Welcome to Gaia! ::

Part One

Ceryn sat in front of the crackling fire, her legs tucked up against her body, deep in thought. The smoke from the fire drifted lazily upwards, writhing along the cavern roof to a small crack that acted as a natural chimney near the apex and the young cervitaur occasionally watched the patterns it would make. Nearby, Harper also sat. The Amazon was busy carving a design into a piece of wood that she had been working on. Occasionally the human would look up at her eldest charge and give her a warm smile. Her youngest adopted, Aille, was also at the fireside, gazing into it's depths as if she were seeing great wonders in the dancing flames. "Perhaps she is," the dark haired earth priestess thought. "And perhaps she will one day speak to tell them to us."

Outside their cave home twilight had fallen across the forest. There was a definite chill in the air these days, and they often woke to a thin film of ice on the water buckets and to a blanket of frost covering the ground outside. The innermost cavelets where they slept were, while not extremely warm were not extremely cold either. They were in fact well insulated as were quite comfortable to sleep in, especially with the addition of the warm blankets and furs that they had worked on over the summer months. The stout wood and hide cover for the main cave opening meant that the main chamber was also warmer than the air outside, and the trio was quite snug in their home. The brightly woven rugs kept them from the cold stone and sand of the floor as well as cushioned them as they rested in the evenings.

"So, little one, would you like to hear a story?" Ceryn's soft alto broke the silence that had befallen the three. Aille turned her bright eyes on her older sister and nodded happily, obviously wanting to do just that. "Well, come over here then and I will tell you of Santaur Nikolous and the evil troll." The brightly dappled centaur eagerly got up and carefully walked around the fire to snuggle up to Ceryn. Harper got up as well and added some more wood to the fire, sending sparks to fly upwards. Before she sat down she grabbed a woven blanket and covered the hindquarters of both her daughters with it, smiling as Aille wrapped it around her shoulders as well.

"Once long ago, before you or I were born. Long before Harper came to the Isle, or was born herself, there lived a wood nymph by the name of Tia. She lived in a lovely little glade next to the San river in the roots of a great oak tree. She took care of the tree and it took care of her, for such is the way of wood nymphs and the trees that they love. One day Tia was sitting by the river when she saw a strange bundle floating downstream. Now, wood nymphs are extremely curious creatures, and Tia was no exception to this at all. She had to know what was in that bundle! So oh so carefully she reached out with a slender oak branch hoping to snag it to bring it to shore. But it was no use! Her branch was to short! What was she to do?"

At this point Ceryn was interrupted by a tug from young Aille. Looking down she saw that the centaur was making a swimming motion with her arms, the way she had seen Harper swim earlier in the fall.

"No, she couldn't swim out, sweetling. Wood nymphs can't swim -- they sink! But their cousins the water sprites can! So Tia quickly called out to some of her water cousins, who happily brought the bundle to shore for her. Tugging and pushing and with much laughter they managed to get it to shore. Then as quick as can be she began to untie the knots and to open it up. By this time there was a crowd of nymphs and sprites and gnomes and all sorts of woodland creatures all trying to see what Tia had found. Finally the last knot was undone and the wet cloth was pulled away. Layer after layer was pulled back, until at last they reached dry cloth! There in the center where the water had not reached was a tiny centaur baby. His coat was burnished red, with white markings like tracings of snow falling down his back. On each leg were black markings that shaded into white at the knee.

"Ah, it is dead," said one gruff old gnome and there were several murmurs of agreement from the crowd.

"How sad!" cried out a sprite and again there were those who sorrowfully agreed.

"Hush!" said Tia. "He's not dead! Look!" And sure enough as the sunlight had warmed the tiny body on the ground he began to move and eventually opened his eyes. True green they were, as dark as the leaf of the holly in the dead of winter. "He's beautiful," Tia said calmly, "and his name will be Nikolous and he will stay with me." She added firmly.

"Umm, Tia, you know you can't do that! The Forest Lord won't let outsiders stay here! Besides he won't be able to see or hear you once he gets older. How would you be able to care for him like that?" That was the voice of Mara, Tia's best friend.

By this time the young centaur had stood up and was taking his first wobbly steps, looking around at the strange assemblage. The crowd was talking among themselves, but somehow the youngling picked Tia as his protector, and walked over to her and took her hand. Smiling, she grabbed his tight in her own. "Let's go, Nikolous. I will take you to the Lord myself and make Him let you stay."

The crowd parted before the determined nymph. Just as she reached the edge of the gathering of beings, they all fell silent. The Forest Lord Himself had appeared to see what had caught the attention of so many of his subjects. Suddenly shy, Tia found herself silent under his calm gaze. After a few moments of his regard she knew that she would have to make the first move. Gathering up her courage she began to speak.

"Lord, sir, we found, I mean -- I found this baby and I wondered if we, I mean, I could possibly keep him. Well, not, keep him exactly. Raise him, sir." She knew she was babbling but dared not look up, and thus missed the slight smile on his face and the twinkle in his eye as he listened to her. The babe, however, looked up at the Being before him unwavering, his green eyes solemn and unafraid. When she ran out of things to say she fell silent and waited, still holding tight to the tiny hand in her own.

The Forest Lord stood silent for what seemed like ages to the crowd that waited. Tia braced herself, sure that the worst was to come and that he was going to take the babe away from her and take it to be with its own kind. She wasn't sure herself why she was so enamored of the child. It was just something deep within that told her that this child, this Nikolous was special, and she wanted to be part of it. Just as she was sure she could not take the waiting any longer He spoke. Tossing His head, golden antlers catching the sunlight, His voice was easily heard by everyone there.

"I charge you, Tia the Nymph with the care of this centaur child. You shall raise him as your own until such time as he chooses to return to his own kind. None of my people shall raise a hand against him, and all here shall aid you in his teaching, for I see that in time he shall come to be of great help to us all here in the San valley."

Kneeling down the Lord then touched the baby's eyes and ears and whispered an incantation in a silken language older than the mountains that surrounded the vale in which they stood. "Now the young one shall See and Hear more than most," He said with a smile. He stood then, and with a soft word reassured Tia. "Sometimes you have to face your fears, child and trust your heart." Then with a swirl of His amber robe He was gone.

As soon as the Forest Lord left Tia and young Nikolous was surrounded by a joyous, cheering crowd of woodland folk. Never before had one of the mortal realm been allowed to live among them like this! Surely this child of the Taur race was special indeed! Eventually the impromptu celebration faded and only Mara, Tia, a dwarf by the name of Rupert and a very sleepy Nikolous remained in the glade by the river oak.

"You'll need a shelter for the lad and other things such as the mortal folk need then," Rupert spoke up through the gathering twilight.

"He's right, Tia," Mara said gently as she watched her erstwhile friend settle the sleeping centaur on a bed of soft moss for the night. "He can't always sleep on moss under the stars."

"I know, I know and somehow I will make him one." The nymph looked around her peaceful glade. She had never needed more than the leaves and branches of her oak to keep her safe and happy and was unsure just what her new charge would need to be kept safe, but was determined to do whatever it was needed to provide for him. "I can gather some stone and maybe some branches from the oak and some bark and somehow..." she was babbling again and she knew it. It was a rather bothersome habit of hers when she was nervous about something important!

Rupert placed his calloused hand on her arm to still her wanderings mouth. "Well, lassie, us dwarves do know a thing or two or three about the mortal folk. And we know more than a bit about building as well. If you like I would be more than happy to stay for a while and help you. The Lord did say that those of us were to help you as we could now didn't He?"

"You would? He did? Of course He did! I mean, I would be honored, good dwarf if you would stay and help!" And so began what some would call the strangest friendship ever to grace the San Valley, for even after Nikolous had grown and begun the journeys of his own life the friendship between Rupert the dwarf and Tia the nymph was as strong as the day it first began.

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Part Two

Time flowed onward in the San Valley as it does everywhere, and Nikolous grew as all young ones must. If his companions were a little strange by some standards, well, that was just to be expected after all! Some days were filled with learning the ways of the woods with the nymphs and the dryads. Others were spent with the dwarves and gnomes learning the secrets of their crafts. The birds of the air and the deer of the fields were his friends as were the fox and the wolf and the great cats. There was not a creature in the San Valley that did not know of Nikolous and he grew strong and wise and kind under their tutelage.

"Tia! Tia, help, she is hurt and we must save her!" Nikolous' young voice carried strong over the normally quiet glade. The young centaur came racing into the clearing, holding something close to his chest as he ran to his adopted mother. She ran towards him, responding to the panic in his voice, her own heart pounding. He slid to a stop and kneeled, placing his bundle gently to the ground. She gasped as she saw it was a tiny grey cat cub with a gaping wound tearing down one leg.

"Quick, Niko, bring some moss and water." Tia reached down and held the wound together, unsure if there was anything they could do, or if indeed it was already to late. A small mew let her know that there was still life in the little creature though, and she vowed to try what she could. When Niko returned she cleaned the wound and bound it closed, then used what little Healing gift she had as a nymph to do what she could. The rest would be up to the cub and the will of the Universe to decide.

Fortune smiled that day, and the cub did indeed survive. And more than survive! She became the constant companion of the growing centaur, seldom leaving his side. Casipurr he named her, and it seemed as if they could understand each other. Perhaps it was part of the gift that the Forest Lord gave him on that day so long ago. She grew into a great protector for the young centaur, a grey shadow that returned his love with love of her own.

The adventures that the young Nikolous and his gray panther friend had could fill many scrolls. There was the time that he tricked the giant Olga into changing into a wren so that Casipurr could catch her. They let her go, of course, once she promised to stop flattening the nearby villages just for fun. And who could forget the day that he got captured by the two headed dragon Baracu and only escaped by getting the heads into an argument with each other! Then the fateful day came that Tia had dreaded from the very first. The day that Nikolous fell in love. But surprisingly, it was not with another centaur. No, it was a village that stole her centaur son away from the nymph who loved him. But before that happened she gave him one very special gift.

"Nikolous, I have something for you," Tia said one bright afternoon. "Rupert and I have been working on it for some time now and I hope you like it!"

"I am sure I will, Mother!" the young centaur said as he walked over to her. He had grown up to be quite tall and his coat shone in the sunlight. His hair was long, brushing his shoulders and he had grown a beard as well. It was hard sometimes for her to remember that this was the same little baby that she had found floating in the river. She, of course, had not changed at all, for nymphs do not age being immortal.

"Here, then take it and use it well," she said, handing over a carved wooden walking staff. "It will aid you in your journeys and it has a very special magic as well. It is made of the wood from my own oak. See the branch there with the leafy limb?" She pointed out one branch that was at ground level and full of green foliage. "That branch and your staff are twinned. As long as you are well that branch will stay that way. This way I will always know that you are doing well, my son." Tia reached out and hugged him tightly, a hug that Nikolous returned with as much love as she.

"Thank you, mother" was all he really could say.

**********

If you were to travel about a fortnights walking up the San river from the valley glade where Tia found the bundle with Nikolous in it those many years before you would find the small village of Shona. It looked like most villages you would see. Small huts surrounded a center square. There was a well to one side and a large covered outdoor area where people could gather in weather both good and bad. A small stream meandered its merry way not far from the village, providing power for the mill and a welcome place to cool off in the hot summer months. At first glance there was nothing at all to distinguish Shona from any of the other dozens of small villages and hamlets that Nikolous had seen in his travels and adventures. It was only when you met the people that lived within that you saw the true beauty of the place.

"Well, Casi, looks like there might be a place to shelter from the rain up ahead!" Nikolous shouted out to his companion as they ran through the darkening storm. Lightening flashed sporadically, illuminating the sparse trail and showing the thatched roofs of village huts in the vale blow the hillside they were traveling down. Casipurr growled her answer to him. Her gray fur flattened to her skin by the cold drenching when the rain had begun.

It was full dark by the time they had reached the village shelter and while lights could be seen in the windows no one had heard their approach or noticed their arrival over the crashing thunder. Not one to complain, Nikolous and Casipurr made the best of the situation glad at least to have a roof of sorts to keep the worst of the rain from them. Wrapping them both in his warm cloak made by Tia, Nikolous and Casi were soon asleep.

"What is it?" a young voice awakened him.

"Looks like a centaur, but it has too many legs! And some of them are a cattaur's" said another voice, this one sounding male.

"Shhh..you're gonna wake it up, Brolly!"

"No I'm not, Kimi!"

"Yes you are!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Actually, Casipurr here woke me with her tail tickling my nose!" Nikolous said with a laugh, stretching as he sat up and removed the cloak, revealing that it was indeed two visitors to the village and not some strange new creature. There was a circle of children around him lead by a young human girl in tattered but clean clothing. What was most surprising to Nikolous was that next to her was a cervitaur lad and next to him a centaur lass. As Casipurr got up and stretched as only a great panther can Nikolous looked around. What he saw astounded him. Peoples of nearly all the mortal races seemed to be working and living together in the village side by side. It was unlike anything Nikolous had ever seen before. Generally the races tended to stay only with their own kind!

"Who are you?" This was the smallest of the children, a blue eyed girl with hair as golden as honey in sunlight. Nikolous smiled as he answered her.

"I'm Nikolous the centaur, from the San Valley. I live there with my friend Casipurr and my mother Tia and we have wonderful adventures together. Who are you?"

"I'm Brolly and that's Kimi and Zaln and Karel." the little one solemnly introduced the others. "You're from San? You're not a centaur, you're a Santaur then!" Brolly burst out with a giggle.

"Well, I guess I am then at that!" Nikolous replied and the whole group of them dissolved into laughter.

So it was that Nikolous met the children of Shona. It was soon quite evident that they had stolen his heart and he found that more and more his wanderings took him to the small village. The name that Brolly had given him, Santaur, stuck and soon he answered to it as often as he answered to the name of Nikolous. Eventually he settled there, building himself a small hut at the edge of the village where he could still be near his friends in the forest as well as his mortal friends as well. If the villagers of Shona sometimes saw Nikolous talking to what looked like a tree or a bird, then they just chalked it up to their imaginations working overtime. The children of Shona, however, always suspected the truth but being children knew very well how to keep a secret. They didn't want to do anything to hurt their favorite playmate who made them little toys of wood and who would tell them the most amazing stories of places that he had been and of things that he had seen. Nikolous always had time for the children, and it was with the children of Shona that he had found his true happiness.

As the years passed his trips to visit Tia grew fewer and further apart. Age was catching up to Nikolous as it must to all mortals. He watched Brolly and the other children grow up to have children of their own and he grew to love them as much as he loved the parents. His beard and hair grew white and if there was gray in his coat none of the children would ever say a word. He now used the staff that Tia gave him to help him walk, and the faithful Casipurr moved a bit slower when she accompanied him on his daily walks to gather materials to make toys for his young friends.

He was on one such early morning walk when Latian, who was Brolly's youngest son, found him....

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Part Three

"Santaur! Santaur! Th' monsters came an' took ev'ry one away!" the young one cried. His tunic was stained with dirt and tears and it was quite obvious that he was terrified by something.

"What monster, Latian? What's happened, little one?" Nikolous asked in his calmest tone slowly sitting down and pulling the frightened boy to him.

"I was hidin' from Breki 'cause she was bein' mean an' then I saw t'monsters an' they was big an' they took everyone an' smooshed Salji's house an' hurted his papa an' I ran an' I foun' you Santaur!" the boy managed to get out between sobs and tears. Casipurr rubbed against him in comfort, purring, and Nikolous rocked him gently to calm him further.

"Latian, I need you to be very brave for me right now. I want you to go to the clearing by the waterfall where your mother picks those good berries for pies. Remember where that is?" At the boy's tentative nod he continued. "My friends will watch over you there even though you may not see them. Wait there until I send someone for you, ok?" Another nod. "Now this is very important, Latian. While you are there I want you to collect all the pine cones you can find and pile them up for me. I will use them to make something special for you when all this is over!" Nikolous knew that the boy would be safe in the clearing and with a simple task to do would not feel as afraid as he would if he were just sitting and waiting. He also knew that if the worst happened the sprites that lived there would make sure that the boy was found by someone who could care for him.

With a little difficulty, the aged centaur got to his feet. Giving the boy a final hug he sent him to safety. As silently as possible he approached the village, Casipurr walking on soft paws beside him. The devastation was clear as they got closer. Whole trees were broken and torn up by their roots. To one side of the path there was a broken cart that had belonged to the human miller, just ahead was the wreckage that had once been a hut at the forest's edge. Finally, just as the path opened into the village proper and the true damage to Shona was seen Nikolous got his first clue as to what had caused the trouble. There in the soft earth at the end of the path he saw a footprint, wide and long, with 3 toes and a lumpy misshapen look.

"Trolls," he said to Casipurr. "Come to get slaves for the mines."

It is an unfortunate reality that in every age there are those who feel that they can use others to do the work that they do not want to do themselves. It was so in Nikolous' time as well, and the trolls were the worst of the worst. Mean creatures they were, harsh and cruel. The only thing they loved, it is said, was the gold and gems that their slaves could dig up from the mountains. They had never come as far as Shona before, but news of their kind had traveled ahead of them and so they were known to Nikolous and his people. The question was how was he to save those that he loved.

"If they get back to the mountain strongholds we'll never save them." He told Casipurr. "The quickest way back to their side of the mountains from here would be to go through the little pass near where Rupert's clan lives. It looks like that is where they are headed. If we use the deer trail I bet we could get ahead of them, even with these old bones of ours. Maybe we can think of a plan there." Casipurr's merrouw of agreement was all the encouragement he needed. Gathering some rope, a sharp knife and a few other supplies in a small sack Nikolous began to follow the trail.

It was a rough journey, full of worry for his friends. He knew that the trolls would not be too careless with their prizes and he only hoped that a plan would present itself when he got to the pass. The deer trail was a rough one for a centaur as old as he, and there were many times that day that he wished he was as young as he use to be, or that there had been someone else he could have passed the burden on to. But the thought of the innocent lives that were depending on him renewed his strength and gave him the resolve to keep moving.

Late afternoon found him at the mountain pass, and he could hear only faintest of echoes on the trail to indicate that the trolls were growing near. As he scanned the area a plan began to form, and he only hoped that he would have the strength and time to carry it off. The first thing he needed to do was to gather some allies. Carefully stepping to some fallen boulders, he tapped out an intricate beat on them with one hind hoof. The sound echoed through the pass, silencing the birdsong that had filled the air. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, a wizened head popped out of an unseen hole in the hillside.

"Nikolous? Be that you, lad? When did you get old and grey! Last I saw you were still a young thing just learning how to carve the stone from me!"

"Yes, Reginald, it's me. Time moves on in the upper world for us mortals you know old friend." Nikolous was glad that his one time teacher remembered him. "I need your help and that of your clan. My friends are being held captive by the trolls and this is what we need to do." Quickly he outlined his plan after a moment of long thought Reginald agreed to help out. More gnomes appeared out of the hole and they swarmed to work, with Nikolous lending his back and rope and Casipurr standing guard.

When all was ready Nikolous thanked Reginald and the other gnomes for their work. A few of them stayed behind to help him with the plan and the rest went back into their gnome tunnels deep within the hills. No sooner had the last of them disappeared into the hidden entrance than the deep booming footsteps of the trolls could be heard.

"Ready, Casi my friend?" Nikolous asked from his hiding place near the the head of the pass. At her affirmative merouw he gave her a loving pat and sent her on her way, the knife he had taken from the village tied around her neck. Her job was to provide the means for the villagers to free themselves. His was to be the diversion to allow them the time to escape. All too soon the time came. He saw them, three large brutes, two at the head of the line of captives and one at the end. The villagers were tied one to another with bits of rope, human and taur alike. Among them he could see both children and adults, some with injuries that he hoped were not too severe. Behind them he saw the shadow of Casipurr moving silently behind the final troll. With a deep breath and a prayer for luck, Nikolous stepped out from hiding.

"Hey you! Green skin!" he called out to the trolls. "Aren't you suppose to be off scaring the dragons away?" Now trolls are not the smartest of creatures and when they saw a strange centaur standing and calling out insults, all they could think of was that it was another potential slave. The first two immediately roared out a challenge while the third knotted the rope that tied together the villagers firmly to a tree before he joined in the fun.

Gasping with the effort to stay ahead of the three beings Nikolous used his staff to help him lever his way across some of the stones that littered the path. As they reached the middle of the pass, where the walls were the highest, he grabbed a rope as he trotted by and pulled with all his might. A rumble was heard, then a roar, and the trolls looked up in time to see an avalanche of stone come tumbling down the mountainside to bury them beneath the tons of rock.

By the time the dust from the rockslide settled, darkness had fallen over the pass. Some of the villagers headed back, sure of the path and anxious to get back to their homes. Others waited with the wounded until daylight to make their way back. Brolly waited to thank their rescuer, for she knew that it would take Nikolous time to find a way to get back to their side of the mountain. When she and some of the others went to examine the place where the rockslide took place, she was surprised to see Casipurr there. When she approached the grey panther, she fell to her knees in shock, for there broken among the rocks she found Nikolous' staff.

It is said that if you listened carefully that day, you could also hear the sound of a nymph's tears, and the words of a gnome who tried to comfort her."

**********

A hiccupping sob broke through the spell that Ceryn had woven with her story. Looking down she saw that Aille's golden eyes were filled with tears.

"Oh, little one, don't cry! The story doesn't end there! Let me tell you the rest of it and then you will see." The cervitaur reached down and wiped away the tears with the edge of the blanket and gave her sister a hug before continuing.

"Brolly carried the pieces of the staff back to the village, and they were placed in the square in a spot of honor. To everyone's surprise the next spring there was an oak sapling there, a strong young tree that grew much faster than it should have. It was a favorite place for the children to play and stood guard over the village for many many years.

As for Nikolous, well...

"Nikolous, Nikolous, Wake!" the Voice broke through the dream like mist that the centaur had found himself in. Nikolous? Yes, he was Nikolous. He remembered now. And that Voice. He had heard it before, when he was a child... It all came back to him in a rush. Who he was. What he was. What had happened to him and the memories of a lifetime.

"Forest Lord," he said kneeling on knees that were no longer old and arthritic.

"No need to kneel, Nikolous." The Forest Lord said. "I am no better than you are in this place, simply one who has a bit more knowledge than you have right now. You have lived a good life and to you is given a choice. You can go on to the Summerlands where you will be rewarded for your works or you can chose to return as one of the immortals, forever living on the earth among its peoples and their sorrows and doing what you can to ease them."

For Nikolous, of course, there was only one answer to that question. To this very day the spirit of the Santaur Nikolous walks this world, doing what he can to make children of all races smile and to lighten the hearts of all those that he can reach."

~ THE END ~