It was a land she'd never come in contact with before, she was sure of it; however, she had a very peculiar feeling, almost as if this was her true home. She navigated her way throughout the bustling crowds of a massive city, dodging and weaving from road to road and through towering buildings; this proved her finesse. The blur of the crowd, moving of noisy carts and wagons, and of course the many voices all blended into each other; yet, even with all of this, even with all these people, she wasn't able to distinguish a single face.
Maybe she was walking beside someone, she didn't know.
At the end of a large road she saw a giant tower made of crystal, blinding its surroundings thanks to the morning sun.
Whiter than snow, its gigantic shape seems capable of reaching the sky
Out of nowhere, screams and shouts ensued from the people near her.
A black, goliath-sized shadow spread from the ground beneath her, overtaking everything in her vision. She tried to focus, and she then realized something, it was blood. Bright red, thick, and slimy. Blood that spread everywhere and tainted the surroundings, even the white tower itself.
Then a bottomless abyss swallowed her, and she had no escape. She started to accelerate, faster and faster, but there was no end, and she knew it.
All the sudden, the wailing of kids and heartbreaking howls or suffering permeated her skull: "Avenge us! Avenge our race, our people!"
She wanted to dig into her skull and get rid of the screams as fast as possible, she wanted a way out of this hell, but the wailing wouldn't stop: "Kill him! Erase him from existence itself!"
Out of the blue, everything stopped, as silence crept back into her. This 'vision', had finally ended.
Nihal found herself flying on a Dragon's back. The wind was tickling her face, she felt free. She was wearing black armor and had her hair cut very short for a girl. Behind was Sennar, whom she knew that she just had found him after a long separation and was happy of meeting again because somehow he was linked to her.
Her visions faded until it became a blinding white light.
She blinked, it was only the start of a new sunny day and she was still in that clearing. So, she had a dream. But who were the people in her dream? What happened to them? And why was she riding a Dragon with Sennar?
She decided to disregard those thoughts, it was only a dream after all.
She stretched and sat on the ground yawning lazily. But she froze when she saw what was before her eyes: the clearing was full of little beings slightly bigger than her hand. Their hair were full of different colors, they were flying all around her, moving with their small and delicate wings.
She couldn't believe it. "I'm still dreaming", she said while rubbing her eyes a few times just to be sure.
One of the small beings got near her and started staring at her for a long time with his big eyes then moved a bit away.
- Are you human? He asked.
Nihal took a bit of time to answer:
- Yes of course what else could I be?
- It's strange. I don't remember humans ever looking like you. Even more so with ears like us!
- Personally, I think she totally looks like a..., cut another one of them, a little away from their position. Well, you know what I'm talking about, don't you?
- No way! There are no more left! Exclaimed the third one.
- Yeah for sure, the Tyran had them... Said someone else.
- Shut up you all! Shouted the one that was flying before Nihal.
They all shut their mouth.
- She could be a human. After all, there are so many weird humans out there!
Nihal managed to wake up from her initial surprise:
- And you? Who are you? And all those small... 'things'... What are you doing here?
The little being looked at her irritated:
- Little Miss, mind your words! We aren't 'small things'. We are Wisp-elves, I'm called Phos, and I am the chief of our Forest community. We live here if you don't mind! And you, who are you? I thought that humans were afraid of the Forest?
- My name's Nihal! I come from Salazar and I'm here because I want to learn magic.
- Ah! That's it! Said Phos looking like he understood everything. You're Soana's acquaintance!
Other Wisp-elves whispered something while nodding.
- Then you're a friend. Such a nice human that Soana! Now I must admit that we were a little bit scared of you. Last night you did a lot of ruckuses!
Phos beat his wings and came close to Nihal's ear.
- We escaped from The Tyran clutches, so we have a hard time trusting others you know...
Nihal started to like those little guys, they were fun to talk with and treated her like they always knew her.
- Listen here Phos, I don't know you but I'm hungry. I've got a little bit of food if you and your friends want to eat with me, come!
They didn't hesitate much: soon enough the clearing was filled with their small voices and giggles.
The young girl made Phos sit on one of her knees:
- So, you're the chief of all those elves?
- Not all of them, only those from the Forest. You know we have the biggest community of the Emerged World! You see, he added sadly, forests are diminishing more and more and our fellow brothers die or escape somewhere else...
- Why do you only live in those forests?
- Are you kidding? *We are* the Forest! A Wisp-elf without a forest is like a fish without water! Some of us tried to live somewhere else, and even with humans but after some time they started to ... wither... something like that... you see. In the end, they died because without our forest to look at or its perfume to smell we can't live! Can you name something better than the woods? During winter we can play hide-and-seek with dried branches and sing some lullaby to the hibernating animal. At Summer, we cool off in the shades of the trees and swim in the warm water of the summer's rain.
- I also have the feeling that the Forest is quite well too, said Nihal.
Phos looked like he wanted to cried but he managed to endure it, his ears were also down like some kind of dog.
- No alas! That bloody Tyran! He destroyed the forest from the Lands he conquered to build weapons. And those damned Fammins, his slaves, hate us to the bone! Huge numbers of Wisp-elves were reduced to being their pets. It's a sad end, for us, who only ever wanted to be free and a bit of greenery to breathe or live in peace for some others.
- I know exactly what you mean! Me too I want to be free and live a lot of adventures! Said Nihal, standing up with a jump. You know what? I'm a warrior - well, I will be a warrior - and then I'll fight the Tyran. I would then become the Protector of your people! I would probably enroll in the rebel army too and save you from slavery, you should then be able to live again, freely in the woods.
Phos looked at her, his gaze filled delusion:
- It'll be beautiful... But the truth is that the world we know is slowly fading away. All we can do is hide here and try to stay alive...
Sitting cross-legged on Nihal's knee, Phos seemed lost in his thoughts. In his eyes, we could see the big forest, the ancient one, the forest that spanned everywhere in the world. The young girl felt very close to those beings, threatened by extinction. For a moment, she thought that her inner voices were crying along with the broken hearts of those little guys.
- Maybe you're right, she said. But evil can't reign forever. In the future, I know, no, I'm sure there will be a place for your people to live at peace.
Phos smiled at her. Suddenly he became joyful end cheerful, looking like their precedent talk didn't happen in the first place.
- Why are you here again? You talked about a trial.
- Soana said that I needed to enter in sync with Nature, be acknowledged, and talk to it.
- What do you mean by "enter in sync with Nature"?
- Uh well, feeling it deep inside me, flowing in my heart,... I think...
- That's all? For us, Wisp-elves it's like breathing!
- And how do you do that?
- Well it's not something you do deliberately nor create. We feel it that's all in fact.
Nihal let her body fall back in the grass, discouraged:
- Damn! Soane said that I needed to concentrate and meditate but with all the weird noises I can't do it. To be honest, I'm scared...
Phos started laughing:
- Scared?
- What's there to laugh about? I've got a problem and the only thing you do is laughing?
- Sorry, recovered Phos. Listen, you were very good to us, and you gave us something to eat. So I'll give you a hand: we, Wisp-elves, will pray the trees and meadows to help you. And you... What did you say? Ah, yes, you only have to concentrate and meditate.
Nihal jumped from the overflowing joy and thanked him with all her heart.
Phos gathered all his people. He talked to them for a moment, explaining the situation, then the little community spread around the woods. Phos encouraged Nihal before setting off too and silence took over the clearing once again.
Nihal went back to her rock and sat down on it ready to meditate again. This time no one could disturb her and distract her from her goal!
It was harder than what she believed it to be. Despite the helping hand, Nihal couldn't distinguish the forest noises clearly: the wind whistling against the branches, the battling from the bird's wings, or the streaming of the water. It took her a long time to understand that behind those seemingly trivial noises was hidden a piece of secret music, a harmonic sound. At first, she thought it was her imagination or her tired mind playing her tricks but the music became more and more persistent. Those sounds were truly following their own rhythm;
The wind passing through the trees was the bass or the drum, the frost that accumulated on the branches during the night and in the morning fell like dust represented the harp, the chirping of the birds were the voices of the choir.
Even the grass took part in this 'concert'. Nihal could hear it grow, and dance: this whispering felt like a sort of counter-melody.
Out of the blue, she felt the feelings of the rock beneath her, followed by the ground and then the earth. She could hear a regular 'beating' coming from their invisible arteries that were pulsing with power thanks to an excited heart.
Nature was expressing itself with mysterious lyrics that Nihal didn't understand but she confusedly knew their meaning. It said "Everything is One, and One is All" - "Everything starts and ends in or by the beauty of Nature" - "Every living being are part of a bigger order, the Creation circle".
An intense white light passed through Nihal's body and a gentle warmth embraced her. She thought that her heart could no longer endure so much purity, so much unreal beauty. She was afraid of being lost in this feeling: but at the same time, it seemed that motherly arms tightened around her body, comforting her. It taught her that in the reign of beauty, everyone could keep its identity without ceasing from being part of an indivisible whole.
She then started traveling among the clouds with the wind as her companion. She flew above Lands where the forests were never-ending and even greener than everything she saw before.
She was once grass, once a flower, stretching out its petals under the bright sun.
She then was a tree and felt her branches swaying with the wind while aiming their tip to the blue sky.
She was once a fruit and a bird, the fish or the animal.
In the end, she became the earth, where each little seed gave it life and from where every being comes from.
For a second, she truly thought that she understood the meaning of life. She felt very old and wise. She felt her birth, her childhood, adulthood, and her death, billions of times through the life of all the people that ever lived in the Emerged world.
At this precise moment, she knew 'life' was never-ending, infinite.
Nihal opened her eyes and 'came back' to earth. It was already night. While sitting on this rock, she traveled through the very heart of Nature for a whole day. Tired, she laid her back on the rock, it was only then that she saw the Wisp-elves forming a circle at her feet. Waiting for her with their colorful lights.
In the middle was Phos; he was laying on his belly, his hands under the chin, looking at her warmly.
He smiled:
- How was it?
- Marvelous. I'm flabbergasted! Answered Nihal, her heart was still filled with so many emotions.
Phos told her that he'll bring dinner.
- You stay here! We'll go look for something to eat.
He appeared a few minutes later with fruits and edible seeds supported by the elves at the four ends by a thin cloth. It gave such autumn feeling, ripe apples, other fruits, and dry seeds from all sorts of things.
When they ate the last seed, Phos showed Nihal a bowl filled to the brim with a thick and transparent liquid.
- Here, taste this!
At first, she was a bit wary, so she hummed the perfume.
- I swear just taste it! It's delicious. It also helps to recover faster when you're tired.
Nihal drank a mouthful; indeed it was exquisite.
- That's ambrosia, the resin of the Forest's Father. The highest tree of all, not bad, isn't it?
Nihal emptied the whole bowl while listening to the small talks of Phos and his people for the rest of the night. When in the end, she laid on the grass to watch the stars, sleep instantly hit her tired mind.
That night, she had a dreamless sleep for once in her life.