WoS Chapter 1

The dark skies looked no more ominous than the harmless ladybug. Bright points of light were scattered across the dark canvas. A bright circle cast its light upon wispy clouds that surrounded it. Its shine created a nimbus of colors high in the night sky.

The brilliant beams showered gleefully upon a creature that sat at the mouth of a cave. Its fur swayed slightly in the gentle breeze. Its brilliant blue coat shimmered subtly in the light. Its sinuous form rested uncomfortably and its mind bore thoughts that rolled like waves in a storm.

It had a feeling of dread, but for what, it knew not. The majestically crafted ornament on his tail glimmered ever so slightly, but the blue paid no heed it.

A ceree who was chosen by the ancients long ago was mindlessly watching the lake noticing the leaves falling from the nearby trees. He was trying to forget his horrible past that left him without a mother nor a father. He suddenly felt a strange pain from his chest but decided to ignore it. He was too distracted by his own past...

The air shivered and was still as the ground shook and was silenced. Yet the blue heeded these not, for they were to subtle to feel. The softest of aromas drifted from the grassy meadows below.

The blue looked at the moon, a stolid expression on his face. Fear reared in his heart but for what unimaginable cause, no answer came apparent. The blue simply cocked his head at the bright circle and howled solemnly.

The rest of the tribe was asleep, he was the only one who prowled the night awake. He went down into the tribal village and walked around for some time. Something was amiss, the damned feeling did nothing to desert his gut. Tension coiled inside him, at any moment, he was prepared to jump at any danger that might come.

The shadows shifted and his heart was set ablaze. Fear lit his eyes as he looked around. The light of the moon reflected upon the golden ornament that decorated his tail. It was wrought so finely that its curves seemed so natural. Set in it were three jewels of finest quality. They gleamed brightly as fear continued to burn in the blue's heart.

Suddenly, it seemed as though he was in a tiny cavern and that the walls were crushing the very breath from his lungs. His fear of darkness and closed spaces kicked in. The golden ornament transformed into shimmering wings and he soared high above the peaks. He flew back to his home, terror stricken.

---

The sylvan forest stirred with the coming of the gentle breeze. The wind carried with it warmth that was unknown for the season. The lady of the brightscales stirred in her sleep. Her dreams were troubled ones, filled with omens of impending doom.

In her mind's eye she saw flames pouring from the heavens. The dark clouds were torn asunder by bolts of light so intense that the very skies thundered in response. She swiveled, swerved, ducked, dodged, maneuvered, rolled, leapt, ran, dove, flew, corkscrewed, spun and twisted to evade every tainted drop of molten rock.

In the distance she saw a rapidly advancing army of misshapen creatures and hideous beasts. Looking back she saw her own glorious battalion marching on bravely as many were struck down by the falling flames.

Courage welled in her heart and she issued forth stern command. Her voice was filled with contempt for the foes. She shouted taunts and jeers at the opponent. She claimed that even if she left them, they would fall under her.

Her threats were empty when a figure towered behind the coming army. The rest of her battalion marched on, but she shrank back as terror gripped her heart. She fled, fearing the monstrosity that towered over everything in sight. Just as it was about to grab her, the dream ended and she awoke shivering.

It became dark, and the ceree that was staring at the lake was now staring at the beautiful moon. The moon shone, he always liked staring at the beautiful moon when he was younger. He then left the lake for he was a nomad. He had no home. He flew to the Great Library in the Yedruun Forest where the elves reside. He needed to find out some things about Sylfe's history. Yet as he flew, a familiar pain came and struck him in the chest. He knew this pain. It was the terrible heart disease that Seraph was suffering from.The pain reappears everytime he experiences fear. Yet this time the pain was unbearable. He then collapsed in the mountains nearby, not knowing it was the forbidden peaks. As Seraph landed, a reddish glow appeared, as if he was going to kill the unconscious ceree.

[[OOC: A WONDERFUL melodic piece to listen to whilst reading this: Sad Piano Song 4, mouseover to see link.]]

The blue flew with breakneck speed towards his home. Once there, he curled up in the cave, shivering with fear. The wind came and caressed his face, as though it wanted to tell him something.

A sweet scent filled his nostrils and he eagerly inhaled it. His chest rose and fell slowly, he closed his eyes and was at peace. An image came to him, in the distance a beautiful white lay under the shade of an old oak tree. All around were fields of green and in the distance was an immense lake.

The white beckoned to him, her feathery wings flowing in the breeze. It was a Ceree, grand, beautiful and majestic. To have wings, it must have been one graced with the power of the great ancestors.

The blue ran to it, recognizing it as his mother, but as he neared, blood streamed from the white's eyes. Tears of blood fell to the ground, red droplets glistening crimson as they fell. The very ground seemed to sorrow as they fell.

Black chains materialized and shot through the air. They bound limb and wing, soon every inch of skin was covered by chains. The white shot an alarming mental message to the blue.

~Run my son!~

---

If the rest of the continent of Alriiea was calm and at peace. The windswept valley was not. Rocks were being thrown from their places, the pointed ones even shattered upon the ground.

The Agile Talon was in panic. Their mistress, a grand green stood upon a faraway cliff. Her eyes were ablaze with hatred and her face blank as stone. In the distance, the forbidden peaks were beginning to glow a deep red.

She glided down and took the form of an elf. In her hair, three plumes of green. Her knuckles matted with soft green fur. In her hand appeared an exquisite staff made of dark wood. It was twisted and bent so many times, that the eye had difficulty in following one line. But nevertheless, it stood straight. Set upon the top, in a cradle of dense twigs, was a massive emerald.

The emerald was set ablaze and the green slammed it into the valley floor. A green radiance came from it and filled the valley. The earth stopped its rumbling and peace returned.

The entire clan looked at the green with gratitude and went back to their homes to have what little sleep they could muster. The strongest of warriors stood beside the mistress, they desired to fight back the evil that was to come.

The green reverted to her normal self and left the staff that was now stuck into the crack created by slamming it. She sternly told the warriors to return to their homes and get some rest. They needed it more than anything when the time came to defend their families.

With that, the green flew back to her cliffside and kept her silent vigil, watching and never faltering. The time that her tribe had prepared so many eons for had come. A great evil was stirring.

Seraph laid unconscious on the ground as a sinister glow appeared in the forbidden peaks. As this happened, he was in a dream. He was flying, along with his father, he was a child again. They were flying over the Yedruun forest, enjoying the wind that blew on their faces. He then looked at the mountains north, northwest of the yedruun forest. He asked his father what was the name of those mountains. His father answered " The Forbidden Peaks." "Can we go there father?" His father suddenly became strict " No. You shall never go there. It's too dangerous." "Oh. I see. Let's go back now." Seraph awoke with a start. He looked around him and saw that the terrain was mountainous. He remembered going to the Yedruun Forest but ended up in some mountain. He then realized where he was. The Forbidden Peaks. He tried to leave but the pain just left him unconscious.

The blue awoke with a start. He did not realize that he had fallen asleep. The dream remained unerringly vivid in his mind. The final plea of his mother echoed around his thoughts.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a flicker of mist in one corner of the cave. It was so white that it was not natural. He began to fear the worst. He looked around with his heart pounding in the dimly lit cave.

With a shuddering voice he said "S-show yourself..." "As you wish..." replied a musical female voice. Then in front of him materialized the form of a woman.

"I am Genevieve... I was one of the queens of the human kingdoms of long ago... A dark force is stirring, it must be stopped." said the spirit. "Why should I believe you?" asked the blue. "Dear child, the last time this force stirred, it caused the Great Disaster. I am kept as a servant of Destiny, the omnipotent entity that wrote everything that is to come. He has ordered me to come and warn you." replied the spirit. "Come, follow me..." it continued.

With that, the spirit dissolved into the air and reappeared upon a distant hilltop. Malkuthe flew to it and when he came upon it, it did the same but this time on an even further plateau.

Malkuthe flew to it and landed on the plateau. The spirit said "Wait here and look to the forbidden peaks."

---

The gasir plains shook with such intensity that the swift tail were thrown from their sleep. The purple that was their leader looked to the skies, brows furrowed in worry.

She heard a rumbling in the distance. Her ears perked up and her tail twitched. She uttered a cry "Caution!" just in time. The tribe managed to get on its feet and spread out while their mistress leapt into the air. Below her, she watched the lycandu stampede, they ran from the source of the chaos.

The sound of the stampeding herd was accompanied by a cacophony of noises as a massive flock of birds rose from the yedruun forest. Something beckoned to the mistress of the tribe and she saw in the distance a trail of mist. She followed it to a plateau.

Upon the plateau she saw another, she was about to open her maw to speak but her eyes caught their gaze. In the distance she saw the mountan spewing molten rocks from its top. Burning boulders rained down upon all of alriiea that surrounded it.

Seraph awoke with very vague memory of what had happened since he had collapsed. He realized that the pain had disappeared. He then decided to fly to the Yedruun forest where he wanted to learn about Sylfe's history. As he flew, he started to remember the dream he had when he was unconscious. That dream wasn't from his memory. It was a warning from his father. Seraph had another motivation for going to the Great Library. First of all was to know the history of Sylfe. The second was to know what was in the Forbidden Peaks that was so dangerous that his father appear in his dream and warn him not to go there. He reached the library. He walked in and went to the shelf that showed about Sylfe's geography.
He looked at part about the Forbidden Peaks. He read aloud what was in the text. " The Forbidden Peaks is a mountain range where the Dark One was imprisoned in a large crystal by the Gelendrian Bloom during the Golden Era." He then was intrigued at the book. " The Dark One. So that was the presence I felt before I passed out." He then looked for more books about the Dark One and the Gelendrian Bloom.

The blue followed the spirit's gaze into the distance. He witnessed a scene of massive havoc. The forbidden peaks were glowing red and smoke eerily illuminated crimson drifted upon the winds. In the distance, he saw another ceree flying his way.

Its wings were spread wide and it flew with great speed upon his plateau. He thought that it would collide with him, but it opened its wings just in time to slow its descent. The ceree looked at him as though shocked, but was unable to speak as it followed his gaze into the distance.

Seraph searched every book he could find in the library about the Gelendrian Bloom and the Dark One. All he could find was the Gelendrian Bloom was found in Malleithen, it was destroyed long time ago and the Dark One was imprisoned in the forbidden peaks. After finding out all of this, he borrowed a map of Malleithen, left the library and flew as fast as he could. After some time, he decided to sleep for he was tired. He found a place to rest and he slept peacefully.

The cerees in the main quarters looked busier than she had ever seen them before. She certainly did not expect this but, she shrugged, thinking that maybe she was still adjusting since it was a very long time since she came home. Aethra sighed. Did she really consider the main quarters as her home? Maybe for some cerees they did, because majority of them dwell in the main quarters. But for her, who moved from place to place to continue her training? She thought not.

Aethra pushed that thought aside and started looking for familiar faces when she found Malkuthe,the chief of the Highwind tribe. She was shocked and at the same time wondered why he was here. Curiosity got the best of her so she decided to follow him.

"Erithe... It seems we have a visitor" said Malkuthe slowly. His voice both cautious and calm at the same time.
"Hmm...?" the other Ceree cocked her head at Malkuthe. The spectacle unfolding before her shot into the back of her head.
"Indeed. Now, whoever is there, show yourself, please." Malkuthe said, trying to be formal as possible. It was quite obvious however that his knees were shaking. There was just this feeling in his gut that he couldn't shake.

Aethra took a deep breath and steadied herself against the old willow tree. "How did the chieftain knew I was here?", she thought to herself.

Slowly, she revealed herself and hoped for the best that the chieftain would not be angry to her for following him without his consent.

Radu yawned and stretched his body, scratching his soft purple fur with his back foot... he looked to the sky from his spot beneath and old willow tree on his families farm, well it was his farm since his father was gone without a trace and his mother was dead. he sighed and stared into the black night...

"i wonder if anything interesting is happening?" he said looking in the direction of the highwind village. since he was a farmer he lived a little ways away from the village itself, but visited every once in awhile to sell his crops. he preferred his lonely life style due to the fact that some people thought he was cursed due to the strange yellow markings that crossed his fur.

he shook his head and headed back to his hut....

"Ahh, Aethra, I haven't seen you before." said Malkuthe. "No matter, you are sealed with us now."
"Indeed, this cannot be known by the clans, not yet, at least." said Erithe, voice filled with authority over a humble member of the highwind clan.
"You will speak nothing of this to anyone but us." said Malkuthe and the skies rolled with thunder as he wove the magic to his whim. Tendrils of light shot out from Erithe and him and bound the other.
"You will forever be bound to obey our commands if they are to keep this event from the eyes of the Ceree." said Erithe and the tendrils of light pulsed and grew thicker.
"You will be released once we decide." said Malkuthe with finality. The tendrils grew thicker once more and pulsed one last time before evaporating in specks of light.

"As it has been said, so shall it be written. As it has been written, so shall it be. As it has been, so shall it bind as surely as chains." said Erithe, repeating a formula ages old that now was known only to the chieftains. The ground glowed beneath their feet as in a script predating even the earliest creatures of this world, the oath was etched into stone.

Radu was dragging a cart that was strapped to him, since it was harvest time. he when along his farm land picking a large amount of his current crop to take to town and sell

Radu sighed as he finally filled his cart, since it was to heavy to fly with he started the long walk to the highwind village

"Now go, Aethra and sleep peacefully, await the morning that comes after the darkest dawn." said Malkuthe, finishing the age-old ritual of binding. As he watched the other leap off into the distance he told Erithe "The bond wouldn't hold as well as it should. The complete ritual requires all four chieftains."
"I know, Malkuthe, but I can sense Jade's approach. That makes three of us, I doubt Saffyre would come quickly. She may be Swifttail, but from what I know, only her tail is swift." said Erithe, melancholy in her voice.
The ground shook a little as a small eruption broke through the forbidden peaks.
"Pray that we survive through the night." said Malkuthe.

Radu quickly entered the village, where a few of the nicer people who bought from him where waiting. he nevetr liked spending a large amount of time in the village because everyone thought his markings where curse marks...

At that moment, two other forms appeared in the night sky. Jade and Saffyre. Malkuthe felt blood rush to his face when he saw Saffyre. He shouted quite inaudibly "How goes the night with your tribes?"

at the moment Radu was selling his crops, one of the buyers spoke to him "radu... you really should come around more often, i know some people think your cursed, but you could prove them wrong"
Radu sighed "i did once, remember? they ran me out of the village, think i would spread my 'curse'" he sighed, thanked them for their patronage and started heading home. he looked into the night sky and though he saw a few forms in the sky very very far awya... he ignored it and continued to walk

"My clan is far from being affected, the Highwind are so far away from the forbidden peaks to be disturbed." said Malkuthe, the fear that once gripped him was slowly melting away.
"The Agile Talon is in disarray, the entire hold has almost been shaken to shambles." said Erithe.
"The Swift Tail are still on the plains, our shoulder feathers are glowing without cease. I hope the clan is not panicking, we are well versed in that." ranted Saffyre. With every word, Malkuthe felt his face flushing even more.
"The Brightscales are very quiet. They seem to be taking the situation well." said Jade.

Radu yawned as he set the wagon down beside the house and stumbled inside. even though he made such mid night trips often he was still rather exhausted. he yawned and lay down on a straw bed, using his tail to flick some straw on top of him. he smiled and slowly nodded off to sleep

"Oh to hell with ceremony." Malkuthe blurted. "Every single time we meet, we follow a code handed down to us by our forefathers, and their fathers before them. There isn't even a threat of some Divine Wrath, we all know as well as the high priestesses of this world that the creators are long dead."
"You make a convincing point, Malkuthe," said Jade sarcastically. "Blasphemy, you know well as we do, is a crime punishable by death. Although you do speak true. BUT protocol is necessary!"
"Oh don't get started with protocol Jade!" retorted Malkuthe.
"This form of meeting has been done ever since the beginning of the four clans, Malkuthe. It is not wise to suddenly change it." said Erithe.
"But can't you see the crisis looming ahead of us? What kind of chieftain responsible for his or her clan sits around following protocol when the border between life and death is just minutes?" Malkuthe said with a flat voice.
"You know what, Malkuthe is right. Times demand that we forgo custom and act upon what is best." Saffyre stood next to Malkuthe and laughed.
Malkuthe was struck speechless. The other two blubbered incoherently, as they stared wide-eyed at Saffyre.
"First thing's first, chieftains." Malkuthe rolled the word across his tongue with as reprimanding a tone as he could. "We have to hide this from the rest of the Ceree. The mirror of the winds will do."
"But that's never been done on a scale this big--!" said Jade, as always the pessimist of the group.
"It will be done, Jade."

Radu awoke to a violent shaking of the earth, and the sound of eruption. he woke in a panic and looked around, he quickly hurried outside and looked around, and there he saw it "an eruption" he let the words stumble from his lips... he stared at the lava which began to flow down the mountin, luckily it was to far to be seen from the village, or reach his farm. he spread his aura wings and took to the sky to see it up close...

"As once done by our ancestors to ward off those who would seek the Ceree for their destruction, let us weave the mirror of the winds to prevent that same fate." began Jade. This time, protocol was necessary, it was needed for the spell to actually work.
"I, Malkuthe, chieftain of the Highwind, highest among us, call for the others to bind their wills to the cause." Malkuthe said as custom dictated.
"I, Erithe, chieftain of the Agile Talon, do hereby bind myself to the mirror of the winds, that it may hide from us what we wish not to see and that it may guard us from that which might harm us." Erithe replied. A blue light appeared in the middle of the four gathered.
"I, Jade, chieftain of the Bright Scales, second among us, rescind all that binds me to what might endanger this cause, that the mirror of the winds may see us through this time of trial." Jade said as the blue light began sending out tendrils of an ethereal magic that shimmered and danced to an unheard beat.
"Finally, I, Saffyre, mistress of the Swift Tail, lowest of the high, guardian of the plain, call on the spirits of the ancestors to bind us, heart and soul, as one." finished Saffyre, just as the others began humming a wordless song that danced to the beat of the light.
The flecks of light danced and formed a pulsing pillar that stretched into the heavens. At the top of the column, the light exploded and spider webbed across the sky into a lattice of magic. Slowly, the lava trickled back into the volcano and the flames dimmed. Eventually, all that remained was a mountain, standing still in the distance.
"This should do, I think we really did reverse the eruption, though only time will tell. Let us hope the mirror holds taut." whispered Malkuthe staring up into the sky. "Hope and pray is all we can do."