Snippet #2085323

The ocean, a gleaming array of spray, blue greens and warm sand. Kenni watched the sun bathe the surface of the moving water with reds and oranges, the yellows so bright she nearly had to look away for fear of being blind. Around her ankles, the hem of her white dress swayed on the gentle breeze, bird calls drifting to her ears and lulling her into the melody of the beach.

Landing, the palace of the peaceful.

Turning, she gazed upon the regal towers set into the hills and small mountains, the walls paled from years in the sun, wind swept with sand. Voices swirled from the distance, the festival beginning and bringing hands together in prayers and cheers of happiness. Kenni smiled, blue eyes bright, feet itching to charge forward and join them.

My Child, My Sweet.

Startled, Kenni turned on her heel, nearly toppling over in the sand. She stumbled over the crevices here and there, searching for the source of the voice. "Hello...?" she called cautiously.

Kenni, listen closely. I do not have long.

"Who...?"

The War ended many years ago, but today marks the one thousandth day of imprisonment for our siblings. Their caging bars weaken. They wish to be free.

Kenni spun about again, gripping her dress and following the voice to the left. Then she decided it had actually been to the right. She stopped beside the tide, the cool water splashing her toes as indecision boiled up inside her. "I don't understand...who are you?"

You know me Child, though I have never shown my face. You know me.

"Show me your face now then."

There is no time. You must travel to Rodwin, find the lost relic. The ring, Child. The ring to seal their prison forever. Do not allow my brothers and sisters to be freed.

Like a tiny stone dropping on the top of her head, Kenni started, brain kicking into gear. She had read the scripts, heard the tales, whispered prayers to such a voice all of her life. "Skye..." she muttered, blue eyes turned upward now. "You are one of the Skye."

Yes. You must complete this. You must not allow my siblings to escape again.

"But I don't understand...How can I stop them?"

The Ring.

"A piece of jewelry...I read the stories. A worse consequence will befall Siveen if we allow the Spawn to escape, I know this, but you arm me with a ring?"

Are you questioning me?

Kenni's lips pouted slightly. "No, Your Holiness. I simply wonder why you would choose someone as fragile and unnecessary as me to complete such a task."

You can hear me. And your spirit is strong-willed, even if you do not see such. Now, to Rodwin. You must hurry. The seals weaken.

Kenni wished to continue to speak, to know details, to speak with such a Holy entity for longer than she knew was possible, but she began to slip through the sand. Clutching at grains and kicking without moving, she struggled to climb out of the deepening pit. Soon she was engulfed, chest crushing, bones constricted and throat squeezed. Air vanished. She could not even scream.

Then she escaped the sands, falling farther, coughing up the tiny rocks as her watering eyes met heat and red. Fires licked beneath her. She was going to burn in the hells of the Spawn. She heard their shuddering cackles as they echoed around the cavernous bowl of flames, giant looming black shadows, grabbing at her and batting her this way and that like a cloth doll, a plaything, an insignificant piece of flesh ready to be eaten below. Kenni screamed and snatched at thin air. The Spawn only laughed.

::

Her own screaming woke her. She struggled for breath, clutching at her chest and feeling the fearful tears trail down her cold cheeks like searing beads of candle wax. Flinching and shaking, she stood from bed, wrapping the thin blanket around her figure and noting the violet blue light streaming in from the high rectangle window. Her tongue felt like dough. Around her, the other girls had woken up and gathered, asking questions that Kenni could not bring herself to hear. She kept muttering about Skyes and Rings for a good twenty minutes before Annibeth strode in dressed still in her nightwear.

"My Child, what dreams have startled you?" she inquired softly, lowering Kenni back to her bed to sit. Kenni felt the warmth from Annibeth's hand. It made her colder.

"The Skyes...spoke...to me..."

Some of the girls gave skeptical stares, while others gasped in disbelief. Annibeth herself squeezed the younger one's fingers, startled.

"What...well, what did they say?"

Everyone was silent, waiting for her answer. Kenni lifted her eyes to the other girls of the mountain, their red or brown hair trailing around such beautiful faces. Her sisters, her friends, and Annibeth...Kenni nearly began crying again, gazing upon the face of the only mother she had ever known. She had always wanted to leave the cathedral, see the world, discover adventure and truth. Yet now...

"He told me I had to travel to Rodwin. To find a ring." Kenni swallowed, eyes closed. "The Spawn...are going to break free."