Rose Awaken Page 2

  Sebastian uses all his powers to pull back from Rose’s vision of his most painful memory. His eyes fall upon Rose. He is helpless and forced to watch the angry tears that run down her face. He knows she can see the perfect skin on his back swell and crack and the dark blood, young Sebastian’s blood runs down, staining the golden straw all around him. Sebastian feels he has to bring her back. He can’t allow for her to see what happens next.

  “Rose, Rose.” She doesn’t respond. Her face is full of pain for a boy who became a man. Sebastian clears his throat, hoping she will stop the vision.

  #

  Rose

  The clearing of his throat brings me back to the fog filled space. Sebastian turns and looks at me with a question, and once more I am aware that he saw what I saw, or at least that is what I suspect.

  I shrink back; frightened that something is seriously wrong with me. I don’t understand what is happening to me. Who am I? How can I see those visions? Looking for an answer, my eyes never leave Sebastian’s, but he offers no comfort. Sebastian’s words ring in my ears.

  Is this part of my journey? Is this what fate has in store for me?

  I look back at Sebastian, his expression takes on a serious quality, and he breaks his gaze turning back to his cloth. Removing his necklace he sets it in the middle of the fabric and getting onto his knees he starts to chant. Soft, barely above a whisper, a song fills the air and I find comfort in his melodic voice and words I don’t understand. I follow his body rocking from side to side as if in trance.

  Images of men and women flood my thoughts uninvited, they are making sacrifices to Gods and powers I know nothing about. In horror, I watch Sebastian taking a small silver blade out of his pocket. A scream that builds deep inside me will not come out. He runs the sharp glinting edge over the palm of his left hand, and as a drop of dark red blood falls onto his necklace I am taken back to a different time and place.

  I find myself inside the story, a willing participant instead of just an observer. This is a love triangle. The two men were best friends, childhood friends. One was tall, dark and mysterious, the other the complete opposite; blond, broad and straightforward. Their curse was to fall in love with the same girl. I am that girl. The first thing I see is us as children and how we meet each other. I am traveling with my family, a gypsy clan. The boys live in a village just outside Sophia. I met them both on the same day.

  As soon as we arrive in their village, my mother sends me off toward the nearby creek to bring fresh water. My eyes first fall upon the blonde one, when he catches my arm as I am about to fall into a cold water of a stream. His hand is warm and soft. I take it, drawing comfort from its firm grasp. His face is golden, his hair tussled and sun-kissed falling carelessly about his face. His eyes are the most brilliant beautiful shade I have ever seen. His smile is crooked, as he watches me from under a curtain of thick lashes. We don’t talk, we just watch each other, when he bends down and plucking a forget-me-not, he hands it to me. I accept it and hold it close to my heart. He helps me carry the cold water back to the village and my parents. When he puts the bucket down and his eyes find mine, he smiles brilliantly just for me. With that smile, he steals my heart.

  Then, I meet the dark one. Once we settled and the sun disappeared behind the mountains, the air grew cool. A huge fire was built in the middle of the village. Everyone gathered around, waiting for the tales to be spoken in hushed tones, as if they were great secrets. Children sat close to their parents, waiting in anticipation. That night, my mother sang the songs from our region and I saw him. He stood to the side, in a shadow of a large oak tree watching not my mother, but me. His eyes hidden under an unruly mane of dark hair sparkling in the dark. Those eyes never left mine.

  I look down and realize I am no longer a child. As time passed, we grew from children to teens. Inseparable, we did everything together. Where there was one, the other two were soon to follow. I loved them both. They were my family, my best friends. With passing of time, came awareness. We started to see each other in a new light. Both, now young men wanted me to be theirs, to choose one. They never tried to hide that fact.

  Being their friend, I was afraid to come between them. My inability to decide was causing tension between us all, tension that was my fault. I felt guilty but, my heart knew from the first day I met them who it belonged to, who was the sole reason for it strong beats. When I finally gathered the courage to choose one, the other went mad.

  In the hour of his darkest despair in a fit of jealousy and rage so powerful, it took him over and he sought me out. The minute my eyes set upon him, I saw the dark aura surrounding his whole body and the threads of red flaming anger shooting through it. The fury in him was raging a war, calling to be revenged. Petrified, I ran.

  He tried to stop me, to make me choose him, but when I saw the darkness within him, the paralyzing fear of what he can do to me, it prompted me to run faster. He caught up with me. Pushing me down he laughed, and the sound was not human at all. I fell onto a dew covered luscious field of spring flowers, just to be jerked from my stomach onto my back by a strong hand. With a look of pure madness he sat atop of me, making it impossible for me to move, escape him. The scent of forget-me-nots and sweet clover surrounded us, and I tried once more to squirm away. His rough hand covered my mouth to prevent me from screaming, and I tasted my own blood. He knew he had lost the woman that was his whole life. As I took my final breath, the evil that possessed him, finally let him out of its grip, satisfied.

  I felt incredible pain as my soul left this body and then watched from above, as the other found us. Facing each other, both men fell onto their knees and together, called upon the powers of the Gods and the powers of all four elements to bring me back, each of them for a different reason. Only one offered his life as a sacrifice, and as his blood seeped into the dry earth, a beam of light carried his essence high entangling it with mine--forever.

  Feeling the sting of tears that threatened to spill, at the senseless loss of life I came back leaving the land of the blood soaked earth. I was a child again, yet I knew this story was meant as a warning and a guide. Was my vision part of Sebastian’s past or mine, or was his past and mine somehow intertwined?

  Sebastian was still held in his trance, and I could feel the importance of letting him finish his ritual. Watching as the world around me grew dark, I couldn’t help but think about my own past, and it looked more like a Swiss cheese than anything else, with all the holes I couldn’t patch. I tried to recall my own name. In a first try nothing happened, no sudden memory came to me, and then I heard it as clear as day, a whisper carried by the wind that appeared out of nowhere. Rose. My name is Rose and that I knew with a certainty I never felt before.

  #

  Sebastian

  Pulled into the world of magic and balance, Sebastian was granted a vision. It was a vision of Rose. She was older and wiser, and she stood tall holding a sword of the element of Air. Sebastian didn’t understand how this was possible. The element of Earth was still dormant on his arm. A thread of silver light coming from this eight-year-old Rose reached into his praying space. The tendril curled all around him, begging to be gazed upon.

  Knowing that the power of light and dark wouldn’t allow a distraction in his prayer, unless it was a crucial part of the puzzle, he reached for it. The sizzle of power that ran through Sebastian, knocked a breath out of him. Even at this young age, Rose was strong, stronger than any of her previous incarnations.

  He was pulled into her vision. Sebastian knew this place. This was impossible. This was where the story started. This was when the powers decided to give Rose a second chance. He watched helpless to stop the vision, as a story as old as the world itself played right before his very eyes. Cold fear turned his blood into ice. His only hope was that this Rose, still a child, is too young to understand the meaning of this story. He prayed to th
e powers that she wouldn’t guess how incredibly important this story is to her.

  Sebastian watched as the young man took his last breath. He sacrificed his own life to save her soul. As he prayed to the divine powers, it was written in the book of prophesies that all of them will be reborn and only when she chooses to die protecting him, they can be together forever. Each of them will be marked with a symbol of the Elements; a flame for Fire, an animal or plant for Earth, a sea-creature for Water and a bird for Air. With those symbols they will find each other, and fulfill the prophecy. Three that will fall in love, time and time again and one, that will bring them together and finally fulfill the prophecy.

  ***

  Chapter 4. Awakening

  When the temperature dropped, I used Sebastian’s coat to cover myself. I felt the warmth of the rough, itchy wool fabric and was glad he didn’t seem to notice the change in the air. Hoping I could keep his coat for a while longer I waited for him to finish. Wanting to see the stars, I lay on my back and stared up at the evening sky, which as I watched, turned black. I clearly saw the familiar constellations and was once more reminded of the time before. Just like now, I was outside watching the same night sky, surrounded by the tall grass and a scent of rich earth, my eagle stretched across my heart resting and watching over me. With the thought of home, my eyes grew heavy and a sweet dream that came, relaxed me. In this state, I knew exactly who I was.

  Running through a field of golden oats, red poppy flowers, and blue cornflowers, I was laughing out loud and kept looking back as if someone I loved was chasing me. My fingers were grazing the full grains that held promise of never going hungry. The sun was warm and high and it bathed the world in a golden mid-afternoon haze. The crops smelled of wind and sweet flowers as I put one foot in front of the other skipping along a road of my choosing. Hearing water nearby I switched direction and ran toward it at full speed now. The wind blew my hair out of my face and I felt the long strands dancing all around me. Spotting a large rock on the edge of the stream I took one graceful leap, not realizing the boulder was wet and slippery. In one moment, I was airborne in the most graceful leap, in the next my foot slipped and I was crashing down towards rocks and the dark, angry, fast-rushing water of a deep stream. I felt a hand closing on my shoulder and I was yanked backward. As I turned to see whose strong fingers were biting into my flesh, my eyes met the most incredible pair of green eyes, and then I woke up, still feeling the hand on my skin.

  Panicked, I looked around and saw we were no longer alone. A group of men was holding Sebastian. Their clothes were grimy and they smelled of alcohol. I watched as they took turns hitting him. I realized they must be the others he told me about when I screamed earlier. As my eyes met his, I saw that his face was beginning to swell.

  “Sebastian!” a scream full of pain, and horror escaped my lips. I screamed until my throat felt raw.

  The fingers I felt moments before were still digging into my arm, as I was yanked to my feet and a hand grabbed my hair.

  Yelping in pain I pulled back just to watch a fist full of my dark brown hair came loose and I felt everyone of them being ripped from my head. Crying in pain, I tried to back away, just to encounter a wall of rock-hard muscles behind me. The man I was facing now, smiled with a menace and I saw a row of crooked, yellow teeth from behind a scarred lip. Pushing me to the ground, he stepped around towering over me, he laughed, amused. All I saw in his face was cruelty.

  Everything around me was as if in slow motion. I knew, I had nowhere to run and our assailants knew it as well. My eyes followed the muffled cry and I saw Sebastian crumple to the ground into a pool of his own blood.

  Memories assaulted me, and I watched scenes from my dreams and visions play in front of me and I felt the anger rising inside me. As if on cue, I heard a roll of thunder. Feeling the Eagle move, I felt a surge of energy. Getting up to my feet I raised my chin in defiance. My hands went to my sides palms turned upward as the Eagle prompted me to throw my head back and scream. Despite the rawness of my throat, I did. As the echo of my scream bounced of the metal walls of containers surrounding me, first lightning hit nearby, sending a shower of sparks into the air. The men looked around scared now. They should be.

  Feeling the earth, or rather the container shake under my feat I watched without fear as the men holding Sebastian let him go and focused all their attention on me. Advancing now, they tried to grab me when the second lightning struck and connected with my flesh. I felt the electricity running through my body and as if charged by it, I watched an energy field extending beyond my skin.

  The lightning must have surprised them because they stopped midstride alarmed. I looked down my palms and saw the sparks of electricity dancing on my skin. I connected with the power coursing through my veins. Taking a deep breath, I let the fury inside me take over; taking one—two-- three more hits of energy directly to my body.

  Feeling ready I faced them, smiling now. Extending the field of energy beyond me, I pushed it at one of them and watched as it lifted him up and he slammed against the container. The field released him, and I watched in satisfaction as he dropped to the ground unconscious. Moving closer to Sebastian, my eyes met his. Seeing his aura glow very faintly I made a choice and extended the protection field to him as well. I turned away from him, but the sight of his battled face was so fresh in my mind that it made me wince in pain. Experiencing his agony was all I needed as I felt more lightning come. One by one they struck all around me and being inside of a metal canyon their electric charge traveled around the whole ship. Raising my hands up, I felt the wind whipping all around me and as soon as I imagined one of the men being lifted in a swirl of air, it happened. I was in charge now, and I did what I had to.

  By the time my thudding heart slowed down and I was able to take a deep breath, the storm had passed. The men lie at my feet, but I ignored them and instead faced Sebastian. His face was bruised, his lip cut, one of his eyes swollen shut. Listening to the calm voice of the Eagle, I placed my hands on his face, causing him to wince. Closing my eyes, I recalled words long forgotten and as silver light passed from my Eagle to me and then to Sebastian making his injuries disappear.

  His dark brown eyes met mine and he smiled. Pulling me in for a hug he started to cry. Releasing him, I met his gaze and I saw true sorrow in his eyes.

  “I am sorry,” he said, and started chanting in a language I didn’t know. His strange, melodic chant was the last thing I heard before the world around me went dark.

  As images of a blue eyed boy danced before me, they were replaced by the dream about the most vibrant green eyes, but when I woke up those were also gone, so was the color from the world.

  I found myself alone sitting on a wet cardboard, my back against a hard stone wall of a building sounds of city life coming from the end of the dark alley I hid in.

  #

  Sebastian

  What Rose did was not only unexpected, but downright scary. Even he, the Guardian of the Elements has never seen that much power. She was certainly different, but he didn’t know why? What had happened to make her that way? There was one thing he could do. He had to break the bond he worked so hard on creating. Sebastian had to betray her trust. He knew one word ‘sorry’ was inadequate to explain the way he felt and what he was about to do, but had no choice. Pulling the energy of light he made sure all of her memories were wiped clean.

  Sebastian knew it was not her time yet, because the element of Earth was not awakened. Rose had to be contained and so did her power. As a Guardian, he had a responsibility to keep the world in balance, and little did he know that fate had other plans for her. With the use of ancient magic, Sebastian pushed her Eagle mark deeper into her heart. She will no longer hold a recollection of tonight’s events or any events of her young life. Looking down his arm he watched as the air symbol dimmed, but never disappeared.

  There was on
e last thing Sebastian had to do. His hands shook as he also took away the color from Rose’s world, leaving her lost in a monotone of gray shades, fulfilling the words of ancient prophecy, a prophecy that was about her.

  He, the Guardian of Light, the Guardian of the elements didn’t know that this time the rules had changed.

  ***

  About Author

  Eve A. James is a member of Romance Writers of America. Writing for young adults is her passion, especially when she can combine it with her love for paranormal. Eve can’t imagine anything more exciting than a place where an ordinary girl or a boy finds its rightful place among the gifted, immortal or heavenly creatures, where falling in love for the first time, discovering who you really are, is just a beginning.

  As a child, Eve was fascinated by fairy tales by Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Andersen, with their dark twists and universal truth that good always trumps evil. Influenced by a strong hero’s character from those stories she started writing tales where an ordinary person could do extraordinary things. Writing has turned into a passion that she herself admits she is too weak to resist.

  Eve treasures a good story that pulls her inside and allows her to walk the path alongside her favorite characters.

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  Endnotes

  Look for Part II of the Element of Air Trilogy Rose Discovered in July 2012 and Part III Rose Revealed in November 2012.