Note: Thanks, I'm glad I haven't completely killed things yet.
Chapter One: Whispers
The moon was up, an orb of light in the dark cloak-like sky. The stars hid behind the veil of dark cloud, winking in and out of existance as the air pushed and pulled at the masses of vapour drifting through the skies.
The winds whispered over the endless green fields. The grasses danced at their touch. Swaying to a rhythm that only one with very delicate ears and a silent heart can hear.
On top of a lonely hillsata cloaked shadow, gazing down into the moving fields. The earth seemed to sway like the sea herself in a light harbor night.
A willow stood very far off to the right, the only break in the endless pattern of the landscape. The hills rolled on and on, meeting the sky in the end, glued together by the dark masses that were the mountains.
The sheer screech of a lost hawk ripped the gentle song of the wind singing through the blades of grass.
The cloaked figure looked up sharply into the never ending black sky. The cloak fell from their head to reveal the dark hair and creamy skin of the wind priestess.
Talim gazed up towards the heaven's, her large sad eyes following the skyward trail of the lost hawk flying past the fields.
Her hair danced along with the rhythm of the soft breeze, the jewelery tied around her neck jingled softly.
"Oh, wind deity. Goddess of the very Breath of our world. Why must you break me?" she whispered softly, her eyes filling with tears.
The wind did not reply, not that she had actually expected it to. The goddess was silent at all times except when she wished to make her pressence known.
It had been a week and a half since her sickness had passed. Her body had been left weak and tired. The effect that the broken shard had had on her spirituality had ripped right through the barriers of the mental and spiritual world into reality, breaking her body the way that the shard attempted to break her mind.
The young priestess shook her head slightly, hair waving around her face. The tears sparkled by the moonlight, trickling down her face.
The choice had been made by the entire tribe. In the end the choice was hers to make, but she knew that was all an illusion. To not go would be dishonorable and cowardly. She had t go. being afraid of going disgusted her completely. Suck weakness it brought. She had always preached that to brave something you must first fear it.
But this fear was so great that even her well developed mind struggled to push it under.
Talim stood weakly, pushing hers till slightly sore joints to move. She gazed down at the movement of the grasses. The windmills spun among the shadows, moving with the music of the surroundings.
Talim closed her eyes gently and listened to the voice that still echoed in her head, helped along by the pushing of the wind all around.
Protect... fight, guard...destroy, guardian, warrior, healer, priestess... your destiny holds true... you may run no longer... You are no longer wind, you are now a tornado...
Destroy it.
Destroy it.
A tornado...
Talim opened her wide honest gaze again and looked up tot he sky.
"A tornado... am I to destroy those that stand in my way then, Deity?" a pain and fear that matched no other crossed her features.
"Am I to take life then... Deity?"
"Goodbye Priestess!"
"Good luck to you, Priestess!"
"Come back to us soon, Talim!"
"Take care of yourself daughter... come back soon."
Talim smiled and nodded, passing each familiar, and yet vague face with sad knowing eyes. Clenching hands that were so familiar, wiping the tears of young children from their cheeks and forcing a kind knowing encouraging smile.
She said nothing, in the end, but agreed with all they said, assuring them she would return when in the end...and in truth her heart said otherwise.
The sun was up, shinning like an orb of pure joy over the fields, stroking her neck gently as she walked down the worn path away from the waving and shouting voices of her village.
She sighed softly, pushing a long strand of hair from her face idly. The jewels around her neck jingled as she moved. She frowned down at them thoughtfully. Announcing her path through lands she did not know wasn't smart. She'd have to do something about those necklaces.
As she walked her elbow blades bumped her thighs quietly, a comforting yet frightening thing to bear. Those blades promised her protection and safety... but at the same time it promised the death or at least wounding of another. It was almost too much to bear, for such a peaceful Priestess.
Swallowing a knot of worry and dislike she wrapped a weak hand around the hilts, frowning slightly. It matters not... do not worry. Life will go on... you must do as you've been instructed.
In silence and worry she continued on for several days and several nights, passing through dark wood and deep marshland, climbing over mountains and struggling through maze-like caves.
And the caves proved to be the one place to worry.
Talim had been following the shards trails for the last two weeks. The road had been harder than she had expected. The rain season hit the wind tribe lands with less force than it did in the mountains.
The forest was so thick at times that she had had to squeeze by tree trunks. And very often it was on an incline, pulling at her and the single bag she had strapped to her shoulders.
The rain had really fallen that night, as a result the young Priestess hadn't slept. She sat by the roots of an old oak tree, her back against it's strong trunk. The tree was sitting by the top of a small hill that made up the ever rising mountain she had to cross to keep up with the shards evil aura trail. It leaned gently on a vertical angle, a knuck in it's roots was where Talim had decided to take refuge from the pounding rain.
It feel down in heavy wet sheets, soaking into her clothing and making her skin slick. She had wrapped her second cloak around her elbow blades and sat with them in her arms, hunched over to keep the rain from soaking the delicate blades.
The water had long soaked her hair and it was now falling from it's ponytails in long delicate locks across her face as the wind slapped the rain into her eyes.
Her wide eyes watched as the miniature rivers of mud rushed past her down the hill, tugging and loosening the earth.
Thunder had been raging above for over an hour and each echo made her head spin. The yowling of wolves and other wild beasts fleeing the obviously approaching mudslide made her skin crawl with fear.
A sound like the very sky splitting in half made her jump to her feet. The mud slid under her boots and she tumbled to the ground, throwing her blades to the side with agility beyond her years to keep herself from stabbing herself with the weapons.
Gasping she twisted on her back and watched in horror as the oak began to collapse. The pull of the wind was so strong that the upper part was beginning to bend, but the roots were so far into the earth that it refused to let go...
The cracking continued, growing louder by each passing second.
Talim gave a cry and grabbed her blades, shoving herself to an unsteady stance. The roots suddenly slid under the earth, lashing up from under with enough force to hiss through the air like whips.
She grunted heavily and threw her weight to the side as a passing root snapped back towards it's trunk, hitting the wood with shocking force. She stared at it for a moment, her hands weak. The entire hill seemed to be slidding under her feet, all of the trees and the earth was moving like the ocean, heading down... down into the darkness.
Something snapped inside of the girl standing in the middle of all the chaos. Her eyes grew blank, lifeless for a moment.
In that second everything stood still, the woods listened to the 'twang' of her instincts snapping. The rain hovered in the air, the mud seized to slide and the wind... the wind whispered softly of things untold and things ordered...
She blinked slowly once and her eyes focused once more on the chaos. She let out a heavy breath, her eyes widening as a whole chunk of the hill dove towards the growing cliff.
A highpitched 'twang' ripped through all the other noises and a root hissed towards her at a speed she had never thought possible. Eyes narrowing, she threw herself to the right, landing like a cat on a heavy boulder still gripping it's original resting place.
The root ripped the earth where she had stood, sliding down heavily towards the cliff. She stared at it for a second through the sheets of water and looked up towards the top of the hill, watching as the river of earth, stone and wood tumbled towards her.
The thread of the shard's aura was up there... she had no choice.
She stood up, balancing on the boulder, eyes watching the passing earth with care. Giving a grunt she jumped from the boulder into the wash of the earth. The amount of earth wasn't high, only around her knees, but it was strong enough to make her tumbled slightly and gasp as she hit the ground and the earth swept over her head, muddy and sticky, sharp and rough.
Her skin screamed with the friction of the rocks, burning as she pulled herself heavily to her feet, spitting out soil and rock, coughing.
Mud stung her eyes, making them burn. She quinted through the never ending haze of water and struggled forward, her ears straining to listen.
While she moved she strapped the elbow blades to her belt, not caring that the second cloak had been lost while she tumbled around the mud.
She struggled through the mud, gasping, each breath burning in her lungs, tasting like dirt and rock. The rain had been kind enough to wash the mud from her eyes but she had been left with more water and less earth falling around her, growing more and more like a river...
Each movement made her muscles cry out in complaint, aching with the effort. Through the darkness she caught sight of something glowing in the distance, weak but there, not much higher up the mountain.
She coughed heavily, feeling her throat begin to ache as well. I refuse to die here like an animal without reaching my destination... I refuse to die for no reason.
It seemed an eternity she spent struggling upwards, dizzy and sick,her energy was draining so fast that she had no time to even breath. And suddenly shewas upon thecliffside, looking up at a ledge above the growing riverof earth.
Swallowing blood and dirt she jumped up wards, throwing all her energy into that one leap.
She grabbed the side of the legde andhung there for a moment, wincing. With a crash the river of mud doubled in size, reaching towards her feet speedily. Groaning heavily she pulled herselfup hard, gasping.Crying out softly she fell onto the left, twisting to lie looking up into the dark sky, her chest moving up and down rapidly along with her tired pants.
The rain kept on falling, and the crash of the woodland under the little ledge was ringing in her ears. She was so tired.All of her muscles seemed tohave been used to a horrid extent.
Groaning softly she pulledherself up to her feet, unsteady still. She looked downto what had once been the hill and gasped.
There was no hill. A hugecliff side had beencut right into the mountain side, seemingly falling forever. The earth androck left the ledge she stood onas theside of the drop off.
She let out a weak breath of disbelieve at eascaping death so closely and fell back down to her knees, shivering in the rain.
The wind howled above her weak breathing, seeming hollow, like an eerie scream through the background silence of the rain. Talim frowned and looked over her shoulder, blinking in surprise to find acave behind her.
The gaping holethat was the entrance reached up high above her head, andthe darkness was deep enough so that she had no ideahow deep in it went. She looked around the ledge to find that the cave took up all the space. There was no room for her to climb higher. She couldn't possibly reach over the cave entrance either, it was just too high.
Frowning slightly she slumped down again, sick with dread. She'd have to go into that death trap... and she still hadn't figured out what the bright light in the distance had been that had led her there.
A warning bell rang in her ears dully.
It had looked simular to fire... that meant someone must be in there now too. Weakly she pulled herself up to her feet and started inside, eyes narrowed slightly with worry.
She'd have to find her way through the maze-like cave, there was no alternative.
Please review, I know it's not that interesting yet cuz I didn't put in any meetings between her and another character, but that's coming up next chapter.