Читать книгу Tales of the Gemstone Elves Volume One Beryl's Journey - Patricia Elizabeth Bennett - Страница 7

Prologue

A very long time ago, when Mother Earth was in her younger years and Life Forms began, they were all very much the same.

After many thousands of years, they began to evolve. Some became plants, some animals, some lived on the land, and others in the water. Each change of Seasons caused them to be more different from each other. Sometimes in a group, some of them would change one way, and some would change another way.

This is the Tale of what might have happened to two of these Life Forms... the Humans and the Elves...

Mother Earth and Her Harvest Moon

Once upon a time, Humans and Elves were the same life form. Some of them chose to be in the Material World where the Law of Gravity rules. Others chose to be in a Celestial World of such fine substances they were hardly affected by gravity and were also not visible to most Humans in the Material World. No one knows why...

All of this took place so gradually even though there are many legends about these Nature Spirits, most Humans have forgotten them. However, because of their common ancestry, there are still some Humans who are part Elf and some Elves who are part Human... and they may not be aware of it… yet.

Up until now, Elves and Humans have lived much of their lives without too much notice of each other, but that will soon be changing. They will eventually realize they have something in common, so important, so urgent, and so necessary for their survival... they will need to reconnect with each other. These two will have to learn to work together... to do something neither of them can do alone… to help save Planet Earth.

This is a tale of one special Troupe of Elves and how they lived their lives during this time. They were a Troupe who so deeply loved gemstones, they became known as the Gemstone Elves. Around the year 1500 AD, the Gemstone Elves lived on the European Continent. They were guardians of a treasure chest of jewels belonging to the Queen of a powerful country in the Black Forest.

In the chest were gemstones of their beloved Earth, such as jade, jasper, beryl, sapphire, and onyx, special stones that made the Elves feel special, too.

These Elves were the most respected of all the Elves in the Elf World because of the magical powers of the gemstones. They used these powers to help plants, animals, and Humans in need.

Elves Guarding the Treasure Chest

At that time, the part of the World where the Gemstone Elves lived was in a terrible state. There was much sickness, poverty, and unhappiness among the Humans which greatly upset the Elves. There were Men exploring the World in search of gold, spices, salt... anything new and exciting they could discover to make a profit.

Disturbing their precious forests by cutting down a lot of trees to build their boats also upset the Elves and made them want to move away from the Humans. They couldn’t understand why Humans didn’t respect the land.

Then something happened to change their lives. One day some Men came to tell the Queen they were sailing to the New World. There they could find even greater riches she could use to help her people start a new life. The Queen gave these brave Men the treasure chest to take with them to help fund their journey.

Crossing the Forbidden Sea

The Gemstone Elves stayed with the chest as it was taken by the Men. They were excited to be going on a new adventure. They wanted to be able to help Humans be healthy and have plenty to eat. Maybe then they would leave their trees alone, and the Elves could return to the happy times within the Human World of old.

“How lucky we are,” they said among themselves, sailing on a big ship with three tall masts, rolling with the wind and waves across the ocean.

The Elves didn’t know traveling to the New World could be dangerous. First, there was a terrible battle when the ship was attacked by pirates who were trying to steal their treasure. The brave Men were able to fight them off, but then sadly, there was a violent storm in the middle of their journey. The ship and the treasure chest full of jewels were lost as they both sank to the bottom of the sea.

Without the gemstones and their special magical powers, the Elves were desperate for their lives. As the ship disappeared under the ocean, they bravely gathered together and flew for a long time over the white-capped waves of the deep blue waters. They were all exhausted and almost ready to give up... when a lookout saw something ahead.

“I see trees!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. “Now we will be safe.”

Soon they were landing in a quiet grove of trees. It was peaceful there among evergreen pines, tall oaks, graceful willows, and a fragrant orchid tree with the brightest pink blossoms they had ever seen. Here they made their home, always keeping to themselves, too scared to venture further into this New World.

The Orchid Tree

“We will find joy here,” they vowed to each other. “We’ll never leave this place, and we’ll stay out of the way of Humans from now on. We just can’t trust them with our part of the World.” And that’s what they did for hundreds of years...

Over the years, many other Troupes of different kinds of Elves came to the New World for similar reasons. Like Humans, they were looking for a better World to live in. Most of these Elves fared well in their crossing and set out happily to explore the land when they arrived. As the Human World grew, they had a hard time finding ways to live beside all the homes, the towns, and the cities. Some of them ventured Westward, always looking for places of peace and harmony with Nature.

Gradually, after hundreds of years of being alone, the Gemstone Elves also found themselves near houses and a town. As long as their trees were not disturbed, they were not too worried. Their long tradition of staying where they were was a very deep feeling which was always passed along to the younger Elves as they were growing up.

However, if it weren’t for one young Elf named Beryl, they might still be there, and the whole World would be a very different place today.

“I want to travel and see new places,” Beryl said.

Our Hero Beryl

“No! We have a wonderful home here, Beryl,” his Elders told him. “It’s never disturbed, and we are safe. We have the Sun, the Wind, the Rain, and the Earth. There’s no reason to leave.”

That’s the way the Gemstone Elves felt. They just wanted to be safe. But, for some reason he couldn’t understand, Beryl was different. It wasn’t just because of his rounded ears -- which he tried to hide behind his bushy hair -- it was also because of his curiosity about Humans... a curiosity that would change everything.

Come along and follow the journey of Beryl and the Gemstone Elves.

You will find their story a magical experience…