~ Gavia ~

352 years ago...

When the moons were high in the sky, casting a unique glow onto the ground, everyone gathered in the middle of Viscaria.

A large fire stood in the middle of a circle of people, the flames reaching meters high. The people all held hands and whispered in their mother tongue, rocking their bodies from side to side in a slow rhythm, their chants becoming louder and louder as the night grew darker.

Their long antlers casted shadows on the soil and cloaks flapped in the light breeze.

Delphinium stood by the fire, in the middle of the circle, his gaze set on the man in front of him. His father stood feet taller than him, looking down with eyes filled with dread, yet somehow admiration. He could not find it in himself to hate his only child and for what he had become, and for what he would later on achieve.

After many hundreds of years, they were crowning the next Ruler of Viscaria. It was a ceremony that took place between the lake and village. The event started with a large feast, where other Rulers came bearing small gifts and precious desserts. After that came the night ceremony, where they thanked their gods and their last Ruler.

This was Delphiniums first time at any type of ceremony. He tended to stay away for any celebration and instead lurked around discovering new things. It would explain why some were not fond of the idea of him being the next successor, but they could not deny his growing power. It pulsated inside of them, making it hard for them to feel the pulse of a growing Ruler.

His father extended out his hands, a large sickle resting on the tips of his slender fingers.  Delphinium reached out, brushing his fingers against the cool metallic blade. On the side of the blade was something engraved in their native tongue. The swirls and dots carved graciously. Before Delphinium could read it, his father had rather harshly grabbed his hand, swiftly breaking the skin with a small blade. Delphinium looked down as couple of drops of blood landed below their hands and onto the blade, causing the writing to slowly glow a light shade of blue.

By now, the chanting had stopped and everyone’s eyes were now on Delphinium. A shiver ran down his spine as he recollected what his mother told him before the ceremony, "Do not let go of your weapon.. It is not only yours, but you are it. When you feel it, do not be afraid to fall."

He could feel it pulsate in his hands, a hum like sound filling his ears. Delphinium felt as if he was now apart of the weapon. It was clear to him that the blade now knew just who was its master.

Delphiniums eyelids soon felt heavy and he couldn't help but let them fall. This must have been what his mother had told him about. Everyone watched as he fell to the ground. No one moved.

In another world, soft wind chimes blew in the distance as light blared on his skin. Delphinium felt as if he was floating, but in reality, he was lying somewhere in the world where spirits resided. He felt around with his hands, grasping onto what seemed like grass. He was in a field, he assumed.

He could hear a whisper circulating around him, but could not make out what they were saying. He moved his head from side to side, trying to understand.

Slowly it got louder as if whoever was talking was getting closer. Rather than feel uneasy at the thought, he felt content, relaxed.

Delphiniums eyes were sealed shut, but he could tell it was a man. Surely enough the voice whispered clearly in his ear.

Everyone around the fire watched as suddenly Delphiniums body stopped twitching. Their hawk like eyes waiting for their new Ruler to wake from the world of the spirits.

“Edelweiss..” It had whispered, causing him to jolt forward, finding himself not by the fire, but instead in the middle of a field that was once dead.

▲▼▲

The remainder of his past was slowly pushed away and replaced with reality as Delphinium opened his eyes to a bright light and the feeling of rich soil and soft grass beneath his hands. He slowly sat up and looked around; the once grey sky was now a pale blue, the long dead grass and wheat were now a vast in greens, yellows and purples. Amongst those colours, Delphinium could make out his fellow companions lying down. He could see both Mallow and Laburnum in the distance, with Gladiolus eating from a tree and Teasel plopped onto his head. Delphinium got up, his sickle in hand, and walked in their direction.

Mallow slowly kneeled down, reaching for a small daisy that held itself high. The white petals standing out from the bright green grass. Laburnum took initiative and pushed the others’ hand away, delicately plucking the flower out of the soil. After inspecting each and everyone of its petals, Laburnum then passed it to Mallow, concluding it was safe and not harmful. Mallow was rather excited holding a flower for the first time. It was lighter than they had expected.

The petals were easy to rip off and the middle was easy to crush. They found it amusing and carefully plucked a few more until Mallow’s eyes landed on a small insect on the one Laburnum had picked. They both tilted their heads, watching as the yellow and black insect walked along the orange middle of the flower, then flew away. They stayed like that, looking at the flower, then at the insect that was long gone, till they decided it was time to head for Delphinium.

“Do not wander too far, my children..” Delphinium’s husky voice called out as he pulled out a map from the saddle bag.

Once Mallow and Laburnum had gathered around, he laid the map down on a large boulder, letting Teasel sit on one end to hold it still. He pointed to a small town at one side of the map, then at the middle of a vast land. The town was miles from where he assumed they were now.

The town was called Rhododendron. It was known for its large markets and imported goods they got from other Rulers. They traded a multitude of things for money. More importantly, the town was known to trade other people's’ lives for an even larger sum of money. In most occasions, that said person had no idea they were put on the table. Traveler’s knew better and avoided the town, but there would always be one who would stumble and perish.

Delphinium knew it was a long shot, but it was the only way.

The surrounding area had become dangerous in the last couple of months, more and more Goldenrods have been seen patrolling the woods. With only half of the group capable to defend one another, Delphinium felt it was necessary to stay out of danger, even if that meant possibly being in danger.

The group had set out for the town after a small break. Another small piece of bread was taken from the bag, the dried piece of leaf that it was wrapped in was left to decompose on the ground. Mallow and Laburnum did not eat, instead kept watch by the boulder.

Along the way they would occasionally stop so that Delphinium could take samples and draw up another map.

It had seemed that when he touched the butterfly, it had emitted something that caused everything in that area to grow once more. It was the same effect as Delphinium, but more explosive and could not be controlled like the Ruler.

Approaching Rhododendron everything had become dull once again and it seemed to grow onto them the longer they were surrounded by it.