Chapter 1: A stroll through paradise

It was beautiful. The sun was shining overheard in the clear blue sky, its light filtered through the thick canopy of leaves. The trees were tall, thick and strong, unmoving against the gentle breeze that rustled the leaves and grass. Song birds and butterflies flew to and from the trees, a beautiful diversion from the flowers and leaves on the forest floor. 

A natural path wound between the trees towards a clearing bathed in sunlight, and on this path was a little girl. She was about 7 years of age, a small child with long, straight, jet-black hair that reached her shoulders, eyes as red as the brightest rubies, a cute little button nose, and a pale face with the loveliest smile. The dress she wore was as black as her hair, with white frills, reaching past her knees towards her knee-length socks. It was simple yet elegant, perfectly complementing her beauty. She was running on the winding path towards the clearing, laughing as she held out her arms at her sides like an airplane. 

As she approached the far away clearing, six blurs flashed past her, above the forest canopy! Two more blurs zoomed past her on the forest floor, a few trees between them and her. She did not notice them, although even if she did, she wouldn't have picked up any details for they were too fast for her to follow and were gone in a few seconds. 

Meanwhile, she happily continued running about the path, doing a little dance and a twirl every now and then. She begun humming as she reached the final bend of the path before it straighten out and headed for the clearing. Flowers of various sizes, shapes and colours lined the path from the bend to the clearing. Various birds stood atop the tree branches, singing beautiful songs as the butterflies flew over the path. The little girl stopped for a moment to observe the beautiful sight, while she was still humming. She continued down the path, walking now instead of running, so as to enjoy the sounds and sights that nature has presented to her. Her humming slowly grew louder with each passing step, her legs having more bounce in them with each passing second, her arms moving on their own to a rhythm she felt rather than heard. Slowly, she began to dance with each step, dancing to the music of nature. 

After five minutes, she finally reached the end of the path and came to a stop as she took in the grand sight that lay before her. 

The clearing was so large it was almost a field! Dancing flowers and flies reflecting the sunlight that came crashing down, rabbits and hares hopping away into the burrows at the far end of the clearing, horses and donkeys standing idly while grazing on the tall grass. As the little girl stepped foot into the clearing, a group of fairies and pixies flew past her, almost touching her face! 

As she turned to look at them, eight stone columns emerged from the ground on the opposite end of the clearing! They rose up quickly, moving upwards towards the sun, yet no sound could be heard from them, and the ground seemed perfectly fine, with no cracks or ruptures anywhere. It was as though the ground itself was creating these columns, instead of the columns having come from somewhere beneath.

They eventually came to a stop after rising above the treetops. The little girl looked up at them in awe. They were a magnificent sight to behold, eight square columns made of ivory coloured stone covered in intricate black symbols from the bottom and nearly to the top. At the top of each column were round, gold pedestals that sloped outwards from the column, forming a wide, flat surface.

Suddenly, the eight blurs from before dashed from the treetops behind the girl, and flew towards the columns. They landed on the gold pedestals, eight shadowy figures standing proud, holding out a staff to the side with their right hands, and looking down at the clearing from their high perch. Despite being bathed in sunlight, the little girl couldn't make out any features from. However, she felt as if she already knew them. 

As she pondered this strange feeling of recognition, the eight figures suddenly bowed from the waist, their left arms crossing their abdomen to the right side, their heads lowered. It was some form of respect and acknowledgment, as well as a greeting, and the little girl realised it was for her. They were bowing to her! 

She didn't quite understand it, but something inside her told her this is right. This is how it is meant to be. It made her smile, then giggle, then laugh. 

Her laughter could be heard all over the clearing and reached the eight figures who stood bowing on their pedestals. It was a lovely, merry sound, quite infectious in fact, and soon the eight started laughing as well. However, only two of them could be heard laughing; the others appeared to be laughing in silence like mimes. One of the two sounded like a child, the other sounded like a young adult.

After the girl finally calmed down, she beckoned to the figures above to come down and join her. Before they could respond, or even make a move, she was off again, heading towards the columns. She went past them, and entered the forest once more, running on the path as she did earlier. 

The shadowy figures appeared to smile, before they jumped off their pedestals. However, instead of falling straight to the ground as anyone would expect, they were hovering in the air! They turned towards the direction where the girl had gone, and flew after her. 

The little girl eventually left the path and began running at full speed, cutting straight through the forest. She past several trees, bushes, and large toadstools, which had an eerie glow. Several fairies and pixies flew past her, frogs and toads the colour of rainbows hopped out of her way, and graceful unicorns simply trotted past her as she ran. 

In a few minutes, the eight figures caught up to her, although they remained in the sky and continued to watch her from above. They all continued to move forward, never stopping once until they finally reached their destination; a strange structure that seemed to have grown from the ground itself, much like the pillars, only this structure was made of wood, moss and vines, all blended together. 

It looked like some sort of pavilion, three levels high and completely open to the outside. The floor, which also acted as a ceiling on the first two levels, was perfectly round and circular. It was made of wood the colour of gold, and was so perfectly polished that a person could see their own reflection on the surface. The whole structure was held up by four pillars, which slowly twisted up and around each level, eventually meeting at the top level and forming a canopy, as well as a crown with eight points.

As the girl came to a stop to look at her destination, the eight figures landed beside her. Even now, no details could be made out, despite the fact that they were all standing next to her.

One of the eight stepped forward and asked the girl, "Shall we enter the station?". This figure was the one who had sounded like a child laughing earlier on. Even now, he still sounded like a child, his voice clear. In fact, as the girl turned to face him, his features started to become more apparent! He actually did look like a young boy! A young boy, who seamed to be about 10 years of age. He had pointy ears like an elf, sharp eyes like a bird, a pointed nose like a goblin, bright green messy hair, and a mischievous face. But that was all she could make out. The rest of his features were still covered in shadows.

She smiled at him, replying, "Sure. I wanted to go to the mountains anyway." She spoke clearly with a British accent that had a bit of Irish in it.

Turning back to the station, they walked towards it, walking up the short flight of stairs that led up to the first level. Upon entering, they walked to the centre of the floor where a wooden panel with a dark screen hovered in midair. Once they reached the panel, the childlike figure stepped forward and seemed to enter something on the screen. After a few seconds of waiting, the group suddenly teleported straight to the third level. Standing on the centre of the floor facing another panel, the child figure returned to the group while another stepped forward to take his place. This appeared to be quite tall, but that was about all the little girl could make out. 

Suddenly, she heard a noise. It was faint and distant, barely audible, a background noise that seemed to have managed to creep through into her ears. She shrugged it off at first, but it kept coming back, each time louder and more persistent, slowly causing a panic to rise up inside her.

She called to the figure at the panel, urging them to hurry up. However, with each passing second the sound became louder and clearer. Eventually, she could hear it quite clearly, although the others didn't seem to. 

"Elisa." There it was again. Her name. Someone was calling her name. "Elisa." She had to hurry! She didn't know why, but she had to! "Elisa!" Time was running out! Suddenly, the world around her began to crumble. Darkness started seeping in, quickly closing in around her. Suddenly, she was falling into the abyss! "ELISA! Are you awake?"

It was too late she realised. Nothing could save her now. 

The seven year old girl sighed and closed her eyes.

And the eleven year old girl lying in bed opened her eyes, leaving her dream behind.