Enchantress Awakening: Part One of the Book of Water (The Elemental Cycle 1) by J.W. Whitmarsh

the White Lady. Instead her visions were of a castle of ancient design built amid high rocks above the still, dark waters of a murky sea. Upon the shore nestled the broken remnants of a great many ships surrounded by scattered dark shapes on the sand between. Before this scene became clear there was a great crack like thunder the sky flared red. The castle at once began to crumble where it stood as if many centuries of age attacked it at once, sending massive chunks of  broken masonry tumbling down and sloshing into the sea below, fading away just as the dream faded into the waking world of the following morning.
    Caleigh insisted on an early start, determined to get to the shrine as soon as possible, less out of eagerness to get there than out of fear of wasting her companions time further if her fears since speaking to Brother Adam proved true. With a few grumbles the party set out ere their breakfast had settled and began the descent into the valley.
    Penric and Ellie led on a short way in front of Caleigh, who dropped back to speak to Dana unheard by the others. Neither seemed to notice, Penric was too absorbed in keeping a careful watch lest monsters or thieves should erupt from the bracken clinging to the slopes either side of them, while Ellie’s concentration was taken up with trying to distract him from this task. “Are you troubled?” Dana asked when the smile at their antics gave way to an expression of concern on Caleigh’s face.
    “I know not what to expect at the shrine. The urge to get there has been so strong I had not truly questioned what I thought to find when I got there.”
    “Maybe it’s not important what is there.” Dana suggested. Caleigh thought about this for a moment.
    “You think I need simply to leave Connlad behind?”
    “Maybe you do, maybe not. I come to the shrine because it is a peaceful place and I find I can think clearly there. With all the change that is happening to you having a place to quietly think is worth its while.”
    “Perhaps, yet I had hoped for more.”
    “Whatever happens here, you still have a gift and that is going to change your life one way or another. That’s worth taking a few moments to think about, is it not?”
    “Yes, you’re right.” The more she thought about it the better Caleigh felt about the whole journey. While it was true they had come some way for her sake it was not an evil experience. Dana had planned this pilgrimage anyway, Penric had been given a chance to assume a role he had trained for and Ellie got to flirt with him and escape the daily disapproval she earned in Connlad. Moreover, between the green climbs, alpine trees and rising mountains this valley was far from an unpleasant place to be.
    Ahead the brook than ran parallel to their path emerged from under tree cover and thence they went following the sound of trickling water all the way. The dirt track wound up into a series of steps leading over high boulders to where the sound of water grew louder as it fell from high onto the rocks. Here, beside a small pool that wound off from the main way the party paused to make decisions. This was as far as Caleigh had ever come previously and they could not go any farther with the ponies at their side. 
    “I will wait here with the steeds.” Penric quickly volunteered. “I have no need to go on.”
    “Then I will stay with you. I did not come for the sake of pilgrimage.” Ellie added.
    “Why did you come then?” Penric asked in surprise.
    “I came because I wished to step outside Connlad for a while.” Ellie answered.
    “Very well, if you are both glad to stay here Dana and I will meet you back here as soon as we are done.”
    Leaving them where they were Caleigh and Dana made their way up the winding stairs, half covered by moss and dirt, and flanked either side by slender branches to a vine-covered archway standing alone and marking the entrance to the shrine proper. Here Dana came alongside her younger friend. “I go right