Awakenings (Elemental Series - Book 1)

by Hally Willmott

  When she finished, a male dressed all in black approached. The Sentry parted to allow him entry. Ms. Hullen placed herself directly behind the girl and me.

  The Seeker reached out and took hold of my right hand. The instant our skin came into contact, there was a surge of bonding which took me completely by surprise. I was overcome by a feeling of familiarity. The emotion I experienced reminded me of the way I’d felt when we’d been away from home for prolonged periods of time and then returned. The feeling of knowing I was safe. I looked down at her. Her eyes were still a mass of white emptiness but her face was filled with a light which radiated peace—it alone caught my breath.

  While I’d been staring down at her, the man in black reached us. He was about to place his hand on Heathe’s shoulder when Vincent materialized beside me.

  “Father, I trust in her choice. We need to see exactly what all of this is about,” Vincent implored.

  “Vincent, you are too young and don’t understand what these Seekers are capable of. You weren’t here the last time they came into our world.” He looked directly toward the Seeker and me. The confidence and authority in his words were unmistakable. It was the surprise and shock which over took his facial expression that caught my attention.

  “By all of Nemele, this—this is impossible. Eve, Grace,” the man yelled out as he fell to his knees in front of me and the Seeker. With his action, a flurry of Sentry came to hover to ensure Vincent’s father was safe. He held up his hand to tell them to back off.

  “Bronson…” With the mention of his name from the Seeker, Bronson, Vincent’s father, turned to her and slowly moved his hand toward her face. She, of course, was blind, and therefore couldn’t see what he was attempting. However, she could feel the change in air directly in front of her. Once she did, she pulled back. I held fast to her hand.

  “It’s okay, he won’t hurt you,” I said, knowing Bronson had no malice for this girl. I felt the turmoil within him. It was as though he was radiating feelings so anyone around could read them.

  I looked at the castle in time to see Eve and Aunt Grace. They were literally flying towards us. As they approached, the Seeker moved behind me, all the while never letting go of my hand. Vincent was hyper-aware beside me and openly staring at the Seeker. Like his father, he was mesmerized by her, yet internally apprehensive.

  “Jacey, I need to tell you why I’m here,” the Seeker said as Grace and Eve arrived. Eve placed her hand on Bronson’s shoulder and Aunt Grace placed her hand on my shoulder.

  “Bronson, are you okay?” Eve asked.

  “Look, Grace, look closely,” was all he could say.

  The Seeker grabbed my hand harder than before and pulled me into her. Instantly, Vincent, Jen, Hudson, and the Sentry acted. They all moved in unison towards me.

  “No, no, it’s okay, she doesn’t want to hurt me, she’s just scared,” was all I could get out. Even Ms. Hullen was on guard, waiting to see which side she was supposed to stop before anything happened.

  “Jacey, don’t leave me,” she whispered in my ear. Her hand clenched mine with an iron grip.

  I turned to look at her and noticed she no longer had jet black hair and pasty white skin. Her hair had turned the same color as my Aunt’s, a golden brown, and her face took on features which I found scarily familiar. It was like looking into a mirror—kind of like looking into my dreams where I was talking to myself, only this was the reflection I saw in the dream mirror.

  “Faith…” Aunt Grace said, breaking the silence. She was visibly shaken.

  “I am her reflection. I am her vessel to deliver a message,” The onyx-eyed girl said in an eerie monotone voice, nothing like the scared girl I’d heard earlier.

  The Morrigan then came into view and announced, “This is something we need to do inside the confines of the Inception Chamber in the castle.”

  Everyone, me included, followed the procession of beings that had occupied the castle roof top, and were now leading the way inside. All of us were followed closely by the Sentry. I turned and looked at the girl holding onto me, expecting to see my face again, but she had reverted to her normal look except for her eyes. She was still blind.

  As we were about to enter the castle, I turned and watched Aunt Grace. She was staring at my tag-along as though she were some kind of mystical entity which was going to change again before her eyes.

  “Who’s Faith, Aunt Grace?” I asked, breaking her trance-like state.

  “She’s my daughter,” Aunt Grace replied, completely catching me off guard.

  “You have a daughter?” I shouted back?.

  “I do, I did…I mean, I do, but she was lost many, many years ago,” she said. She looked as though she were about to cry.

  “I’m sorry. Sometimes my filter doesn’t work very well,” I said, pointing to my mouth and putting on my most apologetic face.

  Vincent came up beside me and grabbed my free hand. Of course the electric feel of his skin on mine was ever present and was probably the only thing which could have torn my attention away from Aunt Grace.

  “You’ll hear everything in the Inception Chamber, Jacey. I know everyone has asked you to be patient, but right now,” he looked back at the onyx-eyed girl and then back to me. “Right now we need to find out more about her before she finds anything else out about us.” He gave my hand a slight squeeze.

  “I get it,” I said, more to stop the conversation than anything else, even though I didn’t get it. I knew this girl had absolutely no ill will for me or anyone else. That was apparent the instant our hands interlocked. Somehow, I was able to tell she was a good soul, a person who wanted only to help, not harm. At this point in time, I didn’t think anyone here was going to listen to anything I thought or said…yet.

  Walking into the castle was much what I’d expected. The building looked like it was as old as time itself. I was completely awestruck. I felt like we had walked onto a Harry Potter movie set.

  Bronson held his hand up to the symbol on the door. It began to glow and opened.

  The entrance was huge and made completely out of stone. There were pictures all sorts of beings hanging on the walls. They weren’t snap shots, each and every one were actual paintings.

  The windows went from ceiling to floor. Initially I thought they were covered with lush, thick curtains. When I took a closer look, I realized the window coverings were big, beautiful purple flowers which resembled bells. Each one was interwoven into the other to take on the appearance of draperies. It looked like they were growing out of the roof. To allow some light through, they were tied back by huge vines, which were covered with white and green leaves.

  Once we all were inside, a loud whooshing sound came from behind us. The doors had closed, in effect, shutting out the world we’d just come from. I followed the flow of beings. The flooring of the entrance was a smooth multi-colored marble. It had the same appearance the ground within the maze had where I’d started my journey this morning. Had that only been this morning?

  There were three directions to choose from once we were within the heart of the entryway. Each one had a large arch. There were symbols carved into the keystone at the top of each one. Each arch bore a resemblance to the ones I saw at school this morning. Lighting each hall were torches. They’d been strategically placed within each passage, illuminating it as far as the eye could see.

  Heading toward the right hall were all of the beings that had been atop the castle. The Sentry broke into three groups; one followed the rooftop cluster, one moved with military precision and elegance down the left hall, and the other stayed point guard within the entry directly behind the main doors.

  Bronson and Eve were the only two members we were following that I recognized. From what I’d learned over the last couple of days, Eve was an Elder, therefore, the crowd we were trailing must have been the elusive Elders I’d been hearing about.

  We followed them down the torchlit hall and came upon another set of enormous wooden doors. This set was b
eing guarded by two Goliaths. Their heads appeared to graze the ceiling. It was at least thirty feet high. I tried not to stare but it was nearly impossible. I was completely fascinated by them.

  Having them guarding this place didn’t seem right. In most stories I’d read, giants were depicted as ruthless, yet here they stood, guarding the Inception Room. They only moved when the Morrigan approached and placed her hand upon the symbol which joined both doors. As soon as she touched the symbol, it glowed. The doors opened and we entered the Inception Chamber.

  “As you were, Char and Glyth,” the Morrigan said, addressing the two Goliaths.

  “Not all Goliaths are as human kind has written,” Vincent whispered in my ear as we passed into the chamber. Before I was able to ask him anymore about them, I found myself staring into an almost indescribable room.

  In the middle of the room was a huge round white marble table surrounded by chairs, there were eleven in total. Each one was covered in rich red velour and had a large symbol embroidered in gold into the back.

  The flow of the crowd indicated everyone else but me knew exactly where they needed to go.

  While everyone else made their way into the chamber, my group stood still, waiting for someone to direct us where we needed to go. We were still surrounded by the Sentry and still the center of their undivided attention. Vincent and I were still holding hands, and from our connection, my blanket of calm was intact. Our eyes met for a brief second. The Seeker grabbed my upper arm with her free hand and squeezed my hand so tight I jumped.

  She redirected my attention to everyone else in the room. We hadn’t merely been the center of the Sentry’s attention. We were the focus of everyone’s attention.

  I turned back to Vincent and slowly let go of his hand… unwillingly. I could handle the Seeker doing the hand holding thing, but the upper arm squeezing was a little much. Her clutch hadn’t wavered and her eyes were still an opal white… creepy, but not as unsettling as onyx. Her breathing had changed, however. It looked like she was having a hard time—it was labored and slow. I pried her hand from my upper arm.

  I turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees to get my bearings and see where we could sit. I noticed there wasn’t one wall in the entire room. The chamber was octagonal. In every place where there should have been a wall there was a visionary like the ones in Herecerti’s office. Engraved into its stonework atop each one was a symbol. From one visionary to the next, each held a scene more vibrant and life-like than the last.

  The seating throughout the chamber resembled a university lecture room. They were set up at differing levels along the bottom of the visionaries so all who attend could observe the happenings at the center table from any angle. The room bore a resemblance to the stadiums I’d seen in books about the Roman Empire. The ones where the Emperor would sit and watch as people fought one another in the arena.

  Putting two and two together—from the picture in Celeste’s office of my parents and the style of the room, I began to wonder if Herecerti was the headmaster of this place, also.

  My thoughts then turned to him and my parents. I looked around for them within the crowd, however they were nowhere to be found.

  “Vincent, where’s Herecerti?”

  “He’ll be here. He’s a part of the council. I think he’s making sure everyone else is where they’re supposed to be,” he answered, squeezing my hand. The effect he had on me was still undeniable, but I didn’t react to it this time like I had before. It wasn’t because he had any lesser effect on me, I was getting better at hiding my reactions, thank goodness.

  Herecerti made his entrance. I felt more at ease. He headed directly to us. The Sentry members shadowing us backed off slightly as he approached.

  “Jen and Hudson, you are to enter the witness gallery,” Herecerti directed and then pointed to the rows of seats which circled the room.

  “We’d prefer to stay as close as possible to Jacey,” Hudson declared.

  “You won’t be permitted to stay with her. She’ll be fine, Hudson. I give you my word. I’ll be with her, now you and Jen must go.”

  Hudson hesitated but only for a moment.

  “I’ll be fine. You, Jen, and Aunt Grace are only, what, ten feet away,” I said, sounding a lot more sure than I felt.

  “We’ll be right there in front,” Jen said as she ushered Hudson over to the witness gallery.

  “Now, Vincent—” Herecerti started, but before he could get any further, Vincent cut him off.

  “I won’t be going to the gallery, Herecerti. I know it isn’t normal Nemele protocol for another to stand with the individual being questioned, but I don’t believe these circumstances could be described by anyone here or there,” he pointed to one of the huge murals on the wall, “as normal.” Vincent turned his attention to where his father had taken a seat in the center of the room.

  “No, I don’t think anyone here or there would argue with you on those facts. But I will tell you, Vincent, it doesn’t matter who your father is or where he sits on this council; you will not be the one to make this decision. I’ll bring it forth once all have arrived and their decision shall be final,” Herecerti concluded.

  “I will, of course, respect the decision of the Elders. I only ask for my intent to be brought forward.”

  “So it shall be,” Herecerti said, then turned his full attention toward me.

  “Jacey, we need you and the Seeker to enter the center of the table and take a seat within the cubicle there.”

  “It’s just a large marble table. There’s no opening in the center.” As soon as I said it, the center of the table expanded to at least three times its girth and separated right down the middle.

  Sprouting within the now open center were three structures. One was an oversized wooden bench with plush cushioning. The second was a pulpit carved from dark oak large enough to fit a giant comfortably, and the third was a circular structure of lights and crystals, which gave me a feeling of dread. I never wanted to be near it, ever.

  A walkway appeared beside Bronson’s chair. It was the only entry and exit to the center of the marble table. For a second, I was rendered speechless and motionless. It wasn’t until the Seeker gripped my upper arm that I moved at all. When I did move, the Seeker and I moved as one and Vincent followed. I didn’t miss the look Vincent’s father gave him as he walked with me to the center of the room.

  It was a look my father had given me once or twice before. I knew instantly when my parents used my middle name when they were talking to me or I got ‘the look’ I was in major crap.

  From the intensity of Bronson’s stare I was quaking inside. If I was shaking in my boots, I could only assume what affect it was having on Vincent. I looked over at him and was surprised to see he hadn’t flinched as he passed through his father’s gaze. Instead, he stayed right behind me, staring straight ahead, and only making eye contact with me when I turned to look at him. He gave me a quick wink and a nod, indicating I needed to turn around and keep walking.

  Once we reached the center, Herecerti spoke out. “Jacey, you will take the seat to the right while the Seeker takes center stage. Vincent, until the council decides, you will stay where you are.” His tone indicated again there was no room for any discussion on the seating arrangements.

  I tried to pry the Seeker’s hand off my arm but her grasp was like iron and quickly I realized there was no way I was going to be able to pry her off. Instead of heading toward the bench, I headed to the pulpit and stood alongside her. The pulpit had decreased in size for us to stand comfortably. It was level with the marble table and from this vantage point, I was able to completely take in our surroundings.

  All eight visionaries now had beings occupying them. They ranged from hairy wolf-like creatures to beings that appeared quite human, but were utterly breathtaking when you gazed at them. Some of the occupants I recognized from books while others I’d never laid eyes on before.

  All eleven seats surrounding the marble table were now occ
upied. I looked at them all. I only knew four of the occupants—Bronson, Herecerti, Eve, and the Morrigan. The remaining seven seats held the beings which had been on the roof top when we first entered Nemele.

  In the gallery, behind the eleven seats and below the murals were Jen, Hudson, Aunt Grace and all the other spectators. Parts of the Sentry were dispersed throughout the gallery. A few stayed close to the marble table, standing guard. None had attempted to follow us into the center of the room.

  Talk about being the center of attention. I made a mental note to take at least three deep breaths before I said anything. A Mom saying popped into my head, ‘If you don’t know what to say or you don’t really have anything to say… then just don’t say anything.’ I trusted in Mom’s wisdom and kept my mouth shut.

  I waited for someone to begin talking. I looked at Vincent, standing inside the circle. Without a single word, he was able to replace the blanket of comfort I was missing. All he’d done was make eye contact with me and I knew without a doubt I was in the right place doing the right thing.

  The voice of the Morrigan then called out, “All nineteen Elders have taken their places. Now is the time when we shall decide what will become of this Seeker and the female companion it has chosen to align itself with. I speak now only to ensure no battles will take place between any of the nineteen parts who are represented here today. They have all chosen to listen to the explanations and histories which will come forth. I ask for Herecerti to explain why we have a third ranked air element waiting inside the center of the chamber with the girl and the Seeker.” The Morrigan took her seat.

  “The third ranked air element is, of course, the son of the Sentry Prime, Bronson Wills. He is a Wirposh of the girl and has asked to stand witness for her.” There was a gasp from the gallery. I turned my attention to the noise maker and saw none other than Chanary and a few of her friends sitting in the chamber gallery.

  What was with this girl? Not only was I dealing with some major life issues right now, but I also had to deal with Chanary, the chick who has a seriously demented ‘I saw him first’ mentality. She was now watching as everything in my life was about to take a complete turn to—well, I wasn’t sure about where, but I was almost certain about the how. This council would tell me everything everyone hadn’t.