2 Alfheim (1)

Ilise stretched her arms as she looked around the forest. Light dappled leaves swaying gently in a breeze that wasn't there. She thought to herself, "The ents are fairly active today." Today marked her fifteenth year since she was granted life by the heart-trees. Slowly she stepped onto the branches outside of her nest, before jumping into the air and fluttering to the canopy. A trail of fine, shimmering dust being left behind her.

As she breached the canopy, her hair burst out behind her like a flame in the wind, and her wings, that would put a monarch butterfly's to shame blossomed with the sun's light catching her from behind. The great forest was all she could see in all directions, stretching like a great green garden of the gods. Alfheim, a land known for it's beauty and unwelcoming inhabitants. From the realms of men to the south and west to the dwarf-holds to the east and the savage lands to the north, the great forest connected them all from her place in the centre of the world.

But Ilise, cares not for the realms of men, for all she needs is the wind on her face as the sun begins his journey through the sky. Her home tree shudders as it begins to lift its roots from the dirt. A few large, twisted knots seem to focus on Ilise, as a crack in the bark splits apart like a mockery of a smile. Moss hangs from the lowermost of branches forming a crude facsimile of a face.

"Child... come down... so we can... give you your.... gifts." Like the noise a tree makes when falling, her guardian Redland, calls up to Ilise. " You have... so much to... do... today." A cluster of other Ents began to rouse from their torpor as Redland reaches out a gnarled branch for Ilise to land on.

"You didn't need to get me anything, after all the forest gives us everything we need." Shaking her head, Ilise rests her wings as she touches down on her guardian. She is the latest of Redland's many wards as even the other ents don't know how old he is, many claiming that Redland was once their guardian as well.

"Nonsense... every child... of the forest... gets a gift... when they come... of age." And with that Redland began chanting in some long forgotten tongue.

Yun ith delli ril den asp

Yun ith delli tos sel wei

Yun ith delli fue ost swi

Yun delli den ost sel

The other ents began to join in as a small stump by their feet began to glow. As Ilise watched, a small box rose out of the stump. It seemed to be crudely made, but there was something otherworldly about it. It seemed to fluctuate between different places, moving just as her eyes moved off of it. "Go on... open your gift... a magic... older than I... will grant... you a magic... unique to you." And with that, Redland lowered his branch to let his ward open her gift.

As Ilise stood before the strange box her heart began to race. A magic, unique to her? Why hadn't she been told about this before? She stole a quick look at Redland, before realizing that Redland likely had told her, but she hadn't realized he was talking to her. It wasn't easy to understand him even when he tried to speak quickly.

Clearing her head she reached out and touched the box before it could move again. As she made contact, the box began to change its colour, from the dark brown it used to be, to green, then yellow. To orange before landing on a red, matching her hair almost perfectly. She reached out a hand to lift the lid, and turned to look at Redland, who gave a leafy smile, before turning back to the box and cracking the lid open.