Know of a land surrounded by sea. Watch the land change from earth to mud then to grass. See the grass grow and die as trees grow and spread. Hear the birds sing and the animals roar. Listen to the land as it grows and becomes more than what it once was. Observe the land as time passes, as the trees reach into the sky and the animals fill the land. Know that all is well.

Then watch as the great ships approach. Hear the waves beat against the ships as the ships stand strong. See the ships land and people emerge. Listen to the people as they explore the land and know that all is well. That this is part of the land and that all is as should be.

Watch the people have children and the children grow. See them spread and change to fill the grass and the trees, the mountains and rivers. Listen to them as they discover wonders and hear their joy as they share their discoveries with each other. Know that this is the time of greatness, as all in the land become more than they were before.

See the outsiders come, first one and then many. Watch them fight the people and their children, hear the pain and the rage as all die. Listen to the people weep as their children die and know the rage of their children.

Watch their children change as the rage grows and watch as the outsiders spread more. See the fires that burn and the bodies of the dead. Hear the sounds of death and of hate. Listen to them as they mourn that what was and know that this is not what should be.

Finally, see the land. The land is the same, but it is different. The people are no longer happy, their children no longer free to explore and grow. And know that this is not the end. Know that this land was theirs and is theirs and will be theirs. And know that those not of the people should know fear. For they will return for what was taken. And they will have no mercy.

Chapter 1

This is the story of Neah-Reath, the story of us and our children. We have been the conquerors and we have been the conquered. But we have not been lost. We will be the conquerors again. For this is our land and they were our children. We will conquer the gifts and return our children. For this is our land, now and forever. We are the people of the land and this land is ours.

- Chapter 30, The Unwritten History of Neah-Reath

And with that, she woke up. At first, the dream filled her with fear, as the memories of what she had seen and heard filled her. Then, the memories faded, as she opened her eyes to look around. The first thing she saw was the wooden beams of the roof, which was in no way familiar.

“Where am I?”

“That my child, is a very good question.”

The voice of a man shocked her as she jumped up and turned towards the source of the voice. Sitting in a chair looking away from her with his silvery hair falling down behind him, she watched as he closed the book he had been reading and put it on the table next to him. Then he turned and looked at her as she stood, trembling.

“Who are you? Wait, who am I? Why don’t I know my name? What did you do to me?!”

“Calm now, my child. Be calm. All will be answered in time, but you must be calm. Come, sit here and I shall do my best to answer your questions.”

She hesitated, not sure if she could trust him.

“If you wish to remain where you are, you can of course. But I am sure that you have many questions and I have almost as many answers, so this will take some time.”

She looked into his face, and saw the twinkling of amusement in his grey eyes. Observing the humour spread to his full lips, she started to get angry.

“What’s so funny? Why are you laughing at me?”

“My apologies child. You just remind me of an old friend who was once in a similar situation. Your reaction has been almost exactly the same.”

He looked thoughtful for a moment as he gaze drifted to the wall. Then, with an almost visible shake, he looked at her again.

“But that is my past and you seemed far more concerned with your present currently. So, will you sit with me or will you stand where you are? I will answer either way, but my legs are not as strong as they used to be,” he said waving at his legs, which Teah realised were withered to almost nothing.

“So if you want some of this food you will have to come get it yourself.”

The mention of food filled made her stomach rumble as she realised how hungry she was. That, along with his clearly aged form made her feel embarrassed for her previous fear. She moved forwards and took the seat that he waved her towards.

“That’s much better child,” the old man said approvingly, as he pushed a tray of bread and cheeses towards her. “My apologies for the humbleness of the food, but there is little in the way of options here, especially for those with my needs.”

He poured a steaming liquid into a small cup and carefully placed it next to the tray of food. His movements were slow and deliberate with the smallest of clinks as he set down the cup, which seemed to please him.

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“Please, try some of this. It is a tea, but it is as close to coffee as I have.”

She tried the drink, which did indeed resemble coffee, before helping herself to a large piece of cheese, which she placed on a slice of bread and took a large bite. As she ate, she looked around the room, and quickly saw that it was barely more than a hut, with a single bed on the far wall and no windows. The only thing that looked particularly homey was the chairs that they were using, situated as they were next to a large fireplace, that almost seemed out of place. When he noticed her staring at it, Cornelius simply said, “when your bones are as old as mine, you too will appreciate the heat of a good fire.

The old man smiled approvingly at her, which emphasised his gaunt cheeks.

“Now, where were we? Ahh, yes. You wanted to know where you are, I believe.”

“No,” she interrupted. “I want to know who you are, who I am and why I cant remember anything.”

“Well, then, in the order in which you asked. I am Cornelius Jin-Phen and you, I believe, are called T.

“What sort of name is that?”

“Do you mean my name or your name?” he replied with a small laugh.

“Both!” she snapped back at him, starting to feel anger.

“Well, my name is my given name and that of my father’s family, combined with my mother’s family name, as was the tradition in my town when I was born. As for your name, that is what is written on your clothes,” he said, as he waved towards her chest.

She looked down and saw that there was indeed a large cross on the front of her shirt.

“I don’t think that is my name,” she murmured. “That feels like it means something more.”

“In that case, I have no idea what your name is,” Cornelius said apologetically. “So, unless you have another option, I suggest that we stick with T for now for convenience.”

“I refuse to be called T. We can at least choose a proper name.”

She paused, as she looked around the room for inspiration. Finding none, she finally carried on.

“Fine, you can call me T. But I want to be Teah. At least I can pretend that’s a name for now.”

“Well then, Teah, to get back to your other question. I believe why you can’t remember anything was next. Unfortunately, that is one of the areas where I have little more information than you do.”

Teah looked at him with suspicion.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I found you in the forest a few days ago, quite unconscious. I have asked around, but no one seems to know who you are or remember seeing you. To make matters more confusing, you appeared in a clearing filled with long grass, but with no sign of which direction you had come from or why you collapsed there.”

Teah took this in slowly and then realised what he was implying.

“You mean I just appeared there?” she said unbelievingly. “How? By magic?”

“Your guess is as good as mine for that,” he said calmly. “But I would be happy to hear your idea about how this happened if magic wasn’t involved.”

“Well it clearly wasn’t magic,” Teah replied with a sniff.

“Why do you say that?” Cornelius said as he looked at her with an odd expression.

“Well magic isn’t real,”

“And what gives you that idea? After all,” he said, as he waved at his withered legs and lean, almost skinny body. “How do you think I got you inside? I certainly didn’t carry you on my back.”

Teah looked at him in disbelief, confusion showing on her face.

“Why don’t I remember magic being real? I remember knowing of magic, but I don’t remember it being real. What’s wrong with me?”

“Calm, child, be calm. There are many places in this land where magic is rare and un-used. While there are not many villages or towns that would have that attitude towards magic, there is almost certainly a few places where magic would be considered impossible, simply because no one has ever used it in those places.”

He looked pensive for a moment then carried on, “Actually, this is a good sign. The amount of places that you could be from has just dropped dramatically. It should make it much easily to get you home again.”

Teah cheered up at his words, but doubt lingered on her face.

“But wouldn’t that mean that I am very far from home then? That just means that it will be that much harder to get back!”

“That is true, but at least it gives us a direction. It is surely better to be a long way from somewhere, then a long way from nowhere, no?”

“That makes sense, I suppose. But I still don’t understand what has happened. Why would someone use magic to transport me here? Am I important somehow? If so, then why don’t I remember being important?”

“Those,” Cornelius said, “are all good questions. Perhaps the spell that was used to transport you wiped your memories by accident? As to whether you are important, well that is impossible to know until we know who you are.”

He sighed again then continued, “Perhaps you should start with what you do remember and take it from there?”

Teah shrugged as she tried to think about her past.

“I remember seeing a land. It changed, from earth to grass and trees.”

“That sounds like time passing. And a lot of time passing, if you remember that correctly. Certainly an odd thing to have first hand experience of.”

“Well, that’s what I remember!” Teah snapped at him.

“Calm, child. I am not doubting you, just pointing out the facts. Continue with what you remember.”

She blushed with embarrassment then carried on.

“I saw people arrive in the land on huge ships.”

“These ships, they came from the west, correct?” Cornelius interrupted quickly.

“Why yes, they did. How did you know that?”

“Because those ships were how we came to this land.”

When Teah stared at him blankly, he explained, “Not me and you, obviously, but people. Humans, elves, dwarves, everyone. You saw the arrival of the First Settlers. Now that is fascinating.”

His voice trailed off as a look of wonder crept onto his face.

“What does that mean? You mean I was here before the first people arrived? How is that possible?”

Cornelius chuckled as he answered her.

“We have not been able to accurately date how old the ships are, but they are still on the eastern coast. They were made out of some curious material that must have been as hard as steel when it was new but was somehow more like wood. They have fossilised into the ground and are just skeletons of what they were. However, I doubt you are old enough to be older than they are.”

“You don’t know how old they are though?”

“Oh, we have a good guess of how old they are. Thousands of years, at least. Almost certainly more than 5,000 years. Which is unfortunate, as our written histories only cover 3,000 years or so. Obviously, its possible that our ancestors just didn’t keep records at first, but that does not seem to fit with a people who could make those ships.”

“I don’t understand any of this. What does it mean?” Teah almost wailed.

“I have no idea,” Cornelius confessed. “But keep going. I’m sure we will get somewhere.”

“Well, the people from the ships spread across the land and filled it. But then there was a war. A terrible war.”

“Ohh?”

“It seemed like the whole land was on fire. Everywhere was fire and death. And anger. I remember an intense anger.”

“You felt angry?” Cornelius questioned her.

“No, I don’t think I was angry. It was like the land was angry, if that is a thing.” She shook her head in frustration. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Overall, that is definitely one of the more curious memories I have heard of. What else do you remember?”

“Nothing else. Then, it is just darkness and then I woke up here.”

“Well, I think we can put that memory in the not useful now basket.” Cornelius said with a sad smile. “Unfortunately, I don’t have anything else we can do at the moment and you are looking tired. Why don’t you get some sleep and we will talk more in the morning.”

Teah started to object, then realised that she was tired. She looked around the room again.

“Where should I sleep? There’s only the one bed.”

“Ohh, you take the bed. Truthfully, I rarely use it these days. I normally just nod off in this chair. No, you go sleep in the bed and I will be quite alright. I do not sleep much these days, so I will spend some more time thinking about this whole situation and see what we can do.”

Teah thanked him gratefully and walked to the bed. As she lay down, an almost palpable way of tiredness surged through her. Her last sight, before she closed her eyes to sleep, was the old man sitting in front of the fire, almost as still as a statue. And with that, she slept.