Starfall (FJ)

Traveller's Tales

    They rode horses to the bottommost part of The Glen, then paused, looking at The Ami. All the villages and territories were named after a legend. The legend was tied to the river, and followed it the way it flowed. There were five siblings, two of them twins. There was Dominic, his sister Glaceria, the twin brothers Sàber and Haüs, and the feared Asha, who was the most fearsome and was said to have burned her eyes out with fire as a child, and the smoke poisoned her thoughts. Asha had two daughters, Glen and Amit, who were not like their mother, or even her siblings. They had kind hearts, but Glen like to play tricks and crack jokes, and Amit was more gentle. Glen was so funny she even made Asha laugh. Asha was a different person to them, and loved them very much, while most people could not believe she was capable of loving. 

       Asha and her siblings were invaders, and conquered many lands. They were supposed to be cruel. The palace that they lived in was wonderful, filled with luxuries. But the only thing they had to drink there was blood or poison, and Asha knew the poison would kill her daughters, and the blood would poison their minds and hearts. And while Asha was proud of her cruelty, she was also proud of her daughter's purity. So she stole Dominic's magic, because he was the only Invader with magic, and created a river for her daughters to drink from. When Dominic found out that Asha loved her daughters, and refused to turn them evil, and stole his magic, he flew into such a rage that the beautiful stone palace was destroyed. Those turned into the Mountains of Dominic. The river started from a waterfall, and because it was Dominc's magic that had created it, the waterfall was called the Waterfall of Dominic, and the river became the River of Dominic. Sàber and Haüs, along with Glaceria, feared Dominic when he was angry,and fled his territory. Glaceria went to the North, and named her territory after her, and Sàber and Haüs went to the Southwest, naming their territory Sàberhaüs. Asha had gathered up her children and a few belongings, and tried to run, but didn't make it untouched. Dominic tied magic to her, so he would always know where she was, and told her he would destroy her daughters one day. Asha told her daughters to run, for Amit to go with Glaceria, and Glen to go with Sàber and Haüs. So they were taken care of by their aunt and uncles until Asha could get them. Asha and Dominic had a duel, and Asha's cruelty and evil was far worse than Dominic's, and she easily won, slaying him. But the magic he had tied to her ensured that he could harm her, alive or dead. And if he was dead, she could not harm him. But when he was dead he could do nothing to her daughters.

       Dominic himself had an adopted son, Sim, who was friends with Glen, and also escaped with Glaceria. He could not bear his father's evil, the same way Glen and Ami could not bear their mother's. But his father was also evil to him. Asha returned to her daughters, and told her they would never see her again, because Dominic could harm them if they were with her. So Amit moved to territory of her own, as near to her mother as possible. Ashs named her territory Ash. She warned Amit that being near to her would kill her, but Amit payed no heed. She died of old age, but Dominic's ghost swore to destroy Amit, her territory. Sim and Glen both shared a territory, called Glen. They had two children, the fiery girl Takola and the evil boy Sim, named after his father. He was possessed by Dominic's ghost. Glen had to destroy the ghost, using the magic of seven stars, which she had collected on the seven hills of Sim. But young Sim was still evil, for he was still poisoned by Dominic's ideas. Glen and older Sim disowned him. Takola was always angry, and let no one into her territory, not even her parents. She trusted nobody after finding out who her parents's parents were. The insane Dominic and the cruel Asha. Takola became evil and destroyed Sim, but Glen was a warrior, and killed Takola. In her grief of murdering her own daughter, she drank poison, putting herself in a coma, and eventually dying. Young Sim married the evil daughter of the horrible Glaceria, Lorena, and they had a daughter, Helena. She was good, and wise. She channeled Glen's spirit, and was a good warrior. She killed her evil parents, and brought peace to the territories. She named the whole region of territories Helenia, and died at the age of forty in battle in a foreign land.

          When she died, the people of the invaders, who were long dead except for Glaceria, tried to conquer the land, and killed many. Glaceria lived forever, and was young forever, because that was her magic. She commanded her people to be peaceful, and conquered land through discussion and peace, promising protection to the lands who gave her some land. She was too gentle after caring for and loving Glen for so long. The Simi, the people of the young Sim, destroyed Amit, and the survivors had fled to empty land, and became the Ami. The Plains of Disease were under them, and they were very dangerous to cross. That was where Asha had put the remains of Dominic's ghost.

          And Hans and Zïâ had to cross it.