

The rain pours down, the creatures hide

From the land's tremors heard far and wide.

Amidst the cries, a baby rests

Who's lost and cannot find her nest,

Go, find your way, O little one

And return to me tonight.

Silva touched her cheek to see that she was crying. When she looked at the woman once again, she realized that was her mother, sitting peacefully beside the cherry blossom tree. She rushed to her mother, wishing only to be in her arms once again, wishing that she did not have to lose her once again. Before she could, all that came next was despair.