Brighter and brighter the tunnel became with each step, each pounce over pooling water. The incline in the trail eventually evened off and turned to a sod lined cobble pathway. The stones were placed by someone very talented and carried a very ornate design within. A symbol of something with wings. Not a dragon, not a griffon or wyvern. Something humanoid. Time and weather had worn it down enough that only the Twenty would know what it was.
Gemini stopped at the mouth of the tunnel, taking a deep breath as the sun hit her face. She closed her eyes with a heavy breath, relieved to finally be out of the darkness. Opening her eyes into a squint to look through the brightness of a morning sun, the tunnel let her into an extremely well-manicured garden.
The garden had beautiful dressed oak trees, maple trees, and some sort of tropical tree that she had never seen before. Scattered amongst an array of flowers in colours from all over the spectrum in flowing arches. Very clean lines between each colour made it look like someone had painted the scene, someone or some group had spent a lot of time here. A single pathway with the same tan limestone, artisan placed cobbles meandered its way through the flowing flowerscape leading into a massive circle that had an odd shape in the center. The circle had the same cobbles and the same symbol at the cave entrance was still just as hard to make out, even with the size.
Gemini slowly stepped further into the sunshine, keeping herself slightly in a crouch with a hand on her weapon hilt, the other out in front of her for defense. The scene was too clean, too quiet, and something out here had just died. A few steps down the path, the main circle of stone could be seen better and made her stop in her tracks, quickly kneeling to the ground. With a quick scan to the left and then to the right for any sign of movement. A bloodied body lay in the middle of the circle.
Her eyes snapped back to the bloody scene in the middle of the large circle. Something or someone lay dead in the center, magnificent white wings folded around a corpse, hiding it most of it from view. Blood spray drenched the entire area, covered portions of the magnificent wings. Most of the tan limestone cobbles had some sort of red hue on them, pools of blood-filled deep holes and streams of red slowly crept their way down the cracks between each stone. What had killed this creature had done so in a very vicious way and done it recently.
With another scout of the surrounding area, no collapse of growth or interruption of the garden growth could be seen. It had to be something from the sky. Trying to think back to her schooling, there was not much about the Draag Mountains; inhabitants, creatures, locations. There were only a few stories of wyverns living up here, but they never got big enough to do something like this. Beyond the range though, no stories ever came back.
Confident of what had brutally killed the winged creature in the circle was not nearby, Gemini rose enough to be able to creep her way along the side of the path, trying to keep the same height as the flowers beside her. Her elf ears keeping perked for the sounds of wings or ruffling of any of the plant material. Her eyes darting from side to side and off to the far horizon, making sure that she was ready if anything came over the far ridge or the mountain peaks in the distance.
Closer and closer.
A slight breeze rolled through the garden, bending over all the leaves and pedals making her stop to wait for the sounds to stop. Pushing with her thumb on the hilt of her weapon to loosen it from the scabbard, she grabbed the handle with her left hand, ready to strike. A few more paces before she was at the edge of the circle and would be one step closer to being fully exposed. One last rest to make sure everything was clear. The silence of the garden was very much like the tunnel now, silent and tomb-like.
The corpse wrapped in blood addled feathers could still not be fully made out. The wings it was wrapped in covered too much of the body and only a single armoured foot could be seen on one side. The armour looked very delicate, some sort of ceremonial steel but very regal and aggressive. It was a humanoid foot though. Listening a final time to the breeze and scanning the horizon, she was even more confident that she was alone.
Rising upright, Gemini slid her blade from its hold sending a small ringing into the air as it left. She listened again as the ringing was taken over by another small gust that rustled its way through the garden. Holding the blade out front she took side steps towards the corpse, making sure to keep the weapon between them. Reaching down with her open hand she grabbed the top wing and flung it off the corpse with a quick hop back, sword ready.
It was a woman. A beautiful and elegant woman with the wings to match.
She was more beautiful than the armour she wore and the regal bouquet of feathers her wings carried. Her pale face still warming to look at and had clean features that looked content, even happy in death. Very long orangey red hair webbed its way from her which matted against the blood-soaked ground. If it wasn’t for the few straps of her armour and the decaying full plate on her legs that slowly faded into itself to expose the skin below, she would have been fully naked. A very fit body that looked tempered from years of combat or training was exposed all over the armour was not.
The dark green and black colouring of the armour could be made out through the coating of blood. Small twin curved pieces ran from over her shoulder to her breasts which made them exposed on all four sides save for the connection over her nipples and then took off towards her sides and around her back. Her mid-section was completely exposed, and an ornate thong covered her groin. The boots were just as ornate and delicate looking as the rest and the only fully covered portion of the suit. Steel reached up to just above the midpoint of her lower leg and then broke off into spiraling band up her leg that stopped just above her knee. The top edge of the wings were just as intricately designed as the rest of the armour. Small thin metal strands twisted around and weaved themselves into the feathers, as if they were a part of the wings. Each piece of steel could very slowly be seen folding back into itself, making each band and pivot smaller and smaller like it too was dying.
“What are you?” Gemini whispered under her breath as she caught herself starring at the beautiful face. “Who are you?”
Kneeling beside her, trying not to step on one of the wings, Gemini reached out with the back of her hand to gently caress her face. Just before her fingers touched the side of the dead woman’s face, faster than she could react, the corpse grabbed onto Gemini’s wrist and its eyes shot open. Pure black eyes pieced into Gemini’s eyes and the world around them went dark.
“Welcome home.” A sultry and beautiful voice filled the void.
Gemini blinked and shook her head, trying to regain some vision. The winged woman appeared in front of her, floating above what felt like the ground. The woman’s face was more warming to look at now then her corpse. Full of life and kindness.
The winged woman’s eyes still black as the world around them. Her wing’s span out from her back in a majestic flourish that gently moved with a life no longer. They looked softer than anything she had ever touched before, she wanted to be wrapped in them. The dead woman’s armour was moving faster now, as if it were living itself and covered her entire body in the elegant and regal steel. It curled itself around her body to cover random places across her body until there was no more skin to be seen.
“Who are you?” Gemini stammered out her words.
The winged woman smiled making Gemini’s heart skip with a flattery never felt before.
“It is a good thing you did not come moments sooner.” Her voice was angelic and warming.
“What do you mean? Who are you?” Gemini asked again.
“I am the Mother, Karthiel. My protection has finally come to an end and is needing a new shield for this realm. We have been waiting for you.” Karthiel smiled as she spoke.
The winged woman reached out and touched Gemini on the shoulder, sending a shock through her body that made her heart skip a beat. A shock shot through her entire body making her stretch her arms and legs out like she was trying to reach as far as she could with all her li
mbs. Opening her mouth in a soundless scream and closing her eyes in a phantom pain, Gemini slowly lifted off the ground to become face to face with Karthiel.
A torrent of unseen forces spun around them ripping through both their bodies, shattering their clothes and armour, sending them into pieces flying off into the nothing. The spiral of darkness whipping against and through them crashed into Gemini again and again, smashing into her now naked body with blasts of energy, shocking her with each collision. With each connection of the torrent, a small piece of living armour appeared on her skin, shifting around with its life starting anew. Crawling around her like it was on Karthiel before, each new piece connected to the others until Gemini’s body was fully covered with a similar elegance and aggression that it was before.
Her whole body was now a very delicate looking ornate set of gold and dark green armour. It covered her entire body and faded up her neck with small finger ends up from the neckline. Small protrusions jutted out all over with a very aggressive look, as if her armour itself could be a weapon. The ever-moving steel kept shifting all over her body, crawling around with a dedication and purpose until Karthiel removed her hand from Gemini’s shoulder.
Smiling at Gemini again as she opened her eyes, Karthiel let her own body rest at ease. A human woman stood before her now, still without her clothes but still just as beautiful as before and without wings. Gemini looked down at her body of armour with eyes wide in awe.
The design’s it made as it moved were very regal and ceremonial that radiated respect and authority. As she lifted her head to look at the floating naked women in front of her, Gemini could feel the living armour on her body disappear and shift into a few small bands that rotated and shifted around her body. Checking herself out from left to right, the magnificent wings that were on Karthiel were now on her, beautiful and graceful.
“Your armour is your life now. It protects you. You protect it.” Karthiel gave her another very warming smile.
Gemini opened her mouth but couldn’t speak.
“You will need to learn anew Mother; the others will help. There will be one final gift.”
“Mother?” Gemini was finally able to squeak out a word.
“You are the Mother now Gemini. The shield of High Realm. The others will lead you the rest of the way, my light is failing. My last gift will be my last, receive and be warned; the gardens of Dire are never safe, listen to your armour.”
Before Gemini could force out another word, Karthiel reached up again, with both hands this time and grabbed onto her face. Pulling herself toward Gemini, Karthiel gave her a passionate kiss and kept her lips touching as a light emanated from her. The light erupted from Karthiel tenfold and billowed out Gemini’s new wings. Karthiel pushed herself from Gemini and lifted her knees to her chest, curling herself into a ball before being engulfed into the light.
The feathers whirled around them with the light beginning to bend from the speed in which they spun. Karthiel finally disappeared into the light which slowly itself was swallowed by the feathers. Gemini, with limbs fully stretched out was now slowly pulsing with the same light that swallowed Karthiel.
In a blink, Gemini was back in the garden, kneeling where the dead woman use to be as a smooth breeze rolled through the gardens, tickling the bare skin exposed to the air. Collapsing to her hands, starring at the tan stones beneath her, she could feel her new appendages on her back and the moving armour creeping around on her skin.
“What in Freyolin’s name was that?” Gemini laboured through a few heavy breaths. She could feel a presence nearby.
Subtly scanning her field of vision for her weapons, she could feel it near her foot. It would be too obvious and would need to roll out of the way to get some distance if she were to go for it. With a quick kick of her toe on the blade, it shot forward along her body and got close enough to grab before she tucked forward and rolled to the edge of the circle clearing.
Quickly standing with her back to the flowers, blade in hand and ready to fight, Gemini stopped in shock to see five heavily armour women with similar wings and armour that she now carried. Each held a finely crafted weapon that matched their armour. Two spears, a massive war axe, a longsword, and the middle had two blades crossed on her back still in their sheath.
Each set of armour was moving like her own but covered their entire bodies. Their wings were just as majestic and were neatly folded behind them, out of the way. The larger top feathers faded into smaller at the bottom and all glimmered in the sunshine, the purest white flecked with an array of soft colouring to match their individual armour. The wingspan looked like it could easily spread two or three times longer than they were tall, if not more.
“Mother, please come with us. They will be back.” The middle woman spoke with almost as warming a voice as Karthiel had. The two with the spears never looked at her and were constantly looking at the sky and horizon. Every one of them was beautiful and dignified.
Lowering her blade, Gemini knew she had no choice, she was a part of something that needed to be figured out and these women would likely have the answers. Taking the few steps to grab her other sword, Gemini could feel their eyes watching her closely. They were well trained, and she had no other option than to do what she was told.
“Please hurry Mother, they will be back and must get to Dire before nightfall.” The middle woman spoke with more urgency this time.
The other four women, along with what was obviously the leader, turned at the same time to the path that lead out of the garden. Gemini quickly picked up her other sword and finally took notice that the corpse and all the blood that was all over the stone circle before was now gone. It was like she dreamt the whole scene.
Her escorts pace was fast, Gemini had to almost sprint to catch up to them which was difficult with her new appendages. The view from the edge of the garden was stride stopping; a lush dense jungle filled the massive crater before her, impassible mountain peaks surrounded the valley that made it seem like time had forgotten it. Three massive tepui rose out of the crater, all with their own dense jungle forest on top with a massive water fall coming from the closest.
“Hurry Mother.” One of the spear women turned as she ran and called out from the back. Again, a gentle sultry voice like the others.
Gemini shook her head from the view and raced off to finally able to catch up just before the jungle swallowed them.
Chapter 12
Sunlight speared its way through the canopy, eventually being shielded by a branch or leaf before it could get down to the jungle floor. Each layer of forest was thicker than the last until finally the ground was barely able to be navigable. The troops in front of her marched on with the same robust drive they carried from the beginning. Gemini was struggling to keep up to them with her new wings and bare feet. Should would catch the feathery backing on low lying branches and plant growth above from time to time.
“Be wary young one.” A breathy voice filled Gemini’s head making her slow even more and look around. It was not quite a male voice, yet not quite a female’s but, the androgynous calling held a higher level of warning.
“Do not fall behind.” One of the back warriors called sternly over her shoulder.
Gemini leaned into her stride to get up closer to the escort.
“Be wary young one.” The voice filled her head again.
She did not want to alert the five women in front of her to anything, they seemed to be very concerned about getting back to their village before nightfall. Something was keeping them on their guard and the major concern for their haste. A distant feeling of someone watching made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
Before she could react, Gemini was knocked to the ground by the two women with spears and they stood above her, weapons pointed out into the jungle. The winged troop had quickly moved into a defensive position around her, ready for something she could not see.
“It passed north, there might be two.” The large sword wielding soldier called
out through the silence of the forest.
Looking around, Gemini could not see anything but jungle, nothing but greenery like they had been passing for the hours. They had seen something, heard something, or maybe felt something. Her own wits had been distracted by the voice in her head.
“Marthiel, to the West!” The leader of the group voiced over a spin of her war axe.
With blinding speed toward something that was not there, it collided heavily into an unseen entity. The forest floor filled with a plume of orange blood, covering everything off to the side of the woman. Marthiel ended her swing with a beautiful flourish, ending with the edge of her blade pointed at the ground and cleaned of all blood. It looked like it was pressed up against something hard, which Gemini could not see.
“Sara, it is still alive.” Marthiel kept her weight against the shaft of her weapon, she was obviously suppressing something.
“Tanlin, Rittle, do a quick scout. They sometimes bring their friends.” Sara waved her sword with her order and the twin spearmen headed off into the brush, quickly disappearing.
“You will need to learn to control it Mother.” Sara, the single sword wielding warrior held out her hand to help Gemini up.
“Thank you.” Gemini acknowledged her help and was received by a nod and a smile, the same warming smile that Karthiel had.
“Should be safe to Blink.” Sara spoke as she slipped her blade in behind her head and into its sheath.
Rummaging around in a pouch at her hip, Sara pulled out an odd object. It looked like a small pearl with three little spines sticking out the sides in equal distances, as if it were trying to grow limbs. In a single motion, she rolled it up between her thumb and forefinger. Quickly pinching it and popping the pearl, a small bit of orange smoke whiffed into the air. Leaning forward, Sara stuck her face into the smoke and popped her cheeks, sending a thick wave ripping through the air and off into the jungle. In a blink of an eye, the thing that Marthiel was holding down with her weapon materialized.
Age of Souls Page 19
