Chapter One
There once was a forest that was renowned for it vastness and odd goings ons. Because of the vastness of the forest which took up two quarters of the king's land, through the ages King after King had attempted to conquer it. However, they always failed, the worst of these failures was hundreds of years ago when a king of little remembrance (other than he took part in this battle) had rallied his troops and marched on the forest. It is unknown to this day what occurred but not a single foot soldier returned.
It then became the tradition for lone knights and other brave men to venture into the forest with their sword and shields held high to bring back the head of whatever it was that frightened the people and swallowed a whole army. But few of them ever returned, and none of them escaped with their sanity. In fact in the time period I am speaking of there was only one man alive who had claimed to have gone into the forest and he was quite out of his mind with drink, he never had a sober moment and in the end most who met with him discredited his claims.
So, it was at this time that a son was born to the reigning King of the land and he was named Braveheart in hopes that one day he would penetrate the dense depths of the forest and bring courage into the hearts of the people. In the eyes of the King and his people the Prince was the shining star that they had all long hoped for, but the servants saw what others refused to see, the princes inability to finish things he started, the chamber maids he antagonized with cruelty and his overall gruffness of character. The servants altogether gave up hope of ever having the lingering evil destroyed.
The prince grew up with the knowledge of his quest and looked forward to it in a way that quite befuddled the servants; they came to the conclusion that he must have no idea of what the quest would actually be. It was the nineteenth birthday of the prince and the whole population of the land had traveled to the capital to see the prince off on his journey. As he rode away the queen was seen wiping her eyes in vain, for the tears continued to spill for many days, the King was as puffed up as a peacock with pride as he watched his seemingly gallant son disappear over the horizon. The Prince with not a fear in his mind of anything actually being within the forest planned on loping of the head of the first bear he that came within his vicinity and returning home within the week. The Prince of course had no idea of what he was about to encounter, for I shall warn you now, the myths and stories of old were a lot closer to the truth than the prince had even considered.
In the very center of the forest there was a wide clearing inhabited by nothing, there was large lake which connected all rivers and streams in the land, the clearing was completely void of anything other than various plants that are likely to appear in such places and in a nook of sorts dangerously close to the mystical woods there resided a small cottage. No one lived there anymore for whoever had lived there had died long ago, but the cottage itself was wonderfully preserved. If there were beings about to remark upon it is very likely they would have remarked that it must have been the forest itself that preserved it so, for as far away castles of stone were falling away the cottage was stable.
It was on a day in the nicest part of spring that the birds were flying over the clearing talking in their usual bird way, trilling and squawking away, when they noticed far below on the sandy bank of the lake there laid a figure. Though the birds as well as other animals, rather disliked the clearing they swooped down to investigate, the figure in fact was that of a human. She had long black hair that fell to her waist and skin that was not of the kind of other humans, the birds landing all around her awakened her, her eyes snapped open revealing strange blue eyes. The birds being then afraid all ascended into the sky leaving the frightened girl alone on the shore.
The girl though, being a female and having the over all appearance of a human, was very unlike other human girls in many ways. She was of the water and her skin had taken on the translucent shimmer often found on the fish of that otherworldly lake. Her eyes were wide and larger than what had been seen among the humans and her features were foreign and strange. She was however beautiful in an ethereal delicate way. She stood gracefully in the way of those who had swum and swayed in the water their whole lives. And as if she knew exactly what to do made her way to the cottage with purpose. She found it much as she had heard it described, for the cottage in fact had become a haven for those from below who wished to visit the above. She had been sent there by her superiors on an errand of which she had only limited knowledge, all she was told to do was find the cottage and stay there until she was sent for. It was a punishment of sorts for a crime she had no idea of. She settled in the cottages and awaited whatever it was that was to befall her.