When Athena left, Serilda went to her father and told him the things Athena had told her.
Her father then told the army to get ready for the biggest battle that they might ever see. No one knew who or what this thing was that they were getting ready to fight. It could be an army or a tremendous natural event, maybe something even magical. Then from the west, they heard a tremendous sound of running horses. It was an army that was twice the size of the army of light! This wicked army was clothed with a cloud of sorcery and darkness. Serilda and her father gathered their army and went to face them. From afar, it looked like a mass of black against a mass of golden light. When both armies met, there was a tremendous screeching as metal met metal. Serilda's father and the venomous leader of the other army were in a fierce duel. All in a moment, it was silent except for the duel. Everyone watched when unexpectedly Serilda’s father was struck down. Serilda ran to him and the battalion of light encircled them. With the sound of battle all around them, her father clearly manifested his last few words as tears ran down her face. “Be strong! The darkness may overcome but the light will always shine through.” He then drew his last breath and was gone. When Serilda came back to her senses, darkness stretched across the land. Both sides drew back for the night. That night at camp Serilda was made the captain of the army. Then they all mourned the tremendous loss of her father. In the morning, they arose with weariness but with new energy. On the battlefield, they all fought with courage and strength but the enemy was too strong. So many were dying that Serilda retreated to regroup. That night in darkness, the enemy stealthily surrounded them. Immediately they attacked. The battalion drew to the center, hopeless. In the midst, Serilda stood and in courage shouted, “We may be small but we are strong! Let us stand in what we believe and fight! With that, what was left of the army of light cheered and fought back. The enemy did not expect that to happen. Because they were stunned for a moment Serilda was able to get to the leader. then like light pierces the darkness Serilda killed the leader. It became silent then the enemy fled. With exhaustion, Serilda fell to the ground. She woke up to someone nudging her. Opening her eyes, she saw standing in front of her was Nike the Goddess of victory! Serilda quickly got up and kneeled to Nike. Nike then kneeled and grabbed Serilda’s face in her hands and exclaimed, “You have shown great courage today. With reverence, I give you this golden laurel to wear in honor of your diligence and courage in battle against evil.” Nike then stood and disappeared. After Nike vanished, Serilda slowly stood. Surprising her, a voice behind her declared, “The gods are proud of what you have done here. You are now given the opportunity to proceed with us to become a goddess. This world is too wicked to have you.” With that Serilda quickly turned and beheld Athena. “Before I go, Athena,” Serilda humbly replied, “one thing I ask for is to honor all of the good warriors who have fallen. Make a tree stand in this place so that the people will remember this great battle. Have this tree be as one soul, as the army light fought as one soul.” With that, Athena created the beautiful aspen tree we now know in the image of Serilda with white trunks and green leaves in memory of her white skin and green eyes. In the fall, the tree holds a golden crown like her golden hair and resembles the army of light on the field of battle. When this was done, Serilda with her golden crown and Athena journeyed up to Mount Olympus. Every year, Serilda in her golden crown visits the glorious trees of unity tied together by their roots into one great soul. You will know that she visits because the trees take on their golden crowns. The End Serilda: the name Serilda means maiden in battle armor. Pando aspen stand: “In the Fishlake National Forest in Utah, a giant has lived quietly for the past 80,000 years. The Trembling Giant, or Pando, is an enormous grove of quaking aspens that take the “forest as a single organism” metaphor and makes it literal: the grove really is a single organism. Each of the approximately 47,000 or so trees in the grove is genetically identical and all the trees share a single root system.” https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pando-the-trembling-giant
1 Comment
Camille
10/4/2019 11:57:18 am
WOW LILY!!! That is AMAZING!!!! Good Job! I REALLY like it!!
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AuthorI Love to dance and do photography, the color yellow and blue, hiking, the outdoors, listening to good music, writing, sunflowers, reading, plants, and succulents. Archives
March 2020
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