Emergence of an Omega

CHAPTER 4

Predicament

At last, I went up to my grandmother's cottage and saw the bright fire. I quickly hid the book under my mantle so that it wouldn't arouse her suspicions in the dim light. My grandmother sat at the fire and knitted; her knitting needles clicked softly and pleasantly.

"Welcome back, dear," she said, beaming up at me with a warm smile. "Did you have a nice walk?"

Just needed to cool down," I said, forcing a casual tone into my voice. "Things at the training field got a bit overwhelming, so I went for a stroll."

Her eyes clouded with concern, but she didn't press the matter. "I'm glad you're home safely. Supper's been kept warm if you're hungry."

I shook my head. "I'm not hungry, Grandma, just tired. I think I'll be going to bed early.

I retreated to my room, a small modest affair, the book clutched beneath my coat. I shut the door behind me, throwing the bolt, and pulled the book from underneath. The cool, old leather was smooth beneath my fingers. I could hardly restrain my curiosity and trepidation as I sat back upon my bed, pushing pillows behind me.

These had yellowed with age, and the text tumbled down the page in some kind of flowing script. Opening the first page revealed the detailed illustrations of mystical symbols and diagrams within. I could feel my heart beating at all that it was-nervousness and anticipation combined.

The first part had to do with the nature of magical gifts and what they could be. I started scanning over the text, trying to intake it quickly. It was telling of many kinds of magical abilities-most of which I had never known existed. I'd felt particularly interested in a section dealing with "Unawakened powers," which seemed to apply particularly well to my situation.

Unawakened Powers," I muttered to myself, "are latent abilities that lie dormant within a person until awakened through some catalyst."

How these powers could be awakened included rituals and meditations, both intricate and overwhelming, it seemed. The further down the text I read, the more my excitement was consumed by dread. Is this really the way to prove myself?

I was so engrossed in the text that hours seemed to pass just over my head. Outside, wind whipped through the trees and night was growing even darker. I was tired-my eyes heavy with it. And literally, the more I continued, the more I could hardly stand.

Just as I read that part of some kind of ritual that would free a person's power, there was this strong whoosh of wind that smacked my window; it rattled. I felt myself jump, my heart pounding.

"Calm down," I whispered to myself. "It is just the wind.

I took a deep breath and went back to the book, but somehow, the noise seemed to have loosened something. The pages started fluttering on their own, as if stirred by some unseen force. My pulse started racing as I reached out to steady the book.

Then I saw something real weird. One of the symbols on the bottom of one of the pages was glowing real dim in the darkened room, sending off waves of dim, eerie light. As it started to glow brighter, the symbol started writhing and changing shape, as if alive.

"What's going on?" I asked whisperingly, staring in utter disbelief at the glowing symbol.

The light issuing from the symbol began to grow stronger and brighter until it could cast all kinds of weird shadows on the wall. It was as if my surroundings had blurred into some other world just through the distortion in the fabric of reality. I felt this strange pull, as if the book was drawing me into some other world.

Then, all of a sudden, a keen breeze cut through the room. It extinguished the candle beside my bed. The temperature dropped immediately; I almost saw my breath in the middle of the cold air. A cold panic ran through my body as the book suddenly radiated brighter and up to blinding magnitudes.

I reached a shaking hand to take and shut the book, but my fingers could not grasp it. The figure on the page began to dilate, and the room shuddered with its light. Text was no longer fairly readable; words appeared to twist and curl in a devilish maze, as if they leered at me in mockery of my inability to decipher them.

Just as I was going to scream, the light reached a crescendo and went black. The sudden silence was deafening, the feeling of disorientation overwhelming.

In the darkness now, a voice; soft, ethereal, haunting whispered, "You've begun the journey, Amara. There is no turning back now.".

I tried to scream, but my voice caught in my throat. The room whirled before me; I felt myself falling, as if it were into an abyss. My heart was racing, my brain racing with one thousand questions and terrors.

What had I let loose? What was this unearthly voice? And more important still, what was it portending for me?

It was as if the chill ran deep right into my bones as the darkness closed in around me. I stepped onto a path about which, except that my life would never be the same again, I knew nothing.

With the final flicker, the last light went out, leaving me to choke in the darkness with only that mysterious voice echoing in my mind.

The smothering darkness gave place to an eternal silence. I was breathing in short, ragged gasps, the room righting itself. The glowing weirdness was gone, and I was left to myself in the thin moonlight that filtered through the window.

I blinked hard into the darkness, my brain in a scramble. "What voice?" I muttered to myself, little above a whisper, shaking. "What's going on with me?"

The silence was funky, pressing into my ears; I shivered. I pulled the blanket up over my shoulders for warmth. I knew reeling in this muddled and terrorized state wasn't going to cut it. The only thing that would make any sense would be finding some answers.

"I have to find Seren," I said aloud. "She will be the only one who truly knows what this book means."

Right then and there, I knew I was going to see the witch at first light of day. I needed to get out from under the fog and chaos, and Seren was the only hope. It was with that resolution that sleep further pushed me on.

My mind dwelled on the resolution: that I find Seren at the break of day and get the truth.