“Why, Elinor, this is my home,” replied the woman. “Well, it is now, anyway. It used to belong to those pesky sky catchers. You remember them, don’t you? I’m so sorry for what my little pet did to them,” she said cruelly. “Woolȧrooks can be so unpredictable.” Gracefully, she rose and descended the throne. She strolled like a feline by placing one foot in front of the other. Her dress had a trumpet bottom with a long train. An open back and exposed neckline revealed black-and-white skinart wrapped around her body that depicted skulls and feathered wings connected by silky webs. She hovered over Elinor with an outstretched hand. “Let me have it.”
“Have what?”
The woman clucked her tongue, then pounced. Elinor was forced against the floor with a crushing hand placed against her throat. She struggled to breathe. She tried to resist by thrashing but was no match for the woman’s strength.
“Silly girl. With one twist of my hand I can end you.” Her hardened eyes studied Elinor. Her upper lip twitched. “But I wish to play first. My pet was right. You are lovely.” She moved her free hand over Elinor’s body. Her tongue shot out and she licked the side of Elinor’s face. “I’m going to enjoy our time together.” She paused again to admire Elinor, then hissed in anger, “Now, where is it?” Elinor’s pockets were turned inside out. Her cloak was searched. When Elinor’s pendant could not be located, she was thrown against the wall. The woman casually strolled away. “Oh Elinor, with your heart of gold and look of old, why the long face? I promise you’ll shine again, under my embrace in this loving place. Great outfit by the way,” she mocked and then clapped her hands. Two Ma΄Ranie prisoners hurried into the room. They were young, malnourished, and had severe bruising on their cheeks and fresh lacerations on their arms. “Strip her. Search her,” barked the woman. “Then get her cleaned up. I want to enjoy her, fresh.”
Elinor was taken from the hall by means of an antechamber situated behind the throne. Spiraling stairs led to another chamber below. She was ushered along urgently, but respectfully. “Where are you taking me?” she asked. The Ma΄Ranie kept their heads down. A life of slavery had crushed their spirits.
Elinor was directed into a narrow corridor lit by torches, surprised to see fire burning so lively. The other end opened to a large circular space divided into smaller rooms. She gasped as she looked up. She was at the base of a fortified multilevel tower made of stone and iron. It was capped by a glass dome. Metal brackets held flaming torches and candles. Oil lamps suspended from chains acted as lanterns. Each level had its own communal fireplace. There were wrought-iron chandeliers and circular cartwheel lights. Arched windows decorated by elaborate tracery were filled with colorful stained glass. Stone walls were softened by richly stained oak paneling and bold window treatments. And spaces were adorned with artistically crafted furniture. As she passed through the tower the many tribes of Kalloire gazed down from their perches. There were hundreds of them, very much alive, and seemingly living in good health. A small child peered over the railing.
“Mama, it’s a light-bearer,” he said too loudly. He was muzzled by a curt shout.
“Silence,” howled the woolȧrook. Elinor froze at seeing its bulky body standing over her. It glowered with empty eyes. “Pretty…” it continued.
She turned away when it stroked her face with its coarse hand. She could smell its rank breath. It grunted and stepped aside. Elinor was steered through another entryway.
Through the underground, the child ran. Shells crunched under her little feet. Her frock was covered by a grayish slurry of shale dust and water, and her curly hair was matted against her face. She leapt a deep crevice, came to a skidding stop, and then dove headfirst into the tunnel’s side. Her fists penetrated rock like it was mud. The child moved through the ground as though she was swimming in water or flying through air. She emerged into a vast cavern. Water trickled from stalactites into an underground lake. The child sped across the water’s surface, leaving behind a churned trail of phosphorescent algae that radiated a bluish-green aura. She used the water like a trampoline and bounced off its surface, catapulting through the air, and striking the cave’s topside at a high rate of speed. With clenched fists she surged ahead. The child broke through at the foot of the bridge leading to the witan. From her pocket she removed the pendant that had been taken from Elinor moments before she was whisked away by the vortex. She held it up and walked to the edge. In an authoritative voice the child declared, “Gargan spirits of old! Hear my call!”
Elinor stood before a lavish bathing pool, steam rising lazily from the surface. Along the edge were bowls of dates and nuts, dehydrated meat, bread, and jiggly cubes that Elinor recognized as salted honey, an ancient delicacy. Her eyes widened at seeing a bounty that had previously existed only in books. One of her Ma΄Ranie escorts filled a bowl from a glass pitcher that had a tubular compartment containing what looked like a glass honeycomb. Squiggly lines along the outer surface turned purple when water flowed through the pitcher’s spout. Without hesitation Elinor took the bowl to quench her overwhelming thirst. The water tasted sweet. She was poured another and gulped that down as well.
She was given instructions to undress. Without giving the request any thought she obeyed while taking small breaks to sample food. The Ma΄Ranie guided her to stairs that descended into the pool. They waded in with her. An elixir was poured over her body that turned the water a deep shade of lavender. Elinor continued enjoying the offerings while being attended to. Her skin was delicately scrubbed and moisturized. Her fiery hair was brushed to smooth tangles. With every sip of water, every morsel eaten, Elinor’s shimmering afterglow that had been shining under the fortress’s abundant light, slowly faded. Vibrant eyes that typically displayed an inherent determination appeared as empty voids. Apathy consumed her. Her head was tilted back, and her body submerged.
Without blinking, Elinor mindlessly stared at the rippling surface. She heard a voice call to her. It seemed familiar. Elinor closed her eyes to the sound of the man’s urgent plea, choosing instead to focus on the woman in red. Her sleek image flooded Elinor’s thoughts. Her sensual smile and sultry eyes instilled within Elinor a profound need to be with her again. A deep-seated lust took hold of her. She felt pure, whole again, and cleansed of emotional trauma. When her eyes opened, Elinor’s insatiable desire was satisfied.
The woman stood poolside holding a bowl. “Drink,” she whispered. Elinor graciously accepted her offering. Honeyed water oozed from her mouth and dripped down her chin. She felt her entire body tingle. The woman laughed while pulling the bowl away. “Easy, little one,” she mused. “Not too much now.”
“More,” begged Elinor. Her bowl was refilled. Elinor eagerly reached for it. Her face drooped when the woman pulled it away. A sincere need was manifested by trembling hands and heavy breathing. “Please,” she slurred.
“Where’s your crystal?”
“I don’t know. It was around my neck one moment, then it was gone. I must have lost it.” She stood on her toes and reached over the edge for the bowl.
“Did you give it to someone?”
“No,” replied Elinor with a desperate shaking of her head. “Please, I’m so thirsty.”
The woman smiled. “I believe you.” She handed Elinor the bowl. “It’s a shame you’ll not be staying with us longer. Once I’ve had my fill, there’ll be no further use for you.”
Elinor finished drinking. She gazed at the woman and then panicked. “No, I want to stay here, with you. Please. I’ll do anything you want. Don’t make me leave. I-I need you.” The woman embraced Elinor when she scampered out of the pool.
“Shhh…little one. Rest assured, your time here will be trouble free.” She placed her velvety lips on Elinor’s.
Held in her arms, Elinor went limp. Her panic subsided. She felt her heart pounding and arousing warmth creeping through her body. Elinor wanted to giggle. She had an overwhelming need to scream as she was consumed by pleasure. The woman’s tongue moved slowly across her lips. Elinor
felt herself slipping away into a state of bliss.
Light-bearer.
The man’s distance voice pierced Elinor’s hazy thoughts. Her eyelids fluttered. The vision of a polished corridor appeared. A sea wolf inlaid into the floor glowed. Its menacing eyes flashed red. The scene vanished as Elinor felt the woman sucking her lower lip. Lost in the moment she returned to her trancelike state and her obsession with the woman.
Light-bearer, called the man again.
A blazing sword lashed out, slicing through air in a forward thrust that caused Elinor to pull away. In confusion she stared into the woman’s lustful eyes. The woman appeared surprised.
“Why, Elinor, the little mouse from the south with a lovely mouth. Is this resistance I sense?” She studied Elinor’s empty eyes. “No matter, honey. You’ll be subdued with easy cunning. Get her dressed,” she said to the Ma΄Ranie. “Then take her to my sanctuary. And burn that silly outfit of hers. Light-bearers of Kalloire exist no more.” On her way out of the bathing chamber she was met by the woolȧrook. “Close your mouth,” she hissed. “She belongs to me.”
“Yes, my love,” it said with a bow of its oversize head.
Her mood softened. “You may finish her when I’m through.” She moved her fingers along its pointed chin. The woolȧrook’s ears twitched and its tongue drooped over its crusty lips. “Did you find it?”
“It could not be located from where she was taken.”
“That little runt of a sister must have it.”
The woolȧrook affectionately pressed its head against the woman’s hand. “Forgive me for saying, my love. You look tired. You should not enter below. It is forbidden. I would have brought the girl to you.” Its face was rocked by a scathing slap. It whined profusely.
“You failed me, Beast. If you had done what you were summoned for, none of this would have been necessary.”
“I shall not fail you again.”
“See to it,” roared the woman.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Elinor was taken from the bathing chamber, outside, to an isolated structure. She was barely able to keep her eyes open. Her head swayed and her feet scuffed across the pathway while being held under her arms by her Ma΄Ranie escorts. The group proceeded down a loggia until reaching the iron gates of a privacy wall that surrounded a colossal building. Multitiered alcoves, designed without walls and overgrown by unruly vines, protruded from the circular structure. Sections of the building’s thatched roof were peeled back by an intricate rope and pulley system.
Inside, the walls of the foyer were lined by candelabras that softened the cramped space. Smoke trickled from burning sticks. The antechamber opened into a vast woodland paradise. Trees grew tall. A winding pathway traversed lush shrubbery and vines that had been left unattended over the ages, twisted and turned as they crept toward the unobstructed sky. Pockets of vibrant grass covered by thick dew appeared as fluffy snow. Elinor was ushered forward.
After passing under an arbor of living plants tied, bent, and stunted to the desired form, and crossing a narrow bridge, she was steered to a platform constructed over water. A divan with an overhead frame was situated at the center, surrounded by crystal pillars. Entwined fabric hanging from the canopy’s cross sections created a comforting shroud. Elinor hovered bedside, swaying at the waist while having her robe removed. She was offered more water and then placed on the bed. Her glassy eyes gazed at the stars. She felt absentminded and joyfully content. Saliva dribbled from the corner of her limp mouth.
The woman appeared. “Rest, little one,” she said in a soothing voice. “Soon the sun will rise. Then we will be together, when you shine the brightest.” Elinor reached for more water but was denied. “That’s enough for tonight.” The woman touched Elinor’s forehead. “Sleep.” Upon command, she entered a deep slumber.
Arresting light swept away infinite darkness. Elinor had been walking for what seemed like forever, blindly and without purpose, until she came upon light that shone down on a barren tree with a cavity at its base. Smoke rose from heavily charred bark. Its trunk was lumpy and covered with bulging knots. Elinor heard movement within. A raven’s curt cry fractured the profound stillness. Startled, she jumped back. Beady eyes appeared inside the cavity. An injured raven hobbled out. Its black feathers had a purplish sheen and were weighed down by tacky blood covered with ash. Its head bobbed and weaved uneasily. A broken wing dragged across the ground as it tried to fly.
Driven by her caring nature, Elinor reached for the bird. It darted away and took shelter in a crevice formed by an exposed root protruding from the trunk. It shook from immense pain that ravaged its body. Elinor focused on the raven’s eye when something seemed to appear within the shiny aperture. Her acute vision allowed her to observe a miniscule object spinning rapidly. Elinor recognized the familiar shape as the pendant given to her by Morbis. A coruscant, the ancient one had called it. Its luminous surface shone brightly. The faster the object spun, the bigger it became, increasing in size until it consumed the raven’s entire body, and then rose off the ground.
It spun above Elinor, releasing a soothing sound in the same resonance Elinor had heard during her first vision, before waking and finding herself on a raft with an ancient one; the vision of floating above a copper-domed fortress. A fortress with a white corridor that led to a harbor. The harbor that Ma΄Vastor had said existed in Raven Rock. Raven Rock, where the child had told her to go. A child who she had first met during an epic battle. The battle, Elinor recalled. She remembered seeing a copper dome in the distance when she had first laid eyes on Aysgarth. Everything appeared to be merging at one location. Raven Rock and Aysgarth. Aysgarth and Raven Rock. Her father’s instructions to head east to locate the Lancians, the reoccurring images of a sea wolf, and her unexplainable pull toward Aysgarth. Whether received during one of her visions or in the present as Elinor understood it, the messaging was consistent.
Elinor reached for her pendant that was spinning so rapidly it appeared as a blur. The sound emanating from it acted as a beacon that lured her closer. She stood on her toes, but it remained just out of reach. She could feel its heat against her wiggling fingers. Then the pendant stopped spinning. Elinor’s likeness appeared within its crystalline surface.
She saw herself arranged on a bed, her afterglow shining brightly under the sun. Beams of light were pouring from her body, from the ends of her auburn hair to the tips of her slender fingers. Light shone from the whites of her bold eyes, down to her exposed toes. Her arms and legs were spread, bound by ropes connected to end posts. Standing over her was the woman in red, smiling. Her contempt for Elinor was apparent by the mischievous gleam displayed in her leering eyes. Crystal pillars arranged around the divan were becoming saturated by Elinor’s afterglow.
The pendant started spinning again, faster and faster, until it streaked for the cavity at the tree’s base, coming to rest just inside the opening. Elinor was summoned forward by its gentle call. When she reached for it, the tree vanished, and darkness returned.
Guided only by the pendant’s call, Elinor mindlessly proceeded through a maze of twists and turns. She heard faint grinding coming from the surfaces of the various tunnels she walked through. From the sound of it, the walls were moving. Light appeared ahead. Clusters of shimmering crystals that covered the cave in a spiraling pattern made Elinor dizzy. She continued following the pendant’s call while admiring the many colors. Crystals glimmered brightly as she passed, harmonizing effulgent flashes into a language of their own. Once through the kaleidoscope of color the pendant became visible around a bend. Elinor stopped.
The pendant was spinning over a kneeling ancient one, made known by the stubby horns that protruded from underneath its cloaked head. Elinor cautiously approached. It was not that she was afraid of the ancient one, but it appeared different from the one she had already encountered. The horns of the ancient one she knew of were a vibrant shade of gold. The ancient one before her had black horns. The other had snow-colored skin and
the one in the cave had a purplish complexion, observable by exposed hands clasped over its heart.
As Elinor grew nearer, she felt a heavy weight bearing down. Her mood turned dire and tears formed in her eyes. Her chest constricted. Grief took hold of her. The pain that consumed her made Elinor feel as though she would be devoured by it, slowly eaten from inside out under its unrelenting magnitude.
The ancient one raised her head. Elinor stared in horror at a charred face that had tendrils of hanging flesh. Meaty skin around the eyes had been burned away, leaving deep cavities. The ancient one’s lipless mouth moved, but no words came out. She tried to speak again, but her effort was useless. Intense light then flooded the cave and Elinor felt herself slipping away.
“What are you trying to tell me?” she asked. The cave began dissolving around them. The ancient one reached out with a shaking hand that was slowly dissipating. Elinor ran for it. Just as they touched, Elinor was pulled from behind by an unseen force. Lifted off the ground, she held on tight. It felt as if her boots would be pulled off with her feet still in them. “Why am I here?” shouted Elinor over the slurping sound sucking her backward. Her fingers slipped from the ancient one’s hand. As she was pulled away, the image of a sea wolf blazing a path across a darkened sky was burned into Elinor’s mind. Its clawed hands were bearing down on the trident held forcefully within its grasp. The hybrid’s fierce eyes turned fiery red as a commanding howl erupted from its snarling mouth.
Shadow Kalloire Page 8
