Before the Great War, the woods of the North were remembered as a land of eternal summer. Never fading. Always green. Just an autumn once a century brought new leaves to the thousands of years old trees. The deeper one would venture in, the deeper and higher vegetation would get. The trees are so high they hide the sun.
Winter could not exist, as ageing could not exist for the immortal people who inhabited those lands.
At the gate of the woods there was a bridge made of the most precious crystal, the water was reflecting it like stars, with high arcs embracing the sky. Crawling plants were wrapping the base of the bridge, holding it like strong hands and decorating it with the purest white flowers, as soft as silk.
The Queen and the King were known as the keepers of the secrets of the Creation of the world.
Queen Elynia was the queen of these lands. King Virion was keeper of the Life.
Their eyes reflected millennia of wisdom and their Power supported the weight of the world.
At the end of the rivers, Mefistofel and his brothers find a land which is nothing but the very ghost of himself. The central part of the bridge is missing and the crawling plants wrap it like skeleton hands trying to strangle it. The trees are hollow, leafless, soulless, the branches fall like begging for anything or anyone to hold them. The statues of the guards guarding the bridge are ghosts of their once majestic images. The right statue had his head cut off and in its place an elven skull had been put, with the jaw deformed in the shape of agony. The left statue's shield lies on the grass, torn it away by the hand of wrath. Both of their swords have been splinted. Cobwebs float softly from the statues like a wretched veil of despair.
That land was still breathing. Still breathing Death.
Arriving at this scene, their hearts, even if beat less, are full of pain. They had never seen that land before. Feldor had told those tales of its splendour. Although no one had ever tried to visit them, they believed the place still existed. The access to it was honoured to few of their race. For what Feldor had told them, no human had ever seen those lands, because no human knew where to find it.
Was that Man doing? Are they really able to do this much? Can man ever destroy an immortal army...?
"Is this why my Master is dead? Is this why we have been hunted? For those who don't understand what they hate, they only destroy it."
Stepping on the land of what once was a river, the empty bank is covered by skeletons. Soldiers, man, some still have some of the clothes or the armours, once splendid into their time. Crawling plants wrap them, death is still lingering in that place, not allowing them to escape. The houses can be imagined how they may have been: crystal, now turned to ashes. Roads full of soft grass now turned to dry rocks. High buildings built inside the trees, with the plants painted its walls with marvellous flowers. The tall trees no longer protect the place. And what once was a place of wonders now is but a graveyard in which the wind blows like the souls still screaming among the trees.
Every step is as heavy as stones because of the fear of something grabbing them and bringing them underground. The ghosts are still living in there, living their own immortality in a town which still lives its own death in eternity.
A gate faces them at the end of that graveyard, with high stairs going to the top of a burnt tree.
Inside, what once must have been the thrones, still stand along the walls.
At the end of the hall a statue stands: much taller than an average man, his hands leaning on the sword, now broken in half and at his feet a splinted shield on which ancient elven writings:
KING VIRION. RULER OF THE NORTHERN ARMIES. KING ON THE NORTHERN LANDS.
-Is it possible for an ancient race to live in these lands? Is it possible that somebody was living here? May this ever be Celandra's home-?
-Is it possible for human envy to be so strong to destroy such a marvellous place?-
-Whatever destroyed this place, it wasn't human. There is no human weapon which can destroy elven building, or defeat his army. No human could find these lands. Something worse has happened here. Something terrible and dark.-
<Yes, warrior. You're right. What once was our home now is just a tomb in which thousands of souls are still trapped in eternal suffering.>
A voice which seems coming out from Pain. At the feet of the statue, a feminine figure appears. She's not touching the floor, she gently floats. She wears a black gown and a black veil hides her mourning face, she wears a crown with silver leaves. A soft wind lets her gown wave softly and her voice is so ancient.
A feeling into Mefistofel's gut lets him understand who those figures remind him of, the royal figure, the deep voice, the sound of eternity. Mefistofel bows at the presence of his queen.
-You're her majesty Elynia, keeper of this land. You are the mother of wise Celandra.-
All of them bow deeply in front of the queen who so sadly speaks to them.
<I am, soldier. Or I was once...... Now I am nothing but much less than what I was.>
-My lady. What happened here? There's no weapon which can destroy your buildings or defeat your army.-
<What happened that day shall be carved forever in the memory of Time. In a time in which humans had not yet come to life, an ancient race started a war against us. The king, my beloved husband, was sent to fight. We stayed into the city, sure of our safe borders. We had been awakened by thousands of thunders. The guards on the gate gave the alarm: nobody had the time to realise what happened. When I went out of the palace, I saw. Everything burned to the ground, the guards trying to brace the gate, the trees dying in second as thousands of parasites had taken the life from them. Winged creatures as big as mountains casted fire out of their mouths, destroying everything. We fought to the last breath, in vain. Creatures riding those winged monsters seemed of our same features, but their hearts had been deformed by rage and destruction. Once they reached our palace, they decided not to kill me. A man, or he seemed to be, came to me: he was carrying a staff, his voice was whispering inside the soul. He said my time was not over yet. He held my hands like vicious tentacles and everything around me was twisting. I found myself in the war field where my husband was fighting. I watched him die and pain took over me immediately. Still, this man said I would have been tied to my pain until I would not have been able to set myself free. I am tied by invisible chains, remembering everyday what happened in my home and to my dear husband. What you see now is the gown I wore the day I put my husband's dagger into my heart, hoping in vain to join him in the land of the eternal rest.>
A long silence follows the sad words of the Queen; Mefistofel still needs to know much more.
-My queen. You said winged creatures attacked you. But those creatures belonged to the ancient times. But they were supposed to be banished millennia ago.-
<No, warrior. They have been banished but they hid. When the war was over, their service was no longer required. They left the surface and they went underground, where nothing could disturb them. They cared nothing of the destiny of others.>
-My queen. The war was won, thanks to the Heart. The weapons and his keeper were lost. What happened, then?-
<The day of my death, I gave the "Heart" to my most loyal soldier, the one whose loyalty would go beyond Time. He was the only one left alive, fighting his last breath to protect me. I gave the "Heart" to him and I ordered him not to stop my hand. That weapon is the keeper of all our people. Before I stopped my heart, I released the power within it. I succeeded in casting our enemies away. With my last breath, I ordered the soldier to go to the Cold Lands and protect it until the day the power would have been requested again, to bring this world to his ancient splendour. The ancient ones shall rise again in their splendour.>
-My queen. There's another war coming soon and the world is about to fall again. We have nothing left to lose any more. We need your help, majesty.-
The ghost looks at Mefistofel for a few seconds and then she lowers her eyes, maybe surrendering to his prayer. Or maybe holding on to the last drop of Hope left.
<So be it, if you wish to die. If this is the destiny you choose. Once you leave these woods, you shall go to the High Mountains. In there you shall follow the River of Despair. There are the Crystal Lands in which the lonely soldier keeps the Heart safe from everything and anyone. It will be a long and enduring journey. It may last forever. No one has ever returned from the river Despair. And there you shall fall into disappointment and grief.>
-No, my queen. We shall not let that happen again.-
<That's your destiny, then. May the ancient families guard you.>
As she's about to vanish, Mefistofel raises his hand, trying to reach for her.
-My queen! A curse has been put upon us! We need to restore our powers. What shall we do to be free from our curse?-
<You shall break the chains that hold you hearts. You shall release yourself by what has bound you into darkness.>
-What has bound us? No one is ancient enough to remember it. Only Feldor knew, but he didn't have the chance to tell us.-
<Faith shall decide. If and when you shall be ready to find out. Or if you shall fall into the darkness, together with this world>
With these last words, she vanishes into the winds, leaving the warriors with their thoughts sharp into their minds. Confused but probably glad to leave those wretched lands.
