In the Shadows of the Trees [Bjarga]

Two magi walked along the winding path through the forest floor, their steps cushioned by the thick leaf litter there. The leaves that made up this soft layer were of an ample size, reflected by the enormous trees that stretched cavernously above them. Mil could only see the specks of light shining through the leaves far above them as she followed Bjarga toward the temple, the thick canopy blocking most of the light here, leaving the forest floor in a comfortable gloom. Mil could see glimpses of the building they were going to up ahead, the one that the wolf magi had pointed them at. She had never come this far in this direction before and was not sure what she thought of the changing trees.

The further they walked the more variety the trees had. No longer were they just the large sequoia like conifers, with a sprinkling of oak, aspen, and maple trees, but there were now many deciduous trees. Redbuds, dogwoods, and magnolias provided bright spring flowers of pink, white, and purple. Morning and evening glory vines mixed with ivy and trumpet flowers added more color, despite it being early for them to be flowering. Moss green on the rugged bark of the trees of different varieties, layering greens against the bark of the trees.

They walked around the berth of a tree the building came into full view. The large trees sheltered the large building, though were not right up on the walls, leaving room for a beautiful garden. A forest stream wound its way through the garden, stopping only once for a small series of shelf like waterfalls and into a pool that was speckled with reeds, lily pads and lotuses, and on out into the trees. Bushes and flowers of all kinds filled the garden, only cut by smooth stone paths and varying statues.

One that was perched on a small bump in the middle of the garden depicted a woman with curled soft wings, flowing hair and clothes, bird's feet showing under the flowing robes. A chestnut centaur with long brown braids and deer antlers interwoven with ivy stood out by the trees, moss growing on its back, making it blend into the tree. A mermaid like statue curled up by the pool, slices of semi-precious stones making for a colorful tail with wavy hair to match, her torso and arms glittering with iridescent glass scales. A barely humanoid creature that looked like some great mountain bear, its head crowned with blueberry blooms, and its back with mountain rocks, was curled up, looking to be asleep under an orange crape myrtle tree. A leaping hooved fox with a lion like tail make of thousands of spikes of glass jumped over a boulder. Many others were scattered around, but all were designed to draw the eye to the large building behind them.

It was multiple stories high, reaching up toward the filtered, green tinted light from the large trees overhead, who's leaves and nuts collected almost artfully on the sharply sloped roofs, shingled in subtly multicolored slate tiles. Brass and copper rain bells hung off the corners of the roofs. The walls were made of light colored stone, accented by mosaics, hanging vines, air plants, and dark wood porches. Potted flowers hung off of some of the upper porches, intermixed with wind chimes, sun catchers, and bird feeders. Line up with the wing statues, two large doors provided a main entrance to the temple. They were of carved dark wood depicted many different animals and plants and accented with gold colored leafing. Both sides of the doors were flanked by magi statues holding green and yellow glass lanterns.

The whole area felt peaceful and safe. It was almost warm even though it was early spring and it seemed bright despite the shadows of the glade. The air was light and clean, and the tinkling sound of the small stream made it seem like one could just lie down and take a nap anywhere on the soft moss and grass of the garden.

Mil stood at the edge of the garden, keeping so close to the tree trunk they were next to she was almost tucked into the crevasses of the bark. Her light blue eyes looked over everything in awe. She had never seen a place more beautiful than this and for the first time in a long time her body ceased shaking, though her hands still trembled. Her ears perked up out of her hair and pointed forward to the temple. She felt the desire to go into the temple, but was very sure that she was most likely not allowed. She would probably have to leave all of her dirt outside, and she was dressed far too scruffily for a place like this. Mil would much rather watch it from here than have someone tell her that she would have to go away.