Mother Nature's Wrath
Photo by Daniel Jensen on Unsplash
He guided his steps slowly over the white gravel path. Even if he was here of his own free will, he did not long for the meeting that was to come. The dryad, who led him through the chaos of the garden, turned to him for a brief moment to see if he was keeping up with her. A confident smile on his side made her immediately avert her gaze. He could still see her cheek turning slightly yellow. Dryads were lovely creatures, but it wouldn't help if he would charm her.
They turned right at a crossing and soon the plants around them began to change. Where lush green trees and flowers had just stood in full splendor, the colors changed to radiant red and orange. Trees and bushes lined the way, whereby leaves fell from the trees again and again without these ever becoming bare. Only a few meters further the forest opened up and gave a view of a shimmering turquoise lake in the middle of the red sea. White gravel lined the banks and white stones rose from the water. In the midst of it all, stood Alyria. Her hair as flawlessly white as that of the stones and her skin covered with a white-bluish sheen. Her head was adorned with a crown of ice crystals that did not follow any order. Even her ice blue dress seemed to be made of ice crystals that glittered in the bright light of the sun.
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He took a deep breath before stepping past the dryad and bowing his head.
"I greet you, honorable Alyria. Thank you for welcoming me."
Alyria turned her face slowly to him. Her purple eyes were the only thing about her appearance that wasn't subject to the seasons. And they looked at him just as distantly as they had been for centuries.
"Thanks Zeyla, you can go."
The dryad bowed before disappearing between the trees within the blink of an eye. He felt angry that she hadn't even greeted him so far, but he knew that this was not the time to address such a thing. So he watched in silence as Alyria slowly approached him. Where her feet touched the water it froze to pave a way for her. But just as quickly the ice melted again when her feet rose from the spot. As she stepped onto the bank, he could feel a cold breeze following her.
"What do you want Kamos?"
Again he stifled his pride and took a deep breath.
"I want to be honest. I want to ask for your help."
"If it wasn't so absurd, I would laugh."
The corners of her mouth didn't even twitch in derision. Alyria turned and walked over to a rock formation at the edge of the lake. The formation formed a table and seating. Furs had been placed over the places and made for a pleasant place to rest. A large stone throne with beautiful carvings formed the centerpiece of the seating area. There Alyria sat down, reaching for her goblet. Kamos knew that the throne had been a gift from her son. Probably one of his many attempts to regain his mother's favor. Although she had not asked him, he followed her and sat down in one of the seats.
"Please listen to me."
"I haven't sent you out of my garden yet."
Kamos adjusted his leather jacket to cover up his annoyance. Then he leaned back.
"One of my orders was completely wiped out by a dark force. All magicians, every grandmaster, every apprentice. Their torments were so unbearable that I could feel them. When I got there to find out what had happened, I came across an army of the undead . And a lich. "
He saw hatred flash in Alyria's eyes. Yes, she hated him, but it was nothing compared to her hatred of everything unnatural. She was the creator of life, everything that was born grew and died thanks to her existence. Even if the living beings who populated this world were a creation of all gods, in the end she breathed life into them. She stood for the course of nature and nothing contradicted it as much as the undead who did not remain in the realm of the dead.
"You alone are responsible for it."
Her angry voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Are you going to start again."
"I forbid you to speak to me like that."
Her fist fell on the arm of her throne. The impact echoed across the clearing like a clap of thunder. Kamos pressed his lips together, his hand clenched in a fist. They stared at each other across the table, neither willing to break eye contact first.
"The lichs existed long before I taught mortals magic. They compromised the balance, when will you finally see this?"
"You are no more than a child, I hear that as soon as you open your mouth. You stubbornly insist on being in the right and you don't see the damage your actions have brought. Above all, people can't handle this responsibility and let themselves be tempted out of pure lust for power to destroy the veil to the realm of the dead. Your magicians are dead because one of them was so stupid to call the Lich."
"You judge them without knowing what really happened. You don't care what happened, you only care about your own opinion."
Kamos could feel the temperature suddenly dropping around him. Ice began to grasp him from all sides. He quickly began to cast a protective spell, but Alyria's magic was old. Too old to be beaten with such little tricks. He had come here with the intention of not letting this argument get out of hand again. A resolution that was doomed to fail.
"You'd better make good arguments, otherwise you'll have enough time here to think about your wrongdoing."