Silver Rose

Prologue

Only the deep white snow and the sleeping brown trees were seen under the shadows of the night. People and creatures of all kinds slowly traveled beneath the safety of the darkness. They did not cry, could not cry. Weeping would mean that the enemy had won. The enemy— whom they had protected and raised up for centuries— was now at the pinnacle of their power, and were casting their guardians aside.

The enemy murdered many of the people. They hunted unicorns and centaurs as if it were a sport. They purposely caught merfolk in nets and dragged them into the hot dry sand to die. They cut down trees, killing hamadryads who were connected to them. The trolls, ogres, goblins, dwarves, and gnomes all joined forces and fought back, but the enemy was strong and drove them away. These races were then banished to mountains, deserts, and forests.

And then there only remained the magical creatures. But the magical races fought only if they had to. They knew the enemy desired them the most. The enemy wanted their power, their magic, so they could rule the world.
 
So they trudged through the drifts of cold snow night after night. And the lands of the humans—their enemy—lay further and further behind them. But they could not think of the humans. Now they only thought of where they were going. They had just come through a huge forest and by their maps, would come to a sea soon. Some turned to look back at the dark trees of the forest, which had sheltered them for two years. Now they moved out in the open again and the journey was still dangerous. They were mostly magical beings—elves, charmints (cousins of the wolmens), and fairies—some had no magic, but thought it wise to travel with those who did.
 
One drop of blood, two drops of blood, three drops of blood. Screams flew up into the air. Four, five, six—dark puddles formed around the living’s feet. No one knew what was happening. They ran. Seven, eight, nine, ten—crimson blood oozed from dying bodies, seeping into the white snow. For a couple minutes chaos reigned and the runaways were being slaughtered from every side. Then some of the magical creatures’ minds jerked as if awaking from a dream. The humans were attacking them.

Suddenly glowing lights shot up into the air as the magical beings fought back. They could not see the humans, but heard their shrieks. Together, they put up a magical wall around the area.  The wall went around the forest to the sea in the west. The wall protected whatever was inside it from outside forces. It also kept any physical evil from entering. This kept the humans at bay while the others regrouped.

They decided to split up and go their separate ways. The elves crossed the sea and settled somewhere south of it. The charmints also traveled south, but in the opposite direction of
the elves. The fairies (who were Fauyes) went north past the sea, past a mountain range and a huge forest, and settled in an isolated land as far from the humans as was possible. Those of non-magical races that had come with them either settled in the lands of the magical races or in the forests they passed along the way. Most of the Riea fairies pledged them selves to protecting the creatures that still lived in human regions and settled in meadows, swamps, forests and
mountains.

The banished creatures (like the dwarves, trolls, goblins) hid in fear when humans came around their dwellings. Many terrorized and killed those humans who dared to venture into their territories. Soon humans stayed away from these places all together calling them cursed and enchanted.
With their magic, the elves, fairies, and charmints
veiled the lands they had settled in so that they were shielded from human eyes. Even to this day humans cannot detect the realms of the magical beings unless allowed to. All people of the fantastic races regard humans with suspicion and hate. Their distrust of mankind leads them to rarely enter the realm of man.

Since man rarely saw these creatures, they forgot about them. After a thousand years, they became the things of tales. And when another thousand years had passed, humans wondered if these creatures had ever existed at all.