Once there was a little girl,
Vescaria,
with nothing and no one.
One day,
She dared to enter the woods.

The woods were a snarl
of moss and fern,
of rot and blossom,
of wither and bloom.
Few trod the path,
for it belonged to the faeries.
But Vescaria was not afraid.

Deep in the brambles
where the blueberries grew,
she met a man with
wings like glass.
King of the Faeries,
they called him ‘Dove,’
Sentinel of the Glade.

Dove wore a crown of gold.
Around his neck,
a grinning amulet.
Guardian of all things green
and good,
he saw in Vasceria
a sliver of himself.

She became his apprentice,
a Glade Sentinel to be.
He loved her as his own,
and she looked to him
as the only family she’d never had.

Kress,
God of Death,
had long despised the fae,
and the verdant woods
they called their home.
He could not reach Dove,
who was far too strong,
so instead moved to curse.
Vasceria.

But Dove would not allow it.
He pushed her aside,
taking the curse upon himself.
Like a daydream set aflame,
the sight of fire
would cause him to transform.
The Faery King became a beast,
soothed only by the sound
of running water.

It was Vasceria who forged
the staff,
from Dove’s golden crown,
and a meteorite
pitched from burning heavens.
Breaker of all curses,
the staff would free Dove,
and combat any foe.
It was nearly complete.

But Kress was clever
and cruel.
With his tricks,
he fooled the villagers,
who lived at the foot of the woods.
With fire and ash,
and soot and flame,
he placed their fear in Dove.

They believed him a monster
which they called
“The Befuddler.”
When they came to slay him,
he would not fight back.
And so they killed
the first Glade Sentinel.

The staff was shattered,
broken by villagers,
components stolen and gone.
It snapped with such force
that two chunks of the land
gave way,
splitting the ground
asea.
From this formed twin islands,
one called ‘Foundra,’
the other ‘Lostundra,’
named so by two
wily dragons.

They left only Dove’s amulet
and the blade,
stained blue with faerie blood,
for Vasceria to pocket.

The blood wrought
strange...