The Forgotten Land

Chapter One

The war in the East is over! The Kingdom of Dahlara is victorious!

It was a cry that echoed through the streets of the village, flinging itself through open windows and enthralling all who heard it. The words caused many to cheer, to dance, to weep tears of joy at the thought of the violence being temporarily over.

But it didn't bring any joy to Nite. The teenager did her best to escape the sounds of happy proclamations. She hid in street corners, ducked behind piles of garbage, or simply refused to leave her home. Unfortunately, the news always reached her, often multiple times in a single day.

Today was one of those days for her. Although the announcement had first reached the western village over a week ago, it was all the isolated people could talk about.

This time, Nite was lounging on the top of the millen tree at the edge of the village when it came to her.

"Nite! Nite!" came a high-pitched, familiar squeal from far below.

Nite let go of the branch she was holding onto and let herself fall backwards. Her legs, wrapped around another branch, caught her from falling and allowed her to swing freely upside down. Her arms dangled, hands brushing past leaves.

"What do you want, Bellis?" 

The street child twenty feet below her grinned. "Did ja' hear the news, Nite?" The excitement and joyousness in the child's question was palpable.

Nite refused to share her joy, instead opting to roll her eyes. "Yes, I did," she said. It was the innocent children, especially those too young to remember a time when there wasn't fighting, who seemed to be the happiest over the news.

"Aren't ya' glad? We beat those bad guys 'gain! There'll be no more fighting anymore! We're gonna be at peace. Dahlarma has blessed us!"

Nite sighed. She knew it was a foolish thought to think that the kingdom would ever be at peace. Yet, at one point, she had believed it too. But now that she was older, she knew better. When one imperial conquest ended- when thousands more had died fighting in a war that they didn't support- another one would instantly begin, but with a different neighboring kingdom.

Still, she didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings. "I guess I'm happy. War is no fun. Now run along and go tell some more people."

The teen couldn't see Bellis through the thick layer of leaves that separated them, but she didn't hear any more noise from below. She assumed the child had followed her advice and left.

That was the third time in the past few hours that a child had come to her tree to talk. Although it was impossible to see Nite up in the dense foliage, it wasn't hard to guess where she was. It was in that tree that she would spend most of her evenings. She kept telling herself that she needed to find a new tree, but she never seemed to take her own advice. Her love for the millen tree always overpowered her desire for solitude.

Nite let herself dangle freely for a few more moments before she let out a long, dejected sigh. "I need to get back," she said to herself. "It's going to be dark soon." She swung up and grabbed a tree branch.

The climb down was the easiest part of her day. She would scale the thick, twisted trunk of the millen like the wood spiders that infested all the village buildings. It was a climb she had made almost every day for the past ten years, one that had only caused her injury once. It had been when she was eleven, and a tree snake had surprised her.

In the far distance, behind the mountain range to the west, the sun was setting. Like every night, the horizon was on fire. Oranges and reds of every hue danced happily upon the skyline, weaving and tangling together. It was the heaven's nightly celebration, where all the brightest colors in the world came to paint the sky. It was this night sky that always calmed Nite whenever she felt stressed or worried.