Chapter 1 Ellerina Everwood The summer breeze blew through the kingdom. The sky was cloudless, the flowers blooming, the birds singing sweetly, and the sound of laughing children rang through the air. If you had the luck to see the kingdom from the sky, you would see the gigantic ocean, vast evergreen forests, beautiful rivers and lakes, picturesque gardens, majestic mountains, beautiful fields, quaint villages, and elegant castles. This all describes one incredible place, The Kingdom Of Aclaria. Across the capital city, Illumi, was the most beautiful castle of all. High above Crystal Lake over the waterfall, and across the bridge, glittering in the sunrise was Aclaria Castle. It was surrounded by mountains, the morning mist and the soft glow of the sun creating a perfect landscape that belonged in a fairytale. That castle was Illumi’s most famous symbol, and probably the most beautiful castle in all the kingdom. In the gardens around the castle was a young girl about fourteen years old. She was very beautiful, more beautiful than what the other girls usually were. She had long wavy golden brown hair that went down to her waist, crystal blue eyes, a kind smile, rosy cheeks, and pale skin. She was wearing a knee length light pink dress with lace sleeves and pretty flower designs on it, a daisy flower crown, and she was barefoot. She sat on a smooth silver rock in the forest with her feet dipped in the water of a stream that led to Crystal Lake. She was deeply immersed in a book, her eyes darting across the page excitedly. To her right she was petting a furry little creature about the size of a small dog. It had big floppy ears like a bunny, white and brown fur, the body of a puppy, and tiny shimmery wings on its back. She smiled as it cuddled up next to her about to take a nap. Ellerina Everwood had always been an intelligent bookworm who loved to learn and go on adventures, but sometimes she just liked to escape to the Gardens of Trella. Few of the citizens in Aclaria ever came there, except for a few nature people trying to learn about different types of animals and plants. But Ella came there to relax, think, and enjoy the beauty. There was another reason though, sometimes she came there to escape. At school Ella was the star student, teacher's pet, highest scorer in all the tests, and the one who put most effort into school projects. Because of that, everyone thought she was a bratty know-it-all and they always avoided her. But Ella wasn’t a know-it-all, she was just clever! And if the other kids actually got to know her, they would see that she was actually very sweet, kind, and loyal. Right now Ella was in the middle of reading one of her favorite fantasy books, The Fairy Quest. It made her sad that none of the kids at school understood how fun reading could be, and she hated that they teased her for liking it. She was just getting to an exciting part when the clock belle rang loudly. She couldn’t help smiling a little. It was the weekend, so there were no school kids to bully her and it meant that she could help out around town for her parents' store. She stood up from the rock and her pet followed her. “ Come on Snickers! We’re going to be late to help!” She exclaimed and Ella quickly made her way through the forests she knew so well. Ella had always been very observant and had a way with animals and nature. One slight movement in the bushes and she would be able to see and hear exactly what was hiding there. She decided that to get to Illumi she would go the fun way. She grinned and suddenly disappeared from Snickers sight. The little creature looked around in alarm and squeaked when Ella grabbed her from the top of the trees. No one, not even Ella herself could understand how she was so good at climbing up trees in two seconds. But she had always been an expert with the forest so she just thought it was natural for her to be able to do that. She swung herself across the branches to the next tree, then doing a summersault to land on the highest branch. The view was breathtaking and she surprised Snickers again when she suddenly leaped down from the tall tree falling through the breezy air. Unlike some people who have falling as their worst fear, Ella closed her eyes and smiled as she let the strong summer breeze carry her towards the ground. She trusted the wind, and for some reason she knew she wouldn’t get hurt. The breeze slowed Ella so that it stopped her from falling on her face and landed her gently on her feet. Some of the nature obsessed people who were enjoying their morning hikes watched in amazement. How had that girl just-just-had the wind help her?
They soon shrugged and returned to walking. One of them though, a boy who looked to be around her age didn’t leave though. He had dark brown hair, and eyes that were the exact color of the ocean. He wore an ocean blue tunic and brown pants, Ella thought there was something different about him though from all the rest of the boys in the village. Maybe it was the way he looked, or the way his hair blew slightly in the wind, but there was definitely something. When he noticed her looking though, he quickly walked away. Ella shrugged and returned to walking home. She came to a rock part of the garden and scaled it expertly, not noticing the rocks moving to let her pass. She hummed as she walked through the peaceful place when she noticed the same boy climbing over the rocks she had just climbed. A small alarm went off inside of her. Was he following her? Quickly Ella took the fastest way to get home. She bolted away towards the lake and hopped on the stones until there weren’t any left. Then she started running on the water! Her feet lightly stepped on it and she carefully but swiftly made her way across the water. The boy’s mouth dropped in disbelief. Ella was almost to the town when he suddenly appeared right in front of her! She squealed in surprise. “ How did you do that? Also, why are you following me?” She demanded, not afraid of him anymore. Afterall, he was just a teenage boy. He shook his head quickly. “I promise I’m not following you to be creepy! I just really have to talk to you!” He pleaded. Ella’s suspicious look softened and she almost smiled. His voice was as smooth and nice sounding as a stream, if that description makes sense. Ella just didn't know how to describe a voice as beautiful as that. He smiled too; the most handsome smile Ella had ever seen. “Let's start over! Forget anything that ever happened.” With another super good-looking smile, he introduced himself. “My name is Brook Bahari, who are you?” Ella smiled shyly. “ I’m Ellerina Everwood, but you can call me Ella. And this little furball is Snickers.” She replied. “ Ella, that’s such a lovely name. So Ella, may I ask how you were able to be carried by the wind, have the earth clear a path for you, and walk across the lake? The only element I haven’t seen you do yet is fire!” He exclaimed curiously. Ella’s smile faded. “ Honestly, I don’t know. Whenever I’m around nature, things like that just…happen to me. I don’t even try to control it, they just happen.” She braced herself, knowing that he would probably run away thinking that she was the weirdest person he had ever met, but instead Brook smiled bigger than ever. “ That’s incredible! But you don’t have to feel uncomfortable about it, because look! I can do it too!” He took a deep breath and ran across the water! Then he ran back and with a swish of his hand he made the water float high into the air shaping it into different kinds of animals. Ella and Snickers watched in amazement. “But-but how can we do that? Is it magic?” She finally said. He nodded. “We can do that because we are a little different from normal people, and yes, it is the power of nature coming into the hands of a mortal therefore using it for the earth's essential healthiness. So in other words, it's basically like nature's magic.” Ella nodded, still taking in what he had just said. “ Sooooo…..does that mean that I’m not human? Am I some sort of weird robot?!” Brook burst out laughing. “ No! Of course you're not anything like a robot! But you're not exactly human either-you're a Woodlinian.” That word meant nothing to Ella. She was about to ask, but Brook was already explaining it to her. “A Woodlinian is a person who has a deep and powerful bond with the magic of nature. They study it, learn about it, make it, and sometimes even use it. They kind of are like the caretakers of nature, and their job is to make sure that no one ever harms it. But legend has it, every one thousand years five young Woodlinians will join together and protect the nature world from a terrible future, and become masters of the four elements. And guess what? I’m one of them! I represent the element of water! And we’ve found the other three too, but now I’ve found the fifth and most powerful one. The fifth one would have the power of all elements, and be able to use and control each one however they wanted. That person would be the leader of all the elements. Ella, that person is you.” I hope you liked it!!! Don't forget to love, favorite, and follow! More chapters coming soon in the future! :)
