• The Kayalins: such an interesting race of shape-shifting creatures. The Kayalin families spread over Darkwood Forest, protecting the surrounding villages from the creatures within; for the creatures in the forest were quite dangerous and often touchy, killing without care or reason.

    Our story is that of a young Kayalin named Aden Silvertree. For Aden and his companions learned a valuable lesson that should be retold. A story of the hope that is there for all of us, and a story of how to overcome the darkness and sadness that envelopes the world. This is the tale of Aden Silvertree

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    “Aden!” a young Kayalin girl, shouted to her brother. Unfortunately the boy was quite distracted, climbing up a tall oak, a light smirk played upon his lips. His sister always seemed to be worrying. Though he could understand why, with the crazy stunts he pulled to try to help the innocent creatures in the forest. Aden loved animals and couldn’t stand to see them hurt. That is why he had insisted on stopping when he saw the lone creature in the oak tree.

    “Come down ‘ere right now Aden! Mum’ll ‘ave yer ‘ead if ye don’t! Aden!”

    “Stop yer worryin’ June,” The boy said, ever-so-carefully balanced upon a tree branch high up in the canopy of dark emerald leaves, “I’ve almost got ‘im.”

    Aden reached for the lion-like tail of a baby griffin, concealed by the leaves and the branches. The tan-colored tail swished back and forth, almost playfully.

    Every time the Kayalin boy reached for it to pull the creature closer to him it swung away in the other direction. Aden carefully got down on his knees and leaned out farther.

    “So... close...” he groaned, his hand actually brushing against the tuft of fur at the end of the griffin’s tail..

    “C’mon!” Aden yelled, and suddenly the tail disappeared into the leaves and out popped a feathery brown head. A tiny beak opened up and let out a little squeak. The head tilted to one side, curious as to what exactly the boy was doing up in the tree.

    “C’mere little’un..C’mere,” Aden said, trying to coax the young creature to him.

    If he had not been in the higher branches of a tree, Aden would have looked perfectly normal. His clothes were the style of any boy from Neran. Simple home-made tunic, and trousers of brown cloth and sturdy traveling boots.

    Aden swung his legs over the branch of the tree and paused to fix the knot he had tied in his cloak to keep it tight around his waist and un-torn.

    His cloak was one of his favorite possessions. Unlike most of his clothes, which were made of homespun cloth, he had bought this cloak from a vendor in Latresa. He had saved his money for it for months before he had finally bought it so it was rather dear to him, albeit a bit too large so he could grow into it.

    Slowly and carefully Aden brought his feet up onto the branch, already glistening with dew from the coming night.

    “Ah!” Aden gasped sharply, as his boot slipped on the slick surface. Below his twin Juniper gasped as well. Her hand flew up to her mouth and she held her breath nervously. Her shoulder-length hair mirrored her brother’s in color and was pulled back for convenience. Tied tightly around her waist was a brown apron which had two pockets filled with sweet fruits from some of the more pleasant trees in the forest. However, they sat forgotten for the time being.

    “Oh. Aden! I think I be ‘earin’ the Drakales a’comin’!” Juniper called, twisting a loose lock of her hair around her finger.

    Drakales were not some of the more pleasant creatures, quite the opposite. Vampiric in nature, they feed upon the life of others; and taking the form of a thick fog they hover over the trees and then swoop down upon the unsuspecting; darker than a starless night sky and colder than the coldest ice. They swoop down, one at a time, to capture their prey; like black-cloaked phantoms they come; faceless, but for the slight silvery outline of a consuming mouth. Always hungry; always wanting to consume; desperately searching for those foolish enough to find themselves trapped in their fog.

    Aden’s usual merry eyes widened slightly with fear when he heard their mention. A shiver went up his spine and spread through his body until his hands trembled slightly. He gripped the tree more tightly to reassure himself. A determined look lit up his features. Now he wished nothing more than to get home safely as soon as he possibly could; slightly pale from fear, the boy leapt forward and grabbed hold of the tiny creature before he began to plummet to the forest floor.

    Panic gripped at him as the ground came ever closer to him. He barely noticed the loud shriek from his sister, or the squawking of the animal in his arms. Aden calmly concentrated on what needed to be done. Time seemed to slow for him. Changing was out of the question with the little one in his arms. He reached out with one hand and grabbed onto a branch , slowing his fall considerably. He landed in a crouching position, holding tightly to the young animal with his other arm.

    “Let’s go ‘ome,” Aden said firmly as the tiny griffin squawked fearfully for his mother, “June, let’s go, lest ye’d rather like to feed the Drakales.”

    The older twin nodded fervently to her brother her hand still half covering her mouth from the fright that she had experienced. She threw her arms around her twin in relief.

    “Aden, you had me scared half-to-death,” she whispered, holding onto him with a squirming baby griffin between them.

    “June, we need to go home…” Aden said, “Now…”

    Both of the children looked out into the fading light. Rising up to hang upon the trees; a thick fog came into being. However, this was no ordinary fog about to come upon them, for none quite so thick, or quite so dark, could have formed so quickly.

    Aden was the one to first recognize the creatures; his blood ran cold at the sight. Faintly he could hear the mournful cries of the Drakales making their way closer to whatever they might be able to feed upon, moving slowly and steadily closer. The Kayalins stared in horror as the leaves and grass were drained of the life in them, now shriveled and brown.

    A bird suddenly fell to the ground, not twenty feet away from them; Juniper gave out a small shriek. What a horrible, terrible fate it was, to have your life and soul drained away and become an empty shell of a body, good for only one thing.

    The dead bird’s eyes glowed an eerie red color and seemed to be surrounded by a dark mist. It began to fly towards the two children, but they now seemed frozen, staring in awe at what had happened, for the empty shell of the bird had now become a host to the Drakale that had devoured its life.

    The griffin nipped sharply at Aden’s hand, but still the boy remained stationary, staring at the poor beast, animated only by the wicked creature that had possessed it. Juniper let out a scream as the bird’s body broke away to reveal the dark, shadowy mist-like creature with its gaping mouth, prepared to have its fill of nourishment from the three beings in front of it. Finally, beginning to think once more, Aden grabbed his twin’s arm and began to run, not even daring to look behind them. The changing game that the Drakales played always amazed him. It was the constant proof that the wicked creatures were very distantly related to the Kayalins.

    Birds and such animals were not the most dangerous things that Drakales could possess. If they happened to feast upon the life of a humanoid creature they could steal that person’s empty shell of a body and go masquerading about as them. That was when the real trouble began. Nothing could be more dangerous. It meant that they could go where ever they wanted.

    Usually Drakales stayed in Darkwood Forest, but with a human host they could go anywhere! Into the towns, into the cities and feast to their hearts’ content.

    Juniper chanced to glance behind to behold now a multitude of the foul beings starting to swarm towards them. Her eyes widened.

    “A...Aden!” she said, pointing fearfully, “They’re gainin’ on us!

    “Umm... now’s not really the time sister... just keep runnin’ and they’ll get bored soon enough,” The boy said as cheerfully as possible, trying to keep his sister calm. That was just too close.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The underground home of the Silvertrees was simple to be sure, but the point of it was to be hidden, not to be lavishing. Carefully, Aden crawled under a hidden ledge, covered by overgrown weeds in a ditch. He held the small bird-like beast he had rescued close to his body and dropped down into a tunnel.

    It was hardly tall enough to stand in, but this wasn’t a problem for a Kayalin. Usually he would just change his appearance and make himself a little shorter when traveling in the tunnels. Politely Aden held out his hand to his sister as it was quite a drop down. Juniper was quick to follow Aden’s example, shifting her size so that it wasn’t so tight a fit to walk through. The two twins briefly dusted off, before they headed down the tunnels to their home.

    The tunnels to reach their home had many twists and turns in order to reach their home successfully. It usually did its job well at keeping intruders away, but Aden and Juniper knew their way perfectly from years of walking through them.

    “Mum we’re ‘ome!” Juniper shouted upon opening the heavy oak door. Aden had tried to stop her. He smacked his forehead with irritation at his sister’s forgetfulness. They were going to be in hot water with their mom now. In the kitchen a young woman stood with her hands on her hips. Blond hair spilled down to her waist and was tucked behind her ears, keeping it away from her crystal blue eyes.

    “Where were ye two?!” she asked in a slight rage, “Do ye realize I’ve been worried out of me mind all day? Out all day long, ye could ‘ave been killed out there! Why… why… there are all kinds of beasts who would be happy to gobble up my two sweet children!!”

    The older twin flinched slightly at their mother’s accusations and almost seemed to tremble. Meanwhile, Aden stood there and calmly waited for her to finish. With his mother’s thin and now slightly flushed face glaring at them, Aden began to tell her his explanation.

    “We were just doin’ what we’re s’posed to do mum. Out tryin’ to find those in need y’know. We weren’t doin’ anythin’ wrong. We picked some fruit for lunch and even brought some ‘ome.”

    “Oh don’t ye dare be givin’ me that! Yer not even fully grown yet! Ev’ryone knows young Kayalins; who ‘aven’t even devel’ped a magical pow’r, ‘part from some pathetic shiftin’; are not meant to be goin’ about lookin’ for the kinds of problems that ye two do.. Besides that, the ‘people’ ye bring.. Aden honey, some of ‘em are dangerous. I don’ want to lose ye. Yer so cruel to yer dear mother who loves you so much.”

    “Oh mum, e’s just a baby griffin. Completely ‘armless,” Aden raised an eyebrow at his mother’s sentiment, “Nothin’ ‘appened. We’re ‘ome, we’re safe and we saved this little fella to boot.”

    “Yeah, the Drakales were gonna get ‘im,” Juniper said.

    “June…” Aden gritted out.

    “Drakales??!” Mrs Silvertree face went pale then back to red, “That’s why I want you to come home before it starts getting dark!! No one, not even your father, stays out after dark!!”

    “Mum… we’re fine, really, it was just starting to get dark and we made it didn’t we?” Aden pointed out.

    “Aden Silvertree… I swear you’re going to be the death of me,” their mother said with a sigh. She gave her son a warning look as she took the griffin from his hands. A scowl set onto her face as the small creature bit her hand fiercely. She lightly tapped the top of its head as if to reprimand the griffin child

    A light came from the next room, where many magical creatures were resting, awaiting the Kayalins’ care. Aden looked over the scene. He saw a small puff of smoke rise from the nose of a tiny pixie dragon. It’s fragile wings were put in a splint from being broken. Carefully, it licked its creamy white fur clean.

    Next to the small dragon sat a peculiar half-human species known as a satyr. It’s goat-like leg was propped up on a stool, needing medical attention. While shivering in the corner the Kayalin boy saw the young unicorn he had helped to bring in yesterday, after his father had frightened off the witch that had been attempting to catch it. Now it was asleep, but it still seemed to almost glow with its brilliantly white body.

    The boy’s eyes lit up with even more curiosity when he noticed a small family of faeries trembling upon a pillow. He hadn’t seen them yesterday. Someone must have brought them in earlier while he and his sister were out. He wished he had been there to help them.

    Cautiously Aden followed his mother, not sure if he was permitted. Thoughts ran through the boy’s mind. Why does mum worry so much? Honestly, I’ve been living in Darkwood Forest all me life, I know about caution, I know that I should never be travelin’ when it’s dark so why’s she always bein’ so worried that I be breakin’ the rules? He looked back at the griffin who seemed very sad indeed to be out of Aden’s care.

    “Mum? Can I care for ‘im... please? I’ll be very careful and ye know me skills are... exceptional...”

    “Oh by the heavens! Ye may care for the little imp. I don’t need any more to do anyway.,” Mrs. Silvertree carefully handed him the infant creature that was gnawing on her rictumber roots. Aden snuck one as well from the jar as he smiled charmingly at his mother. He bit a piece of with a small snap, then made a face. These are much better when they’re cooked. He decided. They tasted somewhat like potatoes, only slightly sweeter, but when uncooked, the taste was strong and bitter. Aden swallowed it down with a small gulp.

    “I know what to call ye. I like Taru,” he said to the animal, “What say ye to that?”

    The griffin simply stared up at Aden, but it’s lovely amber eyes seemed to carry a sort of happiness. However at the same time a sadness rimmed the griffin’s gentle eyes. It lightly nudged it’s fuzzy brown head against Aden’s shoulder.

    “Don’ ye worry little one, we’ll find yer mum. She must be out there somewhere…”

    With that Aden sat Taru on his bed, making a bed out of a duvet specifically for the little animal.

    “Sleep,” he whispered, smiling softly at the little creature. Slowly he sat down upon his bed, the stress of the day finally getting to him. He closed his eyes and thought of his day before sleep slowly took over him as well.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    It had barely been two hours when Aden was awakened by a familiar voice.

    “Aben! Aben! Get ub! Come down!” said the small voice of his younger brother Ashton. The older boy opened one eye to see the younger Kayalin smiling brightly at him, glad to have the “important” job of waking Aden. He groaned and rolled back over.

    “No Aben! Ub!” Ashton cried, tugging at Aden’s outer-tunic sleeve.

    “Oh, fine! I’m up, I’m up!” Aden said, sitting up. He glanced towards the duvet where he had left Taru. Oh no! Where is he? Mum’s goin’ t’kill me if I don’t find ‘im!

    “Taru?!” he called, eyes wide. In a daze he barely noticed the high-pitch laugh that sounded behind him. Turning he saw his sister, Juniper, and nestled on her lap was Taru, chewing happily on a piece of rictumber root. Aden felt warmth spread across his cheeks.

    “‘E’s right ‘ere sleepy ‘ead,” she said almost accusingly, “C’mon, we’ve got work to do, and yer little pal’s ‘ungry. If yer goin’ ta take care of ‘im ye ‘ave ta feed ‘im.”

    Taru looked up at Aden and his lion-like tail swished back and forth happily, hitting Juniper in the face. Aden laughed in amusement, picking the creature up. Taru began to bat playfully at Aden’s hair squawking and squirming out of his arms. He then began to chew on Aden’s bootlaces. Smiling the Kayalin walked down the slope of earth to the kitchen with Taru chasing the laces close behind

    With a sigh the twins sat down and began to extract violet nectar for the fairies. This was their punishment for running off. Aden knew they should be hospitable but why this? He watched as Ashton and Hayden played with carved wooden soldiers on the floor by his feet. They smiled up at him and he pretended not to notice when they snuck his griffin candied fruits. Juniper was having very little luck with the violets. Ashton sitting at her feet and staring at her was not helping in the slightest.

    “What ye doin’?” he asked curiously, bright blue eyes peering from underneath a messy crop of blond hair.

    “I’m making a drink for the faeries.”

    “Why?”

    “Because mum told us to.”

    “Why?”

    “Because.”

    “Ooh.... Eek!”

    Taru leapt at Ashton, knocking him over and batting at his messy blond hair. Giggles were heard from both of the boys as they began to tussle on the floor. Amid all of this commotion a petite girl with hair the color of burnt sienna wood, skipped primly into the room, smiling prettily.

    “Mama says ye two can stop a’messin’ with the violets,” she said sharply, “Ye’ll only ruin ‘em anyway.”

    “Thank ye Rosemary,” Aden replied, though slightly annoyed by his younger sister’s attitude. However, he was most grateful to set the flowers aside. He picked up Taru, much to his brothers’ dismay and went to supper.

    “I s’pose I’ll go out lookin’ for his mum on the morrow,” Aden said, mostly thinking out loud.

    “I’d say that would be a good idea, but for one thing dear brother,” Juniper replied.

    “Oh, and what might that be?”

    “Mum’s decided that yer goin’ to go to Dimetor Lake to check on the Nixies.”

    “On no! Mum, not them snobby fish folk!”

    “Yer goin’ Aden, and that’s that,” came the very commanding voice of Mr. Silvertree.

    No one would go against what he said. So, with a sigh, Aden sat down to eat, setting Taru on the floor, where a fish sat for him to eat. He patted the griffin’s head. Poor fellow. Tomorrow’s goin’ t’be a rough day, but at least it’s work.

    With that final reassuring though, Aden ate his supper.