Special Chapter 30: Stories of Old from The Dark Forest of Aubrianne
Every night after supper, Damien Wolfsbane would tell Dorin about tales long gone. These are the stories he told him.
First Evening
As the night got deeper and the food around the fire was consumed, Damien Wolfsbane would ease himself on one of the thick furs scattered in the burrow's floor and stretch out his long legs. When he is comfortable with the two kits side by side, one curling next to the other, then he would give a deep sigh and tell a story...
Once upon a time... In the days when the dark forest stretched over the whole continent, the child of the sun fell in love with the child of the moon...
They came into this land to find a place where they can be together in peace, for the place they once called home fell into ruin. Envy, jealousy, greed and hate had destroyed the land and the people itself.
So, hand in hand, they combined the golden light of the sun and the silver beams of the moon to open a gateway to our world.
Once in the new world, they found themselves in a land of tall cedars, gurgling brooks and whispering trees. There they decided to build a kingdom that would welcome all and teach all of the powers of the sun, the rivers, the wind and the earth. They made pacts with the people of the land, the children of the elements, and promised to respect the source of all live – Mother Terra.
And so, years pass, and the children of the sun and the moon kept their promises and their kingdom grew bigger. They became parents to children who became parents to children of their own, until the child of the moon and the sun went back to the earth.
Alas, as soon as they were gone, their children forgot the forged pact. They wanted more land, more lumber, more meat, more minerals. Soon the tall trees were gone, replaced by tall buildings made of melted sand. The animals were placed in cages to breed and feed their children. And the children of the elements, those who once owned the land, were put into chains and forced to serve those who had sworn to be their brothers.
For decades, this was so. The Land, deprived of life and exploited through mining, died and turned to black sand. The children of the elements that had made pacts with them, died out, and the magic in the land was slowly sipped away by the greed of the kingdom's children.
During that time, a son of light called Al Khami, realized that this can not go on any further. He started searching for ways to use alternative means to replace magic. It was then that he realized that he can create magic without sipping mana from the land. Since then, he made experiments and learned ways to amplify magic where he would only need a little mana at a time. With this knowledge, he dreams to rehabilitate the land, and to once more, fortify the pact with the children of the elements.
But the children of the kingdom refused change. They feared what was new and unknown. Instead of listening, they silenced him. Instead of understanding, they burned his discoveries. And to stop him from spreading his light, they cursed him so that he could neither talk nor write about his work again. Thus, they cut off his tongue and cursed him to write an apology to the kingdom until his fingers were nothing but stubs of flesh and bone.
They almost killed the child of light, but they failed to kill his spirit, and knowledge, once imparted, will spread like wildfire. With his teeth, he wrote books of his teachings, and gave the books to his 5 children. His children then shared the knowledge to more and more people who shared the same ideals.
But the kingdom was relentless to those who refused to obey them. They rooted them out and killed them one by one. To escape from persecution, they ran away from the kingdom and went beyond the mountains into a more fertile land, where they can live as one with nature, just as their first ancestors did before them. There they sought the help of the children of the elements once more, but instead of a pact, they humbled themselves and made a vow that they would always respect the land and take from it, only what is needed.
There and then, The 3 remaining children of the child of light, built the first castle. They were Beronia Alcione of the Red Rose, and Anderson Heilig of the Thunder gods and Aubrianne Ravante of the Silver Moon." Together they swore to work with each other and uphold the treaty they made with the children of the elements. Thus, the first settlement, the Beronia Kingdom was created.
"So... that means that the platue where Aubrianne university is... this was the first settlement in all of the Alcione Empire?" Dorin asked the groundskeeper.
"Yes." replied Damien. "The first castle even stands to this day."
"The main Magic castle!" Dorin gasped excitedly. "There was a mystic charm to the place, even now... a feeling like it was alive..."
"As time went by, the family grew and needed more land to grow their crops and livestock. Soon the 3 children had to look for land of their own.
Alcione went to the north west, Heilig to the north east, while the Revantes decided to stay in the middle, where the heart of the forest lies, for Revantes were the purest of bloodlines and their roots lay with that of the Old Ones – the elves. Here they built a place of knowledge where individuals of all kinds, races, and creeds can all come together under one roof and learn from the past, preserve the present, and prepare for the future.
And thus it was so for hundreds of years, until the coming of the mad king.
"Mad king? Are you talking about the Black revolt?" Dorin yawned.
"Yes." replied Damien, standing up. "But that will be a story for another day."
Damien left Dorin and the still unconscious Sebastian in the room. As soon as the groundskeeper was gone, Dorin bent closer to Sebastian and checked on his friend. A mere touch made his friend wince.
"Not yet ready to wake up?" Dorin asked the unconscious boy. He sighed and curled beside Seb.