The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished

The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished. The townspeople stood motionless in absolute shock as the normally gentle river current defied nature, twisting and churning against the normal course. The darkened sky cast a heaviness of oppressive gloom across the kingdom, as though the heavens themselves felt something was wrong down below. Queen Elara, beloved of all, disappeared into the dark, and her leaving had seemed to stir the very ground against the kingdom. Fear had seized the men's hearts, for this was not just happenstance that had turned the river round; it was a sign of something much blacker, a foreshadowing that had proclaimed the kingdom's balance rent asunder.

The strong Queen Elara was a good and fair queen; all loved her. Her reign was peaceful and prosperous in the kingdom, and people adored her for her wisdom and compassion. Thus, when news spread like wildfire that she had vanished into thin air, everybody was gripped with fear, confusion, and no idea as to where she had gone, nor could anyone explain this strange phenomenon of water flowing upstream. They would whisper in hushed tones that this was a harbinger of the Queen's death, snatched away into the darkness, or that such a thing had caused an imbalance to the natural order.

Weeks turned into months, and the river went back the other way, taking with it the country into anarchy. Crop yields in the fields would shrivel and turn yellow, as if stricken by unseen illness. The animals would rage, lose all their taming and wild out. Such is how the weather suddenly turned unreliable. The land was wrecked by unseasonal storms. The eerie silences filled the air at times when business should have been booming around the year. The hope and unity under the rule of the Queen began to lose out among the people. Rumours spread, and despair began to seed in many hearts.

A young girl refused to succumb to hopelessness. Aria, a daydreamer with her head forever lost in the clouds, could not believe it was all over. She had become infamous in her little village for her wild imagination and fondness for the utterly impossible: often for the other kids in the village, she spun fabulous stories of magic and adventure. For Aria, it is an omen that marked something great and yet still fixable in the play, whereas others saw the rivers being strange as a preface to doom.

One evening, as the townspeople gathered in the village square to discuss what could be done, Aria stood up, her eyes bright with determination. "We need to find the Queen," she said, her voice clear and unwavering. "She's still out there, and I believe there's someone who can help us."

The villagers were sceptical, but Aria continued. She had heard stories of a powerful sorceress who lived deep within the forest, a woman said to have the ability to control the elements and bend reality to her will. If anyone could help find the Queen, it was her. Despite the dangers, Aria was determined to seek out the sorceress and ask for her aid.

Armed with nothing but her bravery and a small satchel of provisions, Aria ventured into the perilous woods. The woods were thick and dark, filled with bent trees and unseen creature sounds. The path was not easy, but Aria pressed on with determination to find the sorceress. Days passed; she lost her way, wandering around and around until she came given a hidden glade lit by an eldritch light.

Centering this clearing stood the sorceress.

She was a being almost ethereal, with long silvery hair that shimmered like moonlight and piercing green eyes that seemed to hold the secrets of the world within them. Her presence was both enchanting and intimidating; for a moment, Aria felt small and insignificant before her.

"I know why you have come," the sorceress said, her voice soft yet full of power. "You seek the Queen."

Aria nodded; her voice was lodged in her throat as she spoke. "Please, will you help us find her? The kingdom is falling apart without her, and the river.

"The river flows backwards because the balance has been destroyed," the sorceress said, cutting in. "The disappearance of the Queen is entwined with forces that lie beyond your mind. But perhaps now with my help, we can restore what's gone wrong."

The sorceress was much persuaded by Aria's argument. Together, they ventured out to the edge of the kingdom where the river met the sea. Their journey was risky, as stormy skies and gusty winds blew them across the stretch. Aria never let go of her determination as she finally reached the coast. The waves of the ocean crashed against the rocky shore.

There, where the river met the sea, the sorceress wove her spell. She chanted words in an ancient tongue, her hands moving in intricate patterns as the air around them shimmered with magic. Slowly, a vision appeared before them—a glimpse into the Queen's fate.

It was the mermaids.

A group of furious mermaids had abducted the Queen because it was the kingdom that polluted the sea. The waters that once used to be crystal clear were no longer, for the people had made them dirty through their activities, and the mermaids, being the guardians of the ocean, wanted to claim revenge. They abducted the Queen as a guarantee that the kingdom would atone for the damage done to their home.

The girl's heart sank at those words. How were they supposed to compensate for the injury?

But the sorceress was not devoid of a solution. She would promise the mermaids the kingdom would work toward setting the sea right; cease their destructive practices, and be of aid in the recovery of the ocean; then the Queen would be given back.

The mermaids were thus convinced by the promise of the sorceress. With the Queen safely returned to the kingdom, the river now flowed naturally once again. The skies cleared up and the crops revived while peace returned to the land.

And since that day, the kingdom made friends with the sea. The Queen made sure that no one forgot how strong the sea was, and Aria became a legend, everybody in the land knew her as the girl who saved the Queen and brought back balance, while the river never flowed backwards again.