The Black Rose

Chapter 1

"So, you've seen it huh?" a voice says behind me. Turning quickly around I find The Gardener. Nobody knows his name, only that this is his garden and you're welcome to visit and look at the flowers, however you can't touch them.

"The Black Rose of Uderhelm, it's the rarest of the rare flowers. Seeing that rose means that you can see the damned and the dead, maybe even control them. However, legend says, whoever sees the Black Rose of Uderhelm has the ability of the one who made it. The Black Wizard Cretion. I warn you girl, Cretion was a cruel man who made the flower to lure people he would kill. Don't get too close to it girl."

For some reason, I listen to him, I take a step back. Something about the rose though, it kept drawing me in. Wanting me to come and pluck it from the dirt.

The Gardener saw this, he grabbed my hand and started leading me towards the entrance of the Gardens.

"Why shouldn't I touch it?" I asked confused "It looked so beautiful the way the moonlight was touching it. I was only going to smell it, that's all." I say.

The Gardener then stares at me mad, like I had just told him that gardening was a waste of time.

"You don't understand girl. If Cretion were to be resurrected from where he slumbers the world would descend into chaos and our beloved land of Blanaria would be destroyed, because Cretion was wronged by the Blanarians long ago." The Gardener said. However, something about his story didn't make sense. The Blanarians wronged the...?

"Wait, what do you mean that the Blanarians wronged the Black Wizard? That wasn't in the story?" I ask the Gardener.

He stopped and turned to me. Now I realize that he was pulling me by the wrist and it hurts now that he isn't pulling me along.

"Child, what is your name?" He suddenly asked me.

"Alisa Traverson." I say weary for his response.

"Alisa, what you were told of the Legend of the Black Wizard is only half the story. The Legend of the Black Wizard and the war on his realm was never told in full. The Other Kings made sure of that." The Gardener said, though that doesn't add up either. The Black Wizard wasn't a king, he was a normal mage.

The Other Kings are the Kings of the Five Realms,

Uderhelm the Realm of the Damned and the Dead. Represented by the Black Rose.

Solerdam the Realm of the Sun and the Souls. Represented by the White Rose.

Fraendelm the Realm of Faeries and Fantasy, Represented by the Red Rose.

Landerhelm the Realm of Waves and the Sea, Represented by the Blue Rose.

and lastly, Blaneria, the Land of Gardens and Beauty, represented by the Purple flowers.

"But Gardener, what do you mean the Other Kings didn't want the full story of the Black Wizard to get out. What happened?" I ask him.

The Gardener looked forlorn. Sighing, he looked down and mumbled something I couldn't hear.

"Excuse me, could you please speak up?" I ask kindly. He looks at me and starts explaining his shocking story.

"Alisa, Child, Listen to me and DO NOT recount my story. My name is Theron, Previous King of Beautiful Blaneria. Cretion, was not a mage of any kingdom other than his own. Cretion was King of Uderhelm, Realm of the dead. Cretion's magic was one that allowed him to control the souls of the dead and sometimes the damned depending on how black the soul of the person was." he said, sadly. " Cretion was a nice man, when I first met him, nice and smart. Too smart. He wanted to stop the war with the Travneons. He came up with this idea to make the Travneons make their own hearts blackened so he could control them into stopping the war. The Other Kings didn't like it."

"The Other Kings didn't find it fair, not to the people and not as a fair use of magic. Therefore the Other Kings went behind Cretions back and tried to kill him, however the Other's were not as good at making it not obvious as me, and Cretion figured it out." He sighed and trembled.

We're definitely getting to the end of this story.

" Cretion killed the Other Kings but not me. I was a coward, I knew my magic wasn't as capable to stop Cretion as the others were, so I hid. Eventually, Cretion weakened himself by overusing his magic fighting Tarean, the King of Faerndelm. Tarean never liked going down without a fight so he fought as hard as he could. I then used a Forbidden magic that only a King of Blainrea can learn, a type of curse that puts ones magic into a flower."

I was shocked.

"You put Cretion's magic into the Black Rose?" I ask stunned.

"Yes, it was all I could do to stop him. He died years later trying to stop the war without the magic. Then, I retired and gave the title to my son. I couldn't live with it what I had done to Cretion.

I've always been told I've been empathetic. Then I opened these Gardens and tend to them everyday."He says smilingly slightly.

"Alisa, Child, Listen to this old man. Never go near that flower. You will be consumed by his power and could be the next ruler of Uderhelm, where you can never come back from."

"I will never go near the flower and touch it. I'm sorry Gar- I mean your highness, I will never visit you flowers again."

"It is fair, and please, call me The Gardener."