Chapter 6
We drive for just over two hours until we pull off the road into a gravel car park with an entrance sign saying 'New Forest Great Wood'. I'm wearing wedge sandals and this is not what I was thinking for a birthday day out. My sheer tights are gonna get destroyed! I look at my mum with the best 'Are you serious?!' face I can muster and she just laughs at me. She's not dressed for the woods either in a long yellow and green maxi dress and sandals. What is she thinking?
She gets out the car and I follow suit. She gives me a mischievous grin as she walks towards the woodland path. “Do you trust me?”
Is she kidding? “Of course I do!”
“Then come on!” She smiles and I follow her into the woods.
I thought the woodland trail would be a nightmare to traverse in my outfit but it’s as easy as breathing. The ground carries me where I want to go with every step I take. My mum does it with such grace as she floats though the trees with the fluidity of a professional ice skater. As we walk the hummingthat's been buzzing through my body since I woke up has evolved into a vibration the deeper into the woods we go.
Mum takes my hand and I feel our energies connect into a stronger pulse that connects me to everything around me. It feels the same as when I stopped the tree from falling. Like I have roots going into everything around me. Connecting me and feeding me with an energy like nothing I have ever felt before. Emotions swirl around me. Flooding me with feelings that are almost too much to bear. Mum squeezes my hand and pulls me slightly away from the overwhelming cascade of what I'm feeling. I realise I'm shaking. “Mum what's happening? Did you put something in my coffee?”
She laughs. “No! Just let it in. This is what you are. You’re so special and now finally, you get to know the truth.”
After what feels like forever, we come to a clearing with a huge oak tree in the middle of it. The sun shines through the leaves and frames it in a majestic light and illuminates the drifts of snow drops surrounding the ground around it. A Mistle Thrush is above us singing the most hypnotising song. All around I see wild life completely unfazed by our presence. A badger snuffles in the ground. Rabbits hop all around. The trees are still bare from the grips of winter but I don't feel the least bit cold. I'm perfectly comfortable in my dress and my mum also seems just as at home. She goes and sits down at the base of the tree and gestures for me to do the same.
Her expression is filled with excitement and love as she takes a deep steadying breath.
“Krista, I know these last few days have been confusing and I have tried my absolute hardest to let you handle it in your own way as is our custom.” My mums voice is thick with emotion as she looks me straight in the eyes and holds both my hands.
I already have questions. Like what does she mean by 'our custom'? But somehow, I know it will be answered eventually and I can see my mum has a lot to say so I just listen intently.
She continues and her voice gets stronger as she does. “Since before you were born I have dreamt of this day and planned over and over again what I would say. Seeing you so scared these last couple of days has been so hard and I wanted more than anything to hold you and tell you everything will be OK, but I couldn't. You had to experience and overcome it all on your own. To see if you are worthy of the great power that will be bestowed upon you today, as it was bestowed upon me on my 18thbirthday. Our bloodline is long and ancient and the gifts and knowledge of it have been passed on from mother to daughter for generations.
We are Nymphs and our duty is to nature and balance. We help and guide the sick and struggling to health and help it to thrive. You feel the life of everything around you and it's time for you to accept it and let it become a part of you as you are a part of it, since the Goddess Gaia created us to protect her world. We are the guardians of nature. This responsibility comes with great power and equally great danger. I promise to teach you our way and guide you through your exploration of this newfound gift. Do you accept your duty and responsibility to earth and to Gaia?”
Mum finishes with tears streaming down her face and a huge breath of relief as if this has been all that she's been waiting for her whole life. My mind is turning quicker than I can comprehend, but even so it makes perfect sense and her words resonate with me to the core of my being. I'm a Nymph. A protector of nature and life.
The shock threatens to overwhelm me. The last couple of days have been driving me to near insanity but now I know. I saved the tree. I am good. My mum has known this entire timeand if I had just spoken to her about it- no this is a part of my life I needed to figure out on my own. To see if I'm worthy... Gaia needed to see how I dealt with this power.
The idea of having the power to help everything around me thrive is incredible. I know my place in life now and all the worrying about whether I'm evil is gone. I know what I am and what I want to be and it is the complete opposite of evil. The words come out of my mouth without me even having to contemplate. “I do.”
As I say the words, power and energy floods into me from the ground beneath me welcoming me in. It's warm and comforting. It's the best feeling I've ever felt. I'm cocooned by the world around me and I protect it. Every blade of grass to every bird and mammal. I feel it all and I'm home.
I breathe in deeply as I revel in the moment. I feel my mums’ arms around me and I fall into them and burst into tears of joy. Mum whispers into my ear. “I'm so proud of you but there is one more thing you have to do.” She pulls away from me and turns to the oak tree.
I follow her gaze and see an ethereal white stag gracefully stepping around from behind it. Its eyes are the deepest pools of black as if they hold the great weight of knowledge for the entire world. Its fur is luminescent like pearls. Casting light in a halo on everything around it.
My mum stands and bows her head with her hand outstretched palm up. I take in the astounding sight then gather myself and do the same. I watch as it moves towards me and bows its head into my hand. It's nose gently touching my skin. The warmth and softness of it is exhilarating. I'm too in awe of this majestic creature to move. Its enormous antlers are curving over my head. Encircling me in its greatness. Before I know it, it raises its head and with one final glance at the two of us, prances into the forest and vanishes out if sight.
I stand stunned for a minute as reality dawns on me what has just happened. I feel lighter than air and yet grounded more than ever to the earth beneath my feet. My body is pulsating with an immense energy bubbling under the surface of my skin. I look to my mum for reassurance and the pride and joy on her face is too much for me to handle. I wrap my arms around her and bury my face into her shoulder. I half laugh, half cry as emotion and power overwhelms me. She strokes the back of my head and kisses my hair as she holds me tight. “Now you know sweetheart. I've wanted to tell you for so long. Now you can enjoy who you are.”
It feels incredible and impossible at the same time. I lift my head and mum lets me go. I'm not human. I'm a Nymph. A spirit of nature. It all makes sense now. I have answers but they only leave more questions. Mum seems to understand my train of thought.
“I'll tell you anything you want to know. There's so much for you to learn. It's wonderful sweetheart.” Her smile comforts me. Her eyes are still red from crying, but I've never seen her happier.
I look in the direction the stag went. “What was that?”
“That was the will and spirit of Gaia. She is our creator and mother. She comes to us in the form of the Stag. Her symbol. It is a great honour to see it. It is unlikely you will ever see it again unless you have a daughter of your own. She accepted you as one of us. Only the pure of heart have access to the Earth's energy.” As she speaks, we walk through the woods with no particular direction in mind.
“So the Greek gods aren't just myths and legends? They're real?”
“Yes. The history you know is but the tip of the iceberg compared to the truth and reality.” As she walks, she brushes her hands over the flora around us. I do the same and with eachtouch it’s energy hums through my fingertips. “With time and new religions the old gods were forgotten. Turned into fables and myths. The gods grew weary of the wars and the need to be worshipped and simply faded away until humanity moved on. If humans knew the truth all would turn to chaos as it did many years ago. Gaia is the Goddess of Life and Balance. She created the world by herself and in turn created Uranus her lover and from them came the Titans who bore to life Zeus, Hades and Poseidon and all the other Olympic Gods. Hades, the God of Death and rebirth loved Gaia and she him. Hades and Gaia’s love grew ever more intense but so did the darkness within him. Gaia, desperate to save her love from the darkness hoped for a way to save him. Then they had a son. Alistair.”
I try to hide my shock when she says his name but she’s watching me intently and I see her eyes darken. I look at the ground and she continues.
“He has a lot of his fathers’ abilities. Mind control, the ability to wield shadows, strength, speed and a hunger for blood. They killed thousands. Gaia hated their need for blood but her love for her family out-weighed her disgust. Until Hades discovered something that would forever change the world. If a human drank his blood and died with it in their system, they would be reborn a demi-god. A vampire. So many were killed and humans lived in fear. Gaia could bear no more and so, created a demi-god of her own to keep them in check. Nymphs. With the forces of nature at our disposal she hoped to out power the unnatural abominations and thus restore balance. Zeus saw this happening and helped with a creation of his own demi-gods. Lycans, or as you might know them werewolves. Together they matched Hades power and once more restored balance. Over the years the stories of the past were altered and changed to protect the human race.”
