A/N: This story takes place in the world Ephimera, or Sebastian by Anne Bishop. She owns it all, i just play in her world. My story begins right at the end of that book and before Belladona. Literally as soon as i put Sebastian down i got up and walked to my computer to slap down the first rough draft that became this story. I was reading through Chapter 25 and 26 when Glorianna Beladonna took down the wizard council and at the end of the scene passed out. My muse then took a sledge hammer and hit me in the head with it. I could hardly finish the book my fingers were itching so bad to get to my keyboard.
Also, I haven't read Beladonna yet so should anyone review, don't ruin anything for me, please! ^_^ Hope you enjoy this! -Lupa
Glorianna floated through the darkness. Their plan had worked. They, Ephimera and she, had given heart's justice to the dark guides and the entire landscape known as wizard city. She had felt the ache deep in her bones and knew that it had almost killed her. An ache that only deepened when she took the chunk of landscape that city and all its inhabitants belonged to and removed it from the world.
She had been dreadfully weak, but now... she felt nothing. That was a strange feeling in more reasons than one. She could always feeling Ephimera and all the hearts around her. She felt their resonance, ones from both the dark and the light. No heart could hide from Beladonna. But, beyond that, she could not feel her own body, her mind was cloudy and full of cotton. If her eyes were open, it was a darker landscape than she knew of, where the sky had no stars, and the moon never shined.
Is it over? Am I gone?
The memory of what happened in Wizard City was as fuzzy as her mind, but she remembered the wizard had raised his hand. She had been moving backwards trying to get to her brother's island when he attempted to use the lightning. Everything was black after that, like pages missing from a book. Did she make it to her brother or did she die at the hands of a wizard, like so many of her kind before her?
She felt deep inside herself for her heart's resonance and through it, all the landscapes in her care. If she could feel them, then everything would be as it should be. The Sanctuary, and the Den, would be safe. Along with Aurora and her mother, and everyone else she was trying to protect. There was a tiny flare. Far away, but still there... and growing fainter. That worried her. Did that mean her life was fading? Was she dying even now? Everything was numb, but if she could still find her heart... then she was not gone. Glorianna called out into the darkness. Searching for another presence that would assure there was more to this place than the nothing. Anything to help anchor her back within the landscapes of Ephimera. She floated in the nothing, in the numb, and her mind was too foggy to try any escape. A tiny trickle of fear tried to seep into her mind. Then came the whispers.
You have failed. The wizard has destroyed you, and through you, all of Ephimera. You are alone. You are lost.
She closed her heart to the whispers. She would not listen. Even if she as dying, Ephimera and her garden were still protected. She had felt the resonance of her landscapes and knew it was so... and she had felt those whispers before. She would never forget the time in the waterhorse's landscape when the eater of the world had used her own heart against her. Her heart would not listen, this time. Her heart was only hears. The voices tried to eat away at her, whispering that the things she feared the most were all true. That she had no readon to fight for her life. They could whisper all they wanted but she recognized the lies for what they were.
There was a flare of agitation at this sign of certainty and strength. It pulsed around her. Then fear. Then nothing.
Glorianna concentrated on her core, the innermosts of her self, and nurtured the strength inside her that she would need to return to her gardens from... wherever she was. She felt for them, they seemed further away than she had ever felt them, and yet close... so close. She steeled herself for that step, distance meant nothing to Glorianna Belladona. There weren't enough miles to seperate Ephimera's Heart from anywhere. It would take only one step and she would be back in her gardens. She took the step and exhaled. She hadn't left the dark. She was still in the numbness, and she was alone.
Where was she that she could no longer reach her gardens? Had something happened that made her resonance change that she could no longer reach them? Never.
There was a gleam in the distance. It pricked at her mind, trying to gain entrance into her thoughts. She shut down, unwlling to even listen to the whisperers and their lies. They could only hurt. The feeling persisted, gently, piquing her curiosity. It felt dark, but not cruel. She was not afraid of the dark. She knew how to nurture the dark and the light equally. She felt for the other presence with her heart, knowing no one could hide their heart from her. What she sensed felt both familiar and strange. Like recognizind a dog for a dog, but knowing it wasn't yours. But it was the familiarity that made her open herself. To let the strange in. She thought Sebastian. Or a heart like his, since there was nothing that could make Sebastian feel strange to her. She wanted to take a moment to think about what the familiarity was trying explain, to tell her, but she was too numb, and far, far too weak.
The stranger's heart was warm, his mind touched hers and she felt a tingle through her body to chase the numbness away. There was a brief hesitation and then she felt hands, caressing her neck, her back, her thighs. Fingers combed through her silky black hair, teasing her scalp. Warm breath touched her face, then lips. Every touch left her tingling. Every kiss sent fire to burn away the numbness and the cotton in her mind. She tried to moan when the lips traveled down her throat but the nothing ate the sound. She tried to touch the hands, to feel for a face or hair to grip when the lips closed around her nipple, but she couldn't make her limbs move. Frustration would have colored her vision red, if it weren't for all the black. Then she felt the nothing shift and there was warm light behind her closed eyelids, and sheets against her skin. She was in a bed.
The lips and the hands stopped their caresses and she groaned. Her head was still full of fog, but now it was the fog of lust. Her eyes opened, and she saw him. Eyes the color of blue skys, of the deepest waters. Pale skin that seemed to glow with an inner warmth, like the sun shining out through his features. His hair was cut short and as black as her own. So black it seemed blue in the light from his body. Her eyes scanned down a sculpted chest and feasted an abdomen she wanted to trace with her tongue. His hands lightly grazed down her chest to circle her belly button, before heading back up to her face where he cupped her chin and smiled. His fingertips were still leaving burning trails in their wake, sensations that took her breath away. Then he leaned forward and kissed her. She felt that kiss everywhere. On her skin, in her mind, and in her heart. It filled her, nurturing the power and life inside her inside her. Filling her with his strength, healing her in ways she didn't even realize she needed. She ran her arms around him as the light inside his skin began to dim. He growled softly as she caressed him back and he felt a yearning inside her calling out to him. He felt something in his heart pulse with hers. She must have felt it too for her eyes flew open wide and she looked at him with new sense of realization... and somewhere deep inside, a great need.
As she watched, the eyes she looked into faded. The warmth in her body stayed, but the vision of him blurred around the edges. She tried to stop him from withdrawing, not yet ready to let go of the feeling of closeness. Wait! She hadn't felt that closeness since the wizards and the landscapers had tried to lock her away all those years ago. She had been able to walk freely among her landscapes and be with her people but always apart from them. Her eyes struggled to hold on to what her fingers told her was already gone.
She felt stronger for his touch. The numbness was gone. She would waste no time, she needed to know what had happened before the blackness. She reached out for her landscapes and took that step she needed to return to her sanctuary.