The Quest

Chapter VI

Her mother took Anamaia’s hand leading her into her memories; as the swirling mists faded to a gentle moonlight, igniting the trees that surrounded them and spinning pearly threads from leaf to leaf and branch to branch, painting the nearest tree limbs with its silvery brush, but leaving the rest to languish in the shadows untouched by the caresses of the moon and as black as night. They stood just before a willow’s curtain, the fronds stroking their hair as they stirred in the breeze, a large pond perfectly still, unruffled by the efforts of this world, an expansive mirror stretching out into the distance, separating this world from the other. Even through the memory, Anamaia felt the familiar tug of the full moon on her soul, her body and her mind.

“It was just like every other full moon until suddenly, before my eyes, a woman appeared from the very earth,” said her mother, whilst the memory of her leant over the water, bathed in moonlight. She looked over her shoulder and gasped, bolting upright and gliding over to a place where the earth was shaking, the soil cracking to reveal a naked woman; she reached down as if to touch it, until she drew her hand back at the last moment. “While I was gazing at it, confused but also in wonder, Gaea appeared there.”

“Gaea?” Anamaia exclaimed incredulously, but also with an air of excitement.

Anamaia walked over to where her mother knelt transfixed, and peered in curiously; in the earth, just under the surface laid a woman, her deep brown hair flowing around her, although the surface of the earth was broken and splintered. “Camaih!” she swore surprised, when the woman’s eyes opened to reveal large brown eyes which changed to a deep green flecked with gold, even as Anamaia looked at her. Gaea reached her arms out, and the earth bore her up, so that she was standing before Anamaia’s mother, free from any detritus and completely naked, her waist length brown hair seemed to be stirred by some invisible breeze, her eyes always shifting from colour to colour, ‘But they’re always earthy colours,’ noted Anamaia to herself. Gaea moved towards Anamaia’s mother who was gazing at Gaea mesmerized, flowers and mushrooms growing in every footstep that she left behind, like a trail of fertility. However, Anamaia found it difficult to look at her, and when she did she seemed to see her through a slight mist, her outline was wavy, the details – such as her eyes – were lost and so, beyond long brown hair that rippled like a waterfall and flowers in her footsteps, Anamaia found it impossible to really know what Gaea looked like.

“She was beautiful,” said her mother, “but I can’t remember what she looked like properly, even in my memories; I think it’s something to do with her divinity. All I can remember is that she was beautiful,” she finished wistfully, obviously wishing that she could know what Gaea looked like, or the chance to see her again.

By now Gaea had reached Anamaia’s mother and reaching out, she placed her hands on each shoulder, looking deeply into her eyes. The pair of them seemed almost to glow, emitting a soft golden light which reminded Anamaia of concentrated sunlight and the glow that she felt rush through her veins when she used her powers.

“When she put her hands on my shoulders, I felt this power spread through me, the same as when we use ours but much, much more potent, and she said to me-”

“Tanamya,” said Gaea softly, her voice sounding like the rustling of leaves in the wind, the creaking of trees, the faint burble of brooks and the joyous cries of the birds simultaneously, “I have to tell you something very important, and confide in you; it is time and only fair. I am worried about Occidan – he poses far too great a danger to our way of life and the Balance. I knew he would cause trouble, but I have overlooked various signs for far too long, and it is beginning to be too late; I have selected a member of your Taighlai, your powers are by far the strongest, and I need them to help me restore the Balance.”