Over The Rainbow: The Emerald Compass Desiree The Half Elf Princess Warrior

Over The Rainbow: The Enchanted Compass - Part One

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

CHAPTER ONE

Elisyium was an extraordinary place. It was an old mine shaft in the face of a rock close by concealed crops of narcotics plants. Water was obtainable from a small trickle upon the rock face. Within the mine shaft and not far from its opening was the seemingly slumbering form of a young woman , who had an orange and white cat clamped, tightly in her arms, where she slept comfortably. But looks can be deceiving. Desiree Lovely was anything other than asleep. She had tossed and turned for the better part of the night, partly because she was camping out in a mine shaft in a strange world unfamiliar to her, and mostly due to fact she tried in vain of ridden herself of the powerful and magical necklace known as The Rune of Aderise, a family heirloon passed down to a single person of each and every generation of her family known as the Runekeeper. "Desiree?" A familiar female voice intruded upon the Runekeeper's thoughts. She flinched and quickly sat up; her emerald-green eyes locked onto the transluscent features of Twyla McTavish, the original Keeper of the Stone and the matriarch of her bloodline. Desiree placed a hand up to her breastplate, exhaling a sigh of relief. The last time she had laid eyes upon her ancestor was when she had put on the necklace around her neck for the very first time. At the same time, Arora, her feline companion shot from between her owner's hands like she had been fired out of a cannon, landing splay-legged on the uneven ground. "Arora?" Desiree said, keeping her voice low. almost to a whispered. She reached out towards the bolting cat. Too late. The frightened feline ran beneath a gap between a pair of rocks and out of sight. "Aurora?" Desiree whispered once more, but she feared her abscond feline had taken refuged to parts unknown. Desiree groaned. "It's about time," she said, softly, turning her attention upon her female progenitor. A trace of impatience slithered into her voice. "Long time no see. I was beginning to wonder when you'd show up. Where have you been? Alot has happened to me while you went AWOL, you know. I lost my adopted mother. I was arrested and nearly charge w---" The essence of Twyla lifted her gaze to the ceiling, briefly snared by whatever was there that only she could see, and then she returned her attention back on her young descendent. "---For your information, my gifted one. It's only been a few days, which in that time you have handled yourself quite well. It goes without saying that I am extremely impressed with your perseverance." Desiree groaned once more. "Did you hear me? My adopted mother is dead!" she snapped. "You show up here prenting like everything's honky dory. For crying out loud my life is over as I know it. Did I mention, this is all your fault that I"m in this position in the first place?" "I am well aware of your misfortune, and I am profoundly sorry for you lost. It is the price we must pay for ---" "The price we pay? Are you off your rockers or something? I never asked for this. I never asked my adopted mother to die, and I certainly never wanted to be a hero. I only want a normal life. Is that too much to ask, huh?" "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, no matter how hard we try. The Runekeeper is part of who you are now. It cannot be reverse." "Well, I quit." "But, your in safe hands. Your enemies are oblivious to your whereabouts. You should be encourage that you are still alive." Desiree made a sucking sound with her teeth. "Didn't I say I quit, remember? I retire. Less talk more listening." "It's not that simple." "Well, try this on for size: I'm making it simple. I hearby anounce I'm vacanting my position as the Runekeeper." "We're way past that, my young gifted one. You must take up your destiny whether you want to or not. The longer you neglect your respon---" Desiree rolled her oval-shaped, emerald-green eyes. "--- my responsibility. If I recall correctly it was you who started this without my permission in the first place. I wasn't even given a choice in the matter. So, why don't you find someone one else to be your pet project. For the third time I am abandoning the positin, whether you like it or not. So enough with the lectures and do me a favor and tell me how to get rid of this necklace." "I am afraid you don't quite undersrand me. The process cannot be reverse. Believe me, I tried. Don't you think if I found a way, I would hav done so by now?" "Oh, please, don't give me that it 'cannot be reverse' routine. There's gotta be a way, something you haven't tried yet. If I recall correctly, didn't my mother sorta blew away that theory of yours, didn't she." According to Persephone, Desiree's mother had found a way to undo the spell that Twyla had initially infused herself with superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, agility, and healing, along with combining the powers of the Rune of Aderise to produce the original succession of Runekeepers. I simply need to figure out what she did to break the link between myself and the rune, she thought. "Listen, I know how hard this is to accept. I've tried everything to undo the spell, but it was a futile endevear to say the least. Do you think I want anything to happen to you, to my bloodline? Do you think I can bear it. I've watched every last of my successor die one after the other, and I couldn't do a thing to ease their suffering in the end. It is truly our family's curse." Desiree had an intense desire to flee from the gut-renching place and never look back, feeling unclean due to the overing stench in the air. "Yes, I know. A war between good and evil. It's imprinted within my brain. But who says I have to be involved?" "As well as it should be," Twyla replied, her voice held a distant note. "Besides, you already are involved. And, there's no going back to the way things used to be the battle lines are drawn between opposing sides, and you're knee deep in the midst of a war between good and evil that you cannot avoid." Desiree moaned. She didn't particularly enjoy where the conversation was going. Twyla's mind was made up and any chance Desiree could convince her ancestor otherwise would regrettably be in vain. "As the Runekeeper," Twyla added. "You have barely scratched the surface of your calling. At this juncture, you must focus on the matter at hand, and though, I cannot force you to, I seriously implore you to consider the repucussions if you abandon your sacred duty." "Ready to go?" "Where's Persephone? I thought she would be coming with us." "She will be joining us soon," Jenna said to her.