1 Beginning Years - 1

The first memory I ever had was of my father saying goodbye then flying away to a far away place. Thus my first emotion I can remember was anger. Anger that someone as great as him would leave us, little did I know then, that man apart of the good side of this world. All I can remember of that time was thinking how my mother was simply a

victim because of her beauty. Yet she would always hit me with the same line whenever I asker her if she hated dad "He's really a great man, I hope you one day see that for yourself." My little 3 year old brain couldn't even think of a response to the true compassion I always saw in her when she said this.

In my early years my mother and I would always play in our tree of a home, we lived in the Dark forest of Lythania. A place known for its trees large enough to house entire

villages. Yet I only saw that tree as a kind of trap, knowing there must be even greater things out in the world. When I was 4 I finally convinced my mother to go outside

and show me the world, bit by bit. She was always cautious of every little sound, her poointed ears twitching at even the slightest rustle of leaves. I didn't understand this so I just carried on my way in my own little comfortably beatiful world. Looking at everything and seeing the great sights, and even finding out what I look like.

"Aethrea dear, would you like to see what you cute little face looks like?" she said excitedly.

My heart began pounding at the sounds of those generous words, "Yes Mama!" We went to a pond and I found myself looking at someone who didn't even resemble my dryad mother

one bit, my hair was green but apart from that I had soft hair, pale skin, purple eyes, and a face that showed a promiseful future. Unlike my mother who had green eyes, green skin, and hair that almost looked like majestic leaves were placed in a perfect fashion, as if she was created by god himself. Confused as I was, I decided to ask my mom "How come you and I look so different?" worry laced in my voice.

"We can talk about that once we get back inside, yeah?" my mother said, obviously cautious about the sound of footsteps approaching. Immediately understanding the situation I

put my hand in my mothers and ran as fast as my little legs could take me. Thankfully because both of us were dryads we were able to be quite silent as we ran through the

forest. Wondering why we were running away from footsteps that sounded so gentle. Especially because even though we only went a few hundred feet away from our home tree, we had to bob and weeve through the enormous trees that I once called small. At last we reached the tree my mother and I called home. "Good job picking up on the elves that were approaching us Aethrea." My mother said petting my head calmly.

Impatient as I was back then, I asked the question that'd been on my mind since running through the forest, "So how come I look so different from you?"

"Ah, I forgot about that. Do you remember your father at all?" I simply lied and shook my head violently, "Well your father is a diving being, a god of sorts. That being the

case we were able to have you even though we were different races. Still following?" Nodding my head slowly she began speaking a little slower, "Well because of that you're

a dryad like me and partly divine, making you very special. You have to make sure to never tell anyone that or who knows what they'll do to you, understand?"

That made me rethink my analysis of my dad, changing his status from sleezebag to a decent person that I might just be able to be proud of. Though I didn't know at the time,

my having divine blood allowed me to actually progress through life a little faster and make me a bit more intelligent. If this wasn't the case we might've died back

there at the hands of the unknown elves. Back then I was still pondering something "If he's such a great person why would he leave us then?"

My mother took a while before responding "Well, he had to fight some bad people that were trying to kill people like us, people that he cares about deeply."

Accepting the answer she gave me was easy enough, so I decided to leave it be and try to get some shut eye after the eventful day, not knowing that not asking more questions,

would leave me with only regrets later in life. For the next year it was a fairly peaceful life, just enjoying life with my caring mother and growing up in this world that even the evil gods don't want to rule over. Every once in a while we would go outside and I'd get to fill my senses with more of the euphoria the outside world held. My mother would often try to teach me control over my abilites, allowing me to travel through nature as a celestial being, even hunting skills that I could never thank her enough for.

I was even able to excercise some of the powers that came with having divine blood flowing through me. Allowing me to jump higher than 15 feet and even punch with the force of an argent, giants known for their physical strength and combat skills. They are also counted among the strongest warring races. By the time I was 5, I could live on my own if I wanted to, though I wished I could live the rest of my life in peace with my loving mother.