Prologue ~ Legends of Arboria

Ch. 2 ~ Legends of Arboria

Leaves in autumn's colors sprinkled down like so many drops of rain from the canopy above. In this small clearing, the woods seemed to be trying to completely block out the sky. Sun rays broke through in dusty beams it seemed like for miles in any direction through the surrounding woods. The place was eerily quiet but he could feel eyes on him everywhere, peering through the leaves and branches. The trees were many; oak, maple, cypress, birch, all of them intermingled in a beautiful picturesque scene. The faint beating of wings barely escaped the whisper of the trees. As active as a forest usually is, those were the only sounds.

"Where am I?" he wondered aloud.

It felt calm and serene... almost dreamy. It was a dream. He knew it. It didn't feel the same as a normal dream, though. It wasn't sluggish, choppy, or devoid of senses; rather this was one of those kinds of dreams that you can control, where you're half awake and half asleep. In this state, he could recall the strange dreams he had been having. That was it. That's why he was overwhelmed by a sense of familiarity. This was a dream he had experienced before at some point. Sometime in his childhood maybe but he still couldn't place it.

He turned to scan the surrounding tree for anything resembling a path. Almost directly behind him, deep in the shadows, he could barely make out two stone markers encrusted with woody vines and ivy. There was a strange glow filtering through the dense foliage and he felt like he was being gently beckoned towards the soft green glow. He moved towards the glow slowly in a dreamy glide and, as he got closer, a soft hum seemed to resonate through the opening. It was relaxing, familiar. The further he floated the more familiar it began to feel. He was sure he had been here before in ... another dream. This was a dream, yes. Another one of those strange and cryptic dreams he had been having.

He kept moving through the silent forest around him. A path opened up before him as if he were forest royalty. Everything was so beautiful all around him. He felt so ... strange, like he was home or something. He came to a stop on a grassy shore. As he looked out over the glass-like surface of this forest pool, he suddenly gasped in realization. Before him, out on a tiny island, there stood a marble statue of a fairy holding up a lantern. He was in the old woman's garden ... but where was the house and the... the fountain?

He spun around to look back where he had just come from and in the small clearing was the house only it was small. It was no bigger than a shack but he recognized the structure. It was the house. As he looked on, the large wooden door opened slowly and an only slightly-younger-looking Brook stepped out. In her arms was an ornate stone pot which she carried off of the steps and sat on the ground in front of her. From a small leather pouch slung around her shoulder, she pulled a seed of some kind. She knelt down and appeared to plant the seed. Picking up a wooden jug that sat nearby, she sprinkled water into the pot. She then cupped her hands above the soil and closed her eyes. She began to hum a tender, somber tune and opened her hands and the soil began to stir. A tiny chute began reaching towards the sky. He was astounded! She was making the plant grow! How!? It kept growing and sprouted leaves and soon, a bud appeared. She smiled. The bud swelled and opened, red silky petals stretching out into a beautiful rose.

Amazing.

She stood again and smiled down on her creation. She looked up then, right in his direction. She raised a hand and extended her finger to point and then opened her hand palm up like she was presenting something. He turned again in the direction she pointed and looked out at the statue. The lantern that dangled from the hand of the fairy was ... different ... than when he saw it before. In the lantern was a large green crystalline stone that pulsed with a dull glow. Brook was humming again. It floated through the air like smoky incense. Beyond the statue, the trees began to sway and part, revealing the massive boulder he remembered from the garden; and the markings on its face began throbbing with a brilliant light.