The Living Diamond

Published June 26th, 2026

Warning: Before you start reading, this is unfinished and likely will never be, but I thought I would still “publish” it.

The Two Rings

It was a sunny day. A few small clouds were floating across the blue sky out over the rolling deep green hills off in the distance. The sun was shining bright and warm. As far as nature was concerned, all was good. Summer had arrived. The cold was gone from the air. Singing a sweet song, the birds had returned ready for a new season.

Will had just begun Summer break, one of his favorite times of the year. No more due dates, no more assignments. He could barely wait to be back home north of the city. His college was in the city, just south and a little to the east of his hometown. It was nowhere special. The campus itself was nice enough, but a little run down. It had lots of old brick buildings and even a beautiful old catholic church in the center. It was not used a church anymore, but still grand nonetheless. That was probably the nicest thing on campus.

The city does not come into this tale. Needless to say, Will preferred his parent’s home out in the country and missed it. He hadn’t been back there since Christmas and as much as he loved Christmas, he hadn’t gotten out to the woods or the stream or any of the vast country behind his yard. It was all buried in snow.

“But that is all past” he thought, “Now I can relax”. He remembered the summer days where he would go for walks in the woods or along the little stream, though never too far. As far as he was concerned, the deep woods had an erie feeling about them. Ancient trees grew there. So ancient that they were ancient when his grandfather and even great-grandfather lived in the house. He had been warned never to go there by the tales his grandfather told him, which he received from his own grandfather. Will had taken them to heart even though his father had laughed at them saying, “Sounds like a fairy tale to me. Wizards, dwarfs, what else? I bet there’s nothing more than a few deer in those woods.”

“A fairy tale you say?” replied Will’s grandfather, “Your great-grandfather had a tougher skin than most, and even he didn’t dare venture too far into those woods.”

“He had no need to, and anyway it makes for a good story.”

Either way, those “stories” had kept Will out of the deep woods for a good many years. He was still curious though about what might lie beyond that dark menacing line of trees. The dark could hide many things and what if there were really such things as Wizards and dwarfs? Would they be friendly or evil? And why would they stay so hidden? He kept thinking about this but was pulled back to reality when he saw that his mother and sister walked through the door.

“Back from shopping?” Will said.

“Yep, got a few things you might like” his mom replied smiling.

Will looked into the bag. “A shovel? A ring? What is this stuff? And where did you go shopping?”

“Well, Lily saw a little garage sale on the side of the road and wanted to stop”

“Yes!” said Lily getting excited, “I found that ring there and a similar one for myself.” She pointed to her hand. “They looked gold, but the lady just wanted to get rid of them. Said something about too mysterious for her.”

“Did she say where they came from?”

“No, though she said her husband had all sorts of tales about it. The one she believed the most was that he found them at the bottom of the stream the flows out of the woods”

“That’s a weird place to find matching golden rings”

“That’s what I thought, but she said all the other stories were even stranger. She wouldn’t tell me them though”

“Well maybe we’ll be the ones to solve the mystery. I need something to do during the break anyway”. His mother had suggested getting a job, but he would rather not and would make any excuse to avoid that.

“Well as long as you keep yourself busy and out of trouble.” said his Mom as if she guessed what he was thinking.

“Don’t worry about us mom.” replied Lily “There’s probably nothing to it. Some grandpa making up tales for fun”

Will thought that was likely, but he wasn’t too sure. If the rings really did come from the wood, they might’ve even come out of the deep wood and even if he didn’t admit it, he at least partially believed the stories of his grandfather. At least, he thought something was just a little strange about that place.

“Well where should we start?” Lily asked. Their mother had gone into the kitchen to put the rest of the groceries away.

“Probably at that stream.”

“Follow it up into the woods?”

“Exactly. Maybe we’ll find something along the stream.”

“You’ve walked the stream before though?”

“Yes, but maybe I missed something. I wasn’t exactly looking for clues.”

“Fair enough. When do we start? I say right now.”

“Well it’s almost time for dinner. I think we should aim for an early start tomorrow.”

“I guess you’re right” Lily sighed. She was disappointed but not about to argue. She didn’t like arguments.

“Lily” called their Mom, “I need some help with dinner.”

“Coming” replied Lily. She didn’t mind cooking, but she had other things on her mind. She was about to embark on an adventure. What could that mean? Will it just lead to a dead end? Or might some of those strange tales have something to them. She hoped it was only the good parts that were true. She started to imagine meeting a kindly old wizard out in the woods, eating dinner with the dwarfs. When she was younger, she had heard and read many stories like that. “Oh but that’s all nonsense, childish thinking” she thought, “but what if it isn’t?”. Either way her mother was calling her again. “Coming!” said Lily as she ran into the kitchen.

After Lily left, Will was left by himself again. “I wonder. Could any of the stories be true?” He picked up the ring. “This ring, what does it mean?” he thought, “probably nothing, but it could.” He had also read stories and heard stories. He was thinking now of the one ring in one of his favorite tales. A story of strength and perseverance, of kings and elves, of dwarfs and men. In that story, there was also darkness, evil and dread. The ring in that story was evil. “Let’s hope ours isn’t like that.” He thought, “and anyway those stories weren’t real.”

He took a closer look at the ring. The ring was beautiful handcrafted gold. There were markings and carvings all around it, trees, people and what looked like mountains. If you looked at it long enough, you could almost imagine it was telling a story. He kept turning it around and noticed a small long oval indent on the ring with a little bump sticking out in the middle. “Weird it almost looks like it’s missing something.” He thought to himself. Looking closer, he realized it wasn’t quite a bump, but was smaller at the bottom than the top, as if it could pop into it. “I can’t imagine what would fit in there. No diamond or gem could fit. It would have to be something soft.” He’d have to ask Lily what she thought once they got started.

“Dinner’s ready” yelled Lily from the kitchen.

Will stood up and walked to the kitchen. Three loaves of meatloaf were sitting on the table with mashed potatoes on the side. “Look’s good. Where’s dad?” asked Will.

“He’s not home yet. Probably will be here soon. We can eat though.” said their mother.

“Good. I’m hungry.” Will grabbed a plate and sat at the table.

“Have you had any more ideas about the ring?” asked Lily.

“I looked at it a little more.” Will explained the indent he found. “Any ideas?”.

“Something soft.” Lily thought aloud to herself. “But still valuable enough for a ring. I don’t know.”

“Me neither.”

They all ate dinner. It was a good meatloaf. About midway through the meal their Dad got home. “Sorry I’m late.” he said as he walked in the door.

“All good. You got here just in time.” said their mom

He noticed the ring on Will’s finger. “What’s that on your finger?”

“It’s a ring. Lily found it at a garage sale.” He then explained everything they knew and guessed.

“Fairy tales… aren’t you a little old for that?” muttered their Dad.

“And what if it’s true?” asked Lily quietly.

“It can’t be. There is no magic. Everything is as you see it.” replied their Dad.

After dinner, Lily and Will decided to go for a little walk outside. The sun had just begun to set behind the dark green hills. There we’re a few pink clouds in the now colorful sky. Off to the east was the forest and then the old forest within it. Beyond the forest in the distance were tall snow capped mountains that neither of them had ever been to. In fact, they lived on the edge of wilderness. Once you went past the deep woods, there we’re no roads or houses for miles and miles. The nearest road that direction was past the mountains and down the other side.

“Look over there.” Lily whispered.

“What?”

“Don’t you see it? Towards the woods.”

“See what?”

“That deer over there?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Doesn’t it look like it’s beckoning us to come?”

“Lily, it’s a deer.” Will rolled his eyes.

“I know I know, but look at it”

Will glanced over at it. It kind of did look like it was trying to say something, as much as a deer could say anything. “Maybe… if magic is real” he thought to himself, but he said “It’s just staring at us. Deer do that.”

“You’re probably right.” said Lily disappointed, but she still thought it was calling them.

“Look, it’s getting dark. We should head in, so we can get an early start tomorrow. We don’t know how long it will take.”

They slowly headed back to the house. “What’s the plan?” asked Lily.

“Well, I don’t really know. Walk the creek I guess, at least as far as we can.”

“That’ll take all day. We should bring sandwiches.” Lily suggested.

“True. We’ll pack them tomorrow. Let’s plan on leaving around sunrise.”

“Sounds like a plan!” said Lily excitedly.

The reached the house and quickly went to bed. They had an early start tomorrow and needed all the time they could get if they wanted to figure out where these rings came from. After walking outside both of them were even more excited, and almost believed, that at least some of the stories were real. They hoped only the good happy ones, but feared the dark dangerous ones. Either way, they slept well and dreamed good dreams, but full of magic and everything they imagined they could encounter.

The Woods

The next morning, they were both up before dawn. Lily had gotten up first and even cooked a little breakfast for them, some eggs and a little bacon. Soon, Will could smell it from his room and came down as quick as his legs could carry him.

“Careful, you’ll wake the whole house up.” laughed Lily.

Will smiled. “Only if the smell of bacon didn’t wake them up first.”

In fact, no one else had woken. Will hadn’t been all that loud, and their parents were too tired to be woken up even by the wonderful smell of bacon. In fact, they barely knew when Will and Lily left or where they had gone, only that they were heading to the stream to look for clues.

As they sat down to eat, Will asked “So what type of clues should we look for?”

Lily sat thinking. “Well, the Lady didn’t say anything to go by, and I felt bad asking even more questions. So we really don’t know.”

“So just wait for a little old dwarf to show up and tell us everything about the ring?” Will said jokingly.

Lily grinned “Seems plausible to me.”

They finished their breakfast and began the preparation. They knew they would be gone for multiple hours and maybe till the evening, so they packed two large sandwiches each. Lily packed a few crackers and some veggies. Going out the garage, Will grabbed a small shovel (“in case we need to dig”, he thought) and a piece of rope. Once they both finished packing, they were ready to set out.

From behind their house, the sun was climbing up the sky, slowly but steadily. By the time they reached the stream, they could see the full sunrise. The sun was streaming across the sky painting everything in a nice golden color. The sky was full of every shade of red, orange, blue and purple, with a few pink clouds interspersed within it. The water sparkled as it flowed over the small pebbles along the creek bed.

“You never get tired of the sunrise” said Will.

The continued to walk in silence along the stream till they reached the edge of the wood, the normal wood that is; not the deep ancient wood. As they approached, they stopped to rest for a moment.

Lily looked around and said jokingly, “No little old dwarf yet.”

After a minute Will said. “I don’t see anything here. Let’s keep going along the stream.” He was too focused on the task at hand to respond.

They kept going up the stream. Every one and awhile they would stop and say “Oh look at that tree!” or “What’s that rock?” or “Oh look a squirrel”. The wood was full of life and joy. The birds were singing. The grass was green. The sunlight danced along the clean ripples of the creek. The wood was sparse enough that you could see far in every direction, full of great old oaks and bright birch with an occasional pine sprinkled in. The trees went on endlessly in every direction. Soon, you felt as if the wood could go on forever. It wouldn’t matter if it did; it was perfect, but there were no clues, nothing to guide them to the source of these strange rings.

Soon, they reached a spot where it looked as if there had been a camp recently. There was a small fire pit made of a circle of gray stones, and it looked as if someone had recently set up a tent next to the fire.

“What’s this? I didn’t think anyone else came into these woods.” Will said, a little nervously.

Lily looked around. “And look at these footprints. Shoes next to deer prints?”

Will inspected them. “That is strange. Likely, just a coincidence.”

Lily glanced at the fire then realized. “This fire is barely cold. Someone must’ve been here last night. Oh, and the deer!”

“The deer made this fire?”

“No no no. Not the deer himself (or herself). No it would’ve been someone else. Maybe the deer was a friend?”

Will, still suspicious, “Deer don’t have friends that build fires.”

“Well, not that we know of at least.” replied Lily, “but if we believe the stories…”

“If we believe them” Emphasized Will.

“Oh come on.” Lily said exasperated. “I just wish all those books were true. The dwarfs and elves. Tree-spirits and river-spirits. Wizards and witches. Well not the witches. But don’t you see, it could all be true.”

They searched the camp for any more clues but found nothing but a small silver coin with an odd design. It was unlike any coin they had seen before. One side had two trees with a man holding a staff sideways across the trees, as if blocking the way. The other side had a picture of a mountain and a diamond shape in the center of the mountain. Will pocked the coin for safe keeping saying it might end up being a clue.

After about a half hour, they restarted their journey. As they kept following the stream, the wood was growing slightly more dense. The bird chirped a little less frequently. The light grew slightly dimmer. It was barely noticeable. It was almost like how the stars move across the sky: you don’t see them move, but you know they’ve moved. In the same way, they didn’t see the wood change, but they felt the difference as they went on.

“Wait, are we heading towards the ancient wood?” Lily asked surprised.

“Yeah. I thought you knew. The stream runs right through the ancient wood. I wasn’t planning into the wood thought.”

“Why not?”

“Well, you know.” Will hesitated.

“Don’t tell me your afraid of Grandpa’s tales? I didn’t think you really believed in them.”

“I don’t! I mean. I just want to be careful. What if we got lost?” said Will, trying to explain himself without letting on that he really did kind of believe.

“Sure.” replied Lily, not believing him for a second. “Let’s stop and eat lunch anyway. It’s almost noon.”

Will liked that idea very much. Since they were approaching the ancient wood, he needed to decide what to do and if it was really worth risking the deep wood. “Those are where the tales happen.” He thought to himself, “If anywhere has the answers. It would be in there.”

“So when do we get to the woods?” Asked Lily, interrupting his thoughts.

“If we continue along the stream, it should be about a half hour. Once we reach it, if we haven’t found anything, then we can turn around and walk back up the other side of the stream. It should get us back just in time for dinner.” Replied Will, proud of the plan he had just come up with.

Soon they finished their sandwiches and got back to the search. They passed a few more interesting trees and stones, but the wildlife grew sparse as they got closer. Before long, they could see a strange darkness beyond them. As they got closer, they realized that it wasn’t dark like the middle of a moonless night, but more as if a dark fog had descended over that part of the wood. In some spots you could almost see a hint of sunlight streaming through, but in others there was just dark grayness. It was mysterious and unfriendly.

“So that’s the ancient wood.” Lily whispered.

“Yes, and I don’t dare to enter it.” replied Will.

“I see why. It looks,” she thought for a minute, “foreboding, strange, but not altogether evil. More like a … barrier, to keep something or someone out.”.

“I see what you mean.” Will replied, “not evil, but unwelcoming.”

“Let’s go back” Lily said quietly.

“Yes let’s” agreed Will.

As soon as they turned back, they heard a hove stomp like an angry horse. It came from the direction they had come. They looked towards the noise. They could see nothing, but they could hear the sounds of something walking towards them. Leaves rustled. Twigs snapped.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Will said as he took a step back towards the ancient woods.

They stood there listening hard as the sound grew louder and louder. It sounded as if it was just behind a big clump of trees and bushes they had just passed.

“Do you think it’s friendly?” whispered Lily.

“And how many friendly wild animals do you know? Specifically ones that walk towards you” asked Will nervously.

The noise stopped. Will took a step back and motioned for Lily to do the same. The Noise also took a step, but they could not see it. Will’s heart was beating as he took another step back towards the woods. The Noise copied him again, and now they could see a long shadow streaming out from behind the bush. Will did not wait a moment longer.

“Run!” Will shouted and dashed towards the fog. Lily followed close behind sprinting. They could hear The Noise close behind, and it chased them straight into the ancient wood.

The Gray Tower

They continued to hurry deeper and deeper into the wood. Neither of them had any idea of where they were heading, only that it was not where they wanted to go. Caught between two dangers, they ran and ran, farther than either thought they could. They rushed past rugged old trees, with roots deep and branches that went up and up until they reached out of sight in the mist. The roots covered the forest floor, which Lily almost tripped over several times. The forest floor was also filled with low brush and a few smaller trees, trying to compete for the thin rays of sunlight that passed through the thick roof above. Will got smacked in the face a few times by their small branches and leaves. On their right was the stream, flowing as gently as before. It was the only reliable thing in the ancient wood. “At least we still know our way out.” Will thought to himself.

The Noise showed no sign of stopping. Soon they came to a little turn in the creek, so it now turned to left right in front of them. They could still hear The Noise close behind. “Jump!” yelled Will. They both sprinted and leaped across the stream and landed safely on the other side. Looking back, they saw the bushes rustling behind them. It seemed as if it slowed down for a second, as if deciding what to do, but neither of them wished to wait and see what it would do.

“Keep running!” shouted Lily. And so they did. They charged deeper into the woods. If they had had the chance, they would’ve noticed the ruins of low stone walls and even a few paths that looked awfully old and gray, especially in this mist. The stones were all covered in dark green moss and most of them were in heaps rather than walls. It looked as if it hadn’t been touched or maybe even seen in hundreds of years.

After what felt like an hour, but was probably only ten minutes, Will stopped to listen. “I don’t hear it chasing us anymore.”

“Finally.” Lily gave a sign of relief, “What was that?”

“I don’t know” Will was quite shaken, “but I’m glad it’s over.”

Lily agreed and looked around. They had scarcely left the old ruins and now were standing in a small clearing. The sun could almost reach through the mist, and they could feel a slight warmth on their backs. On all sides, the dark woods surrounded them and the edges of the woods had grown up and made a nice green hedge around the clearing. Being out of the woods, Lily and Will almost felt free, if not for the mist that still hung about. They could breathe again, and the air was almost fresh. There was something strange about it. It was almost sweet, but with a hint of sadness as if it was missing something. Something it lost long ago when it was younger, and longed to gain again.

Nothing in the clearing felt the least bit ordinary, but neither of them could exactly explain why. Maybe it was the mist that hung about, which felt slightly unnatural, but it would be hard to explain why. Maybe it was the stories running through their heads, stories about talking trees and singing elves, among other things. In that place, they almost felt as if the wood, the natural world itself, was almost more alive and real, or at least it would be if not covered in this mist.

But there was one thing they both noticed at once. In fact, it would have been hard to miss. In the center of the clearing, slightly nearer to the back, stood a large, vine-covered, stone tower. As they looked up, they saw it had three windows, each slightly offset from the one before. The stones themselves were big hewn stones that seemed as if they were cut a hundred or hundreds of years ago. Right near the bottom was a wooden door with a little wood handle. Even with its age, it appeared well-kept. There was a little grassy path leading up to the door and even a fire pit right outside.

“I sure hope someone friendly lives there.” said Lily quietly.

Will was frightened, “I say we turn back and head home.”

“And which way would that be?” asked Lily.

An expression of dismay fell across Will’s face. “The creek… we left the creek. That was our landmark and who knows how turned around we are after that chase.”

Lily had already realized this. “Yes, so I say we go knock on this door and ask for help.”

“I guess that’s the only thing to do. I don’t like it very much though.”

They walked up to the door, and before they could knock the door opened. There stood a tall old man with a short gray beard. He was wearing a long brown cloak that reached the ground. In his hand, was a staff made of some type of dark red wood. His head was covered by a tall brown hat with a pointed top with a short brim. His face was grave, but he smiled at them and said,

“I seldom see travelers in these parts nowadays and Men even less. What brings you here my friends?”

At the word “friends”, Lily’s face brightened and she spoke shyly. “We were exploring the woods and got lost.”

“Lost? Few come here by mistake. Did you not see the mist and the darkness on the edge of the wood?” replied the old man.

“We did.” Will said, still frightened, “but we were chased.”

“By whom?”

“We… don’t know.” replied Will. “It was a noise, and we heard it and ran.”

“You did not wait to see what adversary you had encountered (if indeed it was an adversary) and chose the dark wood instead?” asked the old man surprised.

“Well I was afraid and…and didn’t think.” replied Will.

“A lack of thought; a plight many Men fall into.” said the old man.

“You’re right, I should have thought.” said Will. “Are you help us get home?”

“And who are you?” added Lily.

“I can only answer one question at a time.” laughed the old man. “Let us start with the latter. I am Zephaph and I live here in this stone tower, which was built many centuries ago. Many years I have seen. Far more than either of you. In fact, I remember when the earth was young and when He who made all that is called it good. But where was I? Oh yes, I’ve lived in this tower for many long years and watched over this wood. Many call me a wizard for I’ve learned many secrets.”

Lily was curious. “Did you create the mist and darkness?”

"It was. "