Tales From Aurialis

A call for help! Chapter 2

It moaned and called to her. It was weak but still fear filled the teen. The cries were not of a creature in pain but of a creature dying. It she felt a force dragging her, pulling her into what felt like an oppressive darkness. There were no hands, no vines simply a force relentlessly tugging her into what felt like an abyss. It was in her attempt shut her eyes, to flee to from this place, flee from her captor that her eyes flung open.

The room was empty as it had been for every night that week. The dreams were getting weaker every night, if it was not for the pain that she felt tonight, she could continue to ignore it. The thoughts ran through her head. Her family were celebrated druids, their lands the most agriculturally fertile in the Courts but Madness was known to touch them. Her tutor would tell her parent and her parents would have her locked up to protect the family name. If her friends told their parents, it would all loop back to her, and it was known Kalera could not keep a secret. The only viable option seemed to be one she hesitated to even think about. The teacher at the College was not of any great power or rank, little better than the servs but she was a still a druid. Valera got up as she usually did, going back to sleep would just mean a repeat of the horror. She went to her window and meditated. Her tutor had shown her how to rejuvenate herself without opening herself to such things. It was draining on the body and in truth she felt weak, but It was better than having no sleep at all. The castle vines wrapped around her, forming a pleasant sort of hammock. In generations gone by, the entire castle would have been as such, mud held together with vines rather than stone and mortar, but her parents adopted the newest fashion when they came to power. They built a castle of stone and then as homage to the past, covered the stone in mud and vine.

"Nothing like a wonderful morning" Sia Grempin thought to herself as she descended from the top of her tree house. Usually staff could stay in their own special apartments but Sia being a druid felt more at home in the Garden. The Magi Garden was a section of forest which the school 's hall opened into. At the top of a particularly tall tree, Ms Grempin made her home by twisting the branches and leaves to her needs. Of all casters druids were perhaps among the most prone to such eccentricities.

"Good morning Ms Grempin I need your help" The girl stepped out from behind a tree.

The teacher looked over to see the young Lady . It was only natural a girl from her family would be interested in Druidism, but this is much too early. The school day had scarcely begun.

"Your grades are fine Ms Prenadie. Even if I got finish grading them, it will be returned in class along with the rest of your classmates." Sia gave the girl a warm smile to smooth the issue over.

"It is not that, It is just that I have been having Night terrors and they are linked to the Wilds" The wilds were sort of Dreamscape which druids used to tap into and harness the very magic of nature itself. The girl did not seem fatigued but Sia could guess that some magic was keeping her refreshed.

"Tell me what the problem is and maybe we can solve it" Sia informed her student. It was normal from time to time student with strong connections would be able to sense the small disturbances of the natural world like the waves on an ocean. It would take no more than a moment to guide the youngster through it and show that these waves were not terrifying creatures but simply the natural waves of the wilds.

"I need to check in with the Department head, but this should not talk long. Sit down and start to focus". The youth did as instruct and was soon within the wilds. The connection here was stronger, without the bricks and mortar of the castle and she could truly feel it envelope her. The wilds were indeed and ocean, through the wilds druids could see other places, speak to the very land itself. It was then that the dragging feeling returned like a sudden riptide but here it was stronger. The calls she heard were still weak, but the presence felt so much more intense.