As usual, the forest was calm.
Birds chirped happily, flying above the trees of the forest, or simply pecking at seeds lying on the ground, warthogs crossed a muddy trench with the rest of their herd, wolves taught their childs how to chase rabbits out in the nearby fields, hawks preyed onto mice and brough them back to their families high on their lairs in the nearby mountains, squirrels already started making provisions for the coming winter, that was so far to the other animals, and yet so close for them , bears left their caves and roamed around the forest, deers drank from the river.
Nature lived in harmony in this place. The only human settlement was more than a day away from this paradise, and the folks there feared to dwell in the woods and the fields of Ilshal, still believing in the legends of old, that if one would harm the forest, they would suffer the wrath of its guardian.
Once, one of the rich city-folks came in the small town, with sturdy workmen and metal monstruosities. He went out in the sacred lands, against the advice of the locals cutting down trees and chasing the animals, they believed, that this land, was theirs.
This foolish mistake led to their demise. Nobody ever found their bodies for they became part of the forest, their bodies forming the base for new trees, allowing the forest to grow bigger, giving them a second shot at life, while their mechanical creations were crushed by the steadfast defender of Ilshal.
But today, things changed. The animals in the forest grew anxious as the sun went higher and higher, and they still did not hear the usual singing of their protector.
The wolves were the first to search for her, followed by the bears, the hawks, the bees, and even the fearful rabbits, squirrels and mice. Thanks to the tracking senses of the canine hunters, they found her under the ancient and gigantic oak tree to whom she was linked, crying.
They made a circle around her, unsure of what to do. What could possible upset Lillia, the Dryad who knew no sadness nor anger ? The gentle soul who was always so inexplicably happy and positive, was rolled up in a ball, tears streaming down her delicate face as whimpers escaped from her.
Slowly, hesitantly, the oldest and most scarred of the wolves approached her, placing his paw onto her shoulder. After a moment of silence, the ever-young dryad looked up.
She had long, loose, light green hair, falling to below her waist, shrouding her as she laid there it did not hide her face however, the long cascade falling down her back. Her round, gentle auburn eyes were bloodshot from the tears, and her innocent expression was broken by intense pain and sadness.
She was an immortal being, guardian of the lands of Ilshal. And yet, she was still innocent and childlike, the nature around her being her only companion for centuries... until now.
She had met a boy Mat, a young student in geology who intruded her lands, ignoring the warnings of the locals as no more than local folklore.
Lillia had presented herself as a normal girl, wearing shorts and a shirt, passing the green spots onto her body as nothing more than a rare affliction. Discovering the human world through him, they rapidly bonded but she made the mistake to trust him, enough to show him her true form. He fled, his mind unable to process what he saw, his unshakable faith in science leading him to deny her.
Heartbroken, she went with a heavy heart under the oak tree to whom she was linked, the first tree of these lands, planted when the Earth was still young .
And it was there that the animals, her people, found her.
The squirrels were the first ones to understand the fact they could not talk did not mean that they were stupid. Trying to shake their protector out of her trance, they renounced when she still did not move after an entire week of immobility.
That is when the hawks picked up an intruder onto their land... a young human boy, lost and terrified.
The animals assembled the warthogs grunted in preparation, the hawks screeched imperiously, demanding silence, the wolves licked their young ones and ordered them to go home, the deers assembled in a pack, and all of the small animals watched the commotion from their trees and holes.
Slowly, cautiously, the boy walked through the woods, intending on finding Lillia again but it was too late for him.
He raised his head as a sound akin to thunder resoanted in the woods, making him panick until he realized that the sound was moving toward him.
Running like he never ran, the city-folk could not keep up for long he reached a cliff, and, looking back, his eyes widened in terror.
The largest crowd of live animals stood in front of him, grunting, screeching, howling.
He had but a second to scream, as they all charged toward him like a cannon ball.
Sent flying against the sheer might of the charge, he screamed in terror as he fell down, closing his eyes, each beat of his heart feeling like his last, as the horde looked at him from above.
Finally, he was silenced as he hit the cool water his mouth filled with the liquid, choking him as he helplessly kicked his feet and swung his arms, to no avail.
His last supploy of oxygen soon ran dry, his consciousness fading, the saltwater stinging his eyes, his death unescapable. The only regret of the student was that he never got to see her again.
As his vison was reduced to but a small circly in a see of blackness, he felt a stinging pain in his entire body and mind, torturing him, his mouth opening once more in pain.
''You have been forsaken, son of the mud. You betrayed the trust of the last daughter of my sister Earth, and for that, there can be no greater punishment than the pain you're suffering.''
After what felt like hours of pain, a voice resonated in his mind, ice cold and disappointed, simply stating a fact as it prevented him from dying, the pain and the horror of drowning repeating over and over, his body unable to finally give up and let him die. He could but kick his body weakly under the pain, silenced by the surrounding water.
''But'', continued the voice, becoming a little warmer and releasing its grasp on his body, slightly easing his pain, ''there is still some use to you. You will fix what you have broken but you will not do so as a son of the mud. You will be reborn your body shall be reshaped by my will, and your mind vanquished, so that you can start anew... such is the will of the Ocean.''
Unable to process the words of the ladylike voice, he felt a slice in his neck, unbearable suffering flooding his very being, outclassing by far the previous choking sensation. It felt as if his very humanity was pouring out of the cuts but, finally, after a few seconds, he felt a rush of air in himself, the pain all but vanishing. Even more terrified, he placed his hand onto the sides of his neck, and jerked as he felt the slits there moving around – gills.
He had gills.
No way. No way this was happening.
Just as he thought that, several tendrils shot up from the water around him, wrapping around his arms and legs and tightening mercilessly.
He gasped as the possessor of the appendages finally came into view it was the biggest octopus he had ever seen. The thing turned toward him and kicked itself above him lazily, his tentacles holding him in place as its orifice aimed at his face.
Mat didn't have time to understand what was the goal of the creature, as it shot its ink right in his face, forcing him to close his eyes but he was unable to keep some of it from touching them, giving him a burning feeling onto them, his mouth opening once more into a scream, this time resonating oddly in the water. If he had been more conscious, he would of denied the possibility of it happening, but his perception of what was possible and what wasn't was long gone.
The octopus slowly moved around, spreading its ink across the boy's body, whom only realized that the ''ink'' wasn't actually ink when he was fully covered in it.
It felt more like a sticky goo, covering his entire skin. Thinking hard despite the pain, he tried to come up with a logic explanation – when the octopus released him, and the goo upon him dissolved into his skin.
Never in his life could he had imagined such level of suffering. The previous minutes had felt like living hell, but this was beyond pain. It was worse than anything the human mind could ever come up with. Torture was but a dull world compared to his fate.
His skin reacted almost immediatly. Every inch of his being felt like it had been ignited, burning more, more and more he could feel entire chunks of his muscular mass burning away. As he thought his pain could never get worse, his legs forced themselves together, against his will.
As soon as they did, the suffering doubled, the sickening sound of bones cracking echoing in the words along with his screams of pain, which had passed from prayers to God for death to simply animal-like cries.
His spine reshaped, his bones formed something new his flesh was modifying itself, strecthing to become longer and longer, only adding more and more sensations to his overloaded mind.
Mat did'nt know how much time passed like this. For all he knew, it could of been seconds, minutes, hours, days, of perhaps years.
All he knew was that the pain finally disappeared, and he breathed deeply, keeping his eyes shut.
It was only an hour later that he opened them, risking a peek down at his body, his eyes instantly widening.
''No fucking way.''