“Are the serpents what the bat’s fear?” Ronan said.
“I don’t think so,” Rika said. “The serpents don’t leave this pool for the same reason the bat’s stay away. There’s something keeping them here,” Rika said.
Solid rock walls surrounded them on every side revealing no obvious path from the pool.
“Where does the water go?” Danielle said. “It must go somewhere otherwise the pool would’ve filled by now.”
“The wall beneath the waterline is cracked.” Rika pointed across the pool. “The water flows out there.”
“There must be another way out besides climbing the walls,” Ronan said.
“Let me try.” Danielle probed outward with her mind searching for any sign of plant life in the cavern. A chill ran up her spine when something pushed back with a strange alien intelligence she’d never encountered.
Raw fear radiated from every pour of Danielle’s skin. Shivering, she severed the link and stepped backward from the alien presence. “I understand the cave bat’s fear of this place. When I reached out, something strange pushed back. I’ve never experienced anything like it before.”
“Which way Danielle?” Ronan said.
Danielle pointed ahead and to her left. “It’s under the waterline. I don’t want to open my mind to it again.”
Ronan trudged through the waist-deep pool until he stood in the spot Danielle pointed out. “Here?”
“Yes. But, somehow it’s coming from beyond the wall,” she said.
“Danielle, you’re going to have to open your mind to it again,” Rika said.
Danielle trudged through the water and spread her palm against the slimy wall. She nodded and let out a deep breath. “Yes. Of course.” She closed her eyes and reached out.
“I won’t let anything happen to you Danielle. I’m right here,” Ronan said.
She felt nothing for a few moments, and then the alien presence slammed into her thoughts and forced its way into her conscious mind.
“Be calm child. I won’t hurt you.” The voice spoke inside Danielle’s thoughts with a soothing grandmotherly tone. “You’ve done well to make it so far. I’ve been so lonely over the centuries.”
“We’ve come for Lora’s Heart,” Danielle spoke the words out loud.
“Use your thoughts child. There’s no need to shout. I know why you’ve come. I’ve not seen one like you since my creation. What’s held you from seeking my favor?”
“Many have searched for the heart over the centuries, but your location has remained a mystery,” Danielle said.
“I feel the young shape-shifter near you. She has great strength. She’s calmed my pets for now. Enter my sanctuary so I may sense your blood. Only then will I know,” the voice said in Danielle’s head.
The smooth stone wall beneath Danielle’s hand came alive as the rock face glowed amber bathing the water in golden light. White serpents ringed the glowing light as a dozen more slithering creatures poured from hidden cavities beneath the water’s surface.
Overhead, the stone walls cracked sending fragments of rock raining down around the cavern pelting Danielle, Ronan, and Rika.
Danielle jerked her hand from the wall in a desperate attempt to halt the falling rock, but whatever mechanism she’d set in motion continued without further prompting. Visions of the skeletons from Salem’s Peak came roaring back as she stood frozen in panic. “No! I will not allow this to happen!” She opened her mind to the entity and with it revealed her soul and her true intent.
The rock ceased falling, and the amber light gave way to walls made of pure crystal. Amber light pulsed as a single heartbeat throughout the crystalline chamber. The light radiated through the pool’s pure water transforming the serpents into living jewelry pieces. Their stark white scales evolved from centuries living in complete darkness transformed into any one of a thousand vibrant colors. Eyes of sapphire blue opened in their once eyeless sockets, and they swam in rhythmic unison.
Danielle sucked in a quick breath and stared slack-jawed at the beauty surrounding her.
Ronan lowered the sheba blade his eyes wide with incomprehension.
Rika leaned against Ronan grabbing his hand as if to make sure he existed. She gasped and pointed to the spot where Danielle’s palm rested just a moment before. “Look at that.”
An arched doorway revealed a crystal path sloping upward through the wall.
Danielle’s knees wobbled as she stepped onto the path. As she rose from the water, her soaked clothing instantly dried to the touch.
Ronan and Rika stepped onto the path and stood next to Danielle with dried hair, armor, and clothing.
“What just happened?” Ronan said.
“When I opened my mind, something latched onto me. It spoke inside my head,” Danielle said.
“I could hear it speak too,” Rika said. “It wants us to come inside to get a ‘sense of our blood’.”
“Well, that’s encouraging,” Ronan said. “We’ve come this far, what have we got to lose? Lead the way Danielle.”
Danielle followed the crystal path up the gentle slope until it flattened, and a second arched doorway appeared ahead of her. “Are you both ready for this?”
Rika nodded. “I’m ready Danielle.”
Ronan squeezed her shoulder. “We’re right here with you.”
Danielle nodded and stepped beneath the crystal archway.
Sunlight streamed under a blue cloudless sky its rays touching down on a carpet of lush green grass. Heartwood trees, a hundred feet tall, stood opposite one another giving shape to a curved path cutting through a meadow filled with blooming flowers. Emerald green shrubs grew between heartwood trees bearing plump ripe reddish-gold fruit. The fruit hung heavy and ripe in clumps threatening to drop into the shaded grass beneath thick swaying heartwood branches. Short purple shrubs grew beneath the mango trees showcasing flowers in an array of colors, shapes, and sizes. Thick bumblebees buzzed from flower to flower their bellies caked in a blanket of pollen. A gentle breeze stirred carrying the fresh scents of spring, the sounds of chirping birds, and the lush aroma of fresh cinnamon drifting from the heartwood.
At the path’s end stood a deep red heartwood tree its trunk thicker than the grove’s other heartwoods combined. Enormous golden leaves hung from its ancient branches interspersed with thick juicy red fruit. Its trunk soared far above the forest canopy where its golden leaves blurred with the bright afternoon sunshine.
“If I weren’t seeing this with my own eyes I wouldn’t believe it. I’m not sure I do anyway,” Danielle said. “This place exists in bedtime stories told to Ayralen children, but nobody ever believed it a real place.”
“What is it?” Ronan said.
“Lora’s garden,” Rika said. “The place where she cultivated Ayralen magic.”
“It’s her home,” Danielle said.
“How can this place exist? Why hasn’t anybody discovered it?” Ronan said.
“This place is not of your world.” A woman’s voice spoke in Danielle’s mind.
“Who said that?” Ronan said.
“You can hear the voice too?” Rika said.
“Elan’s son is of the blood as are you young warden,” the voice said. “Come forth my children, and let me touch you.”
Ronan and Rika nodded their ascent, and Danielle walked forward toward the ancient heartwood towering above the grove.
Danielle’s mouth watered as the delicious scent of red-blushed golden mangoes at the peak of their ripeness carried on the breeze and set her stomach rumbling.
The ancient heartwood beckoned as the trio made their way through ankle deep grass and thick overhanging branches.
Danielle stopped before the ancient heartwood and pushed thoughts through her mind. “What should we call you?”
“Call me child?” The voice said.
“What’s your name?” Danielle said.
“I thought you knew. You sought me did you not? But, perhaps I assume too much in my old age.
My name’s Lora, Danielle. You may call me Lora.”
Danielle’s breathing stalled, and she dared not move a muscle. Lora died two millennia ago.
“Only my body died Danielle. My spirit remains here nourished by the first heartwood tree,” Lora said.
“Elan,” Ronan said through the link.
A deep sadness pulled at Danielle’s emotion as the strength of the bond carried Lora’s emotion.
“Elan died a long time ago. We died together in a sense. My body died with his.”
“I’m sorry. I -” Ronan said
“I understand Ronan. You couldn’t have known. Now tell me why you’ve come.”
“Lora, we’ve a need for the heart,” Danielle said.
“The heart? Ah, I see. What you seek is the essence of nature itself. I have it here child, but why do you need it?”
“The king of Meranthia. That’s the place where Elan’s magic flows. The king is murdering thousands of people. Your people. He’s too powerful for us to stop without the aid of stronger magic,” Ronan said. “We’ve gained knowledge from a book.”
“And so it has come to pass in the way Elan predicted,” Lora said. “But, what you seek contains the power to destroy. You must be ready to face the opposing force.”
“Elan’s magic is fading. The power within his heart grows weaker with each passing year,” Ronan said.
Confusion rolled through Danielle’s thoughts as Lora’s emotion passed through the bond.
“His essence remains intact?” Lora said.
“Yes, his heart remains whole, but -“
Understanding passed through the bond. “The blood grows too thin. The people have changed,” she said finishing Ronan’s thought. “Children, come forward and touch my trunk so I may know you.”
Danielle, Ronan, and Rika touched their hands to the smooth bark of the ancient heartwood tree.
“Twins.” Satisfaction pulsed through the bond. “You are of our blood, but you must remove the taint. I’ll give you what you seek, but you must take care to protect the essence. Have you the rings children?”
Ronan pulled free the gold ring beneath his tunic. “I have one Lora, but the Meranthian king stole Danielle’s ring.”
“Those rings belonged to Elan and me. We gave them to each another on our wedding day.”
“We’ll get it back,” Danielle said. “I promise.”
“I know you will Danielle. Now come inside the heartwood and take what you seek.”
A deep rumble shook the ground and echoed through the entire grove. Birds took flight chirping warnings to one another as the ancient heartwood shifted.
The tree trunk’s center pulled apart flowing like water revealing a hollowed core. A small arched doorway took shape and began spreading up the trunk.
Danielle froze as the doorway widened, and something within the heartwood stirred.
A faint glow emanated from the wooden flesh inside the tree surging out through the wide arched door. A thirty foot beast made of flesh, heartwood, branches, and golden leaves stood motionless at the center of the hollow tree. Cradled in its limbs, a large glass orb swirled and danced with living light. Streaks of green, yellow, and red flowed together and apart like melting wax over a hot fire.
“What is that?” Danielle said.
“Can you hear it?” Rika’s eyes went wide with panic. “It’s speaking to me.”
Ronan’s hand slipped to the grip of his sheba blade.
Danielle placed a hand on Ronan’s wrist. “No Ronan. Now isn’t the time for that.”
With a clenched jaw Ronan moved his hand from the grip.
Rika closed her eyes, and her face transformed into a mask of concentration. Beads of perspiration appeared on her upper lip as she fought some silent internal battle. Her lips moved as if speaking but produced no sound.
“Rika! Are you okay?” Ronan said.
Rika’s eye flashed open with iris’s changed to a golden hue, and her mouth formed a silent scream. She shifted form changing into a close copy of the tree beast in size and shape.
Rika stepped through the doorway lowering her massive trunk to fit beneath the arch.
Danielle and Ronan followed and stood inside the cavernous space of the massive hollowed out tree trunk.
Rika extended her arm composed of heartwood tree limbs and living flesh. The room vibrated with the popping and cracking sound of rattling tree limbs as she opened the branches that made up her fingers.
The tree beast placed the pulsing orb into Rika’s awaiting palm. It stepped backward and bowed. The beast opened its mouth to speak, and three thick multi-colored tree snakes slithered outward nestling into the foliage of its branches. “Go.”
Danielle’s teeth vibrated, and her skin tingled as the deep rumbling voice echoed across the broad alcove.
The tree beast raised its massive limb pointing with a single branch toward the crystal path leading out of Lora’s Garden.
Rika shifted into her human form and struggled to stay on her feet as sweat poured from her body. She handed the heart to Danielle and melted into Ronan’s awaiting arms.
Ronan scooped Rika into his arms, and the three of them left the ancient heartwood sanctuary.
Danielle cradled Lora’s Heart in her palms and spoke through the bond. “Thank you Lora.” No answer came as Lora had severed communication without a good-bye.
“Was that beast Lora?” Ronan said, but Rika didn’t answer.
“Is Rika okay?” Danielle said.
“Yes, she’s breathing. I think she’s exhausted.”
Rumbling shook the ground as the ancient tree closed its archway.
Danielle, Ronan, and Rika walked through the heartwood meadow toward the crystal door.
As Danielle walked along the shaded heartwood path, a heavy vine rose locking around her ankle.
She gasped as fear tugged at her chest. On instinct, she surrounded herself with a thick protective layer of living armor. “Ronan!” His name caught in her throat as she fought through the adrenaline rush surging through her body.
Thick vines encased Ronan freezing him in place like a living statue. The vines thickened, and sharp black thorns sprang from the forest green vines as coiled plants looped around his and Rika’s frozen bodies.
Ronan screamed with impotent rage as the vines wrapped tighter constricting him and cutting off any leverage he might have gained a moment earlier. His face shook as he pushed on the vines trying to protect Rika from the violent onslaught.
Danielle pushed magic into her staff, but the vines coiled around her armor and looped up her arm knocking away the staff. “No!”
She lunged for her staff as it tumbled to the ground, but thick vines looped too fast for her to counteract locking her in place. She channeled nature magic into her armor trying to keep the thickening vines from crushing her like an egg.
Brendyn crept out from behind a purple shrub and stood before Danielle wearing a satisfied smirk. “I’m sorry it came to this Danielle. Killing you was never my intention I can assure you.”
Danielle channeled flows of magic into the vines constricting her, but she knew it an exercise in futility. She recalled one of her earliest lessons after she’d first received her magic. Her trainer had wrapped her tight in rope vines and commanded her to take control of the plants, but she couldn’t. “Brendyn! What’re you doing? Let us go.”
Brendyn ordered the vines open around Danielle’s wrapped hand, removed Lora’s Heart, and stashed it in his belt pouch. “I need Lora’s Heart and the ring the Meranthian wears around his neck.”
“I knew you didn’t escape. A man like you would never take the risk.” Ronan managed to grunt out the words through his clenched jaw.
“You’re right there Meranthian. I’m a survivor. Pride released me only after I agreed to find the ring and the book. He placed an energy trap inside my body. If I’m not back within a week I’ll die.”
“So you’ll kill us all to save yourself? You’re pathetic!” D
anielle said.
Brendyn found the ring beneath Ronan’s armor and pulled it from his neck. “I’ll see what I can do after Pride removes the spell. Maybe I’ll find a way to save us all.”
“Unfortunately, the three of you won’t be so lucky. The vines will drain you of magic soon enough. Good-bye Danielle. I’ll let Connal know you fought bravely until the end.” Brendyn crossed the meadow and disappeared beneath the crystal arch.
***
Ronan widened the channel to his power reserve, but the dull ache of exhaustion hovered like an unwanted guest. His head pounded as blood rushed through his skull and into his throbbing teeth. Within minutes the heavy vines would crush him. “Danielle, can you contact Lora?” Ronan said.
Danielle’s armor creaked and popped as the vines bore down further constricting by the second. “I’ll try.” Her eyelids closed tight, and her face twisted into a mask of nervous concentration. “She’s not there.”
Ronan’s arms strained under the increasing pressure as he kept the heavy vines from touching Rika’s body.
Rika’s breathing came easy as she remained lost in sleep.
“I can’t hold out much longer,” Ronan said.
A loud crack rang from the carapace surrounding Danielle’s chest, and she gasped for air. “My armor’s broken.” Blood drained from her face, and Danielle’s eyes glistened with moisture. “I’m sorry Ronan.”
A storm of raw anger boiled in Ronan’s emerald green eyes. “No. This won’t end here. Not like this.” He screamed with primal rage and channeled a vast amount of shard energy.
His eyes widened as the vines froze in place. “Danielle, the vines stopped moving.”
She nodded and pulled in short quick bursts of air unable to speak.
Ronan’s breathing came easier as the vines loosened, and he pushed outward with his free arm.
The vines burst spraying thick clumps of woody tissue across the path and into the purple flowering shrubs.
The vines surrounding Danielle relaxed, but she lacked strength enough to push away the large tangle of thorny plants.
Ronan placed Rika on a soft patch of grass and pulled free his sheba blade. “Don’t move Danielle.” With one swift strike his blade cleaved the vines, and they fell away landing with a heavy thud.
Shard Knight (Echoes Across Time Book 1) Page 32