1 I

My feet dangled from the ledge as I scribbled through my book; roughly sketching out the flowers which I hung near the window sill for reference. These bluebells had stood tall and still had morning dew on them. I slightly scrunched up my face; completely lost into what I was doing until I heard a faint voice calling, "Seraphina? Seraphina? Where are you?"

I immediately paused whatever I was currently doing and scrambled to my feet to put on some boots. I popped my head into a shop that had a sign which said 'Cecil's Charms and Crafts .' A bell rang whenever I stepped into the shop. Our family inherited this very shop. Originally, when my ancestors had been in charge of the shop, it was to sell flowers and herbs; which were used in medicine. However, it became less popular later in the generations and that's why the shop became 'Cecil's Charms and Crafts.' Our shop now is somewhat like a cafe and not only sold coffee but included, adding special ingredients to drinks and food to make it seem more magical. That's what my older sister, Tris short for Trinity insisted anyways.

"Mother?" I said.

"Seraphina, my dearest daughter, have you finally decided to leave your bedroom? It's rare to see you visit me at the shop. You're always at the back in your bedroom and drawing in that book of yours."

"Mother, those bluebells I picked up during dawn were too pretty to not be drawn. I couldn't possibly value its beauty more than by drawing it. By the way, did you call me for something?"

"No? Silly daughter, if you learnt to appreciate nature and help me out in the shop more, then maybe you wouldn't hear such things."

'I was pretty sure I heard someone,' I mumbled; shoving my boots into the carpet.

"You can start by helping by fetching some herbs and plants, Seraphina."

"Sure. What are we running out of?" I questioned; while I watched Mother, with such ease, using a detailed-leaf quill pen and jotted things down on some paper.

"Here. I have written the specific ratios of herbs and plants that are only obtained from the forest. Make sure you watc-"

"Make sure you and your sister watch out for each other and don't go too far out. Only get the right amount of each herb and plant as they are side effects if mixed up with. Yes I know, Mother and yes, I will be careful. After what happened to our customer, Mr Aliex, I'll be extra extra careful." Mother's facial expression was quickly changed from worried to humorous as she mustered up a smile, "Alright, if you say so."

My mother and sister looked like twins and were beyond beautiful; almost ethereal. Of course, Mother looked older in age but time seemed to slow down for her. Her rose-gold hair that was neatly wrapped in a bun had tiny streaks of grey hair, seeming to create a gradient effect. She wore plain clothes, we all did. We couldn't afford such colourful clothing and we were appreciative of that. On the other hand, I looked nowhere like them; despite being blood related. My jet black hair contrasted theirs. It shocked customers whenever they asked about my family. They assumed we were unrelated, which was understandable and didn't bother me at all in the slightest.

"Hey, Sera. You in there?" Trinity's voice snapped me back into reality. "Gosh, you really have a mind of its own."

"Sorry," I said before calling out; reassuring Mother. "We'll be back before you know it."

We ventured through the pathway engaging in everyday talk until she out of nowhere, asks, "Don't you get sick of doing this every day?"

"Doing what every day?"

"You know, collecting herbs and plants. Helping out in the shop. Aren't you bored?"

I took a deep breath and sighed, "What's really on your mind, Tris?"

"I keep thinking what it must be like outside of this place? Like outside of this forest. Aren't you curious too? I know, I can't be the only one in the village."

I knew what Tris was getting at. Of course, there were times where I wished I could explore the world outside. Though, the thought of possibly leaving the home I grew up in for 16 years made me ashamed almost. Leaving Mother behind and the shop, I couldn't possibly. There was no point encouraging Tris about it, as she is known to be impulsive and acts before she thinks.

"Hey, so is this really primrose Mother wanted us to get?" I butted in; tilting my head to look at the primrose I had just picked up.

"It should be that, I'm pretty sure. Mother had a few stacks of those in the back of the shop. I remember it as a white flower. So anyway, back to what I was saying…" Tris replied, deliberately ignoring my attempts to stop her from chattering away.

"I think we're done here, I've already collected all the herbs and plants Mother gave me on the list.

Before she could even reply, I pulled her arm to walk with me.

We walked for a short while my sister kept on chattering. I looked around; fully taking in my surroundings. The scent of dampness and leaves smelt like home; with an earthy smell to it. I couldn't remember a time when I didn't recognise this familiar smell; almost nostalgic. In my peripheral vision, I saw something rustle near the bushes. "...Tris, did you notice that?"

"Notice what? You're probably imagining it."

I assured myself saying it was probably a small animal , however, my stomach had a strange sinking feeling. With my heart thumping against my chest and multiple possible situations running through my mind, I pulled out the handle of the small dagger that I had used to cut herbs. I gripped ontoipped onto the dagger even harder where I could feel the blood leaving my fingertips; turning white. Ignoring my sister whispering at me "What are you doing?"

Was I dreaming? A deer that stood with high dignity, openly suggested it was some sort of royalty. It glittered in the sun appearing from the forest and it had walked onto the path in front of me. Its wooden antlers had coils of nature on it.

I couldn't run away. I was almost compelled to bow down. I had never seen such a breathtaking sight in my life. Its blue eyes before it gave me a small bow before moving away. I was dazed and perplexed.

I turned to see my sister's reaction. The same sinking feeling had increased. Tris had fallen in some sort of spell. Once the deer began walking, she soon followed. I tried my best to get my sister to snap out of it but she ignored my presence. The deer kept walking until I heard the rush of a waterfall and there stood before me was a grand tree surrounded by a body of water.

As I always had a connection to nature, I had the urge to reach out for the grand tree and as I got closer, I couldn't believe it. As I suspected, it was the rumoured Grand Tree of Eldion, the oldest tree and possibly the few trees that were planted with magic.

I ran my fingertips along the trunk and reached the front of the tree. There was something written across the trunk and unfamiliar words rolled off my tongue. The once strange markings on the tree began to glow. Without warning, something bright flashed in front of me; taking away Tris and I.