Post by Caranir Elmheart on Jan 15, 2011 23:25:17 GMT 1
She had been wandering the forest for months, now.
The trees were majestic and cast the ground in shade under a thick canopy of brown, purple and green. It had felt like Ashenvale at first but although many of the trails seemed familiar, none of them led to anywhere she recognised. It was vast, too.
In the first few days she had wandered randomly, stopping often, hoping to pick up some familiar landmark and find the way back to... wherever she had been before. As time wore on she began a steady march to what she thought might be east, determined to test the extent of the forest, but she could find no edge, no change in the terrain at all.
She ought to have felt hungry, but she did not. This was good, because she had seen no living creature larger than a butterfly yet. There were bubbling streams and she drank from these out of habit, rather than necessity. She rested by one tonight and was grateful for it, the noise of the water running over shallow stones sounded almost deafening in a place so otherwise filled with silence.
There had been stirrings of dread in the first few lonely days, the silence had seemed almost oppressive. She had felt that she needed to be somewhere, that something terrible was happening in her absence that she ought to stop. That feeling had quietened down now, it was hard to stay anxious in a place where nothing at all happened.
But something was happening now... she could feel it somehow, all of a sudden. There was sound, animal sound, coming from somewhere. She was so unused to it that it took her several moments to recognise the patient and careful footsteps of a creature out in the forest. A flash of white amongst the shade of the forest floor caught her eye and she was upright, rushing toward it.
The creature, whatever it was, was turned and away in a flash, galloping into the forest. Galloping? A horse then? She dived into the undergrowth after it, panic welling up inside her again. Something was here, something was happening at last and she was going to miss it!
Months of inactivity should have made her unfit, but she accelerated with a speed borne of desperation. It was still ahead, but it wasn't leaving her behind. The forest, unchanging up to now, suddenly began to thin in the creature's wake and shafts of moonlight lanced through the canopy. At last she could see it properly, see Him properly.
He was a huge stag, gleaming white and crowned with towering antlers that slowed him not at all as he raced between the trees. Then, at last, there were no more trees and they came out on a grassy plain beneath the stars. The night sky seemed to touch the ground in front of them, the moon directly overhead bathing both Caliyen and the stag in gentle light.
The anxiousness had faded now as she began to realise, began to accept what had happened. The ground began to slope upward slightly but she ran even faster, seeking to touch the glorious creature that had guided her out of the forest of her own making. In front of her, the stag had begun to slow and she saw why; the ground ended abruptly in a sheer cliff, only the night sky visible beyond.
The stars seemed to hang just over the edge, close enough to touch. The stag had stopped now and was looking at her expectantly. She wanted to stop, to thank it, but that wasn't right she knew. Instead she ran faster, faster than any living elf could run, toward the cliff. The stars and the moon waited tantalisingly close, shimmering with beauty. She reached the edge and did not hesitate at all. She jumped.
The trees were majestic and cast the ground in shade under a thick canopy of brown, purple and green. It had felt like Ashenvale at first but although many of the trails seemed familiar, none of them led to anywhere she recognised. It was vast, too.
In the first few days she had wandered randomly, stopping often, hoping to pick up some familiar landmark and find the way back to... wherever she had been before. As time wore on she began a steady march to what she thought might be east, determined to test the extent of the forest, but she could find no edge, no change in the terrain at all.
She ought to have felt hungry, but she did not. This was good, because she had seen no living creature larger than a butterfly yet. There were bubbling streams and she drank from these out of habit, rather than necessity. She rested by one tonight and was grateful for it, the noise of the water running over shallow stones sounded almost deafening in a place so otherwise filled with silence.
There had been stirrings of dread in the first few lonely days, the silence had seemed almost oppressive. She had felt that she needed to be somewhere, that something terrible was happening in her absence that she ought to stop. That feeling had quietened down now, it was hard to stay anxious in a place where nothing at all happened.
But something was happening now... she could feel it somehow, all of a sudden. There was sound, animal sound, coming from somewhere. She was so unused to it that it took her several moments to recognise the patient and careful footsteps of a creature out in the forest. A flash of white amongst the shade of the forest floor caught her eye and she was upright, rushing toward it.
The creature, whatever it was, was turned and away in a flash, galloping into the forest. Galloping? A horse then? She dived into the undergrowth after it, panic welling up inside her again. Something was here, something was happening at last and she was going to miss it!
Months of inactivity should have made her unfit, but she accelerated with a speed borne of desperation. It was still ahead, but it wasn't leaving her behind. The forest, unchanging up to now, suddenly began to thin in the creature's wake and shafts of moonlight lanced through the canopy. At last she could see it properly, see Him properly.
He was a huge stag, gleaming white and crowned with towering antlers that slowed him not at all as he raced between the trees. Then, at last, there were no more trees and they came out on a grassy plain beneath the stars. The night sky seemed to touch the ground in front of them, the moon directly overhead bathing both Caliyen and the stag in gentle light.
The anxiousness had faded now as she began to realise, began to accept what had happened. The ground began to slope upward slightly but she ran even faster, seeking to touch the glorious creature that had guided her out of the forest of her own making. In front of her, the stag had begun to slow and she saw why; the ground ended abruptly in a sheer cliff, only the night sky visible beyond.
The stars seemed to hang just over the edge, close enough to touch. The stag had stopped now and was looking at her expectantly. She wanted to stop, to thank it, but that wasn't right she knew. Instead she ran faster, faster than any living elf could run, toward the cliff. The stars and the moon waited tantalisingly close, shimmering with beauty. She reached the edge and did not hesitate at all. She jumped.