The Grassy Ocean

A torrent of wind smoothed over the Grassy Ocean, a vast green clearing beyond the Silver Mountains. The juicy grass mimicked the voice of troubled waters as the wave of air ran over each blade, folding it flat and releasing it again to spring towards the sun. A herd of purple buffalo grazed, the sun shimmering off their silky hides. Peaceful beasts by nature, although one could only appreciate their immense size when compared to the green-skinned figures approaching them. The Grass People made this green land their home. They fearlessly advanced upon the purple crowd of beasts, wading through the grass. Arrows strung in their bowstrings, they are renowned in Fantasia for their hunting prowess. The largest of the purple buffaloes confronted the Grass People. Bobbing it's head and snorting. It stomped the ground with its front hooves preparing to charge.

The Grass People fixed their eyes on the beast seeking the best place to sink their arrowheads. The exact moment before they took action, all composure and courage was shattered. An explosion came from the Silver Mountains. A roar of a thousand war drums shook the earth, then a finishing slash of a terrible croak reinforced the blade of terror that had struck them. Bows and arrows fell to the ground as the green-skins shielded their ears. The purple buffalos shuttered then bolted in all directions with witless minds, their hooves tearing up the grass. In the frenzy of fear, a young purple buffalo was left helplessly injured on the ground.

The Grass People stood firm gathering their broken shards of bravery, picking up their weapons in defiance of their urge to cower. Their attention was caught by a shape in the sky. Their eyes endured the glare of the sun to observe a loathsome snake with bat-like wings advancing from the sky. It tore at the air with it's wings as it swung into a clumsy dive. The Grass-people drew upon their wisdom, deciding not to test this strange beast, and fell to the ground and vanished into the emerald sea, leaving no trace of their existence.

As swift as the wind the ground pulled away and sped past the young purple buffalo's eyes in a blur, blinded by black smoke. He had been snatched from the Grassy Ocean like a mouse in an owl's talons and carried toward the heavens. The purple buffalo had pain in his leg, throbbing with the rhythmic jerks up and down. A growl from the air boomed when he jerked upward, then it gave a loud whisper with the short descent. A tight grip around his chest and the air rushing his face made breathing laborious task. Gripped by an overwhelming burning smell, his head swam and his mind drifted into calm darkness…