Roaring thunder crashed in the grey skies above. Rain fell softly on the ground, stirring up the smell of earthy freshness. I so desperately wanted to feel the raindrops on my skin, but going outside, experiencing nature, was forbidden.
It has been years since any fae was allowed to leave Velthorn Hollow - it was strictly forbidden by the Thorned Conclave, the fae council. Velthorn Hollow, our village, was located in an enormous stump of an ancient Oaktree once filled with laughter and magic, open to the forest which made our livelihood, but all that faded as the war against our own reflection riled into fear, death and chaos.
Many moons ago, one fae wanted to prove to the council that our magic could be stronger by altering our methods, joining up with the stone spirits enabling us to protect ourselves and our home against the forest's cursed vines and poisonous roots. He was denied, and was banned from Velthorn Hollow for attempting to use obsidian magic, or dark magic, and for wanting to join our very enemy which caused the curse in the first place - turning our luscious greenery into hard cold stone. This caused a divide between our own kind. Some followed the dark fae and altered their magic, while others were too scared of the consequences. The dark fae along with his followers left and betrayed our kind by teaming up with the stone spirits anyway. The war of stone and fire sprung from this, leading to death and desperation. After delving into the stone spirits' obsidian magic too much, they would become slaves to the uses of dark magic and stone spirits alike, turning them into what we now call witches and warlocks - bound by moon and stone using rocks, crystals and earthy compounds to preform their spells and rituals as their natural magic faded away into nothingness.
Frightened, the use of any magic has been prohibited, as well as leaving Velthorn Hollow as the Thorned Conclave wanted to prevent history from repeating itself.
History, however, caused Velthorn Hollow to be a prison, a place that I longed to escape from...
I was the only daughter of the head of the Thorned Conclave. My life plagued by never-ending rules because of this. One night I have had enough and fled our bungalow. On my walk, I saw something suspicious at the edge of the village - a broken piece of moss-ridden bark exposing the outside world, exposing the forest.
At first I was anxious to leave Velthorn Hollow, but I was never seen as good enough there, nor was I wiling to spend my life in that prison without experiencing the wonders of the forest. I therefore made the decision to squeeze through the opening the broken bark exposed. I ran as fast as I could without looking back. The forest was dark as the tall trees cast shadows over the forest floor intensified by nighttime.
As I stopped to take a breath, something surreal caught my eye - the grass beneath my feet was illuminated. I could hear the trees whisper in strange languages, and for a moment I thought they said my name. The flowers and fungi sung with colors, dancing to the rhythm of the rain. My whole body started glowing, and my wings sparkled, something that never happened before. For the first time I truly experienced what freedom felt like, tasted like, as I stuck out my tongue drinking the clouds' crystals. "How could they keep this from us?" I muttered tilting my head backwards, slowly shaking my long, glimmering, wet hair.
In awe, I failed to notice someone approaching me.
"Come with me if you want to live," a voice said softly.
I wanted to turn around but I froze in fear. They pulled my arm, forcing me to follow.
"Climb up here!" the voice said urgently, pulling on a vine.
As I glanced in the direction the voice told me to go, a ladder rolled open leading to a house in one of the trees. I quickly climbed up. As soon as I reached the top, the ladder rolled up once again preventing entrance to the house.
"Who are you?" I asked shakily.
As they lit the lanterns inside their house, a prominent masculine figure stood tall with markings on his body carved in black. His hair was the color of the night and his eyes glowed a luminescent blue.
"I'm Ashen," he introduced himself.
"What were we running from?" I asked uneasy, not yet knowing if I could trust Ashen.
"Not what, who. I'm sure you don't want to be caught by the Thorned Conclave, they have a history too damned to repeat," he said rolling his eyes and clenching his fists in frustration.
"And who may you be?" Ashen asked, slowly glancing at me from my feet to my eyes.
Knowing how he felt about the council and probably the fae of Velthorn Hollow, I chose to omit my identity. "I am Thalara, I'm from uhm, the other side of the forest," I stuttered.
"I can see that you're not from around here, and believe me you don't want to be. The Thorned Conclave patrols this side of the forest day and night keeping prisoners in their secret cave, and you Thalara almost joined them," Ashen said shaking his head.
"Not even the stone spirits are safe," he said.
I was utterly confused. I thought the Thorned Concave wanted to protect Velthorn Hollow and the forest alike, hence magic being forbidden. Was everything I was taught a lie?
"You look confused Miss Outsider?" Ashen said tilting his head, brows knotted.
"To be quite honest, I am confused. I... We were taught that the Conclave wanted to protect not destroy, so what is true?" I asked.
"They definitely don't want to protect, believe me, they have done this forest more harm than good. But don't take my word for it, here read this journal. It was my grandad's," Ashen explained handing me an old journal bound in wood and moss.
The journal started off as Ashen's grandad recorded his daily life as a fae in Velthorn Hollow. Apparently there were a variety of fae - light fae, moon fae, nature fae, and stone fae/spirits. All these fae types had a specific role within Velthorn Hollow and the forest alike maintaining balance. Soon a council was elected consisting of one from each fae type. After a while some fae developed their magic and discovered alternative methods, obsidian magic, that would help the forest bloom and flourish. The council got divided as all, but the nature fae council member (head nature fae), was for the obsidian magic. Eventually the head nature fae discovered the immense power of obsidian magic on the forest and wanted it all to himself. He started to accuse the others of harmful magic, making false accusations of them ruining the forest, when in reality it was the opposite. He formed a new council, the Thorned Conclave consisting of him and a few of his followers. Ashen's grandad wrote that eventually those who disagreed was thrown out of Velthorn Hollow where deadly threats were made. He discovered that it was the head the Thorned Conclave who caused the curse on the forest and sealed their doors, not for protection, but to keep those within blinded, controlling the forest in the shadows. Thereafter the Conclave took it on themselves to order a patrol of the forest and threw anyone who came near Velthorn Hollow in their dungeon where they would spend the rest of their lives. He along with his followers wanted the power, and nature as a whole, all to themselves and forbade magic as they didn't want to be overshadowed or overthrown.
Those who were thrown out had to survive with what they had, a curse was placed on them to stall their magic, and the use of nature would have deadly consequences as poison seeped into the roots of the forest not to be touched by anyone. So they formed a civilization of their own in the mountains on the edge of the forest. The stone fae/spirits used what they had left of their abilities to build homes for everyone in the mountains where food and water was scarce...
I was without words, tears balled up in my eyes. I couldn't believe the Thorned Conclave was so cruel and selfish.
I spent a few days with Ashen in his treehouse or hideout as he called it, as it was his mission to find the cave dungeon and free the innocent. I too wanted to help Ashen, wanted to help the others in Velthorn Hollow to experience what was kept from us. I wanted to break the chains that bound us to a life without nature's beauty and abundance, a life without magic. Ashen and I bonded over this where one night he leaned in for a kiss - it was a kiss so surreal that it felt like I was melting in his arms. We developed feelings for one another and became inseparable, until he saw it.
Ashen grabbed my arm and saw the marking on my wrist - a marking that indicated my true identity, a marking of Velthorn Hollow.
"You are one of them!" Ashen shouted.
"I should have left you to be thrown in that dungeon," he said placing his index finger and thumb on his forehead.
"I... Yes I am from there but I didn't know, I won't ever be so cruel and selfish, and..." I was interrupted by shouting from underneath the treehouse.
"We know you have her, bring her down or there will be consequences!" one particular voice from the Conclave shouted. It was my dad's voice.
Ashen glared at me with disappointment in his eyes. He rolled down the ladder and indicated me to descend. When I stepped foot on the forest floor my dad embraced me.
"My sweet Thalara, what has this boy done to you? He will never have the privilege to see the sunlight again!" my father said out loud.
"No Dad, he didn't harm me, he saved me from you, he showed me the truth! I ran away as you are keeping not just me, but all of Velthorn Hollow prisoner! Are you and the rest of the Thorned Conclave going to throw me into your little secret dungeon along with Ashen?"
"Ashen? O, I see what is going on here. You and that boy have feelings for each other, but don't let him manipulate you to believe these lies. He is using you to get access into Velthorn Hollow," my father explained.
"And Thalara, it is also forbidden to be with a warlock! Their magic is dark and unnatural!" my dad shouted.
"I will no longer be part of the Conclave's schemes as a resident fae of Velthorn Hollow. You talk of unnatural magic?, but I know you control the forest with obsidian magic, but instead of using it for good you use it for selfish reasons. I also know that it was the Conclave who created the curse in the first place taking away the magic of others, turning parts of the forest to stone and poison. They were forced to turn to unnatural magic to survive Dad, the Conclave drove them!" I screamed in rage.
"How could you take what was rightfully, well, everyone's?" I asked, my voice broke exposing the hurt and betrayal I felt.
Ashen stood in defeat, held in the hands of the Velthorn guards. Suddenly the trees swayed with aggression and the clouds roared with thunder as my emotions became more intense.
Light seeped from my pores, my eyes started glowing and I hovered above the ground as I shouted "I, Thalara, daughter of the forest, will break the chains that bind us all to a life as prisoners, to a life without nature and its abundance, to a life without magic!"
And together Ashen and I did. We overthrew the Thorned Conclave as when everyone heard the truth they turned against them. We brought back magic to Velthorn Hollow and freed the forest and all the fae from the curse. We expanded the mountain civilization with the help of the stone spirits granting them access into the forest and Velthorn Hollow. We became a fae empire rich with the forest and all it had to offer.
Roaring thunder crashed in the grey skies above. Rain fell softly on the ground, stirring up the smell of earthy freshness. I danced in the rain where the flowers bloomed and the trees sung my name, finally experiencing freedom.
