The Crystal Kingdom: Part 1

The sending and Treasured Forest

High in the mountain peaks a great castle with many spires’ a Lord of the Crystal Kingdom receives a message from his King the Great One. He is needed. A group of travelers is making its way through the Dark Wilderness to the city of the Great One, and they are in need of a defender and a guide. Setting his castle in order, under the care if his steward, the Lord donned his armor and sets out on his beautiful Appaloosa horse.

Deep in the Dark Wilderness Dark Watchers observe the Lord ride out of his stronghold in the mountains with a lone eagle flying high above. To any ears nearby they would hear the quiet sinister laughing of the Dark Watchers.

The Lords journey would be long and full of many trials. He knew this and was prepared, even with the uncertainty, anxiety, and fear he felt he would make this journey for his King had called.

Coming down from the high mountains would take him most of the day, but that day would be the last semblance of safety he would have. Riding along the Lord looked out over the fast Dark Wilderness. He would be entering the Treasured Forrest first, this was a land of great trees, and lush life, but it was still part of the Dark Wilderness and held its own forms of challenges.

When he finally reached the forest edge a lone stranger stood before him, blocking his path. It was one of the Dark Watchers. A creature of the darkness, they looked and sounded like man but were completely devout to their evil Lord. Some believe that had once been men and women, but after falling to the darkness they had become something different, and far more dangerous. Bringing his horse Faithful to a halt, the Lord slowly started to draw his sword.

With a wicked sneer the Dark Watcher gave him warning to turn back now or be lost to the darkness of the wilderness. The Lord just commanded him to move, giving no heed to the Watchers remark. The Dark Watcher nodded his head and slowly dissipated back into the forest, allowing the Lord to continue on his way.

Entering the Treasured Forest was thrilling but also nerve racking to the Lord. He knew the land to be dangerous, but it was also a new place for him to explore. The forest was full of vibrant colors and life, there were brightly colored birds, and frogs. There were small rodents that climbed trees at quick speeds, and he even caught the sight of large deer. The sun shined through the thick canopy giving the forest floor a deep calming green shade. The lord moved slowly through the forest, one hand on his sword watching for any dark creatures like the Dark watcher, once an awhile he would catch a glimpsed of a Watcher walking parallel to him in the thick forest.

His journey was slow through the Treasured Forest, and as the days crept by the Lords wariness started to wane, and he became more relaxed. The path kept a straight route for most of these days, but suddenly it curved sharply to the left, and from then on it seems to wind around through the forest.

The Lord spent most of his time in travel looking around at the forest, and marveling at the beautiful scenes. He removed his helmet because he grew tired of its weight and it caused him to be hot. He started to wonder why the Treasured Forest was part of the Dark Wilderness, when it was not dark and didn’t seem to carry much for evil, other than the Dark Watchers. As he was thinking on this he was suddenly surprised when the trail had a fork in it. To his right was a small narrow trail that seemed to continue to wind back and forth through the forest, and to his left was a larger trail which seemed to continue more in a easier and straighter route.

The Lord had not expected to come to a fork, and wondered which he was to take, usually his judgment was clear and concise, but things didn’t seem to be this day. Finally after quite some time standing there with his horse Faithful he started down the path to the left, it seemed to the Lord to be a quicker path to where he needed to be, those travelers were in need and he wanted to get there as fast as he could.

The path stayed wide and almost completely straight for days, and the Lord seemed to certain he was on the right path. The Treasured Forest also seemed more inviting, and he found himself spending more and more time going off the path to look at the interesting sights. Then on his third day after the fork while walking along side Faithful, to give his horse a break, a beautiful Eagle swooped down and grabbed at his helmet. The Lord was startled and turned around quickly hand on his sword, following the birds path. The Eagle landed in a nearby tree and screeched at him. Looking up at the large majestic bird, sword inn hand, the Lord suddenly seemed to recognize his companion of old, and the realization of where he was sank in.

With tears streaming down his face, the Lord turned his horse back around, and started back along the path, his companion the Eagle flew ahead of him. He knew that he had lost his way during the journey, instead of listening to his orders that told him the way would be difficult, he had tried to take the easy way, but in doing so he had gotten lost and wasted time. When he finally reached the fork in the road, he noticed the smaller path which continued to wind its way through the forest also had small bricks placed in it with the symbol of the Great One.

Once back on the correct path, the Lord companion the eagle took flight high up into the sky. The Lord could catch glimpses of the eagle once in awhile through breaks in the forests canopy. The path he was on started to slowly descend downwards, and where the Treasured Forest once was full of bright colors and life, it now started to become dark and dank. Where before the forest floor was full of small flowers and he could see far into it, now there were thick vines and dense underbrush that caused him to only see a foot off of the trail. Placing his helmet back on his head, his mind suddenly became clear and he understood the danger of the place he was in.