Xylia had been traveling through the Norwood Forest for many weeks. She wandered here often and considered it a beautiful and peaceful place. It was nearly midnight and the stars above shined unusually bright. The moon was barely a visible sliver and a few lone clouds moved across the sky giving the illusion that the heavens themselves were moving.

Her skirts were blended shades of dark green and her bodice was a solid shadowy green. Small black charms hung off of her bodice and were twinkling so softly that Xylia could barely hear the melody herself. She wore a pure black cloak and she had the hood low over her eyes. Her long dark curls fell through the hood of the cloak and hung down by each shoulder nearly to her waist. As she shifted through the trees she was barely visible, she seemed to be one with the trees of the forest.

The trees in this area were very dense. She had never been in this part of the forest before. She had trouble walking between trees without her skirts or cloak becoming caught. Her backpack floated obediently behind her. She wore it on her back for some time but it was becoming much too difficult to wear it without becoming caught on branches.

She stumbled upon a small clearing and decided to stop for a while. She sat down in the middle of the clearing and with a small flick of her hand her backpack slowly floated to the ground in front of her. She rummaged through it for some time and pulled out a glass orb and placed it in her lap. She closed her backpack and put it to her left side. She unhooked the hilt of Zasha from her hip and placed it beside her backpack.

"I know it not best to travel at night but I am so restless. Something about this night pushes me to travel on, to where I know not. Maybe my crystal ball will show me a hint to my near future." Xylia thought to herself.

She cleared her mind and gazed down into the swirling colours of the orb. The orb seemed to give off a faint light. She waited to see if anything would be revealed to her.

The rustling of leaves and plants were abrupt yet plentiful as Oppel moved them out of his path with a mere spell. It was a nice calm night, the sort of night that Oppel enjoyed taking a walk about his favourite place of all, the forest. As he strode through the heavily forested area, he took note of the fact that the trees began to appear denser thatn before. He smiled as he continued on.

Several moments later, Oppel could see a shimmer of light coming from somewhere up ahead. I wonder what that could be... he spoke alous as if someone were next to him. He pulled his cloak off of his arm as he quickly polymorphed into a black raven.

The wind pushed against his wings as he began to circle in a pocket of rising air. From straight below, Oppel could make out a female's figure sitting, and holding what looked like a round orb. He felt interested into what it was, so he began to circle lower and lower until he was high enough to change back into his normal shape. He did this right behind the female and spoke, "Why hello there, nice night aint it?"

Xylia was lost in the swirling colours of the orb. An image began to take shape. All she could see was trees. Trees upon trees upon endless trees.

"Curious." she thought to herself, "This is the present, not the future. Or maybe I am going to spend much time here. What is revealed to one is usually hard to make sense of."

She peered into the crystal ball watching to see if more would be shown to her. She was so absorbed in her orb that she did not sense the raven circling over head or the man that the blackbird transformed into standing directly behind her. She was startled greatly when she heard a man's voice greet her. She did not except to see another soul out here so late at night.

She jerked forward and her crystal ball rolled off of her lap and stopped near the base of an ancient tree. She rose to her feet to face the being that had just greeted her. She pulled the black hood off of her head revealing her piercing green eyes and more of her dark curls tumble down to her waist.

She curtsied to the stranger and replied, "It certainly is, a peaceful night indeed. Just the kind of night I love to walk in."

Oppel smiled, "that's the same thing I like to do on nights like these." He looked around to see if anyone was near them. The forest made many sounds, and could often cover those made by another being. Oppel then shivered and rubbed his arms with his hands to warm them slightly. He then pulled his cloak over his arms. "Well, have we met before? You seem like a familiar face to me somehow." He looked up into the sky and the moon hanging above them. "Oh sorry for not introducing myself, My name is Oppel, and I am the God of Nature." He turned to face the forest surrounding them in every which way. "I protect this place, as well as all the forest here in Imythess. But I find it hard with the uprising evil." He turned back to face the woman and smirked kindly.

Xylia smiled and listened as the man introduced himself. She was not surprised that he was The God of Nature. She could feel in his aura that he was very powerful and had a deep love for the forest around him.

"You do have a familiar face though I cannot place it. Maybe we have passed by each other somewhere." she replied. She stopped for a moment to listen to the rustle of the leaves and then continued, "My name is Xylia, The Maiden of the Rose and Gypsy." She decided she wouldn't use her full title. It was such a mouthful.

She laughed softly and with a slight flick of her hand her crystal ball flew toward her and she caught it with her right hand. "Though you could of probably guessed that from my crystal ball."

The breeze suddenly turned into a fairly strong wind and Xylia's black cloak flew out behind her and her skirt of different shades of green rustled around her, as if they were mimicking the leaves rustling on the branches of the ancient trees.

Oppel watched the crystal ball as it made its way towards her hand. "Nice magic you have there." He smiled as he turned his gaze from it to a nearby tree. Hearing a rustle amongst the dense trees, he put his right hand to the hilt of his sword at his waist and felt the blade until he saw the green diamonds begin to shmmer lightly getting brighter and brighter. From behind the nearest tree a deer walked out with its sight focused on Oppel. He smiled as he released the sword, taking all the powers from the sword into his hand temporarily. He swurved is hand infront of him and then faced the palm towards the ground beneath the two of them. The land began to rise until they were several feet off the ground so that Oppel could survey the area. Several rustles could be heard from another direction and he spoke, "The last time the sound was a deer. But I sense another presence amongst us. The forest is not always the safest place to be, although it is sometimes portrayed that way. Many evil creatures lurk here. Some that are very dangerous, even to a god if they are in a big enough group which i do not want to find out." he lower the earth again and began to walk away from the sounds amongst the trees. "I do hope you will come with me. If those sounds are what I fear they are, it would be better if we were together to face them."

Xylia's knees felt weak after the sudden rise and lower in altitude. She frowned slightly when she heard that there may be danger in the woods. She knew that the forest was not always the safest place, but she loved it just the same.

She sighed in relief when she heard Oppel's invitation to come with him. She flicked her hand and her backpack and sword flew toward her and stopped and hovered in front of her. She placed her crystal ball in her backpack and flung the backpack over her shoulder. She buckled the hilt of her sword to her waist and walked after Oppel.

"Of course I will come with you. It is always safer to be with someone then on one's own. Plus, I would like to speak with you more. What is out there? I have felt stranger auras about, but I cannot place what they are."