Dryads and Nymphs

Chapter 2-The Knight and The Phoenix

"Okay", Ariana said, "You know once there was a king. He was very old and very sad, because he didn't have a son. He thought that when he would die his kingdom would be destroyed or taken up by invaders, because no one could rule after he was gone.

"One day he fell terribly ill. He knew he would die soon so he sent for his most trusted knight. When the knight came the king told him what was bothering him. The knight knelt down and whispered something in the king's ear and the king smiled and ordered that the knight was to set sail immediately with a hundred of his soldiers. The knight did so and soon they were sailing through uncharted seas. They were all in a hurry because they knew they had to get back before the king died, and they knew he didn't have long to live. After two days, the knight spotted an island. As they drew nearer, they exclaimed with wonder; the island was like no other they had ever seen before. The trees were thick and had gold leaves instead of green ones. The streams did not carry water but honey. Moreover, right in the middle of the island stood three mountains, covered with the gold leaved trees so that they shone so bright no one could keep their eyes on them for long.

The knight was actually looking for a bird but not just any bird. This was a golden phoenix. The legend was that this phoenix had been burnt by the sun as he had flown too close, but because phoenixes can't die this phoenix had been reborn and when he took form again he was all golden like the sun. They said its eyes shone like the sun and it could see people's souls. However, because the people around him had such dark souls he went away and it was said that he had made an island of gold for himself. The knight had told the king about the Golden Phoenix and that he wanted to bring the bird back to the castle so that after the king died the phoenix would choose the next ruler. They said that if someone wished to find the phoenix, he must be clear of heart and should have a good soul and now that the knight had found the island, he knew he would surely find the phoenix. The soldiers anchored the ship near the island and the knight and a few of his soldiers went on the island.

Now even though the island was very beautiful, it was a deadly place. No fruits grew on the trees and even the grass and bushes were made of gold. When the sun came up the island got so hot that any living thing would die of the heat. And there was no water at all on the island only honey. The knight was very smart though. He had taken a huge sail down from the ship's mast and had told four of his men to hold the four corners up so that his army was under the shade. He had also packed a lot of food and water as he intended to search every bit of the island.

But the island had been designed by the phoenix to test a man's soul, and if he was worthy enough the phoenix would honor him with his presence. The knight knew this and this was why he had brought his most loyal and trustworthy soldiers on the island with him. Nevertheless, even they were tested and unfortunately, they failed. They fell to greed when they saw the treasures on the island. Surely, they thought, there is enough gold on this island that we can all take as much as we want. But they also knew the knight too loyal and selfless to abandon the king and break his trust, so they decided to abandon him.

The next morning they told him they could no longer follow him and had decided to leave him. The knight was sad to hear this but he knew he couldn't persuade them and make them see reason, so he decided to leave them as they were and pursue his quest alone. Therefore, the knight left his soldiers who started to pluck the gold leaves off the trees but to their horror, the leaves turned green once they were plucked. When the soldiers saw this, they realized they had abandoned their knight in the time of need. They mourned their actions and tried to follow him to tell him sorry they were. But, alas! They could not find him. The path seemed to have vanished and every time they tried to go in the direction in which the knight had gone, they found themselves back where they had started. They were forced to give up and go back, because their supplies had run out.