Rowena Tanglewood

We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course. Water is dangerous. It destroys the stone, engulfs the fire, embraces the winds, and with their help - sweeps away everything. But above all, it's part of what she hadn't seen before. It was the water that opens her eyes. Rowena was born into a middle-class family. Most of her time, she spends among the large meadows and deep forests in her homeland, guarding the herds of animals that she and her family raise to survive. She has always been what she is – a farmer and a shepherd. Unlike her sister, who spent her time among the flowers and crops, Rowena always preferred the company of the animals. She got along with them. She was calm among them until that day. One night, when the woman was herding the animals in the nearest meadow, it suddenly rained. To hide them from the storm, she led the herd into a chain of caves where an old mine was sealed. Satisfied that she had protected the herd, the girl sits down and watched the water, which kept raining and raining. Because they were high, Rowena didn't have the opportunity to realize what actually was happening. She waited, but the rain did not subside - it became more and more brutal. Everything was noisy. Furious. Angry. After a spend night in the sealed mine, Rowena suddenly stands and rushes through the rain. The raindrops hit her fiercely. Painfully, leaving the horrifying feeling that something had torn her flesh. But she kept running. A terrible thought came to her mind. Near their small farm, there were many rivers that often overflowed. In this rain, bad things could happen.

*[*10:46 AM*]*

As she ran, she suddenly heard a growl. Her feet dug into the muddy ground. When she turned her face, there were a pair of blue eyes against her. White fur, like snow, crept between the water drops. Before she realizes that there is a wolf, the black-haired girl runs away in a different direction. The animal continues to chase her, but it never attacked her. When she was finally out of breath in her lungs, Rowena finds herself back in the cave with the herd, which was quiet - unusually quiet. The wolf slowly dragged its paws on the ground, and the girl landed at the entrance of the cave. But nothing happened. The blue-eyed animal sat and watched her as the water continued to flood everything around her. Over time, the raindrops weakened. Rowena never realized how much time she had spent in that place. But at one point she just fell asleep, and when she reopened her eyes the rain had stopped. One of the cows was missing and the wolf was gone. All that was left was the blood trail which the cow might have left. And yet the girl had not heard the cry of an animal which is dying. The cow made no sound. When she returned to her home, she found three bodies, debris, and water, which had turned the place into a muddy swamp. Immersed in tears, Rowena goes to the village to seek help, but then... she finds a graveyard. They were all dead. Drowned. The water had taken them away. But she survived. Why she survived?

*[*10:46 AM*]*

Something had changed since that day. She had changed. She saw beasts in the bushes, heard the wind whispering. She felt the power in the inner dew. She found a call for help in the roar of the wolves. Everything was alive. Everything spoke. So three months passed since that day. In this time Rowena rebuilt the farm, but not for a long time. One morning she finds a little white wolf in front of her house. The next night she had a dream. In it, Rowena runs with the wind. She's chasing it ... No, she's searching for something, but she doesn't know what. This dream takes her far. Grabbing the wooden staff and the leather bag, Rowena finds herself in those lands where almost no one returns. And there she hears it...she feels it. Stronger. Louder. The voice of nature in the Exiled Lands.