'Once upon a time, the world had been united. But it did not take much for it to be parted. One woman's fury and cunning were enough – she threw us all into eternal isolation. She was a witch, you see. One of few at the time. She threatened the whole kingdom and we were the first to stand in her way. But as it is with magic, our brave hearted ancestors were tricked, and before they knew what had happened, everything was lost. The witch, however, needed rest from her mighty magics, so she was easy prey for the young magicians who fought her. They didn't know, but it was thanks to our sacrifice that the kingdom could be saved.

'What followed was a time of peace and happiness under the wizards' guidance. But they were young and foolish. One of them found us, he could see what others could not. But he was too late, time was too short, others got jealous and another war broke out over the kingdom. All wizards were forced to either flee or try and hide. Nobody ever found us again. We, centuries later, are still paying for long gone happiness that had never even reached us, all on our own out here in the forest and the mountains. Legend has it that one day, someone will come here again and they will bring deliverance from what we must still bear, yet nobody knows whether they shall bring it through life or through death.'

When his grandmother stopped reading to him, Gardar opened his eyes again. He knew the story and had been trying to recount it by heart while she had been reading. This time, he had only made two mistakes in sentence structure.

'And the other one, the prophecy, I want to hear that one too!' Gardar said excitedly. His grandmother raised an eyebrow and waited until he added, 'Please?'

'Don't you know it by now? Come on, you tell me what you remember and I will correct you.' She closed the heavy book that was lying in her lap. It was only half full, written in her tidy handwriting.

'Alright, so, when I was born, father was out hunting in the forest. That very night, he shot a deer and as it lay dying, it turned and spoke to him. The deer said that I would become a strong man and free the village from its curse by finding the tree that stands where no tree should stand. I must fell the tree, the deer said, to free what is meant to be free.' Gardar recalled proudly.

'That is correct. Well, at least correctly retold...' His grandmother sighed and put the book on a table next to her.

'Why don't you believe in the prophecy?' Gardar asked while getting up to support her.

'Why do you think?' she asked back, leaning on his shoulder, standing up slowly.

'Mother says it's because you never liked father and because he left for the town when I was little. She says you think he abandoned us all.'

'Yes, yes, but I asked what YOU think, young man.' His grandmother was now standing and looking straight at him for they were equally tall because of her bent back and his recent growth.

'Perhaps because deer don't speak?' Gardar asked.

'And correct again. Your father was a fool, he always has been, but I am not. I know the power of prophecies, my love, they work mainly because of the ideas and hopes they put into peoples' heads.' While saying that, she poked his forehead with her left index finger and her own with her other one. 'You may very well save us all, but nobody knows how and certainly no deer will ever tell anyone.'

// Hello dear reader and welcome! This is a story about a little village you might know from "Children of the Forest" already. However, it plays a while later and it doesn't matter if you have not read "Children of the Forest" or do not remember too well. Please let me know what you think about this and if you like, go check out my other books as well :) Have a wonderful day and lots of fun reading on!