by Alana Grerig
The Aurora Stone
The Orea Chronicles book 1
Alana Greig
COSMIC UNICORN PRESS
The Aurora Stone
Published by © Cosmic Unicorn Press
authoralanagreig.com
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
This is a work of fiction.
Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
© Copyright by Alana Greig 2017
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, nor be circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Cover design © Marmaduke The Spy Productions
Editing by Sally Orchard
The Aurora Stone: 1st ed.
ISBN9781521709702
This book is dedicated to
My dad, my hero
My husband, my rock
My boys Finley and Oscar. You two are my greatest adventure.
Acknowledgments
So many people have helped me realise this moment.
Thank you, Beverley Hollowed, for pushing me to do this. Your belief that I could has always surpassed mine. Your constant support and guidance mean the world to me.
Thanks to my sister Aimee Price for reading every chapter as I wrote it and shortening my sentences. (Sorry)
Thank you to Erin Lee for helping me make sense of the self-publishing world and bringing your unique sense of humour into every conversation.
Thank you to Ebony McMillan, you have held my hand, picked me back up and told me to ‘breathe’, more times than I can count. Thank you for being an awesome PA and a great friend.
A big thank you to my husband Fraser. I know I have hidden away a lot while writing. Thanks for the endless cups of tea and the reminders to take breaks and for finding your hidden talent for cover design, who knew!
I couldn’t have don’t any of this if it wasn’t for my dad. He passed away before this was even an idea. He shared his passion for reading with me from a very young age. He also taught me that if you want it badly enough you will fight for it. I hope I did you proud dad.
The last thank you is to you, (yes you reading this right now) my Chosen, my readers. You make this worthwhile, thank you for believing in fairy tales and for reading mine.
Chapter One
It was, indeed, the most beautiful day, a very special day for Evangeline; today was her eighteenth birthday. For the elvish people, turning eighteen was a special time. This was the day each elf discovered what their extra ability would be. Evangeline, however, would rather have stayed by the stream reading than attending the big ceremony that accompanied this milestone birthday.
It’s just such a long and dull ceremony, all the standing and then sitting, just to stand again! I would rather just receive a letter from the wise ones. Sighing, she gathered up her book and the flowers she had picked for her mother. With one last look at the dappled light dancing on the sparkling waters of the stream, Evangeline turned for home.
***
“Happy Birthday, Sweetheart,” her mother said.
“Thank you, Mother. Here, I picked these for you. They are the last of the season.”
Gwen smiled at her child. How beautiful she had become, the envy of many of the local girls; it broke her heart to think of what she must reveal to her later that day.
“Are you alright, Mother? You seem sad. Can I get you some fern tea? That always seems to make things better.” Evangeline moved to the kitchen to prepare tea for them both.
I will miss her. The sadness was almost too much for Gwen to bear. They sat and enjoyed their tea until it was time to get ready for the ceremony. Mother and daughter left to change into their best clothes. Eve had a new dress made by her mother; the material was exquisite, soft as silk with the lustre of moonstone. Eve turned in front of the mirror admiring Gwen’s talent with needle and thread.
Here we go, she thought. Not able to delay the inevitable, she picked up her shoes and went downstairs.
***
“Today is Midsummers Day, a day full of beauty and promise…” Eve was tuning out the extremely long-winded prelude to her gifting ceremony. Her mind drifted back to the stream glittering like diamonds, the cool water lapping at her toes.
“Eve…Evangeline!”
Eve was suddenly pulled from her daydream by a rather cross-looking elder. Great, she cringed.
“Please take your place on the circle of souls and close your eyes.” Eve walked to the circle and stood in the centre. She glanced at her mother before closing her eyes as the Elder had instructed.
“Ready or not,” she whispered to herself.
The Elder began the chant that would gift Evangeline with her extra ability. The circle began to glow, first blue, then purple, before finally settling into a brilliant indigo. The Zephyrs caused her hair to fly and her skirts to ripple in a shimmery dance. The chanting faded away, and a hush fell over the congregation. Eve stayed perfectly still, waiting for the instruction to move off the circle and re-join her mother. She felt no different, which was disappointing.
“Evangeline, you may step off the circle of souls. You are no longer a child; whatever gifts the souls have bestowed upon you are unique to you.”
“Thank you, Elder.” Eve took a breath and opened her eyes to re-join her mother. There was a gasp; a murmur ran through the gathered elves like a ripple in a pond, the sound growing in volume as it travelled through the crowd. Eve looked down at herself. Nothing was amiss. She glanced at the Elder, who was looking at her in wonder, a slight crease formed between his brows. Disconcerted, Eve returned to her mother’s side. Gwen moved her head towards her daughter and whispered,
“It is your eyes, my love, they are no longer the brown of a doe’s; they are the green-gold of the first leaves of autumn.”
The walk home was a quiet affair. Once in the house, Evangeline went as casually as she could manage to the nearest mirror.
OH, OH, MY! Looking back at her was the face she knew, but it was also very different. Her skin was still the peaches and cream it had always been. Her lips were still soft and with the hint of a smile playing at the corners. But her eyes, they were, indeed, a brilliant green-gold, and they appeared to be lit from within, their depths full of a mystery that had not been present when she had awoken this morning. “These are going to take some getting used to,” she mused.
Eve headed downstairs for dinner. After the events of the day, all she wanted was to have a nice warm meal, then to curl up in her reading chair and finish her latest book.
“Something smells wonderful, I really am quite hungry,” Eve said, entering the kitchen.
“Sit down. It will only be a minute,” Gwen called through from the kitchen. Eve took a seat at the table and waited, anticipating the soothing warmth of her mother’s cooking. It always made her feel warm and comforted. After a rather delicious stew, Eve left the table to collect her book. When she entered the snug, her mother was already in there. This was nothing unusual, however, tonight she seemed on edge. Gwen had a small box in front of her on the occasional table.
“Come and have a seat, sweetheart. There are some things I need to tell you.”
A sense of foreboding settled over Evangeline. Taking cautious steps, she walked over to the chair
opposite her mother and sat on the very edge, mirroring Gwen’s pose. Taking a deep breath, Gwen looked into her daughters’ strange new eyes and began the task of revealing the truth.
“Eve, I am not your birth mother.”
Before Eve could absorb this earth-shattering news, another shocking piece of information was thrown into the already charged atmosphere.
“You had a brother, a twin. His name was Eli.”
The room began to spin; Eve felt suddenly sick and far too hot. Before Gwen could stop her, she bolted from the snug and out into to the night. Eve ran to the bottom of the garden; she had her sanctuary there: a treehouse that her father, well the man she had called Father for thirteen years of her life, had built for her when she was six. Eve climbed the ladder that was still as strong as the day it was made. When she reached the top, Eve opened the trunk she kept there, pulled out her blanket to wrap herself in, sat in the pile of cushions in the corner, and cried herself to sleep.
***
“Eve…Eve, are you up there?”
The sound of someone calling her name roused her from sleep. “Ugh,” Eve grumbled as she disentangled herself from the blanket. Why was she in the tree house anyway? It then all came flooding back: the ceremony, her eyes, and the revelations.
Who am I?
“Evangeline, please come back to the house. We have to talk… Please.” Gwen stood at the foot of the ladder John had made so long ago. I wish he were here, she thought as a tear rolled down her cheek. Thoughts of her husband always brought tears to her eyes. He would know what to do, she thought. Admitting defeat, Gwen stroked the ladder rung one last time and headed back to the house.
Eve found her mother where she had left her the night before. Though she looked tired and had clearly been crying, there was also a look of defeat about her. Gwen had lost her sparkle.
“Hey, Mother, just let me change out of this dress, and then I will listen to whatever it is you have to say.”
A pot of freshly-made tea waited for Eve on her return to the snug, along with some toast slathered in honey, just how she liked it.
“I thought you might be hungry,” said Gwen.
“Thank you.” Eve took a seat, picked up her plate of food and braced herself.
“I am so sorry about last night, sweetheart; I know it was a terrible shock. The truth is, your birth parents vanished when you and your brother were just six months old. No one knows where they went. They were just… gone. We found you in your cradle.”
“My brother, why did you only take me and not Eli?” She couldn’t help but interrupt; anger had bubbled up at the thought of her twin just left behind.
“Eli wasn’t there, my love. We searched for him all over the house. We thought that another family must have found him in a different room and taken him in. We asked everyone we met that day if they knew what had happened to Eli. No one had seen your brother. I’m so sorry.” Tears rolled down Gwen’s face. “Please don’t hate me, Eve. We searched for him, we really did. Your father even went out into the surrounding woodland to see if he had somehow been left outside. He searched every day for three weeks.”
Eve put her plate down again, with only a single bite taken from one slice. It tasted like ashes. My brother is lost, or at worse - dead! And I never knew! I wish I had a picture of him. Eve couldn’t cry. The tears wouldn’t come; everything was too raw.
“Here,” Gwen had opened the box. Holding a small frame out to her, Eve reached out with trembling hands and received the object. Taking a deep breath, she quickly flipped over the frame and gazed at the photo within. Two tiny children sitting beside a dog smiled out at her. There was a red-haired girl with brown doe eyes, and next to her, holding a rattle and the dog’s tail, was a fair-haired boy with eyes the colour of bluebells, a beautiful piercing blue.
“Eli,” she whispered while reaching out a finger and stroking the boy's image. “I will find you, I promise.” Evangeline looked at her mother and waited for her to continue. She had a feeling there was more, a lot more, to come.
Gwen picked up the small box and handed it over. It was a small wooden box adorned with typical elvish craftsmanship. Taking a hold of her emotions, Eve lifted the lid to reveal the contents that were sure to change her life even more. Inside the box was another photo; this one was larger and not framed.
My parents! she thought, staring at the image before her. They looked so happy. Putting it aside, she reached back into the box and drew out a very old and tatty piece of parchment, the kind the elves of generations past would have made. Careful not to damage it, Eve very gently peeled back the folds until it lay open on the table.
“It’s a map… but not a map like I have ever seen before.” Eve looked closer at the map, hoping to see something she recognised. “There is Hermoria, the land of the Elves. But where are these places?” Gwen came to sit beside her daughter, and she too looked down at the map.
“I know of Clear Water Valley, the land of the Witches. They are our allies. It is the witches who spin the beautiful yarns we use to make our clothes. In return, we trade our lush grasses and some of the herbs that only grow in our lands, and it has been this way for hundreds of years. The other lands… I don’t know.”
“I think it would be best to seek out Reena, Mother. She will know the answers.” Eve was all ready to go out in search of the wise old elf when she noticed something wedged into the lid of the box. Careful not to damage it, she removed a piece of moonstone. It was just larger than her palm, a quarter of an inch thick, and so very beautiful. Stroking it with the very tips of her fingers, Eve suddenly felt a warm tingle rush up her fingers and settle in her chest.
“That is a seeing stone; they are extremely rare,” Gwen whispered in an awed voice. “They can only be activated by an elf that has wisdom and the sight. We need to find Reena.” Eve looked up from the stone with a puzzled expression.
“Hold on, a seeing stone? Those are a thing of elvish legend. It’s a story dad used to tell me at bedtime.” She looked disbelievingly from the stone to her mother’s face and back again. “Right...?”
Gwen gazed upon her beautiful child - in all but blood - knowing what this stone meant and how much it was about to change Eve’s life. Whether the change would be for better or worse was not yet clear. One thing was for certain, the only elf who could glean the message from the stone was Reena.
“Let’s go find Reena, sweetheart. She will have the answer. Bring the map, maybe she can enlighten us about these other lands as well.” Gwen moved towards Eve and put the map and stone back in the wooden box. “Come, the sooner we find her, the sooner you will have answers.”
***
Reena, the wise woman gifted with the sight, or so many believed, lived away from other elves. She chose to live deep in the forest, and her home was truly beautiful. She never felt the need to venture far; everything she needed was right on her doorstep. It came as no great surprise to see Gwen and Evangeline approaching that day. The change in the child’s eyes only the day before was enough to know that something very special lay in the destiny of young Eve.
***
Gwen raised her tea cup to her lips; only Reena could make the perfect rosehip tea. Looking across at the two of them pouring over the map, she couldn’t help but feel fearful for her precious child. She is grown now; I cannot always protect her, she thought.
“The map shows the five realms of Orea, including our own. You know of the witch’s realm, Clear Water Valley. There is also Mieron, the realm of the vampires, Gloria, the realm of the Fae. Tricky folk, the Fae.” Reena ran her gnarled fingers over the areas as she named them.
“Now, let me see. Ah yes, and Olia, the realm of the owl riders.” Reena finished pointing to the realms on the map and then looked at Eve expectantly.
“There is also this. It was hidden in the lid of the box; Mother says it is a seeing stone. But I thought they were just a legend.” Eve finished in a rush. She did not wish to be seen as foolish. Reena took the cool st
one from Eve and turned it over in her hands.
It is as I thought. This child is meant for great things. Keeping her thoughts to herself, she looked Eve in the eye and replied, “Yes child, your Mother is quite correct. This is, indeed, a seeing stone. A stone of prophecy.”
“Wait… What?” Eve was clearly hearing things. She was sure Reena has just said a stone of prophecy. “What does that mean, Reena?” Not sure she really wanted to know the answer, Eve took a step away from the stone, suddenly not as fond of its lustre as she had been a moment ago.
“It means, Evangeline, that this stone holds your destiny. However, you do have a choice. I can activate the stone to read the prophecy hidden within, or I can hand it back to you. Only you can choose which path to take; I cannot help you, nor can your mother,” Reena explained.
“You must look inside yourself and choose your path. The prophecy is as old as time. We do not know who made the stones… maybe the Goddess herself. The fact remains, this stone was meant for you. A stone of prophecy is guarded by mystical forces, and only the one who is meant to fulfil the prophecy will find the stone, or so the legend reads. Make your choice. Look within yourself; the answer is there for you to find.”
This is madness! Eve thought. Yesterday I was just Eve, a normal girl with a normal family. Today I have luminous eyes, a missing brother, and now this! Why me? Looking at Reena and her loving mother, she knew what had to be done. The stone had called to her the very first time she had stroked its surface.
“Alright, let’s find out what the stone has been keeping secret.”
Reena took the stone in her left hand and took Eve’s hand in her right. She then began to chant. The sound of it reminded Eve of water flowing over pebbles by the stream; it soothed her. After a few moments, enchanted elvish script appeared on the surface. Reena read it and then relayed the prophecy she had been waiting her whole life to hear.
