Enchantress Awakening: Part One of the Book of Water (The Elemental Cycle 1) by J.W. Whitmarsh Page B
Authors: J.W. Whitmarsh
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stark there was no sense of aloofness in her face, rather warmness spread out from her delicate mouth shaped into a smile of pure serenity.
Now standing full on Caleigh was also taken back by the sheerness of the robe that plunged from a wide opening around her neck all the way to below her naval, showing much of her ample cleavage on the way then parting again midway down her thigh. A slim golden choker was the only adornment upon her translucent skin and her feet were covered by silver sandals that wound up around her ankle and to the lower part of her shins.
For all the seeming tranquillity and calmness of the woman in white this was no casual appearance. In her peripheral vision Caleigh was aware of leaves being shredded apart by unseen pressures and that the very stones around her were singing with reverberations. “Caleigh” the woman in white spoke with the same resonating, melodious voice she had heard in her dreams, “we meet at last.”
“Who are you?” Caleigh blurted out.
“I am Loreliath.”
“What is it that you seek, from me, Loreliath?”
“I seek thy ears and thy heart to listen for a while. I beg of you, quell thy questions of now, for more answers will come to thee in thy turn.”
“But why me?” Caleigh pleaded, unable to hold back the words that had lived in her head ever since she had first beheld the woman who now spoke to her.
“I come to thee because thou art the very best soul to bear my message. Caleigh, enchantress and spellsinger, as too once was I. I called out to a thousand ears and thine were those that heard my voice. Well that thou didst for time is fleeting at the last. One thousand years of corruption have been visited upon the world and so have carved in the hearts of men a hole, deep, dark and wide enough for the Beast to rise again. This doom is now inevitable, yet defeat itself is not. Know thou of what I speak? Why should thee? Young eyes should not be asked to see all woes. For this I beg thy forgiveness.
One thousand years ago there was a sorcerer named Xyraxis; the most brilliant of us all in a time when we were at our zenith. The world could not contain his thoughts and so he looked into the darkness for deeper knowledge. The darkness looked back at him and in his soul the Beast made a dwelling. Xyraxis; all powerful saw all the world as his to rule and offered either domination or death to those that dwelt upon it. War erupted and consumed every known land until at last we that opposed him made a final union to attack him at the heart of his domain. The greatest heroes and mages of the age assaulted his stronghold and broke through to his inner chamber. There we vied with him until all our strength was sapped and all our power expended. Though only six of all our number remained at the end we cast the Beast into the void and as the great demon was borne from his body Xyraxis was rent asunder and so the tyrant was vanquished and there the darkness should have died.
Alas, that Xyraxis did not take with him all traces of his evil and his power when he departed. In the ashes of his ruin there remained five relics of his making; the gauntlets that covered his clawed hands, the cursed sword with which he slew so many good and innocent, the staff by which he wrought his dark arts, and the grim horned helm that matched his visage to the demon inside. In folly my fellows with whom I had stood side-by-side as we destroyed the evil one, decided to take these relics and use their great power to undo the harm Xyraxis had visited upon the world.
For a time their aim was noble and so were their ends and I joined them in their labours. From wreck and ruin we saw a new world take seed and did our best to aid its growth and steer it to more virtuous paths than had been trodden before. Then, when the work was done they found reasons anew to hold on to the power they had claimed at Xyraxis’ fall. Again and again I urged them to relent and finally we met together to discuss how
Now standing full on Caleigh was also taken back by the sheerness of the robe that plunged from a wide opening around her neck all the way to below her naval, showing much of her ample cleavage on the way then parting again midway down her thigh. A slim golden choker was the only adornment upon her translucent skin and her feet were covered by silver sandals that wound up around her ankle and to the lower part of her shins.
For all the seeming tranquillity and calmness of the woman in white this was no casual appearance. In her peripheral vision Caleigh was aware of leaves being shredded apart by unseen pressures and that the very stones around her were singing with reverberations. “Caleigh” the woman in white spoke with the same resonating, melodious voice she had heard in her dreams, “we meet at last.”
“Who are you?” Caleigh blurted out.
“I am Loreliath.”
“What is it that you seek, from me, Loreliath?”
“I seek thy ears and thy heart to listen for a while. I beg of you, quell thy questions of now, for more answers will come to thee in thy turn.”
“But why me?” Caleigh pleaded, unable to hold back the words that had lived in her head ever since she had first beheld the woman who now spoke to her.
“I come to thee because thou art the very best soul to bear my message. Caleigh, enchantress and spellsinger, as too once was I. I called out to a thousand ears and thine were those that heard my voice. Well that thou didst for time is fleeting at the last. One thousand years of corruption have been visited upon the world and so have carved in the hearts of men a hole, deep, dark and wide enough for the Beast to rise again. This doom is now inevitable, yet defeat itself is not. Know thou of what I speak? Why should thee? Young eyes should not be asked to see all woes. For this I beg thy forgiveness.
One thousand years ago there was a sorcerer named Xyraxis; the most brilliant of us all in a time when we were at our zenith. The world could not contain his thoughts and so he looked into the darkness for deeper knowledge. The darkness looked back at him and in his soul the Beast made a dwelling. Xyraxis; all powerful saw all the world as his to rule and offered either domination or death to those that dwelt upon it. War erupted and consumed every known land until at last we that opposed him made a final union to attack him at the heart of his domain. The greatest heroes and mages of the age assaulted his stronghold and broke through to his inner chamber. There we vied with him until all our strength was sapped and all our power expended. Though only six of all our number remained at the end we cast the Beast into the void and as the great demon was borne from his body Xyraxis was rent asunder and so the tyrant was vanquished and there the darkness should have died.
Alas, that Xyraxis did not take with him all traces of his evil and his power when he departed. In the ashes of his ruin there remained five relics of his making; the gauntlets that covered his clawed hands, the cursed sword with which he slew so many good and innocent, the staff by which he wrought his dark arts, and the grim horned helm that matched his visage to the demon inside. In folly my fellows with whom I had stood side-by-side as we destroyed the evil one, decided to take these relics and use their great power to undo the harm Xyraxis had visited upon the world.
For a time their aim was noble and so were their ends and I joined them in their labours. From wreck and ruin we saw a new world take seed and did our best to aid its growth and steer it to more virtuous paths than had been trodden before. Then, when the work was done they found reasons anew to hold on to the power they had claimed at Xyraxis’ fall. Again and again I urged them to relent and finally we met together to discuss how
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