by Karen Binnie
Kamerrean
Copyright 2014 Karen Binnie
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Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Epilogue
About the author
Part.1 Jol
Prologue
The dark water lapped at the bend in the river creating an almost still pool to one side as the steady current passed by, gentle ripples broke the surface where the great snow topped mountains shimmered in their reflection. The cool evening air whipped around the river bank leaving shadows of cloud just above the ground snaking its way amongst the reeds and glowing in the light of the full moon. In the shadows of the rocks a flicker of movement, frantic yet quiet it stopped suddenly and two deep red eyes locked onto the water as the ripples in the pool began to shake violently with the vibrations from beneath the surface. The eyes did not flinch as an image of beauty rose from the water, slowly she appeared raising her hands to slick back her long black silken hair from her face, then standing waist height she half turned in the direction of her admirer. The eyes watched transfixed at the vision, momentarily distracted from their task, the woman had a perfectly proportioned body seen clearly through the white toga that clung to her dusky wet skin. Her cheeks were pronounced high on her angular face, the eyes dark yet hugely rounded like an image of the moon in negative.
Venur broke the water’s surface and breathed in the cool evening air, the moon had not yet reached the point in the sky when Eldeen would come to her. With every visit she longed to see her beloved with good tidings but tonight was no different to all the others, she did not bring good news of the lost ones, her search almost exhausted having swam many oceans and rivers on earth. She loved to transform her inner soul to its truest form, able to swim for thousands of miles at a time but the search was taking its toll, her muscles ached from the exertion.
Washing her face in the fresh mountain water she became aware she was not alone, her senses detected another being as she quickly sank back down into the water, her eyes searching the reeds for the source of her fear, her tail fin swished back and forth in anticipation. The water lapped at her neck, the gills re-opening as she sank lower, searching, her eyes locking onto the glow beyond the rocks, more rounded than ever in disbelief at what she saw.
The boy had been distracted at the vision before him, now it stared back at him in horror, the realisation he had been finally caught. Pulling his clenched fist from the chest cavity of the dead body beneath him, it glowed a bright white in the night like a beacon that could be seen for miles, his skin translucent around the bones of his hand. His face contorted in pain as the power seeped into his body, his hand gradually returning to normal, “Kill her” came the voice inside his head.
Since the tragic accident that took his best friends life that summer, the boy had been commanded by the voice in his head. Crouched and distraught over Gregorn's lifeless body, the man had entered his head, an unseen force had taken his hand and balled it into a fist, there was nothing the boy could do, the bodiless voice took control as it thrust his fist into his best friend’s body stealing the power from within. The boy was scared, frightened by his actions and the threats from the man’s voice inside his mind, he dared not tell a soul and lived in constant fear of the voice. Since that fateful day the boy had become withdrawn, a pale imitation of his former self, the outgoing and vivacious child, lost to his family.
Tonight for one brief second he was roused from his zombie state by the arrival of Venur, horror filled both their eyes. The boy fought his emotions as the voice pulled him back, back into the darkness his life had become, “Kill her now” it commanded him. Both sets of eyes were transfixed on the other, as he blinked, his own echoed the fear of his accuser and he knew that his beautiful witness must die and yet to kill her would mean the end to his current way of life and end to the voice that commanded him.
Running faster than his legs could carry him, his heart pounded in his chest with the effort, ready to burst forth with the power coursing through his veins. The act of killing had repulsed him but the fear of being caught stealing the last magical powers of the dying had spurred him on. Feeling sick as he ran into the night his stomach lurched in protest as he fought to control his emotions, at last he reached the clearing, east of the mountain range. He knew that the elders had travelled somehow from this clearing in the trees, he had watched them stand upon the great slab of rock at the edge of the heather clad clearing, the rock that looked like a huge table for giants where he had watched them disappear only to return again later, knowing that one day this would be his escape. Regaining his breath he looked down at the bloodied bracelet in his hand, his stomach convulsed again and he swallowed in reaction. Letting his breathing slow to normal he studied it, he did not know why he had even took it but the sparkling white gems fascinated him, the way that glow faded as the last breath had left her body. Perhaps they held within a hidden power, he had seen another similar to this which the great Eldeen wore upon his wrist, Eldeen their chief who he knew would be hunting for him very soon. The boy stuffed the bracelet into his robes and took a deep breath, hoping against all hope that what he was about to do would rid him of his pain and the voice forever as he stepped up onto the rock.
The air was dark, pitch black, filled with the most god awful stench, a mixture of death and chemicals, a clinical feeling that would be gut wrenching if only Jez could move.
He had no idea where or who he was, his sight unable to comprehend his surroundings, his remaining senses working overtime, there was the faint sound of talking and movement close by, was that footsteps in the distance? Yet the eerie silence engulfed him and his heart began to race with fear.
Startled by a gentle hand which brushed against his, he tried to grab hold, his immobility sank deep into his soul, he could not move at all, not just his hand but his whole body.
"Still no change" came the voice of an angel.
Unaware that he had been out cold for two days, Jez tried to speak but the words did not come, he was trapped in his own body, desperate to escape.
As he tried to think his mind blurred into a collage of broken images, vague memories of a party, laughing, drinking, splashes from the pool outside. Jez forced his mind to remember, his peripheral vision clouded by shadow, the faces obscured as he moved between the dancers, looking for something he recognised, a face, a voice, anything to force a recollection of where he had been, where his mind now wandered amongst the thumping beat of the music, or was that hi
s heart? He felt strangely out of place that he didn’t belong here, as if trapped in the memories of another, the shadows moved back and forth, to the beat, shadows of a party that would change his life forever…..