[Untitled] Chapter Six - NOT ACCURATE

Leading his sister outside, Vivaereth shielded his eyes against the bright sunlight that fell upon the ground through barren trees like petals of a golden flower.  The warmth felt refreshing after the harsh frost of the previous night.  He smiled at the pure touch of the light upon his face.  Unstringing his cloak, he cast it aside, beginning to assemble the wood flute he carried in one of its large pockets.

Aewaean smiled as she saw a touch of grass poking boldly through the snow.  She could smell the fresh aroma of spring on the breeze that teased at her hair.  She loved this time of year.  As she twirled with delight, her amber dress flirled around her.  She saw Marnin sitting off to the side of the cottage on a fallen log, shamisen in hand.

Marnin smiled pensively as his eyes stalled on the pool of melted snow beneath his black boots.  A fleck of light broke the mirrored surface.  A drop of dew rolled off one of the oak's leaves above him, joining its brethren in the puddle at their master's feet.

Avúlia brought Eolan out of the house quietly, unnoticed by the others.   They sat on the upper step of the porch.

Eolan traced the hem of his sleeve in aniticipation.  As he sat there on the porch beside his mentor, he found himself immersed in the music before he had even noticed it begin.

The slow melancholy of the flute and shamisen chilled him to his core.  If the sun hadn't been glaring in his eyes, he would have sworn that the dark clouds of a storm had rolled in.  They grey cloud of despair was magnified as Aewaean began to sing, her voice gradually lowering in pitch as it grew louder.  Her voice danced with the flute in a lament for lost hope, for times long since passed and forgotten.

As the volume continued to build, the flute seemed to calm the voice, a reassuring promise that all was not lost, that hope and life remained for those who sought it.

Aewaean danced as she sang on, beginning a determined ascent out of the dark abyss of fear and gloom.  Spiraling upwards, interweaving with the flute, she climbed, soaring as an eagle of song and time.

The music broke into an emotional climax, stunning Eolan and filling his mind with imagery.  He saw fields of grey ice surrounded by stone and darkness.  An ear-splitting crack echoed across the barren landscape, making Eolan flinch in fear.  Opening his eyes slowly, he saw a vast expanse of open water, rippling with the frigid wind, glistening in the dim, grey light.  Droplets of water hung suspended in the air, thousands of twinkling stars.  And alight on the water stood Marnin, back arched with noble pride, gazing up at the colorless sky.  Eolan found that he could still hear the shamisen's part of the song.

The sound of splitting rock broke through, resounding in Eolan's unconscious world.  He looked around, in awe this time, as trees and shrubs, flowers and mosses, sprung out of cracks in the rocks surrounding the lake.  They climbed to the heavens, spreading wide their branches, stoically displaying grey branches for all to see.  In amongst them all wound a massive vine of ivy, upon whose leaves Aewaean danced, in perfect synchronization with the smaller flowering vines that wound about her ankles.  She, too, stared at the grey sky, as if hoping for the fulfillment of a dream only half realized.  Her voice once again mixed with the shamisen.

A blinding flash erupted in the sky, shaking the world below with tremors of its might and ferocity.  As his vision cleared, Eolan saw.  The raging sun flamed in the blue sky, illuminating both the lake and all the things that grew around its shores.  Eolan gaped in sheer awe.  Upon a rock overlooking the lake, he saw Vivaereth as he had never seen him.  Face pointed towards the lighted sky, he beamed with pure joy and pride.  The flute joined the others as the song slowed, quieting.  A shadow twitched behind a rock in the distance, catching Eolan's eye.  Immediately it darted away, seeking refuge in the dark lands beyond.  Eolan took another long look at the scene of awe and splendor before him before it, too, faded with the music.