Lupri, the First's Castle:

    

    Nulara, with her head bowed and with her eyes stuck on the floor, walked into one of the castle's best and many gardens. As soon as the door, along with the soldiers on each side of it, were behind her, she straightened up and released a deep breath. Even though the soldiers didn't stare, not that she was unfamiliar with people staring, and they were just standing there like statues, she somehow was able to sense that a lot of them didn't like her, and she had no idea why that was so.

    

    At that moment Nulara was alone, even Simlith, her personal maid, wasn't with her. Not that she was mad about that, it was true that Simlith had always been there for her and that she would have appreciated it if her personal maid was with her right then, unfortunately, that couldn't be, because Simlith was doing her best trying to win her some time for herself...

    

    She sighed and shook her head lightly. Finding this small opening to sit alone and relax wasn't easy and she didn't want to spend it thinking about things that would only sour her mode.

    

    She threw her eyes around and couldn't help keeping a smile from hanging on her lips. The garden was simply breathtaking, it was full of trees, flowers and other plants that she had never seen in her life. And even some others she was sure that shouldn't be growing nor flowering at that time of the year and in that part of the world. All that while she hasn't even seen all the garden, and how could she, it was huge and would take her hours just to walk through it from one end to the other, without giving the plants in it the appreciation they needed.

    

    So she just walked through the garden slowly, enjoying the beautiful plants, the nice different scents and aromas drifting from them and the roses and flowers all around. Stopping from time to time to read what was written on the signs under the more exotic plants.

    

    As she walked from one plant to the other, she felt the tightness on her muscles leaving her as if a weight just lifted off her shoulders, for the first time in quite a while she felt true peace.

    

    The last few days weren't that easy, and surprisingly that wasn't due to the new king she was basically given to, Malonal, at least not entirely, but it was due to one of her people. Malonal himself never asked for, nor did he ever come to find her, after accepting her, she was shown to her room by a servant and left to herself. She guessed that that might have been because of what he had announced in the meeting. After all, abolishing the First Commandment would for sure lead to some great changes all over the world. So, except for some of the guards holding some distaste and contempt for her, she found that things weren't as bad as she thought they would be; well, if not for Calista.

    

    That woman made her feel as if she hadn't even left Ancilia, as if no matter where she went, she would always be a prisoner to her origins and fate. If not for Simlith being by her side, she would have probably lost her mind, knowing that no matter where she went, she would always be alone, neither having somewhere to call home nor someone to call family.

    

    Just as the unpleasant thoughts started making themselves known again, Nulara suddenly froze when she felt the air around her change. It was like she had just went through a barrier of some kind, as if she had just passed through a thick curtain of air, and into a room with a substantial difference in temperature and humidity. A feeling she wasn't unfamiliar with as the castle in Ancilia wasn't leaking in barriers and wards.

    

    Fear and apprehension filled her heart as she slowly looked around, searching for what was wrong, not sure if she had entered somewhere she shouldn't have.

    

    All that apprehension changed to shock as her eyes fell on something she never thought she would be able to see in her whole life, a Stranded Soul.

    

    A long twisted leafless tree was in front of her, the tree was around 10 to 15 meters long, and seemed to be dead with nothing but some moss covering the lower part of it. The tree gave a sense of ancientness and solitude as if it had stood there for a long long time.

    

    Knowing the story behind the tree in front of her, she knew that that was right, the seemingly dead tree predated even the castle she was in and was probably one of the oldest beings in the world.

    

    As she moved slowly towards the huge tree, she couldn't help but remember all that she knew about Stranded Souls.

    

    Bristlecone, the ajahit's representative, was known as the last ajahit that could move around and communicate, that was the case because during the Great War against the Queen of the Phas, when her armies finally reached the ajahits, and with them knowing that they wouldn't be able to last against the armies of the evil queen and her allies, they chose to make a great sacrifice for the greater good.

    

    The ajahits were known for ages to be people of nature and had a strong affinity with the woods and forest, they were also great healers, possibly the best in Tellor, which was the main reason the Queen of the Phas had her eyes on them, she wanted to take control of this valuable asset.

    

    The ajahits themselves were a fairly reclusive race and rarely left their little corner of the world, they also were fewer in numbers compared to other races. Most of the ajahits lived in a city called Sarahila, that was in itself at the centre of a huge forest known as Mahere, it was located far away from most other races and their major cities. So when tragedy hit them and war came to their doorsteps, they didn't have much hope of winning, and they did the second best thing they could do, hide.

    

    Their leader from that time, Bristlecone, headed a ritual that till then and after thousands of years, few, if any, people know how it was done. All that is known to the masses is that as the armies were moving towards the ajahits, and as they were halfway through Mahere on their march to Sarahila, a weird fog started covering the forest all around them.

    

    Little was known about what happened to them back then. After all none of them was able to leave the forest, they just disappeared into the fog that covered Mahere, never to be seen again.

    

    With every and all contact with the army cut off, the side of the Queen didn't know what to do, they tried sending some scouts inside the fog-covered forest but none of them ever returned. Finally, a few weeks after the armies disappeared and after the Queen and her allies stopped trying to get into the forest, Bristlecone appeared from inside the fog and only said a few sentences that got written into the records of history for ages to come:

    

    "From today onward, Mahere is closed off to her enemies, all allies are welcomed and will be protected," and so the Last Sanctuary as it was called by many later, was made.

    

    Only later on, after some of the people running from the Queen and her allies entered Mahere  and reached Sarahila talked to Bristlecone, that it was known what happened to the ajahits inside the forest, and what the source of the fog was.

    

    The ajahits pooled all their magical power and enveloped the whole of Mahere in a seal of huge magnitude. The seal presumably had many functions, yet few of them were known. The first and easiest to notice was of course the confusion those who entered its boundaries found themselves under. No one was able to find Mahere's centre by force, the most anyone was able to do was find their way out by themselves, after spending a long time wandering inside the seal.

    

    Another function that people noticed about the seal was how those inside would find themselves teleported from one corner of the sealed foggy forest to the other, something astonishing considering how the ajahits had no control over space.

    

    Unfortunately, all these benefits and more, came at a price few would choose to pay. All the ajahits, except Bristlecone, lost their humanoid bodies, turning into huge leafless lifeless trees that were referred to as Grounded, those trees were long, sometimes reaching over hundreds of meters in height. The ajahits inside Mahere weren't scattered all over its huge ground, instead they were gathered inside their old city Sarahila.

    

    If the Grounded were able to interact with the world and speak in one way or another was uncertain, though many individuals said that they were able to communicate with the Grounded ajahits, through the long history from the Great War till then, but unfortunately none of that was ever proven.

    

    Later on during the war, Mahere and Sarahila became the heart of the resistance against the Queen of the phas and her allies, a safe haven where they were able to plan, gather and grow in a safe environment.

    

    On the other hand, even though the ajahits were known to be a secluded race, there were still a few among them that like to travel and roam around. And unfortunately for those, the sacrificial ritual reached them even though they weren't in any way close to Mahere or Sarahila, turning them into trees where they stood, those trees were what was later called Stranded Souls.

    

    Stranded Souls were a bit different from their kin in Sarahila, they were usually way smaller, some say that was due to them being separated from their kin, and that the ritual had them strengthen each other, making them much stronger than the sum of their magic power put together.

    

    But even though Stranded Souls were different from other Grounded ajahits, they still retained most of their abilities, including their ability to hide and only let themselves be found when they wanted to.

    

    Nulara finally broke out of her shock as she remembered that, and lowered her head in a fluster as she bowed:

    

    "Th- thank you for giving me the chance to see you..."

    

    She didn't know what the right courtesy was when meeting a Stranded Soul, or even if there was one, but she thought that showing respect was a must when meeting these ancient beings who were tightly bound to the win of the resistance...

    

    When her thoughts wandered to that, she found her emotions subduing a bit as she lifted her head and looked at the seemingly lifeless tree. she thought about how probably, on the day it became like this, it had no idea about what was going to happen, how it was just someone going about their day when suddenly, they got sacrificed for the 'greater good', without even knowing about it.

    

    Lifting her hand, she moved it slowly and hesitantly towards the cracked bark. Just as her hand was about to touch it, a conflicting expression appeared on her face as she thought about what she was doing, but then she pushed those thoughts aside as her hand touched the bark.

    

    A strong sense of serenity and calm descended on her as soon as her hand fell on the lifeless tree, along with a sense of relaxation as she felt her muscles loosen up. Her mind started easing as she entered a special state with nothing affecting her.

    

    She had no idea for how long she remained in this state, but she finally left it as she took a step back with her heart beating fast as if she had just woken up startled. Calming down, she lifted her head and looked at the tree in front of her and bowed deeply, showing her respect and appreciation for what had just happened.

    

    At that moment, she felt better than she had ever felt before, her body was light and energetic, and her mind was sharp and clear.

    

    "I have to go," she said after straightening up, "I'll try to be back whenever I can, I hope you won't mind that."

    

    She waited with her eyes on the Stranded Soul, but nothing changed. She took that as a good sign because if it had a problem with it, something would have probably happened.

    

    Giving the tree a last small nod, Nulara turned around and headed back on the way she came from, a few steps after, she felt the same sensation she felt before as she stepped through the barrier into the garden outside.

    

    She turned back and looked behind her at where the Stranded Soul was, but as expected, she saw nothing. She didn't let it get to her mind that she could just return from where she came from and enter the Stranded Soul's space again, if it didn't want to, she would never be able to find it.

    

    While still lost in her thoughts, she turned around and walked down the path she came from, feeling that she probably spent more time inside the secluded space than she should have, and that Simlith and Calista were probably searching for her; well Calista probably was, while Simlith was trying her best to waste her time and hold her back.

    

    "Nulara! There you are!" A voice that wasn't that loud but still had an undercurrent of anger and annoyance, sounded from in front of Nulara. The voice made her freeze mid-step before continuing as if nothing was wrong.

    

    What she saw when she lifted her head was possibly the last person Nulara wanted to see. An old stern-faced phas was heading towards her with a frantic Simlith tagging behind.

    

    "Where have you been? my lady," The phas continued in a more controlled tone of voice, "I've been worried sick for you."

    

    Nulara studied the old phas and her expression. She was wearing a black and white headmaid's dress with a stern expression, a straight back and a measured pace.

    

    "I'm alright Calista, I just needed some time for myself," Nulara answered calmly, Calista might have been intimidating, but she was still miles away from Amathira.

    

    "Still, You shouldn't have run on your own like that my lady," Calista continued, "we don't want our representative here to be running around with no control, imagine what her Majesty Amathira would think if she hears about this."

    

    The mention of Amathira made Nulara stiffen up a little but she soon loosened up, she had no delusions about the real reason why Calista, one of the best and oldest maids in Ancilia, was there with her, and under whose orders she was there.

    

    "I'm aware," she answered as she held the old phas's gaze.

    

    "That's great, then I would appreciate it if you don't run off like that again."

    

    "I'll keep it in mind," Nulara said as she started moving again.

    

    As she moved she held down a sigh, Calista was there to keep her in check and make sure that she still kept her acts together and did what was expected of her; to try and get closer to Malonal.

    

    With a bitter taste in her mouth, and an oppressive feeling as if she never left Ancilia, Nulara went on with her day.