Once upon a time, there was a little girl whose fate seemed to have been written by lady fortune herself. From birth, her parents adored the first gurgle from the perfect, green eyed little angel. She was their everything and nothing was spared if it could bring her joy. They lived in a great big house on a large estate, where butlers, maids, and footmen saw to their every need.

But fortune was fickle, and what she created, she could destroy without mercy.

One cold night, the little girl had a strange dream when she was asleep in the back of the family Mclaren. She dreamt of a boy in a lonely tower, who held her hand and promised to follow her forever. She promised she would go back and marry the little boy, after all, she was his knight.

She would wake up in a hospital and forget the boy and his eyes that seemed to have inked her image into his very soul. Instead she would wake up to a world where everyone she loved had died. Her father, mother, and grandmother had all left her behind.

The world, which had once been a warm and friendly place, now turned cold and murderous. Greedy relatives took her money, some even tried to kill her. She escaped and at a young age, was recruited by a shadowy organization that made her the most feared operative in the world. It did not come easily and the road was littered with the bodies of friend and foe alike. She had closed herself off from the world that had abandoned her and learned not just to survive, but to conquer.

She realized that she could rely on no one and nothing. Friends could betray her. Family could harm her.

And love? That was the worst of all sins. People in love made mistakes that are often always fatal. She told herself to never forget that.

And as Cybelline was thrown off the cliff, she smiled ruefully to herself.

Since meeting Ithos and his family she had broken many of the rules she'd made herself. She made friends and she had a family again. And now she was falling to her death.

But it was worth it. She would do it again.

She closed her eyes again, her ears no longer hearing the whistle of wind as her body hurled towards death.

Her blood seeped from every pore of her body, and when it touched the invisible banyan ring on her hand, the band seemed to brighten. The ring that had brought her to this world began to glow, the etchings of the branches waved as it touched her blood.

Slowly at first, then quickly, it began to absorb all the blood it could, greedily absorbing all the blood it could reach.

From above, two additional bodies followed. It was the bloody bodies of Ithos and Myrai. Their blood fell and was absorbed into Cybelline's ring.

Light flared. A pair of black wings, laced with red, unfurled itself from Cybelline's body. They grew longer and larger than her body. Her fall slowed down until she was floating.

Dark light emanated from her body, encircling her, Ithos, and Myrai. It was three times larger than the dome the mage had made, if anyone had seen it up close, they would see the strange markings from Cybelline's wings on the power barrier. It carried the three to forest floor.

Then, as sudden as the barrier had shown up, it disappeared in a flash. But Cybelline, ithos, and Myrai were nowhere to be found.

......

The sound of water woke her up. She opened her eyes to a brilliant blue sky. There was no searing pain anymore, the feeling that she was being torn apart inch by inch had receded. Now, there was only a dull ache. She took a deep breath and frowned, she smelled rich dark earth and the sharp, lemony scent of fresh grass.

She sat up, and saw in front of her, a little patch of land, a duck pond and a little stone hut. This was exactly how she envisioned her retirement. She looked down and was surprised to find that she was no longer bleeding, though faint scar marks now covered every inch her skin. She sighed, she must look like a broken china doll.

Not sure if she was dead or alive, she got up. What was strange about the little place was that it was surrounded by thick white walls of fog all around.

She walked to the edge of the grass and fog, reached out and touched it. It felt as if she was touching thick cotton, no matter how hard she pushed, it would not let her through.

She turned back to explore the patch of land that was available to her. She walked past the little patch of emerald farmland, it was better than anything that she'd seen at the village. It would grow anything she wanted it to.

The soft loamy soil felt good in between her toes as she knelt down by the water. It was so clear she could see the rocks on the bottom, covered in moss. Perfect, a perfect little duck pond where she could swim in the summer and watch over during the winter. She saw her reflection and blanched. Her face was covered in thin spider-webbed marks that was a little jarring to see. After a while she shrugged, she's had worse before, a little disfigurement was nothing she couldn't accept.

She took a handful of water and drank it. Cool and sweet, better than anything she's had in her life, it felt like silk as it slid down her fingers and back into the pool. She looked for the source and blinked.

On the further side of the pond, she found a little tree, no taller than a human toddler. It had six branches, it looked half dead. Yet, from one of the leaves that was barely hanging on, a drop of water fell into the pond. Cybelline looked down at the large pond. How long had this been going on? And more importantly, what did she just drink?

"So, at last, you're awake". A deep voice reverberated in the air. Cybelline stared at the tree. And then looked around.

"Sorry, are you talking to me?"

The voice paused. "Yes. You are the only person who can hear me right now."

Cybelline looked around the little tree. "What...are you?" She had a feeling that even though the voice seemed to be everywhere, its original source was much closer.

The voice became indignant, unable to sound mysterious any longer, "I am not a what. I am a who. and I am the spirit guardian of this place and the one who healed you."

Cybelline knelt down beside the tree, "Okay, who are you."

"Puny one, listen well! I am a great and powerful god, a creature so awe inspiring that humans created temples in my image, a being of eternal power---"

"Found you!" Cybelline pulled out a furry little thing by the ears and frowned. "What are you, a hamster? I didn't know people worshiped hamsters."

The little thing stared at her indignantly, as Cybelline continued, "Guinea pig? A really fat rat?" At the last one, the little thing in her hand opened its mouth and answered angrily, " I am a rare ---

"You can't be a naked mole rat, you've got fur." Cybelline continued before the thing in her hand shouted, "I'm a fox!"

"Oh." Cybelline said, and dropped the little fox back onto the ground, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

The fox growled and dropped the mysterious voice altogether, "As I was saying, you have been chosen. The ring as accepted you as its new caretaker."

It pointed to the band engraved on Cybelline's hand, she looked at the ring that had been fused to her skin until only an etching of it was visible. She lifted her hand, "This ring?"

The fox nodded, "The ring was made from this very tree."

Cybelline looked down at the fox, "Care to explain a little more?"

The fox shook its haughty head, "It is not for you to know more than you can handle. All you need to know is that you can live for the rest of your life here. It's the life you wanted and imagined." The fox continued, "Very few have enjoyed the privilege. All you have to do in return in take care of the tree. I will teach you how."

"You mean the tree that looks like it's about to die any moment?" She asked incredulously.

The fox glared at her, "Many have come before you and they have prolonged the tree's longevity. You are in a privileged position, living here will double, if not triple your lifespan."

Cybelline looked around, "What is this place?"

"This is the land inside the ring. Outside the ring is the land you just came from." The fox answered patiently.

"So I'm still alive, just, inside a ring." Cybelline said, she looked at the little lot of land and then to mist surrounding her, "What about the fog?"

The fox glared at her again, "It's not for someone like you to know."

"I've never had fox stew." Cybelline mused, "Also, I've always wondered what roasted fox taste like."

The fox shuddered, and quickly, with a much sweeter tone, changed the subject, " You were damaged beyond belief when you showed up here with the other two. It took much of my magic to lift the curse from your blood. I saved your life."

"What other two?" Cybelline asked, her eyes lit up. The fox turned around, "Their bodies were in even a worse state than yours. I barely had enough magic to heal you, though a long time ago, I could have done it without batting an eye. Perhaps I will have enough in another thousand years to heal one of them."

Cybelline looked, two shadows laid in crystal coffins, one held Ithos and the other Myrai. "They're alive?" She asked, her voice tight, the fox nodded, "Yes. However, they have but one breathe left. If they stay in there, they will stay like that forever, between life and death. If you move them out of the coffins, they will die immediately"

"I need to get them help" Cybelline stood up, "I need to leave, how to I get back to the outside world? How do I get outside of the ring?"

The fox shook his head, "You can't. You can never leave. There is no way out."