STORMBORNS

The Voice In The Stone

The stairwell was suddenly stopped, and one found himself on a cavern cut out of black stone, primeval and indifferent. The atmosphere of this place was heavier and was tinted by the static as though even the rock itself bade man to recollect all the movements of the storm which had ever moved it. Kael held his blue flame low, the flicker of which showed jagged walls inscribed with symbols which were older than the Academy itself. Lightning bolts intersected with spirals. Such marks touched a deep part of Aria.

She gulped, and could feel the vitality tingling on her flesh. It wasn't wind. It wasn't heat. It was... recognition. As though in wait something in the stone was waiting.

Kael stepped closer. I never witnessed anything of this kind. Not in any of the archives."

I believe it is... alive, I said to myself. Her hands were firm, although her voice shook. The storm that was inside her wound, agitant, anticipating what was to come.

In the middle of the cave there was a slender column of dark granite. And within it, floating, crackling, was a vortex of white-blue energy. It was beating with her heart. The air hummed. The force of the pillar was consciously in motion.

Then, there was a voice, not of itself uttered, but in her mind--addressed her.

You are late.

Aria froze. Kael's eyes widened.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, heart hammering.

I... believe so, I said, I said. His intensity shot up, higher than ever, as though he acknowledged the existence as well.

The line was never broken.

She could hear the words reverberating in her mind aliens but it was not strange. Mesmerized, she moved closer to the pillar.

Once, I was called Elyon.

Her pulse quickened. She was not familiar with the name, but the name reclined in her heart as though it were a memory that she had never known.

We tried to bury the storm. We failed. Again, it awakens.

It was not fear that itched Aria's hands, but anticipation. Light flew weakly down her fingertips. She was instinctively lifting them to the pillar. The power flashed increased in response to her. It wasn't wild. It wasn't violent. It was measured, intelligent.

Kael got nearer, putting one hand upon her, and supporting her. His blue fire ran little islands round them, like a mute b*****e. Forcing it, he begs you not to, he thought. "Let it respond, not explode."

Aria shut her eyes, and she came into herself. The storm had been always erratic, dangerous. But now it felt... guided. Alive. Waiting.

You are the current, I am Elyon said. That is why they fear you.

"Why me?" Aria whispered.

The line chooses. The storm is not something that can be ordered. Only awakened.

The words sunk down, and tightened her chest. Nothing personal, the ritual of the Council, the soldiers, the effort to stifle her. It was fear. Fear of what she represented.

This gave Kael a slight jolt to her hand, and brought her back to reality. Aria... your fire, my flame it is responding to this, as well. My inner being is aware of what is going on.

She opened her eyes. The pillar tremulated, and the lightning flashed out and touched the walls in very small sparks. She was like a dam bursting in her and she knew how to let it run, how to bring it to bear, how to live with it, not to have it carry all away.

Control it, you should, Elyon spoke to herself. "You are not just a wielder. You are the heir. You will mould Storm yourself out of you.

Aria's lips parted. In her fingertips a little, purposeful bolt of lightning sprang, and hit a carved rune on the wall. It surged up, and subsided into a low luster. She hadn't destroyed it. She hadn't lost control. She had channeled.

Kael's eyes widened. "You... did that?"

"I think... I did, I said, with a shuddering voice, but determinedly.

There was some far off rumbling above the Academy, and its gates were closed, and the feet of the soldiers were nearby. Time was running out.

The pillar was a little lighted off, though the voice was around.

Not yet free. The engagement can not last indefinitely. Return when you are ready. Thou hast the tempest, yet the planet is not ready yet.

Aria took a step backwards, her heart racing, but she did not feel victimized like she had never felt before. She was not running blindly. It was her storm, and she was coming to realize it.

Kael put her hand on the hand, giving it a squeeze. We can go out through the lower tunnels. The Academy will not want anyone to get out of this place.

She nodded. "But... Elyon?"

The chamber was silent now. There was only a dull buzz of the energy. It had passed, and awaited whatever was the ancient presence Elyon. And the tempest within Aria tickled its head.

Beyond them, somewhere above the stone ceiling, there were clanging heavy doors. The forces of the Council were getting nearer.

We go now, it is my voice saying, my voice firm, said Kael.

They went together into the narrow down-going tunnel, and left the old chamber and the awakened storm-behind. But the mass of what she had experienced, what she had acquired, would be with Aria forever.

Something still older than the Council had started into motion somewhere down below the Academy.

And the hunt was far from over.