The Realms of Ethair by Cecilia Beatriz Read Free Book Online

for half an hour when her
mother wasn’t very sick then.
    Aly and their father used to leave the house
to go someplace more interesting while their mother turned the
garage into a classroom full of New Age people.
    Karina was a homebody and found the classes intriguing. Her mother
would lead seven or more students into meditation, then to a sort
of energy manipulation for healing the self and others. Those early
years, she was just happy to imitate them and the adults had
welcomed her in the circle easily.
    She was eleven years old when an incident during
one of the sessions put a stop to everything. She vaguely
remembered it. It was nothing out of the ordinary, just a simple
demonstration that surprised several members of the group. This,
however, made her mother decide to change the venue of the classes.
Karina never knew its location but her mother always encouraged her
to practice what she had learned regularly.
    She sighed into the teacup between her
hands. The fragrant scent of jasmine tea wafted in her nostrils.
Outside, the sky was tinged with orange. The air had chilled
considerably as the sun began its slow descent but it was still
pleasant for an evening stroll.
    “ We have such fine climate and good
neighbors. Outsiders often say that our home is an idyllic place.
Yet, to think that anyone would want to leave this place for
another fraught with danger at almost every corner is a mystery to
me,” Kala wondered aloud.
    Karina only smiled at this. Her young companion evidently loves
her home and, from what she’d gleaned from Sara, had never ventured
out of their world. From what Karina has seen of Merleina, she
could only agree with Kala’s statement. Again, her thoughts drifted
to Arty. Would he rather be called Arturion now? He was surely one of those who preferred
coming to her “world fraught with danger” than stay in
Merleina.
    Her eyes lingered outside. The trees would
be mere shadows in a few minutes. Already she could hear the sounds
of activity from nighttime creatures. The susurration of insects;
the hoot of an owl; the flap of wings; and…the sound of
drums?
    Sara had warned her not to leave the house
unaccompanied, especially at night. Forest Folk or spirits usually
tolerated the community but they were notoriously playful. New
additions, visitors like her, were favored targets to their pranks.
Her first night traversing through the forest with the high
priestess and Kala’s sisters was the perfect example. She had been
fooled by illusions that the forest floor was full of tree roots
and other things which could trip her until Sara put a stop to it.
It was only then that a path appeared before her eyes, which seemed
not to have impaired the others’ sight.
    The wind shifted, carrying the music
towards her. A lone flute played in the midst of the beat of the
drums. The overall combination matched the wilderness and had the
power to make her want to dance to its tune.
    It took only a few minutes before the
breeze changed course once more, leaving behind a night as silent
as a forest could ever be and a heart longing for home.
     
     

Chapter 7
Arturion
     
     
    Adrenaline still coursed in his veins as he
stepped out of Sinta Lake, more commonly known as the Lake of Mirrors, for the
second time in a week. All his senses sharpened that he could
identify each organism his eyes rested on, hear the sound produced
by its frequency, and smell or taste its scent. This capability had
made him a competent Gate Keeper and constantly served him well in
his missions. In the past, he hoped, but now he prayed that it
would not fail him.
    The events of the other night remained
stark in his memories. Sola, his foster father, and Sara were right
about Karina and with
everything.
    After Sola had debriefed him, Arturion
returned to Karina’s house and found himself engulfed in thick
smoke and his surroundings in flames. A groan from the ceiling was
the only warning he had of its subsequent collapse. Instinct