Ascension (Unbound Prophecy Book 1) Read online

  The rumbles continued and Sinow thought he felt the ground quake below him. Violissa dropped the hood of her cape and untied it, so the cape leapt toward the ground. The breeze picked it up, and it disappeared beyond his sight. She looked captivating, like a goddess standing before her people with all to witness her most vulnerable moments. He was spellbound as was everyone standing in that field watching her.

  As he looked closer, he could see her shallow breathing, see the tight grip of her hands, the slow trickle of sweat down her brow. She was having trouble with the side effects of the ascension. She didn’t have much longer, and he hoped she could make it without letting everyone see the pain. He could smell her fear; he was sure he was the only one who could.

  The muscles in Violissa’s arm spasmed, the slight jerk the only revealing sign. The thunder and wind intensified then died suddenly. There was nothing but silence and her low shallow breathing as her chest moved gently up and down. It was as if everyone and everything now waited with bated breath. And then the trickle of light peaked through the cloud directly above her head. As Sinow watched, the light widened to become a shaft. Violissa looked out at her people and curved her lips to a beautiful yet subtle smile then looked up into the light. The shaft widened until it completely enveloped her. She raised her arms to the sides as if embracing the light and then the most wondrous thing he’d seen happened. Tiny beads of light began sparkling along her skin as dew shines in the morning light, as brilliant as stars twinkling in the night sky. The glitters of light danced along her skin, making it almost too hard to look at her. This continued for several minutes until the sparkles were so fast it seemed as if she herself was radiating the light. Just at the point at which it was too bright to look anymore, the light charged across the land in all directions, knocking him back a step from the force. As his feet stepped back, he realized the ground was moving below him as well. He caught Keary as he was about to fall and steadied him. When Sinow looked back up, he was speechless. The light had receded and there she stood, magnificent. Her skin still seemed to sparkle, her hair had turned a shade closer to white, and there was an aura around her that created a warm glow as if she were an evening star. But then when she opened her eyes, he couldn’t help but gasp with the crowd. Gone were the emerald eyes that were distinct to her, replaced by an ephemeral glow, it was as if her eyes no longer held color but reflected the light within her. They shone so that it was almost hard to look at her. She raised her hands out in front of her and looked at them, looked around at the crowd before her then brought her hands up to her face, brushing them along her cheeks to her eyes as if she were feeling for something. The more he watched her, the more he realized it was more like she was… blind; he caught the word from a flow of her thoughts then knew why she was still standing there looking so confused.

  She was blind.

  Seventeen

  Violissa tried to remain calm for her people. She didn’t know what to do now. All she really wanted to do was crawl into the woods and sleep. She was emotionally drained. It was nothing like Sinow had described though looking back she should have realized a Darkbearer would have relished the pain involved. She on the other hand had wanted to do nothing more than scream for it to stop. The tingling that had been crawling around in her for the hours preceding had intensified so badly that she wanted to crawl out of her skin, and the noise in her head screamed so loud she couldn’t hear any of Kinnel’s words let alone her own. Now she understood why they’d run through the ceremony so many times for practice.

  The ascension itself had been amazing, however. The pain had suddenly subsided along with the noise and at that moment she felt at peace, light and serene. The power had spread through her as an indescribable orgasmic experience. When it was over, she felt like the queen she’d been destined to be: empowered, strong, confident, knowing she could do anything she wanted because she had more power than anyone in their world. It was easy to see how the Dark Kings lost control and even their sanity to that power. It was massive and overwhelming. If she hadn’t had the Light grounding her, she could see the same happening to her. But she had checked herself and buried that need to flaunt and abuse what had just awoken inside of her as did any Light ruler. When she’d opened her eyes, she’d been prepared to announce the ascension was over.

  But that hadn’t happened. Instead she was surprised to find she was somehow blind. Questions were flying through her head. Why was this happening? How could she be blind? Why hadn’t anyone seen this coming? She struggled to maintain her calm. Think, she told herself. She couldn’t see anything at all. If not for the initial gasp from the crowd when she opened her eyes, she wouldn’t have even known where she was. No one had suggested this reaction might occur, so she thought it must be an anomaly. She didn’t think anyone else realized she’d lost her sight. The gasp must have been in response to some physical change they’d seen in her. Now she had to figure out what to do so as not to alarm her people or the Council. She reached out to Daneele mentally, but there was so much power there now that she lost control of it and felt her mind brush Sinow’s instead. She’d have to work on reining in the strength of her powers. Unbelievably, she had skipped right over Daneele and gone straight to Sinow without any awareness of it.

  Okay, Violissa, now what? she thought after she drew back her enaigne. As she thought about it, she felt something happening. There was a gentle pressure building within her, forcing her to expel her breath. A buzz began crawling up her fingers, through her hands and arms until it had enveloped her. It was not the same intensity she’d had before the ascension but similar. There was no pain this time; it was more like a tickle. This shouldn’t be happening, there’s something so wrong here, she thought, fear slipping into her thoughts. The ascension was clearly over, so what was this? She heard the crowd and her Council gasp again and felt warmth on her head. The buzzing within her heightened, her breathing shortened, she lifted her head toward the warmth, her fear abating with the gentle, welcoming feel of it. She released all tension that had come to her over the last few minutes and gave herself over to the warmth.

  Sinow couldn’t believe what he was seeing. How could this be? It was unheard of for there to be a second ascension. It was theorized that a child born of two realms would have multiple ascensions to accept the powers of each realm but that had yet to happen. That theory had always been about a child born from him and Violissa. This was clearly a second ascension and her Council seemed as mystified as he. Had they hidden something from his father and not realized it would manifest itself this way? What in the name of the Fates had they created?

  He didn’t have time to think about it as the green trickle of light that had emerged from the clouds grew to encompass Violissa. Once again, she raised her arms out from her sides, this time seeming to welcome the light. All confusion and concern had been erased from her face, replaced by a peaceful, knowing look as she tipped her head to the sky.

  From below him, the ground rumbled. The crowd began to panic until Cyric stepped forward, hands extended toward them. Sinow felt the calming spell Cyric placed on the crowd and heard them grow calm again, but he couldn’t drag his eyes away from Violissa. The rumbling from below had been from roots, long, thin roots of what he guessed were trees or possibly flowers. They had burst through the ground before her and slithered up to where she stood. They were now winding themselves up along Violissa’s dress. The thinner ones, which looked like flower roots, were quickly moving around the skirt of her dress in a way that could almost be seen as weaving. As they wove, flowers appeared on the fabric of her dress etched on what had before been a blank canvas. Subtle imprints of the flowers themselves appeared all along the skirt of her gown. The longer, thicker roots continued up her chest, some running down her arms, others continuing into her hair and around her crown. None touched her face which remained in a state of peaceful bliss, unaware of the actions occurring around her. The weaving movement continued as the green li
ght pulsed over her. Violissa’s chest moved steadily with her breathing. There appeared to be no pain or fear in what was happening to her.

  The roots stopped their weaving motion and began to pull away. In their place was an imprint of nature’s beauty. Violissa moved her head back down to face them. Her eyes were still closed, peacefully. Her hair had been loosed by the roots; the long curls hung free, tendrils of flowers of all different colors intertwined within them. The crown itself had changed as well, where after the first ascension there had been a plain diamond crown encircling her head, the diamonds were now flower shaped. The silver metal woven around the diamonds as a vine might, the stones now with a light purple hue to them. Her dress had been transformed and carried the imprint of flowers left behind by the roots. It had changed from a pale shade of violet to a sheer pale green. Entwined up both arms were green and violet bracelets that loosely wrapped the upper parts of her arms as a vine would wrap around a post. She was breathtaking to say the least. That is, until her eyes opened. At that moment Sinow knew no word had been written or spoken to describe her beauty. Her long black lashes swept around the green eyes. Their shade of green, however, had no match. It was as if the sun were shining behind the brightest but darkest emerald that existed. The hues shone out of them as a prism of greens. But it wasn’t only the color, it was the sense they gave you, one of power and beauty, peace and gentleness, all in one glance.

  A drop of sweat rolled over his lip. He realized he was gripping his hands so hard that he’d broken a sweat as well as his skin. It was taking him all his power not to crash the stage and take her in his arms, taking her right on the platform for all to see. He knew he couldn’t do it and with the power advantage she had over him for the time it wouldn’t be a wise idea.

  Sinow, do you see what I’m seeing? Keary asked in disbelief, intruding into Sinow’s mind and breaking through his obsessive thoughts.

  Yes, Keary, I do believe we have a nature queen on our hands, Sinow said slowly.

  Do you have any idea what this means? There hasn’t been a nature ruler since the time of the Elvin, and there’s never been one who also ruled the Light. This is unprecedented.

  It certainly is, he said, moving closer to get a better look at her, I think we’ll be having a long talk with her Council when all is said and done. We’ve definitely not been told all there is to know about her majesty. He cut his enaigne as Violissa moved forward. Apparently, they were about to see more. She moved her hand, as if beckoning someone. A gentle breeze blew through her hair, running along her body in a sort of embrace. It pulled away from her and swept toward the crowd. As it passed over him, his hood was pulled back. The air that touched his skin was warm and soft but there was something more to it that he couldn’t quite explain. He could feel the power there. The trees all around the field appeared to move as one, their leaves rustling in an increased fury that filled his ears. She lifted her hands in front of her and rolled a spark of arcane between them. It rocked back and forth in her palms as a child’s ball might roll between her feet. She looked out and smiled. It was warm and gentle, a welcoming smile that left you feeling lifted and airy. There was a look of maturity and power to her where before there had been one of youth and innocence. She threw the ball of magic out in front of her where it remained floating for a brief instance, then with the flick of her wrist the ball sailed over the crowd. Her people were mesmerized. Sinow turned his head as he marveled at how the ball grew and pulsed until it stopped midway over the people. It expanded, brightening as it did so until it seemed it would touch the heads of those below it. The people didn’t seem frightened by it; indeed, it did not carry an aura of danger to it. The ball began to rotate as it pulsed until suddenly it burst open, pieces shattering in every direction, except, now that Sinow looked closer, they were not pieces but a mix of flowers and butterflies. Sparkles of colored light that seemed to have the consistency of snow rained down on the crowd as well. The crowd let out a collective gasp of awe, he heard small children giggle and watched as they ran to catch the magical objects. Sinow caught himself as he inadvertently began to smile at the sight. It wouldn’t be prudent to be caught enjoying this, certainly wouldn’t be good for his image. He glanced over at Keary and elbowed him when he saw Keary’s large grin. His friend checked himself quickly, bringing his fist up to his mouth in an effort to make it look as if he’d been coughing. Sinow rolled his eyes and began to chastise Keary for his lapse when his attention was drawn back to Violissa who stood just within his periphery. She stood, quietly watching with an enormous smile on her mouth. In that instance, it hit him the immense feelings she had for her people was one to which he had never been witness. He was temporarily taken aback at the sight of her. Meeting his eyes, she lifted her finger to her lips then quickly looked back at the crowd.

  He watched as she opened her mouth to speak but instead of talking began to sing. He’d never heard such a sound in his life. It was a voice unlike any, sweet and soft yet powerful; entrancing and seductive yet with an innocence. As she sang, her voice seemed to wrap around him, caressing his skin, moving through his hair, compelling him to love and want her with every word. It was an incredible yet helpless feeling that left him craving more. So, this was why he’d heard that her voice was addictive, especially to those outside her realm to whom it was forbidden to hear. Rumor had it that one could go mad with the desire to hear her voice again. He doubted it was that extreme, but he could see why it would be said. Now he understood why her voice was so sacred to her people. He was captivated as was everyone. The crowd behind him and the Council were all kneeling in respect, even the trees seemed to be bowing to her. The wind had stopped its breeze, and the birds above appeared to be floating in place to hear her.

  Her words wove a story of struggle and survival sung in ancient Cirillian. It was the story of the prophecy, one he’d always thought was his to share but now realized it was hers to own. She told of the writing of the prophecy by the Fates, how it was delivered to the people of old, the first Lightbearers and the Elvin who lived in peace together. How they protected it along with their allies against the onslaught of Darkbearers who’d tried to claim it as their prophecy, a gift from the Fates naming their king’s son as the chosen one. A battle ensued in which much blood was shed.

  Watching, he could see the tears fall from her eyes as she sang of the loss of life for her people and their allies. He noticed the sky had darkened above as well, a reflection of her mood. The story continued. The Darkbearers had been forced back and Viliren, the last king, in an effort to save his people and protect the prophecy, laid down his life, giving his powers to his Council and using what innate abilities he had left along with that of his allies to seal the seat of the kingdom off, concealing it from the Darkbearers. The Council met the Darkbearers where the castle had once stood, but upon finding no king and no prophecy, left content in the knowledge that if they could not hold it, at least the Lightbearers would never recover it. The prophecy was said to be lost along with the king and many races of the past, lost in a hidden realm the Council could never find, lost to legend.

  Sinow had heard of the legend; it was referred to as a conquest in his history. Their king, his grandfather spun it to boast of defeating the king and destroying the prophecy as it turned out to be a threat to his people. Apparently, there had been a few exaggerations in the history books, something they wouldn’t learn until well into his father’s reign. As Violissa’s song continued, he learned of the truth, the king and his Council had tricked the Dark King. While the seat of the kingdom was indeed lost, the prophecy had been saved, protected by the king’s sacrifice, locked away until the Keeper called. When he called, at Sinow’s birth, the time of the chosen ones had begun and with it the dawn of a new era was upon them. She then sang of answering the call of the prophecy and that of her people; of setting forth to follow the path laid out long ago by the Fates. At this point in the song as she sang the next line, to his sur
prise, the resounding sound of voices joined her. Everyone in the field sang with her, knowing every word. Even her Council sang. It was an extraordinary sound that filled the air. Her people finished the last chorus of the song with her, a beautiful blend of harmonies that would warm even the hardest of souls. It was a powerful statement of who these people were.

  “Incredible,” Keary said aloud, breaking his trance once again.

  The events Sinow had been privy to today revealed much more than they’d imagined about the Cirillians and their Lightbearers. He had much to think about and not much time in which to do so. The sun had moved higher in the sky, and he figured he didn’t have long before his own ascension. It was time to depart. As he thought it, Violissa met his eyes, the song had finished, and she had a wonderful smile on her face that lit her eyes up even more. The pride she had for her people shone in that smile. He hadn’t thought it possible that this creature could be any more beautiful than she was, yet he’d been proved wrong. She was breathtaking. Just looking at her would make even the strongest of his people quiver. He had to admit that he was smitten with her. The Fates had done their job well. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be long before she was his queen.

  As if she’d read his thoughts, she nodded at him. He gave her a respectful bow, not wanting to leave but knowing it was time. He wondered if things would be the same after his ascension. They were certainly growing closer, but he didn’t know what changes the Dark powers would have on him. Would they harden his now weakened heart? The feelings and thoughts he had about her were not typical for a Darkbearer, let alone the king. He’d find out in a short time. His own ascension only a few hours away.

  “Time to depart,” he said to Keary. With that, he took one last look at Violissa and shifted.