Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

 

 

            The snow on the mountaintops should have been an obvious clue to all, that there was something not right going on with the planet.  No one, however, seemed to notice.  No one, seemed to care.  No one, that is, except for the seers. 

            The seers had foreseen, as it was their custom, that matters would soon change . Drastically soon.  They had gone to the council to forewarn the village, the people.  No one listened.  The village and the council had long since stopped using seers due to an error with one traitorous seer some ninety years before.  If they were unbiased.  If that traitorous witch had not done what she did so long ago.  If.  So many ifs and not one sure thing.  Not that the village people would believe.  The seers however believed something they didn’t.  They knew something others would never know until it was too late.

            “Lily?” The low, soft spoken voice of Marigold drifted from the doorway.

            “Yes Marigold?”  Her own voice was just as soft.  Many mistook Marigold and Lily for sisters, but they were of no relation apart from  their sisterhood in the Seer ranks.  Lily was Marigold’s senior by ten years.  She was four inches taller than the elfin girl as well.  And where Marigold’s eyes held true to her name, the color of  the sun with tiny flecks of orange, Lily’s were pure imitation.  She was called Lily, and like her name, her eyes were always a different color, just like the flower.

            “Violet and Fuchsia are looking for you.  They say it is important.”  Every member of the Seer Sisterhood was given a new name upon acceptance.  None knew the others former name.  The names they were given were considered their real names.  Named after plants.  The planet’s one true beauty.  Violet was the oldest of them all.  She was the seer who had found Lily when she was lost.  She took her in, clothed her, and taught her the ways of the sisterhood. 

            Fuchsia was second oldest.  She joined the sisterhood when Lily did, but because she was older and slightly further advanced in her art, Fuchsia had become a sister before Lily.  She was thus chosen to serve as Violet’s right hand. 

            Besides Violet, Fuchsia, Marigold and herself, there was one more in the sisterhood.  She was young and impressionable.  Younger than fourteen year old Marigold.  Her name was Rose.  She was a direct descendant of Seer Poppy, who had some millennia ago foreseen the destruction of the planet.  The villagers didn’t believe Poppy’s predictions back then and they didn’t believe it now, long after Poppy was gone.  Many assumed her prediction was a falsehood. It had not come true all those years ago. It had not come true years later. The village council outlawed the seers after another faulty prediction and now they were confined to this castle.  Their home.

            “Run along little bit and tell them I am on my way.  I must finish up here first.”  Marigold hesitated for only a second, regarding her out the corner of her eye, before scurrying off to relay the message.     

            Lily sighed.  Sometimes she had the feeling Marigold saw more than she should. There were times she had caught the girl standing in her doorway after coming out the vision trance.  The expression upon her face was always one of worry.  If she didn’t know better, she had to think that maybe Marigold had had a vision of her.  Something disturbing.  Something that made her feel as though she had to watch over her.

            “Ugh!”  Lily shook her head.  This was not the time to have such thoughts.  She would just ask the girl.  But for now…Lily stepped to the fountain in the center of the room and said a silent prayer.  This room.  This room was their place of tranquility.  This fountain. It was their object of magnification.  The fountain was built in 1507 by Seers Primrose and Belladonna.  They blessed the fountain with waters from the Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet.  It was brought back  to this castle where it has remained for the past five hundred years.  This was the key to some of the most powerful seers’ visions.  Lily was one of such seers.

            Turning from the fountain to walk out of the room, she found herself letting out yet another small sigh.  She was doing a lot of that lately.  Sighing.  It was a nasty little habit once one got used to it. 

            The great hall was a marvel unto itself.  When the castle was built, the great hall was supposed to have been a place for the men, but over the years, without male companionship, the woman had redecorated…of a sense.  Where there had once been statues of strapping men, now stood podiums with a picture and a weapon.  Fallen sisters from across the globe.  It was no longer the great hall.  It was now the hall of broken dreams.  Lily’s own grandmother was one of those women.  A fallen angel, of her own sorts.

            Passing her grandmother’s picture, Lily smile just a little.  Grandmother Daisy had been an odd woman. Her picture was up.  Her weapon of choice had been, believe it or not, a staff.  A staff twisted and molded to shape something rather unspeakable.  Grandmother was her own woman.  Indeed she was that.

            Four more feet pass the great hall, pass the chamber of learning, Lily found herself at her destination.  The War Room.  This was where Violet and Fuchsia were.  She could sense their auras, even through the doors.  The War Room.  If they were here than something must be wrong.

            Not bothering to knock, she pushed the doors open and walked in.

            “Lily. Come, join us.” It always amazed her how Violet seemed to know who was entering a room without ever turning around.  Her back was to the door, her eyes on the projection on the opposite wall.  So this was a rather important meeting.  No doubt Marigold had not know how important or she would have told her to hurry. 

            There were twelve seer sisterhoods across the globe-that they knew of.  Two members from each, the head sister and her right hand, sat at the oval shaped conference table in the center of the room. Violet and Fuchsia sat at the head of the table.  So why was she asked to join this meeting as well?

            Violet’s delicately frail hand came up and waved her over.  She followed.  A chair was open on one of the far walls, and that was where she plopped down.

            One of the head sisters of another of the clans controlled the projector.  She had apparently been speaking when Lily had entered for now, she went back to it as though she had never been interrupted.

            “These were taking outside of city of Rosewood, three days ago.”  The pictures were grotesque.  Human remains, blooded and crawling with maggots.  Flesh was torn from the very bones.  “These, yesterday in the town of Gritt.”  More of the same photos.  “We have a problem.  Sister Jasmine predicted this outcome just nine days ago.  Bodies would start to fill the streets.  She prediction the deaths of four major council members worldwide, and the destruction of one city along with these bodies.  Two days after her prediction, we received news that Councilman Raj Talik in India died.  Same mutilation.  Days later, the sisters of four other clans sent us these pictures.”  She paused.  Pursed her lips as in thought, then spoke.  This time her voice was shaky.  Filled with worry.  “Last night, Sister Kauri had a vision.”  She turned to the pale looking young woman seated beside her.  No doubt Sister Kauri.

            Kauri stood.  Taking her all in, Lily let out an inaudible gasp.  The woman’s name was Kauri, true.  Kauris are trees in New Zealand that produce a light-colored wood.  This woman was indeed, true to her name.  Her skin was-she looked transparent.  Her expression was ghastly.  Her eyes were sunken, dull, and black.  Never before had she seen a person with black eyes.  She was skinny.  Too skinny. As she stood and looked around the room, Lily could see the bones in her neck.  There was no godly reason a person should look that sickly.  None, unless her vision had been truly horrendous.

            “The vision came to me in my sleep.” A collective gasp filled the room. When a seer slept, they put up wards to block dream visions.  If a vision had surpassed her wards, shattered them and entered into her sleeping dreams, then truly, it was a powerful vision.  An inevitable event was about to occur.

            Lily sat up straighter in her chair.

            “A messenger came with the vision.  He is still…within me. He wishes to speak to you.  He will tell you of the vision and he will deliver the message he has brought forth from the spirit world.

            My lady Violet, will you concede to my bringing him forth?”

            “Yes.  You may proceed.”

            “Very well.”  Kauri tipped her head back only slightly.  She was delving into her psyche.  Searching out the messenger.  The moment when she found him, her head tipped back forward.  She worked her fingers, flexed her jaw, rolled her neck.

            “I take it you are the messenger.  State your name please.”

            “I am called Jalil.”       

            “Jalil.  What is your message?’

            “The prophecy, as foretold my your ancestor, Seer Poppy, five hundred years ago, has been fulfilled.  The child prophesied was born two decades ago under the watchful eye of Poseidon.”

            “Poseidon?  Than he child lives close to the sea?”

            “Yes. It is a small town called  Halcyon.”         

            “Halcyon?” Lily spoke now, in awe.

            “You know of the town?”

            “It is where I grew up.  There are no more Seer families living there.  They were all ran out of town or killed by mobs long ago.”

            “True, but this child was not born to a Seer family.”

            “What?”  This from the woman, whom Lily recognized as Sister Liana.  “There has never been a Seer born into a none Seer family. Never.”

            “Well this one was.  Her name is Sora.  She was born December twelfth to her ordinary human mother and father.  She is coming upon on her twenty-first birthday next week.  It is your job to find her before than and train her in the ways of the Seer Sisterhood.  This girl.  Sora.  If she does not learn to control her powers, she will bring about massive amounts of destruction.  Her powers will be absolute.  You must pick someone from your group to go and fetch the girl.  Whomever you chose is to met me in Halcyon, where I am watching over the girl.  You must do this task with hast, for my astral body is fading and within days, I will be weakened enough that I must return to the Spirit World.”

            “Lily?”  Violet was standing, her gaze pointed.  She knew what that meant.  She was born and raised in Halcyon for thirteen years.  She knew every alley, bar, and hiding place.”        

            “I will go.”

            “Good.  I was hoping you would. If not, I would have recommended it done so.  Meet me in Halcyon in front of the Narimi Fountain.  I will be waiting for you.”  Kauri’s head snapped back, her body tensed, and then she fell to the floor.  At the same time, Lily saw Jalil leave her body.  The head sister of her clan rushed to her side.  Some of the other sisters aided as well.

            “Lily.” Violet was around the table, standing before her.  “You have your orders.  Get ready.  You leave at dusk.  Have Rose and Marigold prepare the necessary items you will need.  I take you want to go alone?”

            “I do.  Halcyon is a playground to me. You know that.”

            “Yes.  Vary well.  Dusk.” That said, Violet turned and walked out of the room, Fuchsia only a step behind her.

            Back to Halcyon.  The stomping grounds of Hades, and the beginning of it all.

            She smirked.

Author's Note

If anyone notices any type of errors, it would be greatly appreciated if you commented on them.