Short Story; Ceanne's tale, part one

Ceanne was dedicated to her work. Ever since lieutenant Nonismuld had aproached her about this assignment she'd thought of nothing else. It was her life's work. It was her calling.

Appeni was beautiful. A young sage could hardly ask for a better assignment. The mountains weren't too high, the weather was never too harsh, and the seas were warm year round. Poles were all sea, but she suspected it was rather cold there. It's not like the whole planet could have the same climate and terrain. Even if it could, she wouldn't like it that way.

The sprites probably wouldn't either. It made life so much easier now that they'd all been shown how to take care of each other. The wisps churning the Naiad's pools, keeping the algae from growing and lifting the herbs into their pools. The dryads could maintain hedges and trees that kept the elements from quenching the flames of a wisp's shrine, and droping the herbs and oils that fueled them. Naiads could water the plants of a dryad's garden. Just like nature was a system, so to were the sprites; each aiding the others in some way.

She was no longer constantly travelling to maintain the shrines, but it had taken her years to teach them. Ceanne was in the habit of travelling. The growing populations of Ga-Vok and Nielda made it more important than ever to not only watch over the sprites, but also to carefully supervise the local magicians. One stray pyromancer or jilted warlock could disrupt the balance she was so devoted to protecting. Which is why it frightened her so much when Hani went missing.

Hani had become a Naiad after her Mother had been corrupted. Ceanne had been forced to weaken her; Hani had been elected by her sisters to take her place. She was young, but she was responsible and it wasn't like her to go off like this. So as the sage responsible for Appeni, it was Ceanne's responsibility to find her and make sure she was safe.

She'd managed to track her down to a cavern. Mt. Napl was on the edge of Hani's territory, so at least she hadn't gone too far. But the question remained of why she would be here. None of the local creatures had seen her with a companion, nor had Nef the local wisp.

It was morning. The sun was just behind the mountains still. There was a gentle breeze moving through the grassy fields below. Ceanne wished she could live here forever.