Consequences of Advanced Spellcasting – Orianna – 29.05.2024
May 30, 2024 13:58:49 GMT
Andy D, Lucky, and 1 more like this
Post by Orianna Èirigh on May 30, 2024 13:58:49 GMT
“I trust you.”
Three simple words.
Three meaningful words that ring around her like plants.
Three sibylline words that reflect a future she has already seen.
“Do you vow to champion the Weave, so that anyone might access its power?” Kesserax asks.
“I do,” Calla vows.
The air in her lungs stills, constricting the breath in her throat.
Wait-…
“Do you vow to help those who seek freedom through hidden knowledge?” Kesserax asks.
“I do,” Calla vows.
Violet eyes begin to blur with double Vision, seeing the present and the unavoidable future.
…this is-…
“Do you vow to safeguard the balance of magic and the rules of ritual?” Kesserax asks.
“I do,” Calla vows.
Feeling leaves her body as the Vision fully takes hold.
…exactly what he-!…
“Do you vow to be my Herald, to bring awe and wonder wherever you go?” Kesserax asks.
“I do,” Calla vows.
She screams, a poor prophet’s denial of inevitability.
Calla-!
Above them, all the First Mountain applauds, triumphant.
The sound rings through her memory to a Place Out of Time and Orianna’s Vision divides into three.
The only difference between the past and present and future…
…is semantics.
“No. Not again,” she moans/moaned. “This isn’t right. This can’t be-”
The girl moves/moved into the future, trying to bring something back. She calls to the Cosmos but part of her knew/knows it is too late. There is no stopping what was/will be. She could/can not do it Then, what made/makes her think she could/can do it Now?
You want to Know if she lives, lived, will live.
The girl stops/stopped, letting the light she has/had gathered bleed through her fingers, a treasure in her hands slipping away like water.
“I promised her. I will make a promise to her. I have to protect her. I will protect her. I-”
You will See how she dies, died, will die.
The girl tries/tried to pull back, tugging at her hair but she is/was frozen in place.
“We are done,” Calla declares/declared.
Arcravine grins/grinned wolfishly, breathing a sigh of satisfaction. “Finally.”
Vines curl and twist around Calla’s arms and legs, snaking up her body, encasing her completely in a thorny embrace. The others — Florian, Digs, and Felix — are/have become petrified statues. Kesserax is/was bound in chains of stone and earth. And though she herself is/was not bound, Orianna cannot/will not/does not move. The Vision holds/held her still, making her See, showing her what she needs/needed to Know.
Arcravine points/pointed down at her sister. There is/was a pulse of ancient and powerful magic, and Calla gasps/gasped. “Then Calláddrànille ’yll Prim’munaiyŵr,” he says/said, “by the terms of our Pact the deal is terminated…”
Calla screams/screamed, blood curdling and full of immeasurable pain. A familiar amethyst glow blossoms/bloomed where Calla’s heart is/was, becoming a rosebud in the centre of a labyrinthine structure of vines and thorns.
“…and the price must be paid.”
Arcravine curls/curled his finger back and pulls/pulled. As the Heart of Calla Prim comes/came out of her body, she begins/began to crystallise.
“You forfeit your soul unto me, Arcravine, the First Mountain-”
The present/future suddenly drops away.
Perception without comprehension…
…is a dangerous combination.
A voice comes to Orianna from Another Time, Another Place. She Sees it with crystal clarity. A kitchen in a house. It is evening. The windows and doors have been closed. Only an eladrin covered in glamour and a tiefling radiating starlight sit across from each other.
“So,” said the shorter, glamoured figure, “contingencies.”
“Yes, contingencies.” A hand came up to the tiefling’s temple and began to massage gentle circles. It had been a very long day…
She once thought, in a tower Out of Time, the Cosmos to be overrated. That to be unable to change the shape of what you See was a form of cruel destiny. That all the doors would be closed to her no matter how hard she tried. No more chances or time for complaints.
We all have our crosses to bear…
She is/was no longer that same girl she was/is then. Yet the vines have woven themselves around her arms, legs, and neck. They scratch and chafe across her skin, holding her imprisoned in their grasp even as she bleeds for a chance to See.
“No, I don’t want to-”
…but there’s a fine line between a martyr and a fool.
The present/future comes for her.
“-and I accept the payment,” the Primordial Incarnate finishes with a final tug.
Orianna screams, unable to stop what happens/happened. As the rose is/was torn from Calla’s body, her sister’s eyes turn/turned to amethyst, and the final words she said ring around her like planets.
“I trust you.”
Continued in ‘So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth’ 💫
Three simple words.
Three meaningful words that ring around her like plants.
Three sibylline words that reflect a future she has already seen.
“Do you vow to champion the Weave, so that anyone might access its power?” Kesserax asks.
“I do,” Calla vows.
The air in her lungs stills, constricting the breath in her throat.
Wait-…
“Do you vow to help those who seek freedom through hidden knowledge?” Kesserax asks.
“I do,” Calla vows.
Violet eyes begin to blur with double Vision, seeing the present and the unavoidable future.
…this is-…
“Do you vow to safeguard the balance of magic and the rules of ritual?” Kesserax asks.
“I do,” Calla vows.
Feeling leaves her body as the Vision fully takes hold.
…exactly what he-!…
“Do you vow to be my Herald, to bring awe and wonder wherever you go?” Kesserax asks.
“I do,” Calla vows.
She screams, a poor prophet’s denial of inevitability.
Calla-!
Above them, all the First Mountain applauds, triumphant.
The sound rings through her memory to a Place Out of Time and Orianna’s Vision divides into three.
The only difference between the past and present and future…
…is semantics.
“No. Not again,” she moans/moaned. “This isn’t right. This can’t be-”
The girl moves/moved into the future, trying to bring something back. She calls to the Cosmos but part of her knew/knows it is too late. There is no stopping what was/will be. She could/can not do it Then, what made/makes her think she could/can do it Now?
You want to Know if she lives, lived, will live.
The girl stops/stopped, letting the light she has/had gathered bleed through her fingers, a treasure in her hands slipping away like water.
“I promised her. I will make a promise to her. I have to protect her. I will protect her. I-”
You will See how she dies, died, will die.
The girl tries/tried to pull back, tugging at her hair but she is/was frozen in place.
“We are done,” Calla declares/declared.
Arcravine grins/grinned wolfishly, breathing a sigh of satisfaction. “Finally.”
Vines curl and twist around Calla’s arms and legs, snaking up her body, encasing her completely in a thorny embrace. The others — Florian, Digs, and Felix — are/have become petrified statues. Kesserax is/was bound in chains of stone and earth. And though she herself is/was not bound, Orianna cannot/will not/does not move. The Vision holds/held her still, making her See, showing her what she needs/needed to Know.
Arcravine points/pointed down at her sister. There is/was a pulse of ancient and powerful magic, and Calla gasps/gasped. “Then Calláddrànille ’yll Prim’munaiyŵr,” he says/said, “by the terms of our Pact the deal is terminated…”
Calla screams/screamed, blood curdling and full of immeasurable pain. A familiar amethyst glow blossoms/bloomed where Calla’s heart is/was, becoming a rosebud in the centre of a labyrinthine structure of vines and thorns.
“…and the price must be paid.”
Arcravine curls/curled his finger back and pulls/pulled. As the Heart of Calla Prim comes/came out of her body, she begins/began to crystallise.
“You forfeit your soul unto me, Arcravine, the First Mountain-”
The present/future suddenly drops away.
Perception without comprehension…
…is a dangerous combination.
A voice comes to Orianna from Another Time, Another Place. She Sees it with crystal clarity. A kitchen in a house. It is evening. The windows and doors have been closed. Only an eladrin covered in glamour and a tiefling radiating starlight sit across from each other.
“So,” said the shorter, glamoured figure, “contingencies.”
“Yes, contingencies.” A hand came up to the tiefling’s temple and began to massage gentle circles. It had been a very long day…
She once thought, in a tower Out of Time, the Cosmos to be overrated. That to be unable to change the shape of what you See was a form of cruel destiny. That all the doors would be closed to her no matter how hard she tried. No more chances or time for complaints.
We all have our crosses to bear…
She is/was no longer that same girl she was/is then. Yet the vines have woven themselves around her arms, legs, and neck. They scratch and chafe across her skin, holding her imprisoned in their grasp even as she bleeds for a chance to See.
“No, I don’t want to-”
…but there’s a fine line between a martyr and a fool.
The present/future comes for her.
“-and I accept the payment,” the Primordial Incarnate finishes with a final tug.
Orianna screams, unable to stop what happens/happened. As the rose is/was torn from Calla’s body, her sister’s eyes turn/turned to amethyst, and the final words she said ring around her like planets.
“I trust you.”
Continued in ‘So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth’ 💫