Stars shone like scattered diamonds across a black velvet sky while the soft rasp of grass whispered on a warm wind. From horizon to horizon the grassland stretched forth as an ocean of emerald, otherwise known as: The Great Green. Large knolls broke through the deep sea as brown, knotted islands and dotted the landscape for miles. These were the roots of Heaven’s Tree, a wonder of natural magic that in all it’s gargantuan grandeur was the envy of mountains and titans alike. Phenomenal flowers clung to the wrinkled bark of those massive roots to swoop down as great curtains of fauna. Others cascaded like waterfalls of jade and sapphire that seemingly crashed to clutch and churn the earth. For as far as the eye could see, one’s vision swam with all the color and beauty it could capture.

Blooms of Miranda filled the air with delicate fragrance. As spring’s refrain would end, Miranda’s blooms seemed to bow in deference at the summer season’s approach. Every first few days of the season’s onset, flowers would shed their blooms and seemingly fling them aloft. Petals swayed the air, carried by a breathing wind. They could fall so thickly at times; it was as if the sunrise sky had wept tears of joy down upon us all. This natural dance was a mark of celebration and the silent song of summer’s arrival once more.

When one finally crossed the Great Green to arrive at Heaven Tree, many had the tradition to circle it’s trunk. This walk could take hours, depending of course on what fair folk one came across travelling in the other direction. As Heaven Tree was the only of its kind, many made pilgrimage to this place of quiet majesty. A lucky few like myself called it home, if only for a time.

Sleep was restful and dreams deep under the boughs of the Great Tree. It was a period of wild enchantment and some say the most mysterious. Heaven Tree bestowed all manner of gifts to many under the reach of it’s limbs. Some witnessed healings so profound as to call them miracles. The vigor of youth was restored to my once weary bones as decades of age was washed from me like dust running from rain. And so, it was only natural that word would spread like wild fire. I suppose it is of no wonder then, that someone would eventually seek to mark Heaven Tree as their own.

First it was the wizard king, Elglarious whose might was unparalleled. None could stand against his thunder as he laid low all that opposed him. Yet as he stood before Heaven Tree, the spirit of Miranda stepped out from behind the Veil of Eternity. Her beauty was as the dawn, and wisdom flowed from her like deep waters. Miranda spoke but a few words to Elglarious and with a touch brought peace to his warring heart. As Elglarious crossed the boundary, it is said he learned all of death’s mysteries and sought the tree no more.

Then it was Great Rift Wyrm, a terrible dragon whose name is hidden from history. The fear being it’s utterance could awaken her from dreams given by our great tree. I witnessed the ordeal firsthand. Heaven Tree’s roots rose like serpents and struck out at the Wyrm. The ground churned and boiled while massive roots coiled around a beast that could otherwise never be tamed.

And so, it is that somewhere deep within the dark bowels of earth, a dragon does dream. To this day the ground shakes with tremors of her restless slumber. I shudder to imagine the day that Wyrm wakes.

Many a battle blackened the grasses of our Great Green and stained it’s grounds crimson. For the tree’s boughs did not often discriminate to whom it’s gifts were given and how. Our days of pilgrimage had ended as one power or another laid claim to the Great Green, restricting who would benefit from miracles therein. So, it is of no small wonder that the final threat to Heaven Tree was carried by the air itself. Or more to the point, spirits of wind.

Long had they heard cries of pain take to the sky. This rending of life had tortured their consciousness. Their debate was great, yet in the end an agonizing choice was reached. For far too long many had fought and died on the Great Green. Who were they, these wind spirits that knew how to end suffering and countless wars yet still do nothing? It was not their way to stand idly by. In answer they banished rain with blistering wind and vast spells of their own design. Their magic chased every cloud from Heaven Tree’s sky. It was by those ways the wind spirits withheld the water of life. For the greater good, peace and long life of all, Heaven Tree was cursed to wither and die.

Heaven Tree and The Great Green did not pass quickly. Dreams turned into nightmares and visions to madness as an agonizing thirst ravaged the land and all of it’s inhabitants. Many a dark creature was born to that troubling time. The once beautiful and wild magics of that place became warped and twisted all under it’s influence. Over several decades, Heaven Tree wasted to stillness, till it gave no more.

Silence now reigns upon what was the Great Green. It is a land of ash, shattered dreams and lost hope. So it was that the Desert of Despair was born. For all my limitless years, maybe I’ll find in those shadows that death will defer it’s touch to me no longer. Maybe I can finally find my rest, and so I travel there again. I leave behind one last bit of wisdom in defiant hope and warning.

Never hold your words against the tyranny of a greater good. For sometimes the only thing holding darkness at bay, is the bright heart or words of one.