The Goldsmith

11. Prudentia part 3: seize the power

I'm that voice in your head, and I know you've been aching 
When you find me, let me in 
I got power in my hands, and it's yours for the taking
seize the power - Yonaka

The white fog surrounded her for a time she couldn't measure. It felt like years and seconds at once. Slowly, images emerged out of the fog. Broken glass and papers surrounded her mother in her library. Her head was in her hands while Stillfront glowed red from the fire and smoke.

The image disappears the same way it appeared.

Arinya started walking around without purpose and tried to focus on her thoughts. The fog turned around her, twisting and swivelling.

And then it stopped. Before her stood a woman with floating blond hair and eyes the colour of sunlight. White clothes waved in the wind around her body. Her skin was transparent and Arinya could discern a crown of little yellow flowers in her glowing hair. Magic seeped through the cracks in her skin.

"Who are you?" Arinya asked the creator in a whisper. She didn't dare to raise her voice any further. Not knowing what other types of creators hid in the fog.

The woman's mouth opened, and her voice vibrated through the emptiness.

"When the time comes that the sky turns to fire, the air turns to dust and the seas swallow the earth, a forced marriage shall cause the end of peace and blood.
When the world becomes shrouded in shadows, the chosen one shall mark a time of war, the downfall of the sky kingdom, and the fall of the false god.
As soon as the air turns white and grey and the time stops flowing, an assassination of the queen without a throne shall bring the voice back.
It shall be on the day that legend becomes history, the innocent shall usher forth the rise of grandeur. "

She stepped to the princess and laid her finger on her forehead. Arinya felt the magic burn and flow in her veins. She became flooded with the magic and felt it seep out of her body as shining blue arteries ran under her skin. The magic was too much for her body. She looked up at the woman who was watching her with cold curiosity. A creature that didn't hold any emotions.

"What did you do to me?" She demanded.

"Nothing I didn't do before." The woman whispered back cryptically. "Time never stops and keeps turning. You have to find the balance now."

Arinya couldn't understand the shit of the craziness of the creators before her. The world turned again, and she fell back.

She landed on her back, and the night sky was visible. The stars shone and blinked. Her breath escaped her mouth in a cloud and the cold intruded on her body. She wasn't in Stonebrooke anymore.

She sat up straight, and the world around her existed in faded colours. The fog was still present, however glowing light and darkness changed the scenery. She landed before a quiet lake; The stars reflected in the water's stillness. When she came closer to examine the lake, the water was milky white. The depth wasn't visible. Black trees with glowing veins surrounded the lake. Arinya looked back at her arms and hands. The glowing arteries were gone. She didn't even feel the magic anymore. The lake demanded her focus. She could see her reflection in the water. The glowing symbol on her head was new. The pain spread through her body when she touched the symbol. It started in her fingers and spread from her arms through the rest of her body. The cold soaked her bones, and she started shivering in her thin clothes.

How do I return to Mykolas?

Movement from the water took her out of her thoughts. She came carefully closer and focussed on her reflection. The elf that returned her glare wasn't her. The woman of earlier met her stare. Her forehead had the same symbol as hers. Her unearthly eyes illuminated her face.