Ellara was sitting by her window at sun set in Aeloria, tracing the usual designs on the wooden plate. She understands how to put the knife through every marked line, Her work does not allow her to rest as she desires to attain great heights in this work. The village environment around her was calm, with winding stone laid streets and small mud buildings with thatch roofs, these type of roofing causes much heat to her spirit that likes to explore.
Aeloria was a place that simple people like to live as their home, farmers, blacksmiths, and traders who find it convenient to do their businesses every day. But Ellara was was not like them. She looked forward to something more, something beyond what she knows about her life limitations. Her eyes would once in a while move to the Whispering Woods, an unexplanable separation between the what we know and what we do not know.
The woods mean more than just ordinary trees to the villagers. They speak slowly stories of creatures that you cannot see and understand well, creatures with shining eyes, and spirits capable of stealing memories. While some people talk of them with fear, Ellara feel quite different about them. The forest seems full of life pumping with an energy that talks to her in a language only she could understand.
Downstairs, they were having their evening meal quietly. When one looked at her mother's eyes it shows she is disturbed, her father feels so concerned that he does not have words to explain. They were good people, but their fears was a family trait they naturally passed to their daughter.
After the meal, Ellara went back to her bedroom. The night was so cold that she felt it through the walls, as she brought out a wooden box hidden under her bed. Her special important instruments that she always used, were kept inside. These are: a compass with a broken glass, a smooth stone cut out with mysterious symbols, and a old map marked with a fine looking blank area that is titled "The Unknown".
The stone is a special one. Her father had discovered it near the woods some years ago and gave it to her as a gift. As time went on, it had proven to be more than just a rock. It was something that will serve as a key to open the hidden things that lie in front of the tree line. When she touched it, a low humming noise seemed to pass through her fingers.
The village seems to go into a silent time, Ellara was looking at the moon as its light shine on the woods. For a short period, she thought of quietly running out, her heart was beating telling her she can do it. But she recalled her parents' warnings that held her, holding her back from the mysterious forest that was always calling her.
"She hope to make it one day," she whispered, holding tight the stone, a promise to herself and whatever awaited her in the future.