Reviving Love

Leila was the girls name. She had been petrified in stone hundreds of years ago. But here she was, still in her youthful form, just not human anymore. She had been a beautiful girl. She had slain the Medusa along with her fellow kinsmen, and becouse she chose to fight, she was trapped in stone, but she was still aware of what was happening around her. How long has she waited for a savior...too long. Now she had began to give up hope.

Then she heard sounds, footsteps even, of someone approaching. She tried not to get too hopeful, most of the time it was just mangy looters, here to steal the riches of their once fair city. But this one was different it seemed. She was trying to revive those set in stone, but she was failing.

She approached her and looked at her face. It seemed she would try one last time to bring at least one person back. She heard the spell, and the energies flooded into her body. At first nothing happened, but then, a little after, the Grey of the stone faded, as she once again became flesh and blood.

Color returned to her eyes, body, hair and clothes. When she was back, she smiled and looked down at her self, surprised and happy. She began to jump up and down in glee. She ran over to the women and hugged her, saying the words "OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU" over and over again.

She stepped away a little after and said " Praise mystra, I never thought I'd see the light again,How can I ever repay for this deed?".

The goddess she spoke of was one that had not been worshiped since the Medusa attack. The goddess would probably be foreign to this girl. She smiled and awaited her answer.

She watched the girl and she turned from grey to flesh and her eyes widened. Her spell was working. It was actually working! The light came to her eyes as she watched the woman breath again and then suddenly she was embraced. The strength left her limbs as she felt the woman wrap her arms around her and she nearly fell over. Then the women stepped back and she stayed a little bit and she heard what she said.

“Mystra?” she questioned weakly, she used her staff to stabilize herself but even that would work for only a very short time. She heard what the woman said and her reply must not have been one the woman was expecting. “You... you could.... hold me up.” She said before she fell into the woman’s arms, barely conscious. “There.... were a lot.... of people in this city.... that were turned to stone....” she told the woman weakly, in her arms so she would not fall to the ground.

“I tried.... to turn them all.... back to the way.... they had been before.... but..... it didn’t work... all of the people... all of the animals.... it didn’t work and.... then you.... I don’t know why.... I don’t care right now I-I.... I just need... to rest....” she managed to say. She had used up the strength to stand and now without the help of this woman she would have fallen to the ground. Hopefully the woman would b e able to get her to one of the many beds in the city so she could rest and get her strength back.

Leila was shocked. The girl collapsed onto her. She was very weak. She quickly stood up and pulled the girl t her feet and got her into one of the rooms in the city. She lay her on the bed. All the girl needed to do was rest and eat. She left the girl inside before she moved around the city, to find some edible food. She found a few things, not much, but it would do.

She returned to the room and in the fire place, set up a fire, put a pot over it and began to make a nice smelling stew. When she woke up again, they would at least have something to eat.

She smiled and little at the girl, and let her rest for now as she stirred the stew slowly.

Rue was relieved, the woman helped her into one of the homes and onto one of the beds. She was laid down on the bed and she looked up at the woman, smiling up at her weakly and managing to thank her before she passed out. While the woman walked around the room she would see that all of the creatures, if they had been wearing anything then their clothing would not be stone, each making a failed spell.

She lay on the bed for a few hours, just resting, her chest rose and fell gently and when she did finally wake up she smelt the soup. She sat up and rubbed her head. She looked over the woman strangely before she managed to find the right words to say. “My name is Rue, I’m a mage... you are?” she asked the woman as she went over to her. She removed her long gloves to reveal beautiful and soft hands. She put her hand on the woman’s shoulder as she looked at the soup. It smelt great and she was starving.

Leila saw the women awake. She told her name. Leila smiled at her and said "My name is Leila, druid of the Order of the Ghor Forest...well I used to be anyway". She picked up the ladle and spooned her some of the stew into a small bowl and said "Here, eat up, it's not much, it tastes good anyway" she said smiling at Rue.

Once she had taken it, she got some for her self and began to eat slowly.

She looked at the druid and she smiled at her as she began to eat the soup. “This is really good. I can do magic but I can’t cook a thing.” She said with a small laugh. She managed to quickly eat up her food. She asked for a second bowl and when served that she ate that bowl too. She seemed to be very hungry. “They might still be around.... maybe....” she said but she didn’t think there was much hope to it.

She looked around. “You might want to salvage what you can form your city... I don’t think there could be much left. I have to admit that I did take a few things but mostly to keep them form the hands of thieves who would put them to bad uses.” She told the woman. Then there was a long pause between what she said as she looked away. “I... don’t really know what you can do now but perhaps we can travel together. So much time has passed so it would be best not to leave you alone in the world and since I brought you back I feel a bit responsible for you... I hope you don’t mind.” She said to the woman with a smile, hoping she would come with her.

Leila looked at the women and smiled as she complimented her cooking. She looked down for a moment and said "Perhaps...if it is fated for me to returned to them" she said softly.

She looked up when she spoke about leaving with her "I suppose I could go with you...The world is different now, I do not know anything about it...so traveling with you would probably be the best option" she said looking at her.

"You will have to show me around" she said smiling.

She looked at the woman and she smiled with her. She was happy that she was going to be traveling with her from now on and she could not help but smile when the woman agreed. “Well I just travel so I can go with you to wherever they might be. Perhaps I might even learn some new spells along the way. Whatever the case I am sure that one of these houses is yours. You might want to pack a few things or something...” she told the woman with a smile. She was happy to be traveling with her. She was beautiful and she wondered what the druid thought about her.

Leila nodded and said "Indeed, I did have a home here...I'll go see whats left of it, and pray that looters have not been through it" she said standing up. "I will be back soon" she said leaving the house and making her way slowly to her old home.

The mage looked up at the woman and listened to what she said. “I will go with you.” She told the woman as she got up and followed her. After a few hundred years and several raidings later her home was most likely not as it once was so she wanted to be there to comfort the girl incase it upset her.

"All right" she said. She stood up and began to walk through the derelict city slowly. soon they arrived at her home. At first glance, the place looked ransacked. She didn't seem to phased by it. She walked over to a certain part of the room and couched down. She put her hand on the floor board and mutters a few words. A glow of light appeared before the floor turned into a door. She opened it. All of her valuables were left untouched, including spare weapons and other heirlooms that were important to her. She look back at the mage and said "We all hid out belonging so, we knew the Medusa would not kill us, only petrify us, so we hid away our things most precious to us, before hand, in the hopes we would ever get saved"

She reached in and pulled out a spare old looking pack, and began to put her things inside, and she tied her weponds on a belt around her waist.

She looked down in shock and wondered how many of them homes had secret compartments full of valuables. Then a thought crossed her mind that saddened her. “But.... they aren’t coming back...” she said sadly as she looked away. Out of all of the people in an entire city she had only managed to bring one person back to life. The rest would stay stone forever.

Leila looked at her and she walked over to her and touched her shoulder. "You don't know that. Do not be disheartened, you saved one life, that makes your cause here worthwhile, have faith, others will come with good intentions like you, they will be saved, by someone, maybe you, maybe me, I do not know..but they all..those in stone, still have faith...someone will come to save them" she said to her.

The woman looked up at the druid as she spoke to her and she smiled. “I’m glad I managed to bring you back.” She said with a smile as she hugged the druid. It was true, she was very happy to have brought at least one person back, especially one so kind. She kissed her cheek before pulling away, “Are you almost ready to get going?” she asked her, happy to have her here and hoping she would not mind the kiss.

Leila smiled at the kiss. She didn't mind the gesture. She looked around her old home, reminiscing for a few moments before she said "Yes, lets leave, do you know the way out, or should I lead?" she asked her smiling, making her way slowly out.

Rue was happy that the woman didn’t mind the kiss and hoped that it meant that there was a chance in the future. “I will lead.” She told the woman as she lead her for the city. “I don’t know where you would find your... um... temple, I guess... but you should show me the way form here.” She told the druid since she didn’t know which way the temple was and the druid did.

Leila looked at her and said "The temple is on the surface, we must travel out of the city first" she said to her. She smiled a little to her self as they began to leave the city. She would miss the people here.

She smiled as she looked at the woman, she nodded and followed her but she was worried about her the whole time. “You know it won’t look the same as it did when you were petrified. Hundreds of years have passed, things will be very different.” She warned the woman, she was worried about what she would think, a lot of time has passed so things wouldn’t be the same.

Leila smiled to her self. She wasn't worried at all about this. She looked at her and said "Yes I know, I know it will be alot different now" she said. She looked at the girl and said "I'll be fine" she said confidently.

Rue looked up at her then she looked away but she followed her all the same. She would be there if she was needed and she did think that she would be needed. No matter how strong this druid was seeing things change so much as things do in a couple hundred years would not be easy for her. She just hoped that she would be okay.

Leila continued walking, making their way out of the city. She was confident that she would be able to handle whatever came her way. Slowly but surely they reached the surface. Once they could see the light she smiled a little. She would breath the clean air once again.

She walked with the woman to the surface but the breath of fresh air she as hoping for would not happen. Where once a forest had stood, tall and proud, was now, a barren wasteland littered with all kinds of corpses. The Mage looked around. “They burnt the forest down to try and find more medusas, there was a battle here. It was thee place to fight. To wage their wars and now it’s just a valley of death. Let’s move through quickly, things often come to prey on the corpses.” She told the Druid as she stood close to her and she waited for some direction of which was to go, holding her staff at hand and readying a spell incase something came at them.

The smile on Leila's face seemed to fade when they reached the surface. The tall and proud standing forest she remembered had been destroyed. She looked around at all the bodies. She closed her eyes, and breathed in deeply. She knelt down onto the ground and she pulled out a seed, the tiniest of all things. She then planted it into the ground. Muttering a few words, she nurtured it, till it grew into a small sapling. She then looked around and said "The forest will be back hear one day, Lets hurry" she said. Looked around. She wasn't so taken aback by this. She new things would be different, so she braced her self for it.

Rue watched her plant the seed and she smiled. “One day it will be. People have found new places to fight and the monsters have been feasting and dropping their droppings here. The soil will be very fertile and as soon as the bodies are cleared away I am sure that there will be a forest here soon.” She said to the girl as she smiled. But something bothered her. She ran up to the girl and wrapped her arms around her before she muttered a spell. Moments later a swarm of what appeared to be giant wasps. She held the girl tight and the wasps looked straight at them before going to the bodies on either side of them. The wasps were good for forests and they were eating the corpses and putting their young inside of them so they could feed and be safe. In the body beside them two cat sized larva of the giant wasps. Rue watched the babies and smiled. The parents must have smelt Rue and the druid and realized that there were creatures close to their young and come to check up on them.

The mage slowly pulled herself from the druid but she held her hand tightly. She brought her other hand to her lips and she shushed the druid, she covered them form scent and sight but sound was not something she could do with that spell and if the two of them got separated then they would be able to see Leila and would no doubt attack her. She could only hope that the other druid understood that as they walked and that she could walk quietly through this field so that they wouldn’t disturb the nest.