Awakenings (Elemental Series - Book 1) (32 page)

Walking into the castle was much what I’d expected. The building looked like it was as old as time itself. I was completely awestruck. I felt like we had walked onto a
Harry Potter
movie set.

Bronson held his hand up to the symbol on the door. It began to glow and opened.

The entrance was huge and made completely out of stone. There were pictures all sorts of beings hanging on the walls. They weren’t snap shots, each and every one were actual paintings.

The windows went from ceiling to floor. Initially I thought they were covered with lush, thick curtains. When I took a closer look, I realized the window coverings were big, beautiful purple flowers which resembled bells. Each one was interwoven into the other to take on the appearance of draperies. It looked like they were growing out of the roof. To allow some light through, they were tied back by huge vines, which were covered with white and green leaves.

Once we all were inside, a loud whooshing sound came from behind us. The doors had closed, in effect, shutting out the world we’d just come from. I followed the flow of beings. The flooring of the entrance was a smooth multi-colored marble. It had the same appearance the ground within the maze had where I’d started my journey this morning.
Had that only been this morning?

There were three directions to choose from once we were within the heart of the entryway. Each one had a large arch. There were symbols carved into the keystone at the top of each one. Each arch bore a resemblance to the ones I saw at school this morning. Lighting each hall were torches. They’d been strategically placed within each passage, illuminating it as far as the eye could see.

Heading toward the right hall were all of the beings that had been atop the castle. The Sentry broke into three groups; one followed the rooftop cluster, one moved with military precision and elegance down the left hall, and the other stayed point guard within the entry directly behind the main doors.

Bronson and Eve were the only two members we were following that I recognized. From what I’d learned over the last couple of days, Eve was an Elder, therefore, the crowd we were trailing must have been the elusive Elders I’d been hearing about.

We followed them down the torchlit hall and came upon another set of enormous wooden doors. This set was being guarded by two Goliaths. Their heads appeared to graze the ceiling. It was at least thirty feet high. I tried not to stare but it was nearly impossible. I was completely fascinated by them.

Having them guarding this place didn’t seem right. In most stories I’d read, giants were depicted as ruthless, yet here they stood, guarding the Inception Room. They only moved when the Morrigan approached and placed her hand upon the symbol which joined both doors. As soon as she touched the symbol, it glowed. The doors opened and we entered the Inception Chamber.

“As you were, Char and Glyth,” the Morrigan said, addressing the two Goliaths.

“Not all Goliaths are as human kind has written,” Vincent whispered in my ear as we passed into the chamber. Before I was able to ask him anymore about them, I found myself staring into an almost indescribable room.

In the middle of the room was a huge round white marble table surrounded by chairs, there were eleven in total. Each one was covered in rich red velour and had a large symbol embroidered in gold into the back.

The flow of the crowd indicated everyone else but me knew exactly where they needed to go.

While everyone else made their way into the chamber, my group stood still, waiting for someone to direct us where we needed to go. We were still surrounded by the Sentry and still the center of their undivided attention. Vincent and I were still holding hands, and from our connection, my blanket of calm was intact. Our eyes met for a brief second. The Seeker grabbed my upper arm with her free hand and squeezed my hand so tight I jumped.

She redirected my attention to everyone else in the room. We hadn’t merely been the center of the Sentry’s attention. We were the focus of
everyone’s
attention.

I turned back to Vincent and slowly let go of his hand…
unwillingly.
I could handle the Seeker doing the hand holding thing, but the upper arm squeezing was a little much. Her clutch hadn’t wavered and her eyes were still an opal white…
creepy,
but not as unsettling as onyx. Her breathing had changed, however. It looked like she was having a hard time—it was labored and slow. I pried her hand from my upper arm.

I turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees to get my bearings and see where we could sit. I noticed there wasn’t one wall in the entire room. The chamber was octagonal. In every place where there should have been a wall there was a visionary like the ones in Herecerti’s office. Engraved into its stonework atop each one was a symbol. From one visionary to the next, each held a scene more vibrant and life-like than the last.

The seating throughout the chamber resembled a university lecture room. They were set up at differing levels along the bottom of the visionaries so all who attend could observe the happenings at the center table from any angle. The room bore a resemblance to the stadiums I’d seen in books about the Roman Empire. The ones where the Emperor would sit and watch as people fought one another in the arena.

Putting two and two together—from the picture in Celeste’s office of my parents and the style of the room, I began to wonder if Herecerti was the headmaster of this place, also.

My thoughts then turned to him and my parents. I looked around for them within the crowd, however they were nowhere to be found.

“Vincent, where’s Herecerti?”

“He’ll be here. He’s a part of the council. I think he’s making sure everyone else is where they’re supposed to be,” he answered, squeezing my hand. The effect he had on me was still undeniable, but I didn’t react to it this time like I had before. It wasn’t because he had any lesser effect on me, I was getting better at hiding my reactions, thank goodness.

Herecerti made his entrance. I felt more at ease. He headed directly to us. The Sentry members shadowing us backed off slightly as he approached.

“Jen and Hudson, you are to enter the witness gallery,” Herecerti directed and then pointed to the rows of seats which circled the room.

“We’d prefer to stay as close as possible to Jacey,” Hudson declared.

“You won’t be permitted to stay with her. She’ll be fine, Hudson. I give you my word. I’ll be with her, now you and Jen must go.”

Hudson hesitated but only for a moment.

“I’ll be fine. You, Jen, and Aunt Grace are only, what, ten feet away,” I said, sounding a lot more sure than I felt.

“We’ll be right there in front,” Jen said as she ushered Hudson over to the witness gallery.

“Now, Vincent—” Herecerti started, but before he could get any further, Vincent cut him off.

“I won’t be going to the gallery, Herecerti. I know it isn’t normal Nemele protocol for another to stand with the individual being questioned, but I don’t believe these circumstances could be described by anyone here or there,” he pointed to one of the huge murals on the wall, “as normal.” Vincent turned his attention to where his father had taken a seat in the center of the room.

“No, I don’t think anyone here or there would argue with you on those facts. But I will tell you, Vincent, it doesn’t matter who your father is or where he sits on this council; you will not be the one to make this decision. I’ll bring it forth once all have arrived and their decision shall be final,” Herecerti concluded.

“I will, of course, respect the decision of the Elders. I only ask for my intent to be brought forward.”

“So it shall be,” Herecerti said, then turned his full attention toward me.

“Jacey, we need you and the Seeker to enter the center of the table and take a seat within the cubicle there.”

“It’s just a large marble table. There’s no opening in the center.” As soon as I said it, the center of the table expanded to at least three times its girth and separated right down the middle.

Sprouting within the now open center were three structures. One was an oversized wooden bench with plush cushioning. The second was a pulpit carved from dark oak large enough to fit a giant comfortably, and the third was a circular structure of lights and crystals, which gave me a feeling of dread. I never wanted to be near it, ever.

A walkway appeared beside Bronson’s chair. It was the only entry and exit to the center of the marble table. For a second, I was rendered speechless and motionless. It wasn’t until the Seeker gripped my upper arm that I moved at all. When I did move, the Seeker and I moved as one and Vincent followed. I didn’t miss the look Vincent’s father gave him as he walked with me to the center of the room.

It was a look my father had given me once or twice before. I knew instantly when my parents used my middle name when they were talking to me or I got ‘the look’ I was in major crap.

From the intensity of Bronson’s stare I was quaking inside. If I was shaking in my boots, I could only assume what affect it was having on Vincent. I looked over at him and was surprised to see he hadn’t flinched as he passed through his father’s gaze. Instead, he stayed right behind me, staring straight ahead, and only making eye contact with me when I turned to look at him. He gave me a quick wink and a nod, indicating I needed to turn around and keep walking.

Once we reached the center, Herecerti spoke out. “Jacey, you will take the seat to the right while the Seeker takes center stage. Vincent, until the council decides, you will stay where you are.” His tone indicated again there was no room for any discussion on the seating arrangements.

I tried to pry the Seeker’s hand off my arm but her grasp was like iron and quickly I realized there was no way I was going to be able to pry her off. Instead of heading toward the bench, I headed to the pulpit and stood alongside her. The pulpit had decreased in size for us to stand comfortably. It was level with the marble table and from this vantage point, I was able to completely take in our surroundings.

All eight visionaries now had beings occupying them. They ranged from hairy wolf-like creatures to beings that appeared quite human, but were utterly breathtaking when you gazed at them. Some of the occupants I recognized from books while others I’d never laid eyes on before.

All eleven seats surrounding the marble table were now occupied. I looked at them all. I only knew four of the occupants—Bronson, Herecerti, Eve, and the Morrigan. The remaining seven seats held the beings which had been on the roof top when we first entered Nemele.

In the gallery, behind the eleven seats and below the murals were Jen, Hudson, Aunt Grace and all the other spectators. Parts of the Sentry were dispersed throughout the gallery. A few stayed close to the marble table, standing guard. None had attempted to follow us into the center of the room.

Talk about being the center of attention. I made a mental note to take at least three deep breaths before I said anything. A Mom saying popped into my head, ‘If you don’t know what to say or you don’t really have anything to say… then just don’t say anything.’ I trusted in Mom’s wisdom and kept my mouth shut.

I waited for someone to begin talking. I looked at Vincent, standing inside the circle. Without a single word, he was able to replace the blanket of comfort I was missing. All he’d done was make eye contact with me and I knew without a doubt I was in the right place doing the right thing.

The voice of the Morrigan then called out, “All nineteen Elders have taken their places. Now is the time when we shall decide what will become of this Seeker and the female companion it has chosen to align itself with. I speak now only to ensure no battles will take place between any of the nineteen parts who are represented here today. They have all chosen to listen to the explanations and histories which will come forth. I ask for Herecerti to explain why we have a third ranked air element waiting inside the center of the chamber with the girl and the Seeker.” The Morrigan took her seat.

“The third ranked air element is, of course, the son of the Sentry Prime, Bronson Wills. He is a Wirposh of the girl and has asked to stand witness for her.” There was a gasp from the gallery. I turned my attention to the noise maker and saw none other than Chanary and a few of her friends sitting in the chamber gallery.

What was with this girl? Not only was I dealing with some major life issues right now, but I also had to deal with Chanary, the chick who has a seriously demented ‘I saw him first’ mentality. She was now watching as everything in my life was about to take a complete turn to—well, I wasn’t sure about where, but I was almost certain about the how. This council would tell me everything everyone hadn’t.

I didn’t need to wait and be patient anymore. Now everything was about to be revealed. The patient thing about my history I could handle. The patient thing with Chanary was about to come to an end when Mom showed up. She came swirling in from the main entrance. Like every other time I’ve seen her, time stopped and we entered our dimension. However, this time there was a slight snag. It wasn’t only Mom and I. The Seeker and Eve were present also. As soon as Mom materialized before me, the Seeker and Eve stood on either side of me.

“How can she be here?” Eve asked, pointing to the Seeker, whose eyes turned into onyx.

The Seeker completely ignored Eve and held tighter to my arm.

“I told you we can’t be here. They’ll see us,” the Seeker said, sounding very frightened. For the first time since we’d come to Nemele, she let go of my arm and covered her eyes with her hands. Right before she covered her eyes, I noticed she had the same marking on both palms which she’d branded me with during our first meeting.

“Jacey, we’ve been trying to enter the gallery but there’s an exclusion spell and we can’t. The only reason we can communicate right now is because I was able to hone in on your signature. Whatever emotion you were feeling pulled me through the spell without hesitation,” Mom said. She put her hand on my shoulder.

“I still don’t understand how she’s here? Are all of the fables true then? Are the Seekers able to walk in the realms of life and death?” Eve asked.

“I’m not sure, Eve. I know both times I’ve been here today, she’s come with me,” I answered.

“What do you mean, both times?” Eve and Mom asked in unison.

“The first time was when Heathe was going to take her away. I grabbed onto her and we came here. The second is now,” I said, oblivious to any peril I should’ve been feeling.

“So are others aware you’re here? Are they on their way here now?” Eve asked the Seeker as she put her hand onto her shoulder in an effort to implore an answer from her.

As soon as Eve’s hand came into contact with her, a bright light shot from the Seeker and into Eve’s hand, causing her to step back. Instantly, Eve grabbed her hand and cradled it to her chest. The light flash had injured her. Mom immediately went to Eve and grabbed onto her injured hand, it was red and blistered. Glowing in the center of her palm was a branding, but not the same as I had.