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The land of the Almas
Chapter 1
The air was cool and the morning dew covered the soft dirt on the ground, for the warrior had fallen asleep on the sacred ground of the spirits of old. He threw dirt on the campfire, respectfully, quenching its flames and dusted off his clothing. He thanked the fire for providing him warmth through the cold winter's night and sat calmly for a moment gazing into the distance.
The warrior, Abidan, then proceeded to walk over to his mare whom he loved dearly. Abal was a beautiful creature, for the mare was an elegant being, the spirit of a human and the power and strength of a gentle mare. The warrior stood there stroking the mare for a brief moment and suddenly a tear fell from her eye, lingering for a moment and then falling onto the soft ground. Abidan looked to Abal and instinctively knew what was troubling her, for the battles yesterday had wounded the magnificent mare. Still weak from the battle, he reached into his knapsack and grabbed a special salve which had healing powers. The salve had been given to Abidan by a gentlemen who was wise, experienced, and also friends with the Queen of the Faries. It took some time to act upon Abal so the warrior walked beside his beauty, Abal, while holding the reigns of the magnificent creature.
Today was much different than any normal day, for the warrior had been in an unusual battle the last few nights. The nothingness had attempted to expose the land of the Almas to the land of confusion. In his craftiness the enemy had deceived the land of the Almas, casting a spell of sleep across the land. However, the inhabitants of the land were partially resistant to this type of magic. As a result they walked about, asleep and dreaming in their mind with their bodies still functioning. This was a terrible sort of effect and it resulted in mass confusion, even the birds of the air looked down upon the inhabitants of the land and wept for their plight. Abidan fought the enemy, and in a moment of fury Abal began glowing with the power of Bara'ah and the nothingness cried aloud with a shout, your powers have bound my spell! I shall come back with a vengeance to destroy you! Then, just as the enemy was in retreat, the warrior pulled a ruby tipped arrow from his quiver of magic arrows and quickly fired it into the nothingness.
Suddenly, the nothingness fell before the whole of the Almas and the eyes of Abidan. Without warning a mass of roots began to protrude from the earth where it had fallen, turning into a giant tree. The arms of this tree were as thick as one hundred men and massive in all their grandeur, and the tree stood proudly before all the people of the land. It was given a name that shall not be uttered, for it has the power to control the magic of the nothingness which is strictly forbidden in this land.
Abidan walked with Abal and as he walked great drops of blood fell from his eyes, for as he considered what hat happened he grew sad. Abal felt his heart and nudged him with her nose. The salve had healed the wounded mare, and the two rode together into the day. Birds were singing beautiful songs, all magnificent in their form. The owl rested on a lower branch of the tree while beautiful flowers dotted the landscape, which was a great plain covered with tall beautiful grass. Abidan gently asked Abal to stop and rest, so the warrior found a shady spot under a tree and gently removed himself from the mare, and as they rested they considered the beauty of the landscape.
Today was a special day, for it was the day that the warrior would be travelling to the Ivory Castle. He was uncertain what awaited him there, however the castle always held wonders that never failed to interest Abidan. The mare sensed what the warrior was thinking about and again nudged him and the warrior gently pulled himself up onto the dark brown leather saddle which was adorned with various gems including emeralds, diamonds, and sapphires. The beautiful gems shined in the sun as the warrior and his mare rode off into the distance, which hummed a song of change and beauty filling the air with wonder.
