The Fate of the Unknown Relms

Chapter 1

Deep beneath the ancient forest of Eldrion, hidden from mortal eyes, a single tree glowed with a soft golden light. Legends spoke of it as the World Tree, its roots stretching across realms, connecting the land of the living to the forgotten. No one had seen it in a thousand years-until now.

Lira, a young apprentice with a mysterious birthmark shaped like a crescent moon, stood before the tree, her heart pounding in her chest. She hadn't meant to find it, yet here it was, bathed in an aura of magic older than time itself. As she reached out to touch its glowing bark, a voice whispered from the shadows, "You have awakened something ancient, child. Now, your journey begins."

The voice was ancient, not human was the only thought echoing through Lira's normally flooding head. Her head began to sweat, the world seemed to be moving around her. Changing. The scenery shifted from color to color, they were not what she learned from schooling as a child, they were new. Something unseen. Colors not seen in millenia all shifting from shade to shade. The world around her rippled, as if reality itself was unraveling thread by thread. The scent of pine and damp earth vanished, replaced by something sharp and metallic "Lira Estiria." The voice called out, making her ears ring with the power of the hissing voice. "Princess of the elvin world."

Lira's mind rushed, Princess? "Long have the stars awaited thy return to the realm of your long forgotten ancestors." Her heart sped up. Too much is happening. The young maiden thought. "Fight with valor, young one, for the path before thee is long and treacherous. Steady thy heart, and let not fear bind thee, for only through courage shalt thou triumph in the trials yet to come." It hissed. She could only blink. Her lungs seemed to be as frozen as the whisper lake in the middle of december. Her bones felt as if they were melted together, she could hear her heartbeat in her ears, unable to move. She felt as her location changed. Fear and adrenaline flowed through her veins, the feeling pulsating at a steady pace. Her heart was either stopped or moving so fast that the feeling of being alive was absent. She wanted to scream, to throw up, anything but her lips were sealed. She felt a wind...or was it rain? Something unfamiliar but so familiar at the same time. She could only think of that feeling of when you just wake up, and the dream is sweet, and foggy. Like she remembers then doesn't.

Her breath hitched as she felt a burning pain as if something was turning her muscles into mush, and mixing them beneath her pale skin. She managed to look down and saw her body moving, just like a ripple in a reflection. It was moving, changing. Becoming more fit, and her clothing disintegrating off her body, her ears getting pinched to a point, and her eyes changing from brown to deep, forest green. The world around her bursted into a bright blinding light. Unlike anything she had ever seen. Pure joy, love, pain, anger, fear, hope. All at once. As if all emotions were a sweet nectar that someone mixed together. Her eyes burned and the joy took over. The light getting brighter and brighter, warm against her painful skin, as if sin was a thin layer coated on an infant at birth, and it was being washed away all at once. Any pain ever felt impossible, as if it was only a figure of the girl's imagination.

Memories of her childhood flooded her head, a cold air swirling around her. The light formed visuals, Lira stood and watched as her mother baked bread in the kitchen, the smell real enough to make her stomach grumble. Memory shifted to her and her brother in their backyard, playing with sticks as if they were swords. "Ha! I got you Rara!" Lira couldn't help but smile at the nickname her younger brother used to use for her. "You got me!" Her younger self called out, with a grin wide enough to split a line from ear to ear as she fell on the ground, pretending she was dying. Thin rays of light shone through the leaves, leaving a pattern on the pine leave covered dirt. The leaves where bright green, and the sky a bright blue. Fluffy white clouds peppered the sky.

It shifted once more, to when she got her first horse for her birthday, the feeling she had felt as her long skirt rippled in the wind as she rode, fast. Trees zipping past her, her first feeling of freedom. Again shifting to late at night, her and her brother giggling under the covers. Lira just stood there, the long forgotten memories flooding her head, bringing her such joy she had to dig her nails into her palm to keep from squealing.

Then, as fast as it had appeared, it was gone. The feeling was gone. As Lira laid on a grasslike ground. Her eyes shut tight. Tears rushing faster than a lightning strike. "Why?!" she called out, as if the ancient whisper could hear her. "How cruel you are!" She sobbed, as if the joy she had just felt was ripped off her. "Now I must live with this pain!" No response followed her enraged cries. As if it was all gone. Only once she had cried for what felt like 2 moons did she allow herself to open her tear stained eyes. She nearly screamed seeing where she was.

The moon shone above her aching body, stars filled the sky, a sight she rarely got the pleasure of seeing for her home was deep in a thick untouched forest. She took in the sparkling wonder, the sky was a black tar with millions of bright, dancing stars. The moon was full and closer than any teacher said possible. The sky was clear, but curling through the sky like a thin fabric in the wind was colors of deep purple, blue, green, and others she couldn't recognize from anything but the colors she saw earlier. She could smell damp, ground and moss, along with the smell of early morning in a forest, when dew covers everything.

Lira's pulse hammered in her ears as she saw a boat in the sky. She blinked, hard, certain her mind was playing tricks. But when she looked again, the boat was still there, every detail sharp. She gasped, her breath catching in her throat as if the world had shifted on its axis. The image was more vibrant than any image she saw. As if her eyes were a window, blurred with fog in the past, now more clear than any eyes could imagine possible. The boat was at least 400 feet away, yet she saw every detail, every scratch.

She slowly sat up, and took in the scenery, as she saw the rest, a feeling of unknown and wonder coated her. The view somehow improved. She layed on a soft, green moss, softer than the best crafted blanket. She was on a small island like land, only a circle big enough for a large bed. All she could see, miles and miles of glistening water. Fully calm like a sea of ink.Reflecting the dances of the stars, showing the movement somehow better than her eyes could see. She crawled to the edge of the mossy island, looking at her reflection. But something was different. Confusion and uneasiness struck her. Her reflection in the water was wrong. The face was hers, but flawless. Lips too full, eyes too deep. As she reached out, the reflection didn't mirror her. Instead, it reached out too, grabbing her wrist with a cold, inky hand, pulling her down.

The contact was wrong, it felt like a cold winter night, as the girl sank, she could breathe. The air was cold and brisk. Coating her lungs with a feeling of freshness. The surrounding was black as she sank, further and further.

After what felt like hours of sinking, Lira's skin was cold as ice. Goosebumps covered every inch of her bare body. All of a sudden she hid a dark cold ground. The same color as the area around. It felt like firm jello, cold and sticky. The ground rippled, a light reflection rippling with it. She could smell a metallic smell, like rust. On top of the jello-like ground was a thin layer of black liquid. It was cold, like a lake in the morning.

She saw a light ahead, small and far away. It looked like a street lamp, glowing orange, and giving a dim aura of orange light. It was almost unsettling, yet Lira decided to walk to it. Desperate for a way out. Her heart was beating so fast she felt she could have a heart attack. Step after step the girl walked to the lamp. Her mind flooded with anxiety, idea after idea. She was sure that nobody has seen things like this. Is this a dream? She wondered.

Once Lira got to the lamp, she saw an old, mossy wooden door. With dark metal hinges and screws. Moss and vines snaked around it. The girl wondered if it was wise to open. She looked at the other side, for the door was not connected to anything, and it was the same as the front. As if a random door was left here. She opened the door, stepping in, as a wave of wearyness struck. Her knees buckled and she fell through, entering, yet more darkness.

1601 words <3