Drumwe Isles

chapter twenty seven

Amra felt the powers activating first in the base of her temple. She could feel her heartbeat in the vein there and she focused on the sensation, expanding it to the rest of her body. An ice cold feeling followed, racing through all of her veins and cooling even her heartbeat to a slow but sturdy thump. The very first time she'd felt it, she had panicked and lost her concentration, causing her to jerk out of the meditative state roughly and she'd been floored, to say the least.

This time though, she'd had a solid four years of practice. She held strong against the force of the cold and let her heartbeat slow. Eventually she'd gotten to a pace wherein she had a heartbeat only every two seconds. It was then that Amra opened her eyes.

She found herself sitting in a wispy blue meadow, with the aether grains swaying around her in a faint wind. Aether grains weren't native to Drumwe in the slightest; this is how Amra knew she had made it to the spirit realm. There were Sun Peach trees along the edge of the meadow, walling Amra into the space which the spirits had allotted her. Sun Peaches had healing properties of all kinds and were rare to the entire continent of Azzan. To find even a rotting half of one was a miracle, because so long as the seeds were intact, you could extract the golden bioluminescent material which gave them their glow.

Amra analysed the space with reverence and awe. It was a quaint area and still, a very beautiful one. There was a small pond off to the back of a dark blue water which was alight in various places where Sun Peach seeds had fallen. The spirit realm had two everpresent suns in its sky but one emitted energy while the other consumed it, and they had been in an immortal dance together longer than any of the Elves had lived.

Her gawking was interrupted when a being crawled forward out of the pond and began to move towards her. The being looked as though they were made of marble but in a fluid sort of way that made movement seamless. They'd opted to take a humanesque form but the shifting of the darker grey streams throughout their body gave them away as a shapeshifter of some variety.

Amra kept calm as they drew animalistically through the periwinkle grains and ever closer to her. She lowered herself slowly into a defenceless position with her knees beneath her and her hands planted in her lap. The being was then so close that the strands of Amra's reddish brown hair were flicking their rounded ears. Spirits lacked the human concept of personal space.

"You."

Amra was careful not to flinch as the Spirit poked her chest firmly.

"Amra. Amra Yelran of Fallburne."

The girl allowed a flinch then, it was uncommon for Spirits to speak in full names.

Suddenly Amra received a vision from the Spirit, which was a much more common way for them to speak. She saw, with gentle horror, the body of the spider woman spirit collapsing onto the forest floor in slow motion. She was given a further flash of the great Tree of Life behind it.

"You have killed the guardian of the Tree of life."

Amra's eyes were wide. She didn't quite know what one was supposed to say in this type of situation and she knew the wrong answer could carry grave consequences.

"She attacked us."

The marble spirit nodded.

"You intended to hurt the tree."

Amra shook her head.

"We only wanted to speak with the Spirits here."

The spirit shrugged and silence befell them.

Amra looked curiously at the being again. Its eyes were orange or yellow like the tip of a flame and she wasn't sure why, but she felt the colour held deeper meaning.

"What is your name?

The marble spirit smiled knowingly. Spirits had a great many names more often than not. There were the names given to them by humans, the name given to them by their own kind, and the name which they gave to themselves.

"Which one?"

"Your favourite one."

"Ror'od."

Amra swallowed thickly. It was one of the Daedra names, though she couldn't remember which. The being then reached forward and moved Amra's hair from her face.

"You wanted a spirit, and you have one. Now what do you want?"

Amra's eyes watered lightly but she still held fierce before Ror'od.

"War is coming, between Fallburne and Dillac. Countless will die on both sides."

Ror'od peered at the girl curiously.

"What business is that of ours?"

"It will be a war regarding the spirits."

"Regarding us, how?"

"The Tree of Life lies in Fallburne territory. The king and queen of Dillac say it is their birthright to drink its sap and gain immortality as their ancestors once had. We, of Fallburne, are supposed to guard the spirits and thus we cannot allow them to take the sap."

Ror'od thought for a great many moments.

"Girl, do you know how the Dillac family lost their immortality?"

Amra shook her head, brows furrowed in confusion.

"Let me show you."

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Comment question: What do you think the Dillac family did?