Hello there, my name is Kalie. I am an elf and I live in a great cave system under the the top of one of the peaks of the White Plume Mountains, with my family, the Shimmers of Shadow. My story is not a fair tale of happiness and prancing through the forest, it is a story of heartbreak and sadness and loss. Do not let this frighten you away though, please stay and hear my tale.
I was born in what is now called the Fay forest. When I was born, the elves still occupied the forest, but they were soon to depart those woods. I spent my first 91 years growing up in those forests, I know to most people that seems like forever, but for an elf it is but a blink of the eye. I was still considered a young girl when my family packed their belongings and took to the ships to leave the forest and go back home. I too was suppose to be on that boat, but I had run off in persuit of a butterfly and I missed the boat. By the time I got back to the river, the boats had left, and I was alone in the woods for the first time in my life. I wandered the empty forest for a long time, trying to decide what I should do. I couldn't follow my family, I didn't know the way, and I had never been out of the forest before, so I had no friends. I was completely alone.
Days, weeks, and months past, and one day I was sitting in the forest picking the petals off of a blue flower, when a woman walked past me. She was human, but not human and her eyes glowed with a deep emerald light. I stood up and followed her through the woods, walking quietly so that she didn't hear me. I followed her into the darker woods, the ones my parents always told me to stay out of. She walked boldly through the woods and came upon a troll. I was horrified and thought that this lady would be slain for sure. To my amazement and fasination, the lady turned into a wolf right before my eyes! She ripped the troll to pieces with her claws and feasted on the carcass. I gasped in my astonishment, and the lady turned around, spotting me hiding behind a tree, and smiled viciously, showing her bloodied fangs. My mind screamed for me to shrink back into the shadows of the tree, trying to hide, but her emerald eyes held me tight. She turned towards me and started walking over to me, changing back into the lady as she did so. I was breathless and my heart was beating so loud in my chest that I thought it would surely explode!
She walked right up to me and smiled that smile again. My blood ran cold. Then she said to me 'You look lost child, shall I show you the way out?' She motioned for me to follow her, as she walked past me. I stood under the tree for a second, trying to decide what to do. Slowly I turned my head and saw her walking further away from me, and against my better judgement, I went after her.
When I caught up to her, she turned her head and winked at me and then smiled. I fought up the courage to ask her who she was. She stopped and turned toward me again, 'I am called Present Wolfred, and what do people call you?' I said 'My name is Kalie. It is so good to finally see a person in these woods. I have been alone for so long now.' She looked me in the eyes and I felt a deep mental probe searching my thoughts, as if she was trying to read my mind, trying to see if I was lying or not. Her eyes sparkled brightly, a ferial smile spead over her lips. She reached out and took my hand in hers and led me deep into the forest.
I was scared yet strangely excited. This lady, Present, was a magical being. I could feel it in her grip, see it in her eyes. She is not a good lady, I realized this in my very heart, but she is not an evil lady either, and that intrigued me. I followed her to where a small stone lay in a clearing in the forest. She took me over to the stone and bade me to sit upon the stone. I looked over at the stone and saw some strange runes carved into it. I looked at Present questioningly, and she nodded at me and motioned that I sit on the stone. I sat down. A beam of light shot out of the stone and blinded me for a second. I blinked my eyes and then looked around. I saw before me a strange white tiger, she was looking back at me with bright yellow eyes. It looked as though she were smiling at me. From behind her, a small calico cat walked out and looked up at me. It had my eyes, and I felt as if I was staring at myself. The cat meowed at me and then crouched down and jumped at me! I flinched and blinked my eyes and the vision was gone. Present was looking at me intently. She cocked her head and seemed to listen to the wind, then she looked at me again and smiled.
On that strange day I became a Shimmer. The spirit of that cute little calico cat now lives within me. Present took me out of the forest that day and showed me the world. She took me to the priests in the city of Riversy and I learned the clerical arts, something that I had always had within me, but never tapped into before Present came into my life. She took me to her mountain home and introduced me to the rest of her family, my family, the shimmers.
Present gave me the title of mascott, although I know not why. Perhaps it is because I am the perfect example of both good and evil living in harmoy...
Only time will tell.
Kalie in her Shimmer Form
