Eternal Tigress

The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished. Everything around and in the river stood still. A hand placed in the water was the only indication of the odd occurrence within the river flow. The boats were immovable as they remained docked and could not be chartered. The river wouldn't allow the boats to move. Although, the movement of the river itself brought more confusion to the people. The odd behavior of the river led to the pondering questions of all. What curse has fallen upon Novaland? What would the young Queen do to save them?

Dimitri and Sergey, two fisherman and brothers, were the first to encounter the mystical hold upon their sector of the Amur River. The two brothers were quarantined from their actions upon discovery by the countries officials. All who had residence along the river were questioned but the brothers choose silence. This incident wouldn't be their first encounter with the power of the river. Dimitri and Sergey would observe the peculiar happenings alongside the river by their forest home and fishing dock. They would be mesmerized by the wonders of the forest in the early morning hours to get the best catch of catfish and trout. Dimitri and Sergey witnessed the powers within the forest, the mystical creatures that took cover in the nocturnal hours. They together shared life within the forest of Novaland, a small non-existent country to the rest of the world along the Amur River in Russia.

Different creatures had startled Dimitri and Sergey from time to time. Once baffled at their catch of the 'Rainbow Fish', which neither one could explain its disappearance, once spilling their bycatch on the bottom of their twenty-two foot fishing boat. No encounter compared to what they'd named the 'Nemean Tiger'. Its orange golden fur would light up against the dark background of the forest. The damp conifer trees illuminated so that it caused slight fear to creep into the brothers insides. The brothers feared the trees might catch ablaze from the Siberian Tigers glow. These were just a couple experiences engraved in their memory. They anticipated what lay in wait along the dampness of the forest as they assembled their boat to embrace the calming powers of the river some mornings.

The Chinese had given the river the name Black Dragon. Perhaps its malevolence had offered Dimitri and Sergey grace during their habitation and work along the Amur River. The brothers were the top fisherman in their land, satisfied by their private fishing spot. During the spring, summer and early fall the fishing brothers would haul a bounty and create a nice living for themselves in the quiet surrounding of the forest of Novaland. The Queen under the advisory of the Regent wasn't a selfish ruler and Dimitri and Sergey enjoyed the luxury that accompanied their status as elite fishermen.

Now tucked away in their home, not by choice, they couldn't help but imagine what had a hold upon the river. The darkness of the Chinese Black Dragon? The Rainbow Fish that slipped away? The Nemean Tiger perhaps? Or something else that lurked in the mystical domain of the Novaland forest. Dimitri and Sergey had witnessed the loud, deep and resonating roar that bellowed from the belly of the Siberian Tiger. They had never seen the tiger violent nor had the tiger ever charged their presence. The brothers believed the resonating roar of the tiger was a different exertion. Dimitri and Sergey knew the tiger or the mystical powers of the forest held the answer to the oddity of the rivers flow. The brothers had to speak with the Queen and share what they knew, but what would she think of them?