4
Nothing is Impossible
The sanctuary disappeared into thin air as Lady passed through barrier. It had been a few months since Lady began her training. It seemed tha very little had changed. Once again she spotted Herla and Gehirn curled up together inside the giant oak. Lady knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help being within listening distance.
“Isn’t it wonderful? One more month and we will become parents.” She nuzzled the giant buck’s face. It was strange not to see the lively vivacious doe dancing around her mate, but if she was that far into her pregnancy she had to be careful.
“I can’t wait,” replied Gehirn as he nuzzled Herla’s face, “The twins will be beautiful.”
Twins? Lady thought, How wonderful! two new fawns in the forest! She chanted a blessing for the mother-to-be from behind an old snag. The spell would ensure the health of the mother and her children when the moment came, protecting them from the all-too-real dangers of childbirth. Neither Herla or Gehirn noticed the floating golden orb as it silently merged with Herla’s pictogram.
Now to restore the ruins. The visions from her dream and the spring showed her every detail of how the old temple looked, inside and out. It was no easy task reshaping the broken stones, cleaning the headstones, making sure the other deer stayed out of the area for their own safety, etc.
She sent out orbs of light to search the surrounding area for a suitable quarrying place. There was none in the forest, so she sent the orbs beyond the edge of the forest. Before long the orbs were cutting thick chunks of stone from a mountainside miles away, and carrying them effortlessly the entire way back. When the orbs returned, lady examined the stones for the best way to cut them into bricks that were the right shape and size. Lady let her intuition guide her magic, and cut perfectly shaped bricks with ease from the enormous chunks of granite.
The buzz of activity attracted every deer in the forest. Toukan stopped chewing on shelf mushrooms and lichen, cocking his head in confusion at the bustle of activity happening right in front of him. He approached his friend Oura.
“What do you think she’s doing?” Toukan asked.
“Looks like she’s fixing the ruins Touk,” Oura answered, “And doing a pretty good job too.”
Lady wiped the sweat from her brow. The ruins were slowly looking like they had been years ago. It only took days for Lady to accomplish what regular stonemasons take months to finish. Lady worked through several nights, through wind and rain, with no visible signs of tiring. She was careful not to disturb the three pagan statues that sat cheerfully in a semicircle overlooking a patch of scarlet poppies. She gave equal care to the graveyards on either side of the temple, sending out orbs to clean the headstones of any signs of aging. She did, however, move the old cage that held Natalee Fey. Orbs lifted the cage to the outside the building plot. Lady instructed the orbs surrounding the cage to clean the many centuries of tarnish off of the metal bars. Even if the cage was created for an evil purpose, it was still an important historical artifact. Besides, other deer had fun playing in and around the metal construction.
Days passed, and the temple looked more and more complete with each. Tapestries were woven, stained glass windows were pieced together, columns were placed, broken stones were repaired, floors laid, stairs constructed, etc. Everything was coming together. Lady cut stones and wood with ribbons of magic emanating from her fingertips, swinging them around like whips. Each board and block were cut to precise measurements, with accuracy rivaling the most experienced masons and woodworkers.
The wood she selected came from the giant oak tree. She sent some orbs to retrieve the branches that needed to come down. Because the oak tree was so big, some of the giant branches posed a safety threat if one of them were to come crashing down. The branches that were trimmed off the old oak tree had enough wood for lady to lay as flooring on each level of the temple, and still have enough to furnish every room, and hundreds of books using the wood dust and bark.
***
Finally completing the temple after days of hard labor felt very satisfying. All the deer in the forest had gathered around to see the temple in all it’s glory, as it had looked so many centuries before.
“It’s just as I remember,” came a voice from behind Lady, “Great job kid.”
Lady knew instantly who it was, and turned around to hug Juniper.
“Thank you,” Lady whispered.
Lady sunk to the ground as the final stone shingle slid gracefully into it’s slot with a quiet clink. She was completely exhausted.
She looked at the calendar where two of her orbs neatly carved number symbols into a flat, shiny, granite slab. 30 symbols were counted. 30 days had passed since she began her work, 1 month of non stop restoration. Lady called her magic orbs back into the pulsating pictogram above her head.
Still breathing hard, she lifted her eyes to the giant crowd admiring her hard work. Suddenly, gasps of wonder and astonishment erupted from the crowd as they parted. Somehow the crystal poppy had floated from the drinkplatts, all the way down to the temple! The flower daintily waltzed in the air and momentarily levitated in front of Lady before slowly descending into her cupped hands. A refreshing energy flowed from the sacred flower to Lady, and within seconds Lady had the energy to stand up and address the crowd.
“Friends,” she began, “I know everything that has happened in the past few months has been, well, a bit much, even for me. But events such as these do not happen without reason. I believe our old nemesis is gathering his strength for another attack. But the ‘Valator’ we know is not who we think he is.
“At the Sanctuary, there is a spring called the Spring of Reflection. In the waters, I saw a different Valator, one who was benevolent and kind...”
“Well what happened? Stop stalling and tell us!” remarked a nameless.
“I was getting to that,” Lady said, her stoic voice masking her irritation, “Now as I was saying, Valator was once an ally to everyone in the endless forest. Even the Twin Gods thought greatly of him. Valator was a master of light magic, Ever since he was a baby.
“One day a demon under the guise of an old man approached Valator. He offered to teach Valator the art of dark magic. When Valator refused, the demon possessed him.
“Like my mother, Natalee, it is my duty to protect this forest from evil. I will do what it takes to defeat the demon possessing Valator once and for all.”
“All on your own? Impossible!” remarked the same nameless from before. It was clear he did not know the tale of Lady Jewel, or her mother.
“In the Endless Forest, Nothing is impossible,” Lady remarked with a smile and a sly twinkle her deep green eyes, ”You’ll see.”
She bowed, and turned to enter the newly completed temple. Lady placed the crystal poppy gingerly on a stone pedestal next a clear glass window in her study room on the second floor of the temple. Though the shelves in the study were lined with books, all of them were blank. Lady planned to fill some of them with what she had learned, and have other ones for future lessons.
It had been a long time since she had time to rest. Lady sunk into a big stuffed chair. One month of non stop work took it’s toll. Now she could give herself time to rest, before the next monumental task: Defeat Valator’s demon.

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