Ethereal Maiden

The sun rose in the morning revealing the figure of a young man sleeping peacefully in his bed. A rather nice bed at that, draped in illustrious linens and cotton sheets, something far too expensive for anyone outside of royalty in Zoss to afford. The room was also decorated within those same prerequisites, showing off his family’s coat of arms on several articles of clothing.

The air was cool this morning and the ground was wet with a thin layer of dew. Even the occasional deer could be seen grazing here in the bountiful forests of the midlands, Greywood. This was where the great castle, Estisia Alarisae stood proud. For generations it was fought over, and now is occupied by the forces of the “Golden Chimera.”

“Esseh! It’s time to get up, you know what day it is.” Shouted a somewhat elderly voice from the distance.

As the footsteps got closer the old man said again, “The entire castle is not going to delay the schedule on your part master Esseh, so please do be mindful of our time.” He finished while standing at the end of the hallway before descending back down the staircase, on his way to another wing of the castle.

“Yes, I know Donnis, but I wouldn’t miss today for anything.” Replied a sluggish Esseh, still drowsily getting out of bed.

Below laid an entire bustling community within the Maesona family castle, people who cooked and people who cleaned. People who guarded and even some of the servants themselves had servants because that’s just how the Maesona family was, rich beyond imagination and generous beyond measure. The castle lay between land owned by two kingdoms, however, a predicament one might note as haphazard.

As he walked through the densely decorated halls and up the spiral staircase to the lord of the castle, headservant Donnis could only think about one thing.

“The north has always been safe but things have gotten dangerous lately with the royal crowning being so soon. No doubt there will be all manner of thugs and rabble rousers waiting for practically anything to go wrong. I just hope Lord Maesona knows what he’s doing putting himself and his heir in that kind of situation.” The headservant thought as he arrived at his lord’s personal study.

With a knock at the door Donnis announced, “Lord Maesona, I have awakened your son and he should be ready to leave for town in just a few moments.”

“Thank you Donnis, we shall be leaving shortly so you are dismissed for the evening,” replied the lord of the castle, Crishald Maesona.

“Thank you milord,” Donnis said back before leaving.

Two weeks prior

“Esseh! Esseh, where are you? Exclaimed a young girl running up a hill. “Esseh…” she said once she reached the top, seeing him sitting alone by a lake.

The wind blew rustling the trees causing the girl to clutch her hair. “There he is,” the girl thought, staring at the figure over the hill. “He’s always so.. Weird.”

Nearly stumbling as she went down the hill the girl continued, “Esseh, what are you doing all alone out here?”

The boy stayed silent with his gaze fixed on the lake, lost in his own thoughts.

“Well are you just gonna ignore me or what?” yelled the girl.

He put a hand up then replied, “Can’t you be silent for just a moment Linalae. I come out here for some peace and quiet you know.”

“Yeah well that doesn’t mean you get to just ignore me all day,” the girl said back. “You know how boring it is back at the castle and dad’s gone all day so we can finally go to that special place you’ve been telling me about.”

“What special place?” Esseh replied.

“The special place up on Mount Moonmoor you kept talking about, with the view of the three kingdoms and the pulpin fruit trees. Linalae said, looking concerned that he actually might have forgotten. “You really don’t remember?”

“Of course I remember I was just messing with you, but are you sure you can make the climb or would it be too hard for a princess like you, Lin?” Esseh jested.

Looking flustered she exclaimed “Of course not! You know what, I’m a lot tougher than you think and I’ll bet I could even beat you there if I really tried.”

Bursting out in laughter Esseh said, “You’re too easy to tease, but come on if we want to make it back before sundown we’d better go now.

And so the two friends made their way out of town to begin their journey to this mysterious mountain.

“Your dad’s away on official business again, huh.” Esseh said, already knowing the answer to his question, as the pair strolled down a dirt road.

“Yeah, he’s off on another diplomatic mission in Renilii. He’s been extra worried since the leadership down there keeps changing.” Linalae replied.

“Trust me I know, bandits have been brazenly trespassing on our land for months now.” Esseh sighed, putting his arms behind his head. “If it wasn’t for Estrin and his archers the castle would have definitely been sieged by now.”

“In any case father said they should be able to come to a final agreement now since their last regime change looks to be stabilizing.” Linalae said as a cart and horse passed by.

As they continued walking they passed a farm with a lone scarecrow and several copper colored crows sitting atop.

Linalae clutched her hands feeling uneasy, “Esseh.. Do you know what the presence of coppercrows means in Karstraas?”

“No, why?” Esseh asked. “A bad omen. Especially since Karstraas isn’t their main habitat,” Linalae said.

“Then why are they here?” Esseh questioned, confused.

“I don’t know..” Linalae solemnly replied.

Not long after they found themselves at the edge of a trail with a sign pointing north saying “Mount Moonmoor.” The trail appeared to be steep and was nearly entirely covered in foliage.

“Follow me and try to keep your footing. It’s easy to slip up here,” Esseh said, moving a branch aside with his arm before leading Lin up the trail.

After several hours the pair made their way to the top of the mountain.

“There they are!” Linalae exclaimed, running up to a group of tall fruit trees. “Pulpin trees, Esseh let’s knock some down!”

As Esseh climbed a tree to shake a few pulpin fruits down Linalae continued, “I hear the pulp in pulpin fruit is richer than any other fruit. They also have basically no seeds due to the lifespan of the trees and the lack of need to reproduce for so long.”

Climbing back down Esseh directed the princess to a ledge where they could sit, eat and enjoy the view.

“So, this is that view of the three kingdoms you kept telling me about.” Linalae said, in between taking bites out of her fruit. “They look smaller than I imagined.”

“Well we are on an island after all,” Esseh replied, throwing his half eaten fruit down the mountainside.

There was a pause for a moment as the wind blew before Linalae broke the silence. “What was with you earlier today at the lake? You looked like you had a lot on your mind.”

Looking up at the sky Esseh answered, “I was just thinking about when we first moved here, when the siege happened. So much changed so quickly and yet I feel I still never had the chance to process it all.”

“You were young, there wasn’t much you could do.” Linalae replied.

“I know, I just think if I had listened to father and taken my training more seriously things could have been different,” Esseh sighed.

“Wasn’t that over a decade ago though? Weren’t you like what, seven or something? I mean what could you have done even? I mean two kingdoms going at war like that dont you think-” Linalae replied before Esseh cut her off.

“Two things, one we never had a kingdom, just a few likeminded people that were tired of being pushed around. And two, yes I was only seven but things are different in our family. A Maesona is expected to be able to hold a sword as early as possible and commit his life to protecting the family name.”

“I didn’t mean to offend, I was just saying you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. Most people would be bragging if they’d done half the things you’ve accomplished,” Linalae explained. “I mean if you guys just had a random group of people how did you even take control of Estisia? Three other kingdoms were fighting over it at the time without any being able to lay claim and then your warband practically walked through the gate.”

“Well it wasn’t that easy,” Esseh replied. “We were just in the better position since we had allies all over, from thieves to smugglers you name it. The Golden Chimera got to be what it is today with help like that, like I said people that were tired of being pushed around and wanted real change.”

“Whatever happened to them anyway? The previous three kingdoms that ruled all of Zoss I mean,” Linalae asked.

“The cities of Honseth and Tronsin still exist; they’ve just been fighting over Renilii, unless you’re right about what your father said with the new king. In that case I guess they may finally stand under the same banner,” Esseh explained.

“What about the third kingdom?” Linalae asked.

“Onnin,” Esseh answered. “The most cruel of the three, they fought hard. Had they won control of the midlands and Estisia however, this entire island would be a different place. They fell apart though, my father said their king had ambitions to take over all of Zoss and in seeking an artifact died. Then after that.. Well, we scattered them to the winds when they refused to stop fighting.”

“So that’s what happened, I always wondered where they went because by the time we moved to Karstraas you guys already controlled Estisia and the forest of Greywood.”

There was another pause for a moment before Linalae added, “That reminds me, I wanted you to have this.” She said as she pulled a necklace with a pendant out from under her shirt. “This pendant is said to bind two people that have a strong bond so that they may be near even when far apart. I just, well.. I just wanted you to have it.”

Staring before hesitantly reaching for the pendant Esseh asked, “Why me though? I just mean I wasn’t expecting this.”

Obviously embarrassed Linalae turned her head and said, “I’m going to be queen of Karstraas one day and I might have need of a bodyguard, that’s all.”

Esseh began chuckling at this.

“Hey! What’s so funny? Is that how you treat a girl when she gives you a gift?” Linalae exclaimed, flustered.

Without answering Esseh knelt, putting his hand out for the pendant.

“I humbly accept this gift princess of Karstraas, and promise to keep it safe always.” Esseh stated.

Being shocked for a moment at the formality Esseh was displaying, Linalae stumbled over her words and then said, ”Then I name you protector of the throne and my life is in your hands.”

With this the pair gathered their things since the dark was fast approaching and left down the mountainside on their way home. The sky was a deep orange as the sun began to set on our pair.

Grasping the pendant around his neck Esseh asked, “So what made you guys move to Zoss anyway? Where did you live before Karstraas, I guess I never asked.”

“It’s a long story,” Linalae replied.

“And we have at least a couple hours until we hit the crossroads,” Esseh said back.

“I suppose I can tell you then if you must know. We were forced out by a king going by the name of Mansin, an unknown quantity up until that point. His armies marched in and brought strange magic that nearly killed us all with disease. Karstraas is technically new Karstraas by the way because the original Karstraas is a shell of its former self. Infested with plague and death,” Linalae added.

“I always wondered why royalty would leave their capital, that makes sense. I’m sorry for your loss.” Esseh solemnly stated, not trying to pry any further into a tragic story.

“It’s fine, that was a long time ago. As the soon to be queen of Karstraas I need to look toward the future of the kingdom, not the past.” Linalae replied looking hopeful as they reached the crossroads to Karstraas and Greywood.

“Well, this looks like where we part ways Lin. I’d like to see you home but I have to be back before dark as well or else father will have my head,” Esseh said.

“I understand just be careful, the forest always creeps me out at night.” Linalae said back while shaking her head.

And so the pair split off on their way home, with Esseh having the longer road of the two.

“I wonder if she was serious about me being her personal bodyguard,” Esseh said while staring down at his pendant.

“What an odd trinket, I wonder what this phrase means.” Esseh continued as he walked, staring at the phrase on the pendant “Fide Ligata.”

“Well here’s the entrance to the forest, I better take the shortcut here or I’ll be back late for sure.” Esseh said as the moon began to rise.

He began down an old, overgrown dirt path that went straight through the heart of Greywood. The wind rustled the trees occasionally as he walked down this path lit only by moonlight. For three hours he walked expecting to arrive at Castle Estisia but alas only found more trail.

“This is odd, I don’t remember the road being this long.” Esseh said, confused.

In the distance creaking and cracking could be heard on its way to him, frightening the young man.

“Nobody else is supposed to know about this trail, how in the world?” He said to himself as he drew his sword. “Who’s out there!? This land is ruled by the Golden Chimera, who goes there I say?!”

The creaking got louder as it continued.

Esseh steeled himself at this and prepared for a fight, taking a stance. There was only more creaking however.

“Esseh Maesona.. Son of Crishald Maesona.. Be not afraid for we are the spirits of the forest. The very oak itself speaks to you boy so hearken and listen.” An old voice said seemingly from all sides. “We have come to you and obfuscated your path for a very important reason, things will come to pass that will be out of your control.. But that pendant..”

“The pendant, the pendant” other higher pitched voices whispered along with the original voice.

“That pendant is sacred, keep it with you always.. Keep it with you and you will find great strength, for great peril and sorrow is coming your way young one..” The original voice said.

“What do you mean great peril and sorrow? And how is this odd pendant supposed to give me strength?”

“All in due time young one, for now steel yourself and be ready. We cannot change the future, only you can...” The voice continued as it faded out and tree branches moved to reveal a new path, a real path home.

With this young Esseh ran. He ran as fast as he could out of Greywood and toward Estisia, on his way to tell his father all that had happened.