Mysterious Lands

Something strange is happening in this forest of long ago, a faint crackling, a shuddering, flashes of silver lightning. In a small clearing. The wild inhabitants flee in fright. Then a swirl of colour appears in mid-air, just off the ground. A young woman in simple clothing and a cloak, falls out of this mysterious swirl of colour, to collapse on the ground unconscious.

Now a witch by the name of Hellor, happened to be travelling by, she was attracted to the spot, at first by one of the creatures that of the creatures that took fright. Which gave her much delight for she would have a use for such a creature. With the creature paralysed under a spell she noticed the young woman lying on the ground. With a groan of annoyance she approached the woman to find her unconscious, and cursing under her breath she cast a levitating spell on the young woman and the wild creature, to carry them to the Hubble.

After a time the young woman awoke with such a fright that she startled Hellor's black cat Shale from the foot of the bed, that the young woman found herself in. Being frightened and confused, with her eyes darting about the room, she quickly realised that she was somewhere unfamiliar to her. Still feeling nervous and confused she relaxed a little and started to notice what was in the room around her. She noticed that the bed that she was in was next to a wall in a corner of the room. There was a window on her left above the bed, and on her right, next to the bed was a low table with some objects that she soon realised were hers. Further off towards her right was an array of shelves with so many objects it seemed almost impossible, for the shelves to stay on the walls. In the opposite corner was a large and very strangely carved cupboard. In front of her was the door that the cat disapeared through. It was partially open.

As the young woman was sitting there trying to get all her thoughts together, but still feeling a bit confused, Hellor came into the room. The young woman was feeling very nervous now, being in the presence of someone that she did not know.

Hellor “ Now that you have finally awoken, I demand to know what you were doing in my forest.”
The young woman” I don't know where I am, or what forest I was in... I can't remember anything before now!”
Hellor” You better not be lying, I don't like it when people lie.”
The young woman “No, I'm not lying, I can only remember my name, at least the first part of my name ore something. My name is Toleta.”
Hellor” Hmm, at least we have got that out of the way. I wonder what you mean about the 'rest' of your name? Anyway, we shall see if you are lying to me or not, that is why I want you to drink this special brew that I made for such an occasion.”

Toleta was handed the bre, and drank it, finding it surprisingly very tasty.

Toleta “Was I alone in your forest?”
Hellor” Yes you were, there better not be anyone else I hope!! I want you to tell me where you came from, whom your people are, even who your parents are! If you have any at all that is.”
Toleta “ I do not know if there was anyone else in your forest. I cannot remember who my people are, or even who my parents are or were. All I can remember are my name, and that I know a lot about plants. That is all.”
Hello' Aah... you must be in pretty bad shape. Your memory is pretty dim. Though what you said about plants may prove very useful. Though I do need to know one thing, do you know any magic?”
Toleta” No, of course not, don't be ridiculous!”
Hellor ' Just making sure. Your knowledge of plants started to make me wonder.”

What Hellor did not realise was that the brew was not truly working on Toleta. She did remember more than she said. She remembered that it is wise to be cautious around strangers, especially strangers that make brews of truth. She did remember also that she was not just an ordinary young woman. She remembered that she was actually a sorceress. It was true she could not remember how she got there or where she came from. It was also true of her memories of her family, her people. She had no idea that she was sent through some kind of rift into this world. What she did know was, that she was on a quest to learn more about this world and maybe find answers to her questions, which her memory would not answer.

Hellor started mumbling to herself and then motioned for Toleta to follow.

Hellor” I could use some help around here and until I can figure out what exactly to do, you'll be here for a while. Come I'll show you where I keep the animals.”

So Toleta followed Hellor out of the hovel, around a corner to their left to be greeted by an array of yards and cages. Toleta noticed that there were a few sheep, two cows and a very old looking bull, a horse, pigs, chickens, ducks and geese. There was a large cage with several rabbits and hares. Further along there were aviaries full of such a mixture of different birds, it was so dizzying. As Toleta followed Hellor further along, she was led to a hidden collection of cages. These cages had within them exotic and strange creatures. There were creatures of unknown name or origin, at least to Toleta. Two creatures really took her eye. A young leopard cub and what appeared to be a horse, until she took better notice. It was a unicorn.

Hellor “ Ah, I see you're admiring my new addition to my collection.”
Toleta “Yes, why have you got all these creatures?”
Hellor “ I have, my reasons. The unicorn I have a use for. I caught him at the time I found you. For some reason he was scared out of hiding, so he was easy to find, and capture.”
Toleta “What use could you have for a unicorn other than admiring his beauty?”
Hellor “ I'm going to remove his horn and use it for my own means.”
Toleta “Remove his horn! But, why? You'll hurt him. What would become of him if you do that?!”
Hellor “ Hahaha, nothing you say or do will stop me. Anyway it may hurt him, but it won't kill him. He won't be a unicorn in a way, he'll live the rest of his life as a horse. He'll just think very differently to one though, and will not be able to communicate easily with other horses, unless they were once a unicorn. I won't kill him, just change him.”
Toleta “No, no that's not right!”
Hellor “ And what do you think you could do about it? There's no way you can leave here without my permission. Now don't go causing me any trouble. Don't you even think about setting these creatures free, especially the unicorn. Most of these creatures would repay you by eating you. The unicorn would probably try to kill you as well if you tried to free him. So go ahead, get killed, or leave them all be and only feed them when I tell you to.”

Now Toleta was getting very frustrated and angry. She knew that what Hellor was planning to do was not right. Toleta knew Hellor was wrong about the unicorn. She could sense it's thoughts somehow. She also came to realise that what Hellor meant bout her not leaving without her permission, was that she was now a prisoner of the witch. As she watched Hellor walk away cackling to herself, Toleta started to think what was she going to do. She knew that staying here was not her destiny. Toleta knew, that she was here for a reason, she had to leave somehow and continue on her quest for answers.

Toleta “What am I going to do? I know you wouldn't kill me, it's not your nature to kill in such a way. I have to get out of here somehow. I want to let you all go. It isn't right. Though I do believe that, that witch was right about some of you. You probably would eat me...”

A voice then came to Toleta as though from thin air.