The Eternal Blossom

You know, I would say my gathering is going quite well. Apart from the fact that I completely forgot to bring a basket. Which means I had to go back and grab one. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if there’s something wrong with me.

 

Walking around, I found quite a few useful plants if I do say so myself. I found a couple of these red grape-like things that I put in my basket that are called rachlik. They kind of looked like if a red grape has scales on them to say? They're a very sweet fruit that numbs the mouth. It served as both an anesthetic for medicinal purposes and an amazing sweetener for food.

 

Alongside that, I gathered a few Lintle leaves. They had a bitter taste to them, but they have anti-sickness propeties. They were a bit uncommon but they were essential to survival. Why was I gathering so many medicinal plants you may wonder? Well, that’s because in the winter, becoming sick gets extra dangerous. It’s freezing cold and if you’re sick, it's a near-death sentence. See? I do have a brain sometimes! 

 

Anyways, I ventured deeper and deeper. I don't usually venture this far away from the village, but I was feeling extra adventurous today. Some might say it’s dangerous but I say it's an opportunity to find new things. Nothing is going to happen if you repeat the same menial tasks over and over again. And so, I entered the deepest part of the forest.

 

Here, it was seriously a task to move around. I was pushing myself quite a bit actually by walking this far but now this is when things get tough. There were so many plants and bushes around that walking through it all took an exhausting toll on my body. Taking a deep breath, I decided to sit down a bit and rest to catch my breath. My clothes were quite dirty actually. I better get a good haul or else I’m going to get scolded at. Checking my clothing more closely, I noticed a few holes and scratches in it. Probably from my carelessness when traversing through this terrain. I eyed my basket. Those sweet, sweet grapes were drawing my attention. I could just imagine their taste melting in my mouth, but alas, I didn’t give in to my desires. I’m a young responsible woman, I can have self-control. 

 

After a short rest, I set off again. It was very refreshing to hear the fauna in the distance. The birds chirping, the leaves rustling. There’s just something so calming about nature. But nevertheless, I couldn’t be in a daze forever. This basket was actually getting quite heavy, I thought to myself as I hauled it across the terrain. Glancing quickly at the sky, I noticed that it was getting quite late. Around 6 pm if I were to guess. Time really does fly doesn't it? I should head back soon since I skipped lunch and all.

 

However, as soon as that thought crossed my mind, out of the corner of my eye I spotted a peculiar sight. Walking towards that direction, I noticed a bright, almost ethereal, blue light emanating from behind a grove. Pushing the vines draping from the trees aside, I found myself in a small circular clearing. 

 

You might be wondering why I wasn’t being more cautious as I’m heading into the unknown, however, there was just this captivating and alluring, hard to describe feeling drawing me in. It left me in somewhat of a trance as I slowly made my way inside the clearing. Everything was so strange, so surreal. It was as if suddenly in this circle, all the trees just vanished. Nothing but grass grew in this eerie and perfectly circular area. The grass here was more luscious and green than in any other area of the forest. So green in fact, I could swear it was glowing with some sort of light.

 

My eyes eventually wandered over to the center of the clearing in which a single flower stood. Well, I don’t think it would be appropriate to call it a flower, but no matter how hard you look at it, it’s a flower. But the reason I say that is because looking at it, it looks like a snippet of the night sky. It’s as if someone cut a piece of the stars and implanted it into reality. It was so strange in fact, that as I approached it, the light it was glowing started pulsating brighter. It was as if the flower wanted me near it. The petals spread out in such a perfectly uncanny manner, resembling a star. At the center, a golden flower head stood almost as it was enveloped by its petals. The stem twisted up, resembling the shape of a rose. The light that was radiating off of it was a stunning deep blue. It was strange in the way that the light didn’t look or feel like light. It was more of an existence, a physical manifestation of the light. 

 

After what seemed like an eternity of staring at its intoxicating beauty, I approached it. As my hand drew closer to it, the flower seemed to lean towards me. The second my hand made contact with it, a bright light engulfed me. Tendrils of light wrapped around the clearing, burning with a ferocious desire. The flower’s petals wrapped itself around my fingers, then my hand, then my arm. Until I was dragged into the flower itself. This almost psychedelic trip seemed so unreal to the point where when I came to, there was nothing there. No flower, no glow, no clearing. I was definitely in the same place but the trees were there. The grass was normal. 

 

What…. Happened?

I sat around in a daze pondering over the events of the past few minutes. What was that flower? What did I just step into? A sort of bad premonition settled in my stomach. Something wasn’t right. Was it me that was wrong or is it my environment. Is it just me or do I feel lighter…? Though it could totally be a placebo effect. Pushing myself up from the floor, which was surprisingly easy given my weak strength for some reason, I scanned my surroundings once more. Yup, that’s right, the clearing was gone. The flower was gone.

 

I headed over to my basket which I dropped when I got entranced by the flower. Sighing in relief, everything was still there. Thank god I didn’t have to collect everything again. If I were to return empty-handed, I would surely be in quite a bit of a predicament. I should hurry back, the light is getting darker and the sun is setting. Was I really out here that long?

 

As I walked back towards the village, I took a moment to appreciate just how pretty the surroundings were. I mean, it was kind of twilight. The sun streamed through the leaves as the final rays of the day slept underneath the horizon. The nip of the winter air was a nice reality check as it reminded me of where I was after that weird experience. The thought of having to explain what happened to me (especially my clothes) to my parents settled a pit in my stomach. It was going to be a long talk.

 

 

Pushing through the final thickets, I emerged into a familiar sight. The houses erected on the ground, the wells in the middle, the roughly paved road. Maybe it was because of that experience, but I suddenly felt a feeling of belonging. I thought that this is where I lived for the entirety of my life. And that nothing would change it. With bright spirits, I skipped over to my house ready to show the fruits of my labor. Or well, that was the plan until the bell for emergency danger panicky rang throughout the entire village.

 

Umm… what happened?

 

The villagers ran outside their house and stopped what they were doing to assess the situation. I saw my family rush outside with a look of worry on their face. I saw my beloved Terry come out into the open with a bucket. Maybe he was in the middle of doing something? I hope something too bad didn’t happen. I rushed over to Terry, basket in hand.

 

“What’s going on? A raid? Are there bandits?” I said in a calm voice, yet hints of panic and fear could be heard laced within my voice.

 

However, as I drew closer, the villagers blocked my path and drew their weapons. 5 adult men created a line, separating me from everyone else. With utmost confusion, I turned around. Were there bandits behind me? That was possibly the only reason I could fathom why they would do something like this. But even then, comon! Let me in!! Why are you blocking a young lass from entering safety? However, my thoughts were shattered by what I heard next.

 

“Get away demon! What have you done to Lyrah!?”

 

I turned around to face the voice. The owner of the voice was an old man. The chief of the village actually. He wore the fanciest clothes out of all of us, considering he is the top dog of our settlement. Leather coat with fur and all. Oh, how I desperately wanted some nice clothes like that. Meanwhile, I had to be stuck with these ragged hand-me-downs from other families. Our village wasn’t exactly the most well off of them and the leather and cotton were best used elsewhere than for a leech like me. That aside, back to the situation at hand. What did they just call me?

 

A visible look of confusion implanted itself on my face. “Huh?”

 

However, it seems like they didn’t understand what I was trying to get at? Or maybe they were unfazed at my attempt at trickery or something? I did recall them calling me a demon after all. Demons trick humans… I believe. I never really delved much into those stories as a kid, so I couldn’t be sure.

 

A long awkward silence fell upon everyone as I tried to process what just happened. Suddenly, Terry spoke up.

 

“What are you talking about? That’s Lyrah. What do you mean demon? Stop pointing swords at her!” He said, laced with annoyance in his voice, as he tried to shove through the guards to me. I was his best friend as he was mine. There was no way that a demon could conquer his friend.

 

“Stop! Get away! What are you doing you idiot!?” I heard his parents speak up from behind him as the forcibly pulled him away from the guards. I could see him struggling to get towards me with tears in his eyes. Was there seriously something wrong with me? 

 

I checked my body to see if there was something strange. Well, my limbs were still there. I felt my back and my stomach, there were no cuts or anything. However, as my hand rustled through my long hair, something felt off. Picking up a strand of my hair, I examined it. A light blue aura could be seen emanating from my hair. What’s more, when I let it go, it didn’t just drop to the floor. It sort of slowly floated there in a sort of low-gravity state. Looking down at my feet, I noticed a sort of wind around me, blowing a light wind away from me in a circle. The grass and leaves blew away from the wind giving me this almost majestic feel. I understood now. Something did happen. Something happened when I touched that flower.

 

Looking up, I decided that I would head towards my family. We weren’t super close but I knew they still loved me. I was their daughter after all. Surely they of all people would be able to understand. But as soon as I took a couple of steps forwards, I was blocked by a mysterious force. 

 

“Demon, sorcerer, be gone!” A loud voice boomed. The village chief swung his arm in a line with an item of sorts in his hand. A fine white powder could be seen splattered on the ground which formed a perpendicular line blocking me from getting any closer. A spark flashed from one end of the dust which raced throughout the entire segment, creating a barrier that couldn’t be passed. The wall was semi-transparent, almost resembling glass. You could make out white flames inside of it as if it were energy reinforcing the strength of the barricade. As soon as my hand touched it, I felt a sharp burn, as if the energy from the wall was withering away my hand. I recoiled my hand away in pain. I had never seen this up close but I heard about it from others. What was in front of me was a mana barrier.

 

This world was ruled by a very hierarchical system in which those with mana and magic ruled at the top. Magic itself was very rare and in order to keep the system, the nobility made sure to keep all the magic to themselves; even going as far as inbreeding to keep the magical bloodline. Thus, magic itself was often hated upon by the people at the bottom of the tier. Countless times already, those with magical abilities abused their power and reigned their sovereignty on the poor. Everyone had a premonition to people with magic so it made sense for them to be wary of me. Magical items on the other hand were widely accepted among the masses, though one could not acquire them easily. The one used to block my path in fact was a rather weak one. A broken and considered useless artifact by the nobility. That was the only reason it was here. However even with its limited power, it served its purpose.

 

As I mulled over these thoughts, everything finally clicked into place. When I touched the magical flower in the forest, it must’ve imbued me with magical power. That in itself wasn’t the problem though. If I recall correctly, the process created an absurd amount of light. That light wouldn’t get unnoticed by the villagers, especially since it was dark out. Since they knew me, they knew I couldn’t be a person with innate magical power. So that concluded them to think that I was possessed by someone with magical power. Hence, why they called me a demon. That’s why everyone was on guard. That was why everyone recoiled so. I had to clear up this misunderstanding.

 

“No, you’re getting it wrong. I’m not a demon!” I pleaded

 

“I will not be deceived by your lies!”

 

“You’re not understanding. I’m not a demon. I’m Lyrah. I was just going out foraging and I found a peculiar flower, that’s all. See?” I said as I showed them the basket full of the herbs I had gathered. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem fazed. I was seriously getting upset. What the hell could I do to convince these idiots? It didn’t help that as I was getting more visibly irritated, the surrounding wind swirled faster and faster as if it were mocking me.

 

“What can I do to prove my innocence?”

 

“Leave! We don’t want any part of you here!”

 

I was stunned by their persistence. Seriously…is this minor of a change really affecting you that much? I know I’m a kid and all, so I don’t know much about the world but… seriously? I was baffled. I decided it probably wasn’t worth my time here. These people wouldn’t listen to reason. The best thing to do now is to back off and try again at a later date. Maybe if they see that I’m harmless they’ll let me in and I can explain everything clearly.

 

And so, I put my hands up in the air as I slowly backed away back into the forest. I noticed that even after I left, everyone was still on high alert. I took care to stay far away from the village but not so far that I couldn’t keep an eye on it. If I were to simply run off I would die without a doubt. As I left, my eyes crossed with Terry’s. I don’t know what he really thought of the situation, but he was at least somewhat on my side. Please believe me, I silently pleaded.

 

---

 

My first order of business was to build a pseudo-shelter. You may be wondering why I’m not building a fire, and under normal circumstances, that would probably be correct. However, perhaps due to the magical flower and whatever the hell happened to me, but I don’t feel THAT cold. It’s still cold don’t get me wrong but… I feel less colder than I otherwise should have felt. And so, I set off to construct a shelter. Looking around, there were not many sticks just lying on the floor which was a huge problem. Most of the sticks and branches you could easily pick off from the floor were gone and taken by the people of the village to prepare for winter.

 

So, unfortunately, I was going to have to go scouring for thin and young trees to break off their branches. I was in the more dense part of the forest so it wasn’t that hard to find some. The problem was actually breaking it. Grabbing it and simply tugging it didn’t work, so I tried to use my entire body as leverage to break it. And after a great ordeal of effort, I managed to break it off. Armed with a long stick in my hand, about the size of my arm (which actually isn’t that long), I set off to gather a few more. A good 45 minutes or so passed and with 5 of these sticks in my hand, I was ready to start building a shelter. I seriously was pressed for time though as the temperature was dropping rapidly. Even with my presumed resistance to the cold I acquired, it wouldn’t last me this far. And so, with a half an hour, 5 sticks, and some thickets and existing trees, I managed to create a rudimentary shelter. I’m quite proud if I do say so myself.

 

As it was getting late, I didn’t really have the time or energy to make proper bedding or anything. So I decided instead to just rip off a bunch of leaves and kind of scatter them on top of me. It was cold and the floor was hard, but this was all I had. Oddly enough, I felt kind of accustomed to this shack. It was the fruit of my labor, and it felt like the world to me.

 

*rustle rustle*

 

I woke up to some leaves rustling in the background. What time it was, I have no idea. I wasn’t a particularly heavy sleeper either so waking up in the night was a common occurrence for me. This time however, it wasn’t just waking up to the trees from the wind. Someone was there.

 

Slowly brushing off the leaves on top of me and getting up, as to take a defensive position, I prepared myself. I wouldn’t be surprised at this point if some lunatic in the village decided to chase after me to kill me. Focusing, I tried to detect where the sound was coming from. The forest was silent, par some distant howls from various animals. There was the gentle swishing of the leaves, *crack*, a broken twig.

 

I swirled to the left ready to face whatever danger presented itself to me. However, what met my eyes was not danger at all. It was Terry. My eyes widened at the thought of Terry being the one to kill me however I quickly calmed down when I saw what was in his hands. 

 

“Here, I brought you some rudimentary blankets that I managed to sneak away from my parents” He chuckled.

 

As I murmured my thanks, he also pulled out some food.

 

“I had to bring this late at night to not alert anyone. Sorry for not coming faster. You must be hungry”

 

I indeed was very hungry. Due to my carelessness, I had skipped lunch and now with this whole ordeal, I didn’t have dinner as well. I happily and very thankfully accepted the food and ate it.

 

“Why are you the only one who believes me?” I questioned him out of curiosity. I didn’t particularly need an answer or a reason. If he doesn’t want to tell me it then so be it. I’m just grateful for the fact that he believes me, nothing else.

 

“Heh heh, it’s a bit of a childish reason but, I’ve known you for so long. There’s no way you would let something like that happen to you”

Wait wait wait, how do I break it to him that something like this actually did happen to me? I know it wasn’t a mage or something possessing me or anything but that flower was seriously sketchy. If you boil it down, it's practically the same thing.

“Uhhmm, well, you see…” I trailed off

 

His eyes narrowed as if inquiring me to explain further and after a great deal of pain and anguish inside me, I told him what happened.