Chimera Awakened

Prologue

Mature content warning!

Thanks for giving my story a chance! This is the first story I've ever finished and I didn't plan on sharing it with anyone. Plans change, I guess.

Feel free to make corrections, add constructive criticism, or just give me your thoughts. I haven't shared my writing with anyone and I'm really nervous about it.

Before continuing, please be aware this story contains cursing, violence and sex. It's fine if that's not your thing but it's mine.

Happy reading!

Light was everywhere. Blinding, suffocating and relentless, it slithered its way into one's consciousness, and its sharp tentacles numbed the senses as it deadened the mind. Brielle concentrated on her work, head bent as the light penetrated everything in its path. A soft breeze carried her raven black hair in swirls around her face as her lips moved in a nearly silent chant. Voices of her ancestors whispered to her, encouraging and constant as the water that lay before her. It gave her the strength and focus to bring to mind places brimming with the false light and glass screens. It was necessary to finish what she had started.

The day had come for her work to be done and plunge the world into darkness. Humankind had gone far beyond what it was intended for. There was too much light, too much noise and too much indifference. The world had become dependent on technology and grew increasingly apathetic. Her heart hurt for the lives that would be lost but she reminded herself those lives had been gone long before she showed up. They were lost to the temptations of convenience and selfishness.

With a slight shake of her head she pushed those thoughts aside. It was too late to stop now and, even if it wasn't, she wouldn't have stopped. Those that had stayed true to the old ways would survive and flourish. They would rebuild this shattered and broken world into something beautiful and worthwhile; into its original state. No electricity to power false lights, no vehicles coughing poison into the air, no oil oozing into the water and suffocating the creatures that lived there. That would all be traded for honest work, the soft glow of firelight, crystal clear rivers, streams and oceans.

Her soft pink lips curved into a small smile and she felt the power build within her and flow into the stone. Its smooth oval surface, the color of obsidian, started to glow from within. Her hands, still cupping it, felt the warmth beginning to radiate from within. It had awoken and was beginning to create power of its own, just as she'd planned. The time was drawing near and fear warred with excitement within her. The soft cotton of the dress she wore danced around her long slender legs and brushed the tops of her bare feet.

The light breeze that had danced flirtatiously with her hair was becoming more powerful. Within seconds, it was flying violently around her rigid body as her dress plastered to her body. She was chanting loudly now, fighting to hear the sound of her voice over the howling wind. Her chest heaved with the effort to take in air but her voice rang high and clear as a bell. Hanging by a glinting silver chain from her slender neck was a large, oval sapphire, and a blue so deep to almost be black, set in a simple silver setting. It began to glow and she could feel its warmth sink into her chest, reassuring her.

Now, she thought, the time is now. A single tear slipped from her closed eyes and slid down her cheek until it fell and landed on the obsidian stone she had cupped in her hands. It sizzled and the droplet danced along the surface like water on a burning hot skillet. Suddenly, the stone shot out a burning white light, so bright it was all Brielle could comprehend. It rose straight into the sky and burst like a firework followed by dozens of white lines exploding from its core. They separated into dozens more white lines until thousands cracked across the sky. The magic snaked out fast as lightning but constant as the sun. They continued on their path, searching out everyone and everything it was summoned to destroy.

In her mind, Brielle could see cities across the world, pulsing with artificial light and life, loud and unaware, blink out of existence. When the light sensed them, it honed in like a well calibrated missile to erase everything. Anything not desired or necessary to this new world was the target, including the people who created and used these things. After the stone completed its work, nothing of the cities would remain and the work of rebuilding could begin.

Amidst the destruction, she felt a sense of new life. Tiny glimmers of light blinking into existence, powered by her magic. They felt old, like something ancient and long forgotten. The price of this destruction was unknown to her but she knew she would be willing to pay the debt. She wondered if the new life she felt around her, some of it pure and some of it deadly, was that price.

Slowly, Brielle opened her eyes before turning her head and made out the glow of a flickering torch. She wondered foggily if it was held by him before she sank slowly to the ground, assured that she had done what she was meant to do and resigned herself to her fate.