"Where am I?" Her voice distorted as it echoed around her in mocking fashion.
"You are in Everfell, child."
Nyori's heart leapt into her throat at the sound of the crystalline voice. She whirled around, moving as though still immersed in water. A black-cloaked figure glided from behind one of the towering slabs of stone, gazing with an intensity that Nyori felt. Cold seeped into her bones as though the figure touched her with icy fingers.
"Everfell? I didn't know…" Nyori took a cautious step back. "Who are you?"
The figure advanced. Nyori caught sight of a woman's face, fine featured and ageless. Her skin was white as bone; her lips painted black, her irises the color of blood. The ebony cloak covered her from head to foot, embroidered with jet roses at the hems and the wide sash at her waist. Twin black-lacquered daggers where thrust into the sash, gleaming wetly.
Her crimson eyes glowed from beneath her sooty lashes when she spoke. "I am Leilavin, child. I am the keeper of Eymunder and master of this realm. Your trespass is forbidden. Who are you? How did you arrive here?" Her voice lashed like a whip, demanding a response.
Nyori edged back from the woman's fierce stare. "My name is Nyori Sharlin. I…the Eye of Everfell brought me here."
Leilavin paused, searching Nyori's face as if seeking confirmation of her words. Nyori felt a tingle across her scalp. Is she capable of reading my mind? She shivered at the thought.
Leilavin tilted her head in birdlike fashion. Her words only confirmed Nyori's fears. "You speak truly. The Eye did indeed bring you here. But why? Unless…you are not a descendant of the Elious, are you?"
"I don't understand."
"It must be. One way to find out. Come quickly." Leilavin strode past Nyori, beckoning urgently. "Hurry, child. If you possess the blood of Elious, you will be able to take Eymunder away from this place before it falls."
Nyori hesitated. Leilavin was small in stature, but her appearance and bearing cast an intimidating shadow. Like the Ternion, Leilavin did not need to declare her power. Her overwhelming aura spoke for her, whispered of secrets and darkness.
Leilavin's silken cloak ruffled as she hurried down a narrow path of beaten ground. "Your arrival is either fate or tragic happenstance. The Pale Lord is on his way here as we speak. I have slowed his approach, but he is more powerful than I have foreseen. He will arrive soon. You must claim Eymunder before he does."
Nyori rushed to catch up to the swiftly moving woman. The movement was strangely dizzying, the blurry surroundings disorienting her. "What are you talking about? I only want to find a way to get—" She paused as they entered a clearing.
In the center of the towers was a rounded slab of stone, cut to resemble a table. Familiar waters surrounded it, glassy liquid that glimmered as though lit by azure fires.
Much like the Pool at home.
Leilavin pointed. "Go, quickly. Place your hands on the stone, and Eymunder will be yours."
Nyori hesitated. "I don't even know what Eymunder is. You have to be able to tell me something."
Leilavin looked around as though expecting a sudden attack, her bloodless face half-covered by her cowl. "Eymunder is a powerful fusorb that was hidden from your world for ages. Once it aided the most powerful of the Elious. There is no time to say more, child. You must have been ushered here for a purpose. If you do not act, many will suffer for your lack of courage."
Nyori took a deep breath. "Is this some sort of test, then? Is that why the Eye brought me here?"
Leilavin regarded her coldly, impatience burning in her eyes. "This is no test, child. I am at the last of my resources. My realm is under attack. You appeared from nowhere, at the time of my greatest need. Perhaps this is providence. But you must act swiftly, or the two of us will die very soon. The Pale Lord is not known for his mercy."
Nyori expanded her senses, trying to read what she could of the other woman. She had been taught to feel for intentions, whether a person meant to help or harm. But she could not read anything from Leilavin. It was dizzying even to try, as though the focus vanished in the sucking whirlpool of Leilavin's presence.
Once the path is taken, there is no turning back. Norna's words whispered in the back of Nyori's mind. All she knew was the Pool had taken her into Everfell. The same waters stood in front of her. If it was the only way back…
She hesitantly stepped into the blue water. The sensation was as the Pool back home — dry though wet, tingling as though seeping inside of her. She waded to the slab and stepped up onto the stone platform. The slab was smooth and glassy as though polished. Glyphs were carved around the lip, unreadable runes that seemed to murmur just beyond her understanding. The dark, liquid sky reflected across its glossy surface.
"Place your hands on the stone," Leilavin said.
Nyori followed the instructions. The stone hummed, warming at her touch. The Glyphs glowed like molten gold across the table's face. Nyori's fingers were pulled with irresistible force, latching to the surface as though her skin melded with the stone. She immediately panicked, trying to tear her hands free. To her dismay it was useless. There was a better chance of ripping her hands from her wrists than detaching them from the slab. She looked frantically over her shoulder.
Leilavin smiled. "Almost there, child. Calm yourself. You will able to claim Eymunder soon. Look." She pointed.
Nyori turned back to the table. A perfect circle opened in its center. What emerged from the cavity was a slender rod about the length of Nyori's forearm. It appeared to be glassy crystal, topped by a small orb of amber.
"Quickly. Take the staff, child!"
Nyori almost staggered when her hands were unexpectedly freed from their imprisonment. She flexed her fingers experimentally but didn't see any damage done. She hesitantly reached for the rod, but the table was too tall. Eymunder lay inches from her grasp.
"I can't…reach it."
"You must," Leilavin said. "The staff belongs to you. You have to claim it."
Nyori stretched desperately, but the crystal rod still lay out of reach.
Lightning forked across the ebony ocean above them. The flickering lights became agitated, scattering across the surface as though Everfell itself shuddered in fear.
"Hurry. The Pale Lord is close." Leilavin's voice thickened with dread.
Nyori cleared her mind as she did when Shifting. She focused on the rod. Only the rod. Not on the distance between it and her fingers, but in her grasp.
The glassy wand slid across the surface into her waiting fingers.
Liquid fire laced across her hands and forearms as soon as Eymunder touched her, burning patterns of Glyphs into her flesh as if tattooed there by lightning. She barely had time to register the heat before the symbols melded into her skin. Gasping, she stared at the fading characters, which pulsed in time with her rapidly beating heart before they slowly faded away as if never there.
Leilavin was at her side in an instant, so quickly that Nyori hadn't seen her cross the waters. Her face was exultant; her irises beamed scarlet light from the shadows of her cowl. "Eymunder has bonded to you, implausible as it seems. You have prevented a tragedy, child. But now you must leave this place, or our efforts are for naught."
Nyori clutched the crystal rod to her chest. "Bonded — what does that mean? I—"
"Leilavin!"
The voice that roared the name was ragged but strong. Nyori turned and saw a man staggering toward them.