A Song of Snow and Ashes by S.J. Drew
in my room?" he demanded, rolling over. The sudden movement caused him to pass out. He fell into strange dreams of water and wind.
Eliora found herself on a strange, glassy plain at the foot of a large volcano. There was no smoke nor rumbling coming from the mountain. The sun blazed brightly overhead, causing her to squint as light reflected off the shiny, black rock. It was hot and the air was perfectly still.
"Welcome back," came that odd voice.
She whirled around and stared at the strange, bright creature. "What are you? Why am I here?"
"You were told to wait, were you not?"
"Wait?" she repeated.
"You prayed, and you were told to wait."
"Yes. I remember now." Her eyes grew wide with fear. "You-you mean this is the answer?"
It nodded. "I am part of you, a representative of a touch of Divinity that is in your own soul."
"I don't understand."
"You have been Chosen to be the first of the Avatars of the Light One."
"Avatar?" she repeated, stunned. "What are you talking about?"
"Long have the gods fought each other, and much was destroyed. They still fight, but now humans have been Chosen to decide who is stronger. You fight for the Light. The Dark One has Chosen Its own Avatar."
"What does that mean? What do I do?" she cried.
"Defeat the Darkness. Both of you will be given enough power to achieve this. You have been endowed with greater arcane ability than a sorcerer. You have been given control over the elements of fire and ground. As you are now part of the Light, you can travel with the light. And you get one more gift."
Her jaw fell open. Her voice froze in her throat as she tried to assimilate what she was being told.
The strange creature held out a hand, and the black glass she was standing on began to move. It flowed over her feet and started to wind up her body.
"What is this? Stop it, stop it!" she shrieked, panicked.
"This is part of the process."
"Oh god, oh god," she gasped, as the viscous stone encased her legs.
"You are being given a suit of armor that will protect you from all mortal weapons. Beware, for the weapons of the Dark Avatar are not mortal."
She was covered in the black stone up to her neck now and nearly hyperventilating.
"This is called the Armor of Obsidian. When it is finished, the transformation will be complete. In one year's time, one Avatar will emerge victorious."
The stone climbed over her head, covering her entire body. Heat seared her, the ground rumbled beneath her, but to her surprise the fear drained away, replaced by hope, compassion, and happiness.
"AWAKEN, MY LIGHTBEARER," said the voice of the Light One.
Donnan found himself in a frozen wasteland. Bitterly cold wind howled through towering glaciers. Sunlight glittered in the ice, but he was standing in shadow.
"Are you going to listen now?" sneered that odd voice.
He jerked around, and saw the strange, black creature standing behind him. "What in darkness is goin' on?"
"Don't you understand yet? Honestly. This is what all those dreams were about. This is why the Dark One saved your wretched life. This is why you didn't want your friend to ask the god directly for an answer."
The color drained from his face. "What do you know? Tell me," he demanded.
It nodded. "I am part of you, a representative of a touch of Divinity that is in your own soul."
"What does that mean?"
"You have been Chosen to be the first of the Avatars of the Dark One."
"Avatar? What's an Avatar?" he asked blankly.
"Long have the gods fought each other, and much was destroyed. They still fight, but now humans have been Chosen to decide who is stronger. You fight for the Darkness. The Light One has Chosen Its own Avatar."
"Fight for the Darkness? I don't want to do that."
"You don't have a choice," snapped the creature. "You were Chosen, and you will do this."
"I don't even know what I'm supposed to do," he protested.
"Defeat the Light. Both of you will be given enough power to achieve this. You have been endowed with greater arcane ability than a sorcerer. You have been given control over the elements of wind and water. As you are now part of the Darkness, you can travel with the Shadows. And you get one more gift.
It raised a hand, and the ice he was standing on started to move and grow upwards, trapping him in a cocoon of ice.
"Stop this! Damn you, stop this," he growled, trying to break free of the ice.
"Fighting is useless. This is part of the process."
"Well, I don't want it," he snapped, but his legs were covered and it was rapidly growing up his torso.
"You are being given a suit of armor that will protect you from all mortal weapons. Beware, for the weapons of the Light Avatar are not mortal."
"Damn it, damn it," he swore, craning his neck to keep it out of the reach of ice.
"This is called the Armor of Ice. When it is finished, the transformation will be complete. In one year's time, one Avatar will emerge victorious."
The ice climbed over his head, covering his entire body. Waves crashed into him, the wind bit into him, and his fear was increased and joined by despair, anger, and sadness.
"AWAKEN, MY SHADOWWALKER," said the voice of the Dark One.
Eliora awoke to a woman's scream. After a moment, she realized it was her own. She sat straight up and opened her eyes. It took her a moment to focus, but she seemed to be a bedroom.
"Child, are you alright?" came the voice of an elderly woman.
"Matriarch?" she asked.
"Yes, child." The head of the Order of Light in Shrimah was an ancient woman, short and wrinkled with completely white hair, but her dark brown eyes were still sharp and there was a quiet power in her voice. "You have awakened at last. We were worried your fever would not break."
"Fever? I was sick? Something happened. Something strange happened."
"I can see that. What are you wearing?" the old woman asked.
"Robes. No, wait." She looked down at herself. She was wearing a white, full body suit of armor made of small, tight links, far finer than any human could make. It was banded with gold and she had a gold circlet around her head. She jumped out of bed. "A mirror. I need a mirror."
The Matriarch gestured to a waiting priestess, and they brought over a full length mirror.
She stared at her reflection. "What's wrong with my eyes?" she wailed. They were completely white.
"What do you remember?" the Matriarch asked.
"I was dreaming again. I was talking to this creature, made of Light. It told me I was the Avatar of the Light One. It said this was the Armor of Obsidian. It told me I had to fight the Avatar of the Dark One. Then I heard the Light One speak. It called me LightBearer," she answered, stringing words together in her haste. "Oh, god, oh, god."
"Calm yourself, child," the Matriarch snapped.
There was such force in her voice Eliora reacted as though she'd been slapped. "I'm sorry, Matriarch," she replied meekly, turning to face the old woman. "I'm just very frightened."
"That is understandable, but you must not panic. You have power, now, do you not? Power to shake the very ground beneath our feet?"
"Yes. How did you know?"
She sighed. "The Light One has explained much to us."
A priest rushed in. "Matriarch," he cried, speaking in the Light language, the language of all those who followed the Light One. "We have discovered the location of the-the-" he stuttered, his voice trailing off.
"If you cannot bear to say the name, call the Dark Avatar ‘StormBringer,’" she replied, also in the Light language.
"We have found the StormBringer, but it's only a matter of time before the Order of Darkness finds the LightBearer."
"Yes, I know. She cannot stay here."
"What do you mean I can't stay he
re?" Eliora demanded, mildly surprised she understood the exchange.
The clerics looked at her sharply.
"When did you learn our language?" asked the Matriarch. By habit, she switched back to the Light language to address the clerics. "Fetch some robes. She can't go in that," she told the priest. He dashed off. "You two, go summon a guide, and make it quick," she ordered, and two priestesses left the room. It was now just her and Eliora.
"Summon a guide? What are you talking about? I need to get home. Mother and Father must be worried sick about me."
She sighed. "Child, you cannot stay here. You cannot see your family again."
"What? Why not?" she cried. "I don't understand."
"If our clerics felt the awakening of the ShadowWalker, then the Dark clerics most certainly felt your awakening. You cannot stay here. The Avatar of the Dark One will come to destroy you. You two are the most powerful beings on our world. An army could not stand against you. Even mages are no match for your power."
"But-but what does that have to do with me leaving?"
"Tell me, child, in your studies of the history of the Mage Era and Mage Wars, what happened when one mage directly opposed another?"
Her mind was a jumble of thoughts, but she focused, trying to dredge up the memory. "They would fight each other. There were terrible battles that left the landscape scorched and barren, sometimes for decades." She met the Matriarch's eyes. "You-you think this ShadowWalker would come here and destroy everyone?"
She nodded. "This I do not doubt. Perhaps not today, but eventually. Everything you know and love could be destroyed. You cannot stay here. We are racing against time. If we can move you, perhaps the Order of Darkness will never know where you truly came from."
"But
Eliora found herself on a strange, glassy plain at the foot of a large volcano. There was no smoke nor rumbling coming from the mountain. The sun blazed brightly overhead, causing her to squint as light reflected off the shiny, black rock. It was hot and the air was perfectly still.
"Welcome back," came that odd voice.
She whirled around and stared at the strange, bright creature. "What are you? Why am I here?"
"You were told to wait, were you not?"
"Wait?" she repeated.
"You prayed, and you were told to wait."
"Yes. I remember now." Her eyes grew wide with fear. "You-you mean this is the answer?"
It nodded. "I am part of you, a representative of a touch of Divinity that is in your own soul."
"I don't understand."
"You have been Chosen to be the first of the Avatars of the Light One."
"Avatar?" she repeated, stunned. "What are you talking about?"
"Long have the gods fought each other, and much was destroyed. They still fight, but now humans have been Chosen to decide who is stronger. You fight for the Light. The Dark One has Chosen Its own Avatar."
"What does that mean? What do I do?" she cried.
"Defeat the Darkness. Both of you will be given enough power to achieve this. You have been endowed with greater arcane ability than a sorcerer. You have been given control over the elements of fire and ground. As you are now part of the Light, you can travel with the light. And you get one more gift."
Her jaw fell open. Her voice froze in her throat as she tried to assimilate what she was being told.
The strange creature held out a hand, and the black glass she was standing on began to move. It flowed over her feet and started to wind up her body.
"What is this? Stop it, stop it!" she shrieked, panicked.
"This is part of the process."
"Oh god, oh god," she gasped, as the viscous stone encased her legs.
"You are being given a suit of armor that will protect you from all mortal weapons. Beware, for the weapons of the Dark Avatar are not mortal."
She was covered in the black stone up to her neck now and nearly hyperventilating.
"This is called the Armor of Obsidian. When it is finished, the transformation will be complete. In one year's time, one Avatar will emerge victorious."
The stone climbed over her head, covering her entire body. Heat seared her, the ground rumbled beneath her, but to her surprise the fear drained away, replaced by hope, compassion, and happiness.
"AWAKEN, MY LIGHTBEARER," said the voice of the Light One.
Donnan found himself in a frozen wasteland. Bitterly cold wind howled through towering glaciers. Sunlight glittered in the ice, but he was standing in shadow.
"Are you going to listen now?" sneered that odd voice.
He jerked around, and saw the strange, black creature standing behind him. "What in darkness is goin' on?"
"Don't you understand yet? Honestly. This is what all those dreams were about. This is why the Dark One saved your wretched life. This is why you didn't want your friend to ask the god directly for an answer."
The color drained from his face. "What do you know? Tell me," he demanded.
It nodded. "I am part of you, a representative of a touch of Divinity that is in your own soul."
"What does that mean?"
"You have been Chosen to be the first of the Avatars of the Dark One."
"Avatar? What's an Avatar?" he asked blankly.
"Long have the gods fought each other, and much was destroyed. They still fight, but now humans have been Chosen to decide who is stronger. You fight for the Darkness. The Light One has Chosen Its own Avatar."
"Fight for the Darkness? I don't want to do that."
"You don't have a choice," snapped the creature. "You were Chosen, and you will do this."
"I don't even know what I'm supposed to do," he protested.
"Defeat the Light. Both of you will be given enough power to achieve this. You have been endowed with greater arcane ability than a sorcerer. You have been given control over the elements of wind and water. As you are now part of the Darkness, you can travel with the Shadows. And you get one more gift.
It raised a hand, and the ice he was standing on started to move and grow upwards, trapping him in a cocoon of ice.
"Stop this! Damn you, stop this," he growled, trying to break free of the ice.
"Fighting is useless. This is part of the process."
"Well, I don't want it," he snapped, but his legs were covered and it was rapidly growing up his torso.
"You are being given a suit of armor that will protect you from all mortal weapons. Beware, for the weapons of the Light Avatar are not mortal."
"Damn it, damn it," he swore, craning his neck to keep it out of the reach of ice.
"This is called the Armor of Ice. When it is finished, the transformation will be complete. In one year's time, one Avatar will emerge victorious."
The ice climbed over his head, covering his entire body. Waves crashed into him, the wind bit into him, and his fear was increased and joined by despair, anger, and sadness.
"AWAKEN, MY SHADOWWALKER," said the voice of the Dark One.
Eliora awoke to a woman's scream. After a moment, she realized it was her own. She sat straight up and opened her eyes. It took her a moment to focus, but she seemed to be a bedroom.
"Child, are you alright?" came the voice of an elderly woman.
"Matriarch?" she asked.
"Yes, child." The head of the Order of Light in Shrimah was an ancient woman, short and wrinkled with completely white hair, but her dark brown eyes were still sharp and there was a quiet power in her voice. "You have awakened at last. We were worried your fever would not break."
"Fever? I was sick? Something happened. Something strange happened."
"I can see that. What are you wearing?" the old woman asked.
"Robes. No, wait." She looked down at herself. She was wearing a white, full body suit of armor made of small, tight links, far finer than any human could make. It was banded with gold and she had a gold circlet around her head. She jumped out of bed. "A mirror. I need a mirror."
The Matriarch gestured to a waiting priestess, and they brought over a full length mirror.
She stared at her reflection. "What's wrong with my eyes?" she wailed. They were completely white.
"What do you remember?" the Matriarch asked.
"I was dreaming again. I was talking to this creature, made of Light. It told me I was the Avatar of the Light One. It said this was the Armor of Obsidian. It told me I had to fight the Avatar of the Dark One. Then I heard the Light One speak. It called me LightBearer," she answered, stringing words together in her haste. "Oh, god, oh, god."
"Calm yourself, child," the Matriarch snapped.
There was such force in her voice Eliora reacted as though she'd been slapped. "I'm sorry, Matriarch," she replied meekly, turning to face the old woman. "I'm just very frightened."
"That is understandable, but you must not panic. You have power, now, do you not? Power to shake the very ground beneath our feet?"
"Yes. How did you know?"
She sighed. "The Light One has explained much to us."
A priest rushed in. "Matriarch," he cried, speaking in the Light language, the language of all those who followed the Light One. "We have discovered the location of the-the-" he stuttered, his voice trailing off.
"If you cannot bear to say the name, call the Dark Avatar ‘StormBringer,’" she replied, also in the Light language.
"We have found the StormBringer, but it's only a matter of time before the Order of Darkness finds the LightBearer."
"Yes, I know. She cannot stay here."
"What do you mean I can't stay he
The clerics looked at her sharply.
"When did you learn our language?" asked the Matriarch. By habit, she switched back to the Light language to address the clerics. "Fetch some robes. She can't go in that," she told the priest. He dashed off. "You two, go summon a guide, and make it quick," she ordered, and two priestesses left the room. It was now just her and Eliora.
"Summon a guide? What are you talking about? I need to get home. Mother and Father must be worried sick about me."
She sighed. "Child, you cannot stay here. You cannot see your family again."
"What? Why not?" she cried. "I don't understand."
"If our clerics felt the awakening of the ShadowWalker, then the Dark clerics most certainly felt your awakening. You cannot stay here. The Avatar of the Dark One will come to destroy you. You two are the most powerful beings on our world. An army could not stand against you. Even mages are no match for your power."
"But-but what does that have to do with me leaving?"
"Tell me, child, in your studies of the history of the Mage Era and Mage Wars, what happened when one mage directly opposed another?"
Her mind was a jumble of thoughts, but she focused, trying to dredge up the memory. "They would fight each other. There were terrible battles that left the landscape scorched and barren, sometimes for decades." She met the Matriarch's eyes. "You-you think this ShadowWalker would come here and destroy everyone?"
She nodded. "This I do not doubt. Perhaps not today, but eventually. Everything you know and love could be destroyed. You cannot stay here. We are racing against time. If we can move you, perhaps the Order of Darkness will never know where you truly came from."
"But