Long ago there was a meadow high in the mountains. And in the center of the meadow was an Ancient Tree, gnarled by the years, and the wind, and the rain. And the People would gather there in the Summer when the Sun was high in the sky, and the bees flocked to the trees flowers. And in the winter, when the tree’s branches were full of dark birds, the wise would travel there, and watch in silence, to decipher the language of its branches written on the sky. Each year the people would gather beneath the tree where it drank from a spring that flowed into the brook that ran through the meadow. The People would bring food, and gifts, and they would stay in the meadow for a week to listen to the tree, because it was called the Tree of Whispers, because the wind spoke in it’s branches, and the People believed that if they listened closely enough, they could understand the tree’s words.
But during the festival there was great celebration, and much dancing and music, and one of the People - a young girl named Gwedhen - would become overwhelmed by all the noise, and retreat into the forest that surrounded the mead and think “I can hear the voice of the Tree of Whispers, but not when the great celebration is drowning out her voice.” So she would walk into the woods, and up the slopes of the hills that surrounded the meadow, and creep beneath the boulders strewn about the feet of the trees, and often, she would find a mossy patch below an overhanging rock, and fall asleep, and dream.
At night when the rest of the People had fallen asleep, she would awake, and creep down to the meadow full of darkness and moonlight, and the silence of the stars, and sit at the foot of the Tree of Whispers. And the tree told her things of ancient wisdom, and of the shaping of the world, but much of what the tree said she did not understand. And she would again fall asleep with one foot in the well, and an ear to the tree’s roots, and she would dream that her fingers reached up into the sky amongst the stars.
And one day, she traveled into the forest, and followed a winding way that she had not seen before, and came to the mouth of a cave that smelled of the earth, and of an animal within it. And though she was frightened, she felt that this was a test of her courage, and so - on a small patch of moss she lay down, and fell asleep.
Now, the people lived hidden in the mountains, and the high hidden valleys, and the water meads, and stayed away from the folks of the cities down on the plain. They gave their Dead to the earth, so that they would be protected, and distrusted the people in the valleys who could not see the beauty of the untamed wilds. And mostly, they knew that the people of the cities feared them, and their arrow tips of frozen night, which would strike like a deadly hornet from the bushes, and leave no trace of an archer. And so they lived as rumors of an ancient folk, and kept to themselves.
But this day, Gwedhen awoke at dusk to screams. She heard her people’s cries rising from below, and the sounds of metal and horses echoed off the walls of the valley. She stood, and was about to rush for the meadow, when she froze. She felt hot breath on her neck, and turned slowly to see a giant cave bear, whose voice rumbled deep in his throat. She realized that that beast was what she had feared, and yet she saw now that she had not feared harm from the creature, but had been awed by the power that the bear possessed, even hidden away in his cave. The bear looked at her with deep green eyes, and his fur was ancient, and mossy. And she understood from his look, that he would be her protector. He lowered himself at the shoulder, and she leapt lightly to his back, and they charged through the forest into the meadow.
What Gwedhen saw in front of her made her cry out. Men on chariots with many spoked wheels rushed about the meadow drawn forward by great horses. Their harnesses and armor and cruel swords rattled as they chased down her people, and killed them, leaving their bodies strewn on the ground. The people who fled toward the forest were cut down even as they reached the forest’s eaves.
And one stood out from amongst the warriors of the cities wearing armor that shone like the Sun, and he cried out “I have come to take this place for my own. Too long have you let it live beyond the will of men, letting its productivity go to waste. I shall build a home here, and farm and put this meadow finally to good use.”
But his cry was echoed by the bellowing of the Bear. And the bear charged at the charioteers, and cast them to the ground. It was not long before Gwedhen was thrown from the Bear’s back in his rage, and she crawled about in the grass amongst the slain, trying to find whether one of them might still take breath. Eventually, she found her brother, a young boy named Hwedhel, who had been knocked down, and dazed, and lay quietly coming in and out of the world, and she did her best to tend to him while the warriors charged the Bear, and the Bear threw them from their chariots to the ground.
The battle went back and forth for a long time, and just as the bear bore down on the last of the charioteers, Gwedhen heard him below in dismay. She looked up from the boy Hwedhel, and saw what had filled the Bear with rage, for some of the warriors had begun hacking at the Tree of Whispers, and building up a fire at its base. And the man in the golden armor laughed, and told the Bear “that Tree was the power that held the valley, and as it dies, so too your power wains, and you shall fall back into your slumber.”
But the bear charged toward the tree, and scattered the men who clambered onto what horses they could catch, and they rode out of the valley, believing their victory to be complete. The Bear slashed at the burning piles amidst the tree’s roots, and scattered the coals, even as his claws scratched through the trees tender bark.
And Hwedhel said: “Gwedhen, go to the Tree of Whispers, she needs you more than I do now,” and this she did. The Bear had scattered as much as his paws were able to, and now she saw that he was mewling, and rubbing his face against the tree’s bark, as though trying to prod a cub into awakening. And Gwedhen took a basket made from twisted grasses from the wreckage around the tree, and scooped what water she could from the well, and put out the last of the coals, but she saw that the tree was dying. The leaves shuddered, and began to droop, and the flowers which the bees came to drink from began to drop their petals.
Again, the Bear looked at her with his deep green eyes, and she understood his request. She lay herself against the trunk, which groaned, and crack opened in its side. And Gwedhen stepped into the crack, which closed around her, and she was seen no more.
Hwedhel stood when she was gone, and walked to the tree, and placed his hand on the rough bark, and felt life return to the tree. And he put his hand on the Bear, who looked at him with sad and kindly eyes, and nodded in thanks for the sacrifice, and then strode off to his cave.
And when the soldiers came back to find the meadow, Hwedhel watched them from the shadows of the trees, but try as they might, they always lost their way, and the meadow was hidden from them, though Hwedhel never understood why.
Hwedhel lived long, and found others who still lived hidden amongst the mountains. And he found that he was able to return to the meadow, and could sit by the brook, with his feet in the well. And he heard Gwedhen’s whispers in the sound of the wind in the tree’s healed branches, but never could he bring anyone with him, and try as he might, when he described to others how to arrive there, they were never able to find their way back.
But the people in the cities of the valley were relentless, and always on the move to expand their farms, and cut down the forest. And when Hwedhel was old, he told the people that they must go in search of the Bear, for he is their ultimate protector. And so one day he walked back to his meadow so that he might sit beside his tree, and the people left the mountains to search the world for where the Bear waits in his slumber, knowing that when he is awoken, they will be able to return to the paradise that came before.