This is a story from Ultima Odyssey

[Shard] - Sosaria
[Type] - Legend (history/fiction?)
[Book] - Purple

[Title] - Birth of the Reapers
[Author] - Kyle the Younger

[Page 1]
The chanting was low,
but the sound traveled
through the forest as if
carried by a magical wind.
Her curiosity getting the
best of her, Kaitlyn
found herself drawn to
the words.

[Page 2]
She was sure her
mother would be furious
when she returned, but
the rumors of the druid's
and their magic was too
intriguing to ignore.
After searching for
nearly an hour, the

[Page 3]
young girl finally spotted
a clearing. She carefully
crept her way through
the undergrowth until she
could make out human
shapes joined in a circle
surrounding another
human.

[Page 4]
The druid's were casting
a spell.

Each Druid was dressed
in a simple brown or red
robe and carried a
wooden staff topped
with stones, gems,
and feathers.

[Page 5]
As the chant reached a
crescendo, the druid
in the middle of the circle
held his staff in the air
while the others raised
their staves to touch his.
Immediately the clearing
was bathed in a bright

[Page 6]
light forcing Kaitlyn to
cover her eyes. After a
moment, she became
acutely aware that the
forest had become very
quiet and she slowly
opened her eyes.

[Page 7]
The Druid's spell was
complete.

The young girl held her
breath as she scanned
the forest, trying to
figure out the effects of
the druids' spell.

[Page 8]
She began to wonder if
the spell was nothing
more than practice or
perhaps some kind of
initiation and began to get up to leave.
Suddenly the trees
began to groan and shift.

[Page 9]
At first the girl
thought it the work of a
strong wind, but she felt
nothing of the sort. The
trees were not swaying in
the wind, they were
moving!

[Page 10]
They moved awkwardly
at first, their roots still
somewhat entrenched in
the ground, before finally
pulling themselves free.
Kaitlyn stared in disbelief - the Druids had
awakened the trees!

[Page 11]
"So beautiful." a druid
whispered, staring up at
a nearby tree in awe as
it moved towards him.
Kaitlyn was about to
step forward to catch a
better view when the
tree suddenly roared

[Page 12]
loudly into the air, its
features becoming
distorted with fury. It
held up an arm-like
appendage and without
warning smashed its fist down upon the nearby
druid's head.

[Page 13]
She heard a sickening
crack as she watched the
druid fall lifeless to the
ground. Immediately, the
other trees moved to
attack as well and the
druid's quickly found
themselves surrounded.

[Page 14]
One of the druids, a
middle-aged man who had
just begun to learn their arcane ways, began
casting a spell. Before he
could complete his casting the druid who had been in
the middle of the circle

[Page 15]
grabbed him roughly. The spell ended in a puff of
smoke, interrupted by the
older man's action.

"We do not attack
the trees!" he said angrily.
"Damn! I told them this

[Page 16]would happen!" he added
as he turned to face the
now sentient tree.
The terrified girl
watched as the druid
stood in front of his
friend, his arms held over
his head while whispering

[Page 17]
soothing words to the tree.
The tree stopped for a
moment, stared at the
man and looked to be
somewhat pacified. The
druid began casting a
spell to put the tree to

[Page 18]
sleep, but before the man
could finish, the tree let
out an unearthly scream
and swiped its arm
across the man's side.
The druid flew through
the air and smashed to
the ground.

[Page 19]
Seeing their friend lying
on the earth, unconscious or possibly dead, was too
much for the other
druid's and they all began chanting words of power.
The first spell exploded
from a druid's fingertips,

[Page 20]
calling lightning from the
sky and setting a tree
ablaze as it ran towards
him. It roared in protest
but did not slow its
charge. Moving impossibly
fast for a tree, it crashed into the man and

[Page 21]
pummeled him to the
ground. The tree,
seemingly unbothered, or
perhaps unaware that it
was burning, moved
towards another druid, its
features looking mad with
rage. The druid's had built

[Page 22]
protective spells into the
awakening and the trees
now used this protection
against them. The other
druids were likewise
crushed as their spells
proved only mildly
effective.

[Page 23]
After the last druid
fell, the trees stomped
off into the night,
howling loudly and crushing
everything in their
path. Kaitlyn stared
in frightened disbelief,
unable to move.

[Page 24]
After the sounds of the
trees faded away, she
heard the older druid
groan slightly.

He was alive!


[Page 25]
Kaitlyn ran to the man's
side and took his head in
her arms. She could feel his life
escaping him as he
trembled slightly. He
looked up into her eyes
and motioned for her to

[Page 26]
come closer so that she
may hear his words.

"Oh how could we have
been so naive?" he
whispered between coughs.

[Page 27]
"The trees cannot
understand what it means
to be sentient. We only
wanted to use them to
protect the forest, but I
warned the elders of
this. Now it is too late.
They are insane my child.

[Page 28]
Run and warn the
villagers. The forest is not safe."

With one final breath
the man died. After
coming to her senses, the
girl stood and left the

[Page 29]
clearing. Her vision nearly
blinded by her tears, she stumbled often as she
ran towards her village,
praying that the trees
along her path would
remain still.

My folder is getting nice and fat. My scribe will be busy.