by Hannah Reed
TENEBRASCO
BOOK 1: THE PEARL
WIELDER TRILOGY
HANNAH REED
Independently published
Copyright © Hannah Reed 2019
Hannah Reed asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the author and publisher.
Cover design by Keve Szatmari
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in the novel are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 9781072360155
For everyone pursuing their dream
Contents
TENEBRASCO
Other books in this series
PEARL GUIDE
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
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
COMING SOON
ESSENTIA
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Did you enjoy the first instalment of the Pearl Wielder Trilogy?
Other books in this series
THE PEARL WIELDER TRILOGY
TENEBRASCO
ESSENTIA
PEARL GUIDE
Seven original pearls existed, wielded by the mer long before they knew humans shared the planet with them - Assurgere, Communico, Curo, Essentia, Factus, Tempus and Tenebrasco. Members of the royal mer family were the only ones who could transform into the mystical beings with two legs. Until one day an ancient King combined the powers of the Curo and Essentia pearl to create the Commutavi pearl – so all mer could transform. The final pearl is a recent invention by scientists, the mer solution to instant connectivity – the Iris pearl.
~
Assurgere
Power: The ability to grow and manipulate plant life
Colour: Green, the colour of green fleece seaweed
Communico
Power: The innate knowledge of all the tongues under the sea
Colour: Red
Commutavi
Power: The transformation pearl from mer to human form
Colour: Purple
Curo
Power: The healers pearl
Colour: Sky blue
Essentia
Power: The life force of the mer
Colour: Rose pink
Factus
Power: The ability to control water
Colour: White
Iris
Power: A communicative tool for mer
Colour: Cream
Tempus
Power: The gift of manipulating the weather
Colour: Navy
Tenebrasco
Power: Unknown, long since believed to have died out
Colour: Onyx
PROLOGUE
April strained to keep up with her Dad. She put her arms out in front of her with one hand on top of the other and tried to swim faster. Kicking her tail rapidly, she sped forward with a burst of energy.
“Slow down April,” her Mum Freya called from behind. April ignored her Mum and dashed on ahead through the tunnel. It was a perfectly smoothed cylinder of reddish brown rock.
“Daddy, are we almost there yet?” April asked, huffing out of breath as she reached him. She beamed in triumph having caught him up.
“Almost,” Nathaniel said. He stopped swimming and grabbed April in mid-sea to spin her around. “The Ula caves are going to be very excited to see you.”
Their Ula cave attendant swam them to the end of the tunnel. The attendants were stereotypically bookish mer, the sort you might find in a museum. But this attendant mer was huge with tattoos covering the breadth of his chest. Freya thought he could have at least worn a shirt for a royal appointment.
“It’s my job Princess April to act as a gatekeeper of the pearls. We guard them and nurture them and help young mer select their own set of pearls.”
April looked around confused as the attendant continued to float in front of the bare wall. He pointed upwards with a conciliatory wink. April’s eyes followed and saw an intricate design of shells inlaid around a handle. Freya and Lorelai joined their party as he started talking again. The Queen’s best friend Lorelai was also April’s pearl guardian. It was a tradition that pearl guardians guide young mer to the caves and help them through the selection process. But, for a royal pearl selection, the process was kept private.
“Now above us, April is our most sophisticated pearl cave at the Ula Caves.”
The cave attendant floated down so he could talk directly to the young princess. “First you will present yourself to the pearls. They will test your abilities through your Essentia energy - your life force if you will. All the pearls will light up in response as they decide if you are worthy to wield them. Then the winning pearls will stay lit and they will be yours to wield.”
April’s smile faltered. “What if none of the pearls want me?” she asked looking from the attendant to her Dad.
Nathaniel chuckled and bounced April on his hip. “I promise you April, all the pearls will be competing for your attention.”
Freya gave her husband a stern look.
“Well, all the pearls that you have the ability to wield,” he said his smile faltering too.
“Are you ready to go in, your majesties?” the attendant asked.
“I’m afraid this is as far as I can go April. Good luck and remember you can always ask me anything,” Lorelai said as she kissed April quickly on the forehead.
“Thank you.” April smiled shyly. Lorelai winked at her.
“See you later Freya.” The two hugged before Lorelai swam back down the tunnel. April turned to the Ula Cave attendant and nodded at him. The attendant grasped the handle in the ceiling and twisted. Looking up April’s eyes widened. A round disc opened and spiralled into the stone creating a hole in the ceiling. The attendant motioned for the Meridian Royal Family to swim up into the Royal Ula cave.
April looked around mesmerised by the cave before her. She glanced at her Mum and Dad to see if they were seeing what she was. Across the cave’s walls were thousands of glistening pearls undulating light. Suddenly she could feel her whole bo
dy glowing, she looked down and raised her arms in amazement. Blue, pink, and green - every colour of the rainbow swam across her body from the pearls’ light and her powers glowed in response. Waves of coloured energy poured out of her body and sparkled across her diamond coloured tail.
The attendant held out his hand to April and together they swam to the podium in the centre of the cave. April dropped his hand so she could swim closer to the podium, its energy beckoning her forward.
“Right, now April, I want you to swim down into the podium and let your tail fin brush up against the Essentia pearls.”
April looked closer and could see the inside of the podium was inlaid entirely with rose coloured Essentia pearls. They were glowing in a rhythmic beat fading and dimming as one. She looked back to her parents and they nodded at her in encouragement. Letting go of the attendant’s hand, she swam down into place. The moment her fins brushed the surface of the Essentia pearls she could feel a buzzing across the cave. She looked up in panic. About to swim out of the podium, April stalled as the whole cave burst into light. She screwed her eyes shut tight to block out the light. She heard the attendant and her parent’s gasp in shock. Eventually, the light started to fade through her eyelids and she cautiously opened her eyes.
“Well, that was...” the attendant said pausing. He bobbed in the water as he tried to compose himself. “That was incredible,” he said simply and sagged for a moment. Then, he hurriedly swam forward.
“You can swim out now April,” he called.
April swam out slowly and moved to float by the attendant. She was careful to avoid eye contact and instead focused solidly on the ground. Freya and Nathaniel swam over to her and Nathaniel scooped her up in his arms.
“You did excellently April!” Nathaniel said. Tickling her stomach, he was rewarded with a tentative smile.
“She really did,” the attendant said. “I’ve never seen all the pearls shine so brightly.”
“Our merita is destined for greatness. Right darling,” Nathaniel said.
“Yes dear,” Freya said smoothly. She swam down to head height with her daughter. “Are you ready to collect your pearls?” she said softly to April.
April nodded into her Dad’s warm jumper before swimming into her Mum’s open arms.
“Would you like us to help you?” Freya asked. April nodded again, now more excited to seek out her new pearls.
Together they swam towards one of the remaining glowing pearls.
“Now April, we keep the pearls in these caves because they like to grow in darkness. Young pearls have soft shells so the sunshine can penetrate their core,” the attendant said. “In this cave, we house all the pearls except the Iris pearls and the Commutavi ones.”
“Why?” April asked.
The attendant chuckled at her tenacity. “Because the Iris pearls are manufactured. And the Commutavi pearls prefer a warmer climate so we keep them in separate caves.”
April nodded knowingly, her eyes wide as she took in all the information.
“We’ll collect your Commutavi pearl afterwards. Every mer, has a Commutavi pearl to help them transform into a legged.”
“Do I need one?” April asked.
Nathaniel laughed, “Not everyone can transform without their Commutavi pearl.”
They stopped at the top of the cave where three different pearls were lit within a metre radius. April could make out a blue, black and green glow shining from each. Freya lifted April up towards the pearls so she could get a closer look. April swam free and darted to the closest pearl.
“Right, now pull it down gently,” the attendant said. The pearl’s glow was so intense April could feel the heat radiating from it. She swam a little closer and plucked the pearl from its position. With a big grin, she swam back down to her parents.
“Mummy, Daddy look!” April said. She cupped her hand and held it out to show them her glowing blue pearl. It was an averagely sized pearl, smaller than a marble but bigger than a pea. It was almost spherical for all but a small dip on the top - to April it was perfect.
“Ohh the Tempus pearl,” Nathaniel said in excitement peering over to look at the pearl.
April turned to the attendant expectantly.
“A rare pearl indeed Princess. This is the Tempus pearl; a wielder like you can manipulate the weather. And with enough practice one day you will control it.”
“That explains the rainbows and hailstorms,” Freya said laughing. Whenever April was excited rainbows would appear in the sky but when she was particularly grumpy, as four-year-olds often were, it started hailing.
April’s excitement grew and the glow across her tail intensified. She looked down at her pearl in wonder.
“Let me hold your pearl while you get the next one,” Freya said. April turned around and placed the pearl carefully in her Mum’s hand before swimming off. Less timid, she plucked the green one quickly from the surface. Then she swam a little to her right and grabbed a third darker one that was pulsing a steady black. This time she swam straight to the attendant.
“What do these ones do?” she asked, her voice high with excitement.
“This green one is the Assurgere pearl. It means you can wield your powers to grow plants.”
“And this one?” April said holding out her black pearl expectantly.
“That one...” the attendant paused. He leant in to inspect it further. “Well it can’t be.”
Freya and Nathaniel leant forward to see the pearl in their daughter’s hand.
“That’s a Tenebrasco pearl,” Freya said, her face paling.
“I suppose it runs in the Royal family,” the attendant said looking first from Nathaniel to Freya for reassurance.
“Yes,” Nathaniel said. He held April’s shoulders protectively as she looked up at the three adults.
“The Tenebrasco pearl is a special pearl. We don’t know what it does because the powers have been lost,” the attendant said.
“Do I have the powers?” April asked furrowing her eyebrows. She looked to her Mum and then the attendant for an explanation.
“Maybe,” Freya said with a strained smile. “Why don’t you go and get your next pearl.”
April hesitated for a moment looking between the adults. Then she dropped her pearls into her Mum’s hand and swam down towards the next glowing pearl. This one glowed a bright red; it reminded her of the ruby necklace Lorelai wore. She picked it up and swam over to where her next pearl glowed. No longer worried about hurting them, she grabbed the pink pearl. Then she swam to collect her last shining pearl. This pearl was glowing the brightest of them all. As she swam closer she could see it was buried under a group of other pearls. Moving them to the side she picked up a bright white pearl. Underneath her white pearl was a smaller pearl glowing a faint blue. April picked it up.
Swimming back up to the adults she ran her fingers over her pearls. They were all smooth but they weren’t perfectly spherical. As she traced the lumps and bumps of her pearls with her finger she could feel them warming to her touch.
“Hello pearls,” she said quietly.
“What have you found now?” Nathaniel called to her.
“I have a white one, a red one, a blue one and a pink one,” she said holding her pearls up with a flourish.
“Excellent work,” the attendant said smiling, but his eyebrows didn’t move. “That means you wield all seven of the original pearls.”
“All seven!” April cried in excitement. She swam up to her Mum and pouring the last of the pearls into her Mum’s hand, April counted them quickly to double check.
“What do these four do?” she asked bobbing up and down.
“The white one is your Factus pearl, it allows you to move and manipulate water. The red one is the Communico pearl. It means you can speak and understand all the languages of the animal kingdom. The Essentia pearl is the pink one and it allows you to monitor mer life force. And finally, you have the Curo pearl. It helps you heal other mer when they are sick.”
/> As the attendant listed the powers of each pearl he pointed to them in turn.
Freya glanced up at Nathaniel.
“That’s a lot of power for one merita,” she said. Her hand was frozen in its cupped position.
Nathaniel shook his head slightly at Freya before he bent down and picked up April.
“Well done darling. You wield all the pearl powers,” he said nuzzling his forehead against his daughter’s.
“I do,” she said smiling. “Just like you.”
~
“Now Kayla,” April said very seriously “watch what I do and repeat.”
April curled her tail underneath her and focused on the potted plant in front of her. At ten years old, she was prone to experimenting with her powers. She brought her hands up and started to make weaving motions as she twisted her wrists. Her little hands glowed green and the plant started to grow. Its tendrils twisted together while April weaved and soon the plant was as tall as the ceiling. Kayla clapped her hands hard together. At age seven everything her sister did was cool. Kayla was always a willing participant in April’s experiments.
“Do it again!” Kayla called.
April grinned and focused her attention on the other potted plants in the room. Her whole body glowed a deep green with Assurgere power as she swirled her hands in the air. The seaweed grew and grew twisting through the sea. Kayla laughed and started swimming through the tendrils.
“This is so cool!” she shouted, dashing in and out of the seaweed.
April screwed her face up in concentration and held her hands up in front of her face. She held her hands apart as if she was holding a ball. An orb of green and white light grew in front of her. Then suddenly she twisted her hands. The seaweed tendrils knotted together forming a tight ball. The writhing mass of seaweed started to expand as it grew with April’s power. She pulled her hands apart and created an opening.
“Let’s swim inside,” April called to Kayla. Kayla quickly swam ahead of April and dashed into the entrance. April flicked her hand and the seaweed latched onto Kayla’s tail.
“Not so fast!” April laughed.