Topic: The Siren's Song of Shadows

Elessaria

Date: 2008-12-09 21:31 EST
Elessaria did not remember even climbing into her tub, only the cooling temperature drawing her back to wakefulness. As she opened her eyes, the sudden realization that the tepid liquid in her tub was blood, caused the empath to scream a strangled cry of horror and pain. This was the first time the crimson rains had fallen so close to home — inside her home to be precise.

Trembling violently, Eless drained the tub and and ran the shower, scouring her soft, porcelain skin free of the scarlet stains that covered her from head to toe. She had no idea how much time had passed while she remained braced against the stall's wall until the steaming water turned chilly. She dried herself off with a fluffy towel only to sigh in dismay when she saw some of the stains remained upon her skin. Still, she slipped into a silk velvet dress, donned her matching cape of midnight blue and headed to the Inn.

The closer she got, the weaker she felt and the elfess struggled to maintain her shielding. Her emotions were in turmoil and if they escaped, she could inadvertantly injure someone. With all of her energy directed to containment, there was little left to shelter herself from the emotions of others, and the unchecked emotions buffeted her threadbare shields. Eless spotted Eva and Mason on the porch; but, she dared not to go any closer. Instead, she remained a short distance away and clung to the shadows.

The blue flames flickered and flared erratically deep within her eyes as she watched until the magess knew Eva was safe - at least from immediate harm. Mason had made an impromptu ice pack out of snow for her friend's injured hand. Eless retreated a little farther back some more, the intensity of emotions preventing her from joining her friends and seeking the comfort of the large fire at the Inn's hearth. As she watched, she could feel the warmth of tears returning to fill her eyes and after blinking, The Lady Fire of Evandar could taste one that had escaped to slide down her fragile features and land upon her lips. A wave of nausea threatened her at its metallic tang.

Bundled up beneath her cloak, Eless' form flickers - caught amongst the shadows. She extended a dainty, quivering hand and grasped at the tree's trunk; however, she found nothing. The elven empath felt nothing, yet everything before she faltered and then faded...

Elessaria

Date: 2008-12-19 00:28 EST
A sharp rap at the door roused Eless from her reverie at the hearth. By the time she shook free from slumber's embrace and opened the heavy wooden door, there was nobody waiting upon the parfumerie's doorstep. The petite elf rubbed the vestiges of sleep from her eyes and glanced about. "Hello' Is there aught amiss" May I help thee?" When she received no reply, she looked down and noted a simple wicker basket. The empath brought it inside with a hopeful smile as it was the holiday season and what elf could refuse gifts? Elessaria flipped open the lid, reached inside and yelped as her finger was pricked. Sucking on her fingertip, she pulled out the offending flower only to find it was a rose of such a deep red it was almost black. The perfect blossom capped a length of ebony that was dotted with obsidian thorns.

In the basket were dozens of these enchanted roses, their fragrance filling the workroom with the their stench of death.

Elessaria

Date: 2009-01-02 23:00 EST
The exhausted empath rang in the New Year with friends, champagne and too many shots of unfamiliar drinks. At least she had finished some of her gifts if not all and was pleased by how well they were received. Her nervousness at her new craft had been obvious and she had not been satisfied until she had smelled the fragrances on their respective owners and witnessed their pleasure. "Mason really liked Eva's," Elessaria chuckled to herself as she prepared for bed.

Upon her nightstand burned one of the scented candles Rena had made for her. Tonight she had chosen lavender in hopes of soothing herself to slumber. The silver acorn tucked beneath her pile of pillows warded off the worst of the nightmares, but sleep did not come easily unless the elf had exhausted herself either physically or emotional before coming to bed. She perched lightly on the edge of her bed, clad in a simple ivory silk chemise and slowly brushed her hair. The knee length tresses took more work than Eless let on, but a couple of spells (like the one that kept her bare feet immaculate) aided her in its upkeep. As she stared into the fire burning in the recently enlarged fireplace, the blue ones within her eyes began to move in sync with those that danced in the hearth.

Very quietly she began to sing, the strokes of the hair brush matching the rhythm of the melody:

~I've seen the tears and the heartache And I've felt the pain I've seen the hatred And so many lives lost in vain

And yet through this darkness There's always a light that shines through And takes me back home, takes me back home~

Crystalline tears began to form in her eyes and caused her vision to blur. So many emotions that had been lurking just beneath the surface of her barely maintained composure broke free to entwine with the words, forming an emotional harmony.

~You gave me faith And you gave me a world to believe in You gave me a love to believe in And feeling this love I can rise up above And be strong, and be whole once again~

The Lady Fire of Evandar rose from the edge of her bed, her hair brush falling with an unheard clatter to the wooden floor and stepped closer to the fire.

~I know that dreams we hold on to Can just fade away And I know that words can be wasted with so much to say

And when I feel helpless There's always a hope that shines through And makes me believe And makes me believe

And I see for one fleeting moment A paradise under the sun I drift away And I make my way back to you

You gave me faith And you gave me a world to believe in You gave me a love to believe in And feeling this love I can rise up above And be strong And be strong, and be whole once again~

The flames flared with her approach, reaching out to beckon the elven mage and nearly lapped at her bare ankles as they leaped within their marble confines. As the tears began to fall freely to course along her pale cheeks, Eless could almost taste the change from salty to a hint of metallic.

~Life goes on Can leave us with sorrow and pain And I hold on To all that you are To all that we'll be And I can go on once again

You gave me a love to believe in You gave me a love to believe in And feeling this love I can rise up above And be strong And be whole Once again

'Cause your love Heals my soul Once again

I can live I can dream Once again 'Cause you made me believe~

A shudder wracked her delicate frame as her song trailed off to be absorbed by silent, empty walls. Eless wiped her face with trembling fingers and when she glanced down, they were smudged with pink instead of the expected red.

After cleaning her face with a cool cloth dunked in the water basin that was kept on a cherrywood stand by her dresser, the exhausted empath returned to her oversized bed and slipped between the silken soft sheets. A hint of a smile graced the pale pink of her lips. The war raged on, but she had won a small victory this night at least.

—— Lyrics from "A World to Believe In"; Written by Tino Izzo / Rosanna Ciciola

Elessaria

Date: 2009-01-04 22:16 EST
~Des milliers de caresses au millim"tre carr" Des milliers de cris de souffles " nos bouches "chapp's Pans de ciels effleur's, touch's, sommeils emm"l's Ray's comme si tout "a n'avait jamais "t' ...

On ouvrirait tous les jours o' nous serions moins forts Tous ces embryons d'amour, toutes ces aurores Sinc'res, d"masqu's, fragiles et vrais de candeur Nous revoir ainsi nous rendrait peut-"tre meilleurs ~

Elessaria had slept only a candlemark or so before she sat up on the couch in the Inn's commons. Her spirit was restless and neither her room upstairs nor her apartments yet appealed to her. Last night, suddenly it became clear when she saw Magenta, Alma and Melantha - The Dark was growing inside of her.

She slipped on her cloak and stole silently out of the Inn, the rain still falling from the night sky. The sensitive empath hurt in ways she never knew possible. She was a Servant of the Light! How could she entertain such Dark thoughts" How could she be so callous? These thoughts careened inside her pounding head while endless emotions continued their tumultuous assault within her shields.

Eless paid little heed to the direction her bare feet took her. Brambles and thorns tore at the edges of her cloak while wet, decaying leaves clung to her feet and lower legs. When a sliver of broken glass - a shard from one of the countless windows that had filled her home with light - pierced the muddy sole of her right foot, the elf realized where her path had led. She faltered as her gaze flicked over the wreckage strewn about the foundation of Asheby Manor. Strangled sobs wracked her fragile form as she sank against the cold surface of the fallen marble column. Its chill leeching into her skin and meshing with the cold that had filled her inner core. There she stayed until the cries turned to plaintive mews and the trembling caused her teeth to chatter in a pale face, streaked with blood and veiled by a curtain of soaked, matted gold hair.

——- ((Lyrics from "Des Milliers des Baisers" by Jean-Jacques Goldman))

Elessaria

Date: 2009-01-12 17:29 EST
All the dress needed was you, Eless.

My father wants to kill you.

Ce n'est ni le temps ni le lieu.

It is your wish come true, pussycat.

Breathe, cher.

But you're not alone, Eless.

She lost the baby last night.

We're here to help; Together we're stronger than alone. Swear to me that thou wilt nay hurt Piper.

Ye mean never coming back to ye...is that it"

For do not all stars eventually burn too brightly, that they thus extinguish themselves"

Don't go there, Eless.

You have to fight for it, you have to hold onto it.

Ye do not endanger anyone, Eless. We live,work, or play in Rhydin, we all know its dangers, and they do not count you my friend...

Fight the damned Darkness and let it not take the glimmer from your eyes nor the hope from your voice, nor the smile from your soft lips...

Elessaria

Date: 2009-01-13 21:55 EST
As the inky black shifted to shades of grey, Elessaria heard the echoes resound around her prone form. She recognized the voices as those of friends and loved ones from the past and the present. Or were they all the past now? The empath could not fathom her location nor the hour and with a whimper of despair, she realized she was again caught between the Veils — somewhere between Life & Death; Night & Day; Magic & Non-Magic; Light & Dark.

The Shadows danced around the elf as she struggled to sit upright; however, in contrast to her past captures, Eless was bound by ebon cords that encircled her delicate wrists and seemed to absorb even the ghostly shadows if they got to close. A matching set kept her ankles shackled to each other. They sliced at her delicate skin each time she squirmed and their bitter cold sank into her flesh, devouring the warmth from the marrow of her bones. She inhaled slowly through her nose and exhaled just as slowly. When she reigned in the cacophonay of emotions that threatened to render her unconscious again, she noticed how the magical manacles seemed to feed upon them, bleeding her nearly empty of all sentiments.

The Lady Fire of Evandar remained motionless as the Shadows seemed to coalesce. They flitted around her in a ghostly portrayal of a time in her past, their voices a mocking mimicry of more familiar ones. A rabid, red streak of lightening blinded her and she next witnessed the Servants of the Dark frolicking around the ruins of Asheby Manor. Eless could hear their thunderous assault while she watched in mute horror as they brought her into the center of the circle of their morbid dance. Her knees grazed along the stones and rocks that decorated a tiny headstone. As her petite frame wrenched in half at the blaze of pain within her belly, she read the inscription "Baby Angel Pfaal - May Heaven's Wings Embrace Her Soul."

The emotional and physical reliving of her miscarriage tore the empath's heart asunder as she collapsed over the cold, rose-colored granite. Sibilant whispers teased and taunted her until she screamed in a defiant rage. Once again she could distinguish the voices of loved ones and with a desperate wrench, the elven mage tore at the emotions running rampant through her and reached for those voices and the love they held, dragging herself from the pit of despair the only way she knew how. Cobalt blue flames surged around her, searing the bonds that had pinned her in the Abyss of the UnKnown and Elessaria added faces to the voices, then touches before unconsciousness reclaimed her.

~I've seen walls that could never be broken Come tumbling down I've heard the voice of love calling Without making a sound See I was touched by an angel The day you took my hand You know that you're the miracle That makes me everything I am

That's how love works That's how love moves Like a river running through you Sometimes it lifts you As high as Heaven It consumes you That's a given That's how love moves

Sometimes it's a whisper Sometimes it's a storm Sometimes it reaches forever With its everlasting arm

That's how love works That's how love moves Like a river running through you Sometimes it lifts you As high as Heaven It consumes you~ "That's How Love Moves"- Faith Hill