Now when the world is shadowed and dark
Now when the sky is empty of stars
Now when the world is wrapped in sleep
In a quiet endless and deep
In the silence of the night
Fire and Water.
Earth and air.
Many have wondered, many have guessed:
How did the dryads come to be?
Some believe they are as old as time itself—that they were born in an explosion of lonely thought that is now referred to as the force.
Some believe they were born in the stars of a world that existed before our own, and their birth brought forth their home planet Artem and the elements themselves.
And still others think the Dryads came from the elements, and so, are their masters.
Many have wondered, many have guessed but, this is the real story:
Artem was a small, lesser known planet in a galaxy far, far away. The inhabitants were, a very long time ago, human and they danced in a supernova of the force that is Artem, mastering their elements—they each were connected to one of the four—almost childish in their ways and life.
The Tiresias'—eyeless prophets—the blind protectors of Artem and users of all elements, were the echoes of the voice of the future—now called the Unifying force.
Far off in the distance
A fire comes to life
A flicker of a flame breaks through the dark
Burning soft and bright
Dancing with the light
Awakening the Heavens and the Earth
It was the Tiresias' that knew Artem was under attack by reavers, and they screamed and wept and sang to the force,
Please, help us. Don't let Artem's children die.
Far across the ocean
A flame is rising high
Breaking through the shadows and the dark
Shining in the night
Rising with the light
Here to wake the Heavens and the Earth
From the depths of the twisting hues and darkness came a silent, fatherly voice telling the Tiresias to raise their voices, to sing to Artem. And so they did. They sang to the sky for freedom, they sang to the water the healing they would need, they prayed to soil for strength, they prayed to the sun to guide them through the darkness, and their hymns echoed through the very foundation of Artem.
Now as the light starts to rise
Now as the day opens wide
Now as the dreams slips away
You wake to the day
You wake to the light
And gently, Artem embraced her people, lacing her wooden fingers together and cocooning her inhabitants in the nest they had asked for.
Here as your dream falls away
Feel as the dark turns to day
Leave the shadows behind
And the dream called in blind
Turn into the light
Together, Artem's children slept, hidden away for ever-deepening years, dreaming of the day they would wake, as new and fresh as infants in the spring sun.
Far off in the distance
A fire comes to life
A flicker of a flame breaks through the dark
Burning soft and bright
Dancing with the light
Awakening the Heavens and the Earth
This sleep would change them, you see. No longer would these people be human, quickly fading flowers in the Universes' eyes, but something new; Dryads.
Far across the ocean
A flame is rising high
Breaking through the shadows and the dark
Shining in the night
Rising with the light
Here to wake the Heavens and the Earth
Do you know the story of the dryads—how they came into being?
Artem was a small, lesser known planet in a galaxy far, far away. The inhabitants were, a very long time ago, human and they danced in a supernova of the force that is Artem, mastering their elements—they each were connected to one of the four—almost childish in their ways and life. And then, they were forced to grow up—but they have never been younger.
Far off in the distance
A fire comes to life
A flicker of a flame breaks through the dark
Burning soft and bright
Dancing with the light
Awakening the Heavens and the Earth
Together, Artem's children slept, hidden away for ever-deepening years, dreaming of the day they would wake, as new and fresh as infants in the spring sun.
Far across the ocean
A flame is rising high
Breaking through the shadows and the dark
Shining in the night
Rising with the light
Here to wake the Heavens and the Earth
Here to wake the Heavens and the Earth
To light
….
I've been planning this story for, no joke, about 4 years. Be grateful the other ideas never went anywhere—they were horrible. Believe me.
I got the name Artem from Artemis because she was attended by nymphs, and that's what Dryads are, sooooooo yeah there you go. Also, technically all Dryads are woman but I'm kind of taking some liberties for this story and writing that out. Sorry.
Tiresias was the name of the blind prophet of Apollo, and he was turned into a woman for 7 seven years, which is really neither here nor there, but hey, it's interesting.