The Once and Future Princess

Chapter One

Sha'ara awoke from the dream in the early morning. The sky above, somewhat blocked by various foliage, sported ribbons of white-gold-blue as the sun ascended. Her hand rose to swipe her brow while she looked at her surroundings.

It had been a week since the Dragon Claw Caves and they were presently in the country of Bri'issa, about halfway through the Druid Rock Gardens. The gnomes there were kind to Sha'ara and her friends; in fact they had constructed a house especially for the group. The forest was good cover, as it was thick and hardly visited by humans anymore.

Although she loved it here in the forest and the scenery did her soul good, Sha'ara was still very much beset by sadness and a longing for her beloved father. She soldiered on though, if not for herself, then for the group of people she had come to think of as her family. Even the gnomes seemed to sense her sadness.

The Gardens lay beautiful and alive with green. The trees were all strong; huge trunks and full canopies. The houses that the gnomes built lived high up in the branches of the aforementioned trees, and were connected by ropes and pulleys and several platforms. It was awe-inspiring. The ground had been adorned by bushes, and gardens of various flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables littered the grounds.

The gnomes mostly left the group to their own devices, but meals were shared and took place in one home or another in a roundabout fashion. While there, Shay and the others were kindly asked to share chores; tending gardens or repairing parts of the tree house system that had been failing.

No news of the Alliance had come their way. Ma'agda hadn't had any visions regarding them, so everyone had become somewhat carefree. But now, the time to leave the safety of the forest behind had come.

"Jonah," she said while nudging her brother, "wake up."

A green eye opened and stared at her in annoyance. "What do you want? Can't you see I'm sleeping?"

"We need to finish packing."

It had been the night before that they all had decided the crew would leave for the next arm of the journey in the morning.

"So wake up." She added, with a smile. It didn't escape Jonah that it never reached her eyes.

Jonah sat up, rubbed his eyes and resigned himself to organizing the last of his belongings. He turned to Sha'ara and nodded his head. Both became busy with packing and getting ready for the farewell meal with the gnomes.

After, Sha'ara and Jonah went around picking supplies of food, herbs and the like for the next few days. Shay and Bri'nna were doing the same as they all met in the herb garden far below the shelter of the trees.

"Good morning my dears," Bri'nna said in greeting while kissing Sha'ara, and Jonah, respectively, on the cheek. "Did you sleep well?"

Jonah just nodded, as he was somewhat bleary-eyed.

Sha'ara returned the kiss and smiled. "I did, but I also had a dream-vision of Serephia and Moy'rain." And there she began telling her mother, Shay and Jonah about it while the four continued to gather food. Soon after she had finished the tale, Ma'agda, Armaelie, and Ta'asha came upon, and joined them.

They hadn't come across the others in their group until the morning meal, when they all gathered at the house belonging to the chief gnome; Rocknar. There, Raphe, Cryss, and Jazael were reunited with the previously mentioned group.

After the meal and goodbyes to the gnomes, the group of ten started south, toward the coast. They had reasoned that it would be best to stay under the protection of the forest as long as possible before veering southeast.