The Mistycs
Episode One: The Union of the Three
On a distant and hilly horizon somewhere in a far away world, a steady and pulsing grey mist pervades everything in sight and buffets its infinite multitude of shapes around the trees on a green and barren landscape. The only noises to be heard are those of Mother Nature who acts as a kind of herald to the faint outline of a male figure that can now be seen emerging from the heart of the mist. His dark brown head of thick hair bowed down in weary fashion, he wears a brown leather tunic with a yellow rope for a belt around his well proportioned waistline. He drags his black leather moccasins along the rough track in sheer exhaustion from his travels around the wilderness plains.
This was a man who looked like he had been left scarred by the unforgiving and tortuous hands of time, but for whom time was his only friend, all that he had left in the world bar his rudimentary belongings and a sturdy oak walking staff that helped him through his solitary journey. His was a life that often felt like an eternal, aching hour that forever moved on heedless of any minutes or seconds. A life that had become an eternal quest for his long lost true love, the fair lady Belle Adorus who he had not seen for what felt like many years. Her memory was both hazy and overbearing to him, a constant plague on his very fertile mind. He would often reminisce on how her tenderness and grace dictated her every precious move as her long, silken black hair cascaded out behind her when he used to chase her in wanton abandon through the meadows back home. These delightful reveries were always there to push him on in his arduous quest, but were often shattered by the hopeless situation of his present life without her. His soul was in pieces, scattered around his body by the loss of his one and only true love.
The strange mist was always there though in this strange world and he could still see it now swirling round his sturdy ankles as he trudged forward into a dark and leafy copse. He could hear the quaint sound of a running stream somewhere in the distance and come rain or shine the swirling and quite haunting mist remained like a strange and over eager friend. He thought that sometimes it looked as if it really was alive like any other sentient being.
He rested his small pack on the floor and started to sit down on a large and moss-covered rock when another human voice exclaimed,
"Ho there dreamer! Where are you off to in such a barren and beautiful place as this? "
The traveller spun his head around searching for the source of the voice, quite amazed to hear it out here in such a desolate place. He squinted as he peered into the thicker trees up ahead and through the filtered afternoon sunlight he caught sight of a ragged figure crouched under an old oak tree, spinning what looked like a rough hewn wooden stick in his left hand.
"Hullo?? Was that you who called out just then?" he asked of the figure.
"Errr, well no, I was calling out to the bluebells over there on the riverbank to see if they'd caught any fish! What do you think? " the stranger laughed.
"Err, ok then, no need for that attitude, I was just checking as I've been walking alone for the past few days and haven't seen or heard another soul. You took me by surprise that's all. "
The stranger ceased his laughter and replied,
"Well, to be fair, dreamer boy, your mind didn't seem very focused, that's why I called you to wake you up before you carried on and fell in the river, " and then the older man crackled another laugh that was riddled with sarcasm and joy in equal measure.
The young traveller could now see that he was addressing a man who had the appearance of a beggar-like wizard. He had shoulder length grey hair and a sun-withered and deeply tanned complexion that suggested an outdoor existence. The man's clothing was heavily patched, grey and worn but his grey/green eyes looked at the younger man with a strange and almost magical kind of deep wisdom.
"Don't worry feller, I'm tired, lost and forlorn, but I won't fall in any river. What is the state of my mind to you anyway old man? "
"Hey! Less of the old man ya cheeky young upstart! I possess years of druid wisdom and experience from my life on the road. Why are or what have you lost I wonder? "
He looked away from the traveller and screwed his narrow face up as he scrutinised the tip of his wand and asked,
"You lost your map? "
"No. "
"Your money? "
"No. Wrong again. "
Now the older man's eyes turned harder and after a few moments he looked up at the young man and whispered to him,
"Your girl. It's your girl isn't it? That's why you look drained and lost. "
This was met with silence and a sad frown returned to the younger man's face. The older man saw this and got up and went to sit on the rock next to him.
"Heh, don't worry friend, you'll find her one day. I'm Wiseman, an old and wise druid and I've travelled and seen much. What's your name then? "
"Thanks for that friend. My name is Dreamer and I am searching for my only true love Belle Adorus. You ever seen or heard of her? "
"Afraid not sorry. I only seek peace and harmony in nature not women, too complex, but I can help you look for her if you want me to? "
"Thank you Wiseman, I'd appreciate that, " replied Dreamer and extended a hand of friendship for him to shake which he gladly accepted.
"No problem. Where are we headed on our search then? "
"No idea. I dream too much of Belle and cannot focus enough. Time is an eternal torment for me without her. "
"Hey, I can see why you call yourself Dreamer! But I can help you to focus more and find her I hope. A happy ending always needs a solid beginning. "
"Indeed Wiseman, whatever that's supposed to mean! "
Dreamer smiled at last and the two new companions began to laugh and chat together as if they were friends of old. Dreamer removed his water flask and two hunks of stale bread from his pack and offered some to Wiseman and they continued to share in this wine of humanity until they were distracted by the quite amazing fact that their surroundings had now changed. The hills and the copse had gone to be replaced by a golden meadow with a large lake at its centre. A few clumps of shrubbery surrounded the lake and flowers of all colours highlighted the meadow in a blaze of summer colour.
"W-w-w-w wha- mmmm..... " Dreamer was wordless at this curious incident and Wiseman said,
"Oh, that again, don't worry mate it always happens with the mystical moving mist. It lives and breathes and whisks us all from place to place in our strange world and there is nothing to my knowledge that we can do about it. We just have to roll with it. "
"Well then, that's really gonna get in our way while we're looking for Belle isn't it? "
"Err maybe, but don't be so hasty my young worrier. It could hinder us, but stay on the right side of it and it could also be of assistance. "
"Thanks for that tip Wiseman, however riddled it may seem to me at the moment. "
"Shall we explore this new terrain then? "
"Yes of course. What should be our next objective? "
Wiseman did not reply, but instead he got to his feet, closed his eyes and raised his strange stick above his head. Dreamer looked on in consternation and mild surprise as a strange breeze tousled the older mans garments. Dreamer's blue eyes grew wider still in the next few moments as his new friend rose almost three inches from the ground and rotated ninety degrees to their left. Wiseman then opened his eyes, the breeze ceased and he was stood back on the floor again,
"The power of the rowan tree has indicated that we should make our way to that lake over yonder, " and he started to walk towards it.
"How odd, " muttered Dreamer as he followed Wiseman across the beautiful flower filled meadow towards the large and tranquil lake. Wherever they had been brought was nicer than the dark barrens that they had just left and the afternoon sun shone its languid rays on the hordes of buttercups, daisies, gypsophila and wild roses that gave the meadow the bulk of its beautiful natural colour. As they got nearer to the side of the lake they both stopped in the long, golden meadow grass and pointing with one finger Wiseman proclaimed,
"Look! There! "
As they both looked they could see a young girl with soft blond hair kneeling down at the lakeside with her right hand moving in the water.
"What's she doing? " whispered Dreamer to Wiseman.
"Not sure buddy, but it would be rude not to find out. Ho there young lady!"
As the young girl stopped and turned around, Dreamer and Wiseman saw the daintiest and purest of visages staring back at them. Sweet innocence seemed to radiate from every pore of her delicate pale skin that was enhanced further by her delightful rosy pink cheeks.
"Err, yes gentlemen, how can I help you both on this fine autumn day? "
Wiseman spoke while Dreamer continued to gaze,
"Um, we're not really sure actually. We are just wanderers who've recently been mist transferred here. What are you doing there? "
"Just tickling the minnows in here. They love it and so do I. "
"Really? That lake looks too green and algae ridden to support much marine life. " queried Wiseman.
"Come closer both of you and have a look then. I am a fair meadow maiden and will do you no harm. My pure powers can produce such wonderful things you know. As the fish have fun, they flow and breathe life into the stagnant lake."
Wiseman and Dreamer were both now stood next to the girl peering over the edge into the green lake water. As they looked closer still, they were astounded to see that as the girls right hand tickled the fish, more seemed to be flowing from her slender fingertips and into the water and as they increased into larger shoals the water around them was getting visibly clearer and fresher.
"That is amazing fair maiden, " stammered Dreamer.
"Truly mystical, " whispered Wiseman, "the pure are often the strongest of our race because they are untarnished by the lash of the cruel serpents tongue.
"Indeed old man, I am eternally happy, " said the young girl as she looked with interest at the two strange arrivals.
"Hey, don't you start with the old man thing sweetness! What name do you go by then? "
"Ok, calm yourself sir, I was only joking. My name is Rose Blossom, a daughter from the bosom of the wild meadow rose. Most know me as Blossom though. "
"Well, " said Dreamer as he continued to look on in wonder, "it must be one beautiful flower to nurture a creature as dainty as yourself. "
Blossoms beauty seemed to swell with pride at this compliment and she replied,
"Why thank you. So, tell me, what are your names then? "
“I am Dreamer, a young traveller and this is my new friend Wiseman, an eccentric druid magician. "
"Hey! Nice one Dreamer! I like the eccentric tag thanks! "
"No problem dude! I'm a pretty good judge of character when I get to know people. "
"You both seem like amiable fellows to me, " said Blossom, "can I be of any assistance to you at all?"
Ambivalent and chilled as ever, Wiseman shrugged his shoulders while Dreamer asked,
"I was searching for my long lost love Belle Adorus. Do you know of her or her whereabouts? "
Blossom shook her head sadly and replied,
"I am afraid not, I had never heard of her until you told me her most beautiful name. "
"With looks that match, " Dreamer replied as he slipped into another despondent reverie about Belle.
"Don't fear Dreamer, " comforted Blossom, "perhaps my pure senses can help reveal some truth about where she is for you. "
"You mean you'd join us on our quest then? " asked Dreamer as he snapped out of his gloomy daydream once again.
"Why not? " agreed Wiseman, "many hands make light of the devil's work. Welcome on board Blossom, we don't know where we're headed, but I'm sure it'll be fun. "
These three new companions hugged and chatted and started to walk together and as they progressed on their new quest they found that a strange sort of bond started to form between them all as if they had known one another for a very long time. They began to feel as if there was a higher purpose behind their chance union but they could not pinpoint why or how.
Dreamer told the other two of how Belle was stolen from him in the whispering mist on top of Eagle Mountain by the cruel tyrant Theodore the Dark and taken to his distant home where Dreamer had no way of knowing in what state she now was.
"I have heard of Theodore, " said Blossom in trepidation, "a cruel and wicked tyrant who believes that he can command everyone and turn the world to his own ends. "
"An evil warlock, " Wiseman added, "but not very wise, for nothing known can control everything. The mist cannot even control itself, it is the great random factor in life. "
"Do either of you know where he is now? " asked Dreamer in hope and Blossom replied,
"Last I knew, Theodore lived high above the Lizard Lake where the mist is much thicker and more potent. Anyone heard of it? "
"I have, " said Wiseman, "it is a swamp infested mess, perfect for a dark warlock to hatch his nefarious schemes. "
"Thanks guys, " said Dreamer smiling. He felt uplifting at receiving his first clue in months about Belle, "shall we get going?"
The other two nodded by way of casual agreement and they set off together to who knows where, a valiant triumvirate of different knowledge and power, united together by some strange and unseen force that had pulled them closer for some unknown reason. Known humans in a vast sea of unknown variables.
"A map would be good, " thought Dreamer out loud to himself.
The earth then started to tremble gently under their feet and Wiseman said,
"I think the map is being created for us as you speak. "
As the three looked around them, the mist had started to swirl in the air again and things started to change once more.....
© Nathan Sandiford 2018, UK - writer.
Comments
Post a Comment