Beings of Aqina

Chapter 3: The Journey

  [Author's note: I apologize for this chapter. It still is on its first draft]

Tanja had been born an orphaned child in her world. She lived in the south of Germany in Munich. The woods over there were of the riverside. The landscape was beautiful, and so was the Fen Woodlands. Willow, alder, ash, oak, and aspen. The habitats were on the border between grassland and woodland. The view was charming, rustic, and peaceful.

She always felt like the forest was hers for the taking, a regal orphan destined to rule nature in its great biosphere. Her nurses gave her a second name, Adelina. Because of her wits to rule among other orphans, her grand entrance upon entering her class, and her sneaky tendency to lead others to some rebellious activities that were going on in the orphanage. Tanja Adelina is a noble in her own right. A queen of chaos that leads a bunch of children who lost their parental love.

Two days in the forest of Campestres, and she was already enchanted by the great woodlands that tower over those from her world. A goliath in comparison. The ecology was filled with lush greeneries, some of which were recognizable, and some were magical. The strength of giant roots uprooting out, displaying their muscly veins from those mesmerizing hardwoods.

The biodiversity of bioluminescent species was enchanting, to say the least. When night falls, that is where those glowing critters move about. An exotic collection of flora and fauna forms a vast neural enchanted network, almost alive. Tanja could feel the sense of neural connections between the species around her. Subtle humming and vibrations enthralled her senses of touch. She herself was part of it.

The journey ahead was far and great. Rath enlightened her about the creatures all around the woodlands. The Mountain Lizardions, hypnotic Sciurs, Thistle crawlers, and the Green Faralds. Tanja preferred the Faralds. They were calm and gentle beings, floating and illuminating darker corners of the woods. More like a beacon of hope, guiding the lost souls to the light of the god's world. Just like Tanja guiding the orphaned kids to a day's worth of adventure.

Over the clearings, on the path towards the kingdom of Rosalis, stood a small village. Rath made camp for the three of them. Dante tagged along in the adventure and accidentally yapped on a Green Farald during their travels.

There were lessons of the elements presented by the Umbra, he was keen to train the young girl before reaching the steps of the mountains. He knew some trouble would follow suit, and it was best they prepare for it – less likely to die that way.

"What happened? What did I do wrong?" said Tanja.

Rath thought about how best to explain and replied, "From the start, you did well. You first sought the elements and then called them to you. But then you absorbed too much, and too quickly. Think of the elements as worker bees. You could summon ten of them and coordinate them perfectly. But command a hundred, and you will eventually fall short, causing a wave of bees to hurt you instead. It's the same with the elements. You have to learn to provide clearer commands to a few elements before you earned the right to call more of them."

"But they almost killed me. I couldn't breathe!"

Rath shook his head and continued his explanation, "The elements don't kill a caster in its raw form. Only if you allow your emotions and soul to drift away onto the spirit plane, then will you suffer the side effects of hypo-elemental castings."

She thought about it for a second and nodded. She hadn't called the elements all to her, after all -- they came to her by themselves. She had no idea about the flow, and the saturation of built-up elements was all too much for her. Rath continued, "Concentrate on one element. When others come along, send them away. If you control one in order, add another."