Translations:

This story features several "words of power," or the old language. I chose finish for this language, and here are the translations for the commonly used phrases. If they're not right, blame iGoogle. :P

Ocean light

Meress Valossa

Light within darkness

Valo on pimeytt

Ocean storm

Meress Myrsky

Mistress of storms

konttorinhoitaja myrskyjen

Mistress of winter

konttorinhoitaja talven

Queen of shadows

kuningattareksi varjoja

Ocean queen

meress kuningatar

Guides:

opas

Wise one:

viisas

Ruler of Lies

viivain valheita

Lady of Dreams:

nainen unet

Sword:

miekka

Introduction from the author:

This book was written by combining elements of the Ephemera duology, the Black Jewels series, the Tur Ilaine series, and the song 'dark chest of wonders' by nightwish. Thanks tuomas Holopainen and Anne Bishop for the inspiration. If I can get half the emotion that is in one nightwish song into this, and a quarter of Bishop's writing ability, I'll consider it a success. I will warn you before you start, some characters here are Mary-sue. Sorry.

prologue/Kentar

Avylira caeryn stared dejectedly at the walls of her room. Before she'd died, her mother, Laenaralith, had always told her to embrace that which set her apart from other humans. Her aunt Yitharja and uncle Nathict disagreed. She'd moved in with them almost a month after her mother's death, and her father's mysterious disappearance. Avylira could sense things about people. Sometimes, it was simple, sometimes, it was too complicated for words. Most often, though, she felt the connections that drew people together. It was like hearing two notes of a chord. she could just tell they went together. Often, there were several hearts that resonated with each other through similar desires, emotions, or personality, to form a web. This was the lifeweb. But, there were also the heartwebs. Smaller, and infinitely more complicated. Every person's heartweb showed her information about the person's well-being emotionally and physically.

This was never the case with her aunt and uncle. They weren't supposed to fit together. The attempt to force them to connect had resulted in an unstable and off-centered lifeweb. She could since the web that connected the hearts of everyone she saw like a physical image. And when she'd remarked that her aunt's web wasn't right, she'd been beaten and ordered to stop spouting gibberish. Frightened, she'd explained her abilities to her aunt. Her aunt had turned ghostly pale and confined her to her room for the rest of the day. She'd then went to the kitchen and upended several large glasses of brandy. It'd taken several months for Yitharja to forgive her for that.

Then, a week ago, the dreams had started. She stood on a beautiful island, alone by the sea. The salt of the ocean filled her nostrils, and gulls flew overhead. She knew instinctively that she was supposed to do something here--to save something--but she could never figure out what she was supposed to save. Peaces of the island crumbled and died beneath her the longer she stayed. A sweet, metallic smell would take the place of the salt. Frantically, she turned back to the sea, only to find that it was no longer filled with water, but gallons and gallons of blood filled the space. Bodies--Kentari and Caleydraian alike--sank under the assault. The hand of a tall man with long black hair reached out from the blood as he struggled to rise. And over the entire scene, a black chest, covered with thousands of glittering diamonds, floated.