Seeds of the World Tree

It was another sunny day as usual for Nirvandor, a nation located in the southwest of the continent. It was a nation that thrived through its vast fertile grounds and fruitful fishing industry.

Holding the strongest grip in the fishing industry was the city of Tidecrest, a large metropolitan city connecting Nirvandor with the western sea. Not only did it one of the biggest and most lucrative harbors on the continent, but it also boasts the most famous and beautiful beaches which millions of tourists visit every year.

On one such beach ran a young boy with short, black hair and clear brown eyes. He jumped over towels and sunbathing tourists, weaved the children playing in the sand, and dodged the many adults trying to scold him for his actions.

Even though he ran for half an hour through the sand, the boy kept a steady breathing and seemed to not be tired at all. He soon reached a cliff far from any tourists or local folk. The waters raged against the cliff, threatening to break it down at any moment. Not afraid of the raging waves, the boy went closer, his gaze scanning the entire place for anything of value or interest.

The strong waves and currents near the cliff would more often than not wash a variety of things to the beach. Most items were trash and held no value but sometimes Mathis would get lucky and encounter jewelry or shells with pearls inside them. And on even rarer occasions he would find 'Coral Crowns', a type of magical mushroom living around 50 meters into the sea. It was mostly used as medicine to cure smaller ailments.

"Hmm… Looks like I'll go home empty-handed this time…"

Mathis continued searching carefully, sometimes he would dig up the sand slightly but today seemed to be one of those unfruitful days.

He was about to turn around and go back home when he suddenly decided to take another look at the cliffs. The sea seemed low and the upper part of a small cave entrance was visible.

"A cave?", Mathis had been visiting this place for 2 years now and never had he seen any trace of a cave. Mathis stood there debating for a while whether he should check it out or not but in the end he chose to go. 

"There won't be another chance once the sea rises again!"

The cave entrance was a slight distance away from the shore and Mathis had to swim a couple meters to reach it. He took a look inside, making sure he had enough breathing room once he entered.

He swam for 5 minutes inside the cave until the water finally vanished and a foothold was available.

"Gotta be quick or I won't be able to leave anymore…", he rushed forward into the cave making sure to not miss anything.

The cave was as standard as it could be. It was dominated by complete silence, only the occasional platter of water drops landing on the hard ground echoed in the cave together with Mathis' footsteps.

Even though he hurried as fast as he could it still took a couple minutes before reaching a rather spacious opening. The inside was filled with different sorts of algae, mushrooms, and other types of flora. Each of them however glowed in the same eerie black and purple light. The luminescence of the myriad of wildlife gave the opening an ominous appearance.

Something deep inside Mathis resonated with the chill-inducing atmosphere and his eyes soon landed on a small object, nearly completely hidden by algae. Mathis carefully swiped the plant away to reveal a beautiful piece of jewelry.

"An amulet?", Mathis held in his hand an intricate and beautifully crafted amulet made of some black metal with a gorgeous white gem embedded in it. The black chain was covered in weird runes that Mathis did not know about while the white gem seemed to hold infinite power inside.

Mathis wanted to take another look around searching for more treasure but suddenly the cave trembled and a huge amount of seawater came crushing into the opening. Mathis who was startled by the sudden influx of water, rushed towards the exit while fighting against the raging stream with all his might.

He was giving it his all but the water was too strong, he lost his balance and was washed back into the opening. He struggled as he swallowed leaps of salty water, the world around him blurred. His body flung against the walls, the ground, and the ceiling sustaining many blunt impacts. With each passing second, Mathis grew closer to death. 

His left hand began hurting from clenching it as hard as he could and for a short moment, he was able to regain some sense of clarity. His eyes looked down at his hand and saw the black amulet with the white gem on it glow with a chilling, purple and black aura.

His struggling body was flown one last time against the wall where his head nearly cracked open from the impact before his eyes closed and his mind was swallowed by darkness.

…

Mathis couldn't feel anything, he couldn't see anything, he couldn't hear anything.

His mind was blank, and his body felt like floating in the air. He couldn't tell what was happening, he couldn't remember what led to this.

"Child of Death, open your eyes", a myriad of voices assaulted Mathis's mind, breaking him out of his dream. He jumped up, finding himself at the shore of the beach. Memories flooded his brain about the mysterious cave and the amulet he had found, as well as the water that threatened to drown him.

"I… I was sure I was done for…", his eyes went towards the cliff some distance away from him. He rushed towards the cliff, careful not to get swept away by the waves that continued to grow in intensity.

Once he reached the spot where he had previously entered the cave, he found nothing. The wall was smooth and there was no trace of an entrance ever existing.

"Did I get a heatstroke and hallucinate everything?", he couldn't believe that something as vivid as what just witnessed was nothing but a dream. Once he reached the beach again he felt something heavy in his left pocket.

"The amulet?!", Mathis' hands trembled seeing the unique black jewelry in his hands.

"So… That wasn't a dream?! But the cave is gone…", his eyes went to the cliff he had just investigated again.

Looking back at the amulet he noticed the once pristine white gem had turned an eery black. The longer his eyes looked at the gem, the more his mind seemed to be sucked to somewhere far away. The surroundings grew darker with each second, it seemed like it would swallow him whole again if he couldn't break free.

The world had nearly turned completely black when a football came flying and hit him right in the face. The trance was broken and Mathis felt his mind return to normalcy. He quickly stuffed the amulet back into his pocket and watched as three other children came running for the ball. Their mother who ran behind them apologized to Mathis and made sure her sons hadn't hurt the young boy.

"No thanks, ma'am. I'm all good!", with a bright smile Mathis left the mother behind and ran home, eager to tell his parents about his latest adventure.