2nd of Glade, 123 AS
Location: Lyra's Dark Demesne
Time seemed to move unnervingly fast to Lyra. It seemed only yesterday that she had begun her preparations, yet now when she looked down at her swollen middle she was reminded how near to the end she was. She was a short distance from the center of her domain, in a place where the trees grew close and their long whip like vines hung nearly to the ground, creating a curtain of bluish white leaves that she had to brush aside as she floated. Over the last two seasons other creatures had begun to settle in her influence. Birds the color of bone watched her with faintly glowing eyes as she walked past, and something large near the river to west stirred and made the ground rumble with its weight. Glowing orbs of fire, all of varying colors and intensity flittered through the trees and sparse underbrush, giving off a sense of vibrancy and life despite their lacking form. Like her child which even now kicked restlessly inside of her, the forest and its inhabitants were a part of Lyra. She felt them, and if she extended herself she knew that she could use them as she did her own limbs.
This was much the reason she had come here this day. Like the animals of the soul forest, the plants as well held a connection to her which Lyra had only just begun to recognize. She paused within a small circle of trees, collecting herself as black smoke swirled around her, gently lapping against the mottled grey, white and black bark of the trees. Today she would start the final preparations.
Reaching out with a hand, Lyra touched one of the hanging vines near her head. It, and the tree it was attached too, shuddered every so slightly. A thin link began to form, and with a thought Lyra willed the tree to move. Its branches lifted, vines curling to wrap around its trunk as the willow slowly shifted backwards from Lyra's touch. A smile grew on the outsider's lips, and she raised her other hand, thin lines of black smoke flowing out to encircle the trees around her, and slowly they began move. Roots pulled themselves from the earth, pushing and pulling their trunks outward as the circle grew wide and wider. The limbs of the trees stretched up and outward, vines wrapping together to form a canopy as branches braided through one another. With a hand Lyra traced symbols in the air, and where the imaginary line overlapped the braids the trees reformed themselves, matching the symbols with their branches and vines.
Beneath her bare free Lyra felt the roots of the trees extending outward, braiding with one another as they too formed pictographs of unknown design. Breathing in Lyra touched on the power of the mark on her sternum, the mark of her child's bother, the mark of the void, and drew out a silver of its power. She ran the aether through the knitting braids of living plant life, and from its power blue flames lit along branches at the edges of the clearing. She stood now in the center of a clearing several 30 feet in diameter, illuminated by blue fire that cast odd shadows that seemed to dance of their own accord.
Looking down Lyra sighed and rested a hand on her stomach, a feeling of fatigue washing over her as she slowly floated up to rest a moment.
Location: Lyra's Dark Demesne
Time seemed to move unnervingly fast to Lyra. It seemed only yesterday that she had begun her preparations, yet now when she looked down at her swollen middle she was reminded how near to the end she was. She was a short distance from the center of her domain, in a place where the trees grew close and their long whip like vines hung nearly to the ground, creating a curtain of bluish white leaves that she had to brush aside as she floated. Over the last two seasons other creatures had begun to settle in her influence. Birds the color of bone watched her with faintly glowing eyes as she walked past, and something large near the river to west stirred and made the ground rumble with its weight. Glowing orbs of fire, all of varying colors and intensity flittered through the trees and sparse underbrush, giving off a sense of vibrancy and life despite their lacking form. Like her child which even now kicked restlessly inside of her, the forest and its inhabitants were a part of Lyra. She felt them, and if she extended herself she knew that she could use them as she did her own limbs.
This was much the reason she had come here this day. Like the animals of the soul forest, the plants as well held a connection to her which Lyra had only just begun to recognize. She paused within a small circle of trees, collecting herself as black smoke swirled around her, gently lapping against the mottled grey, white and black bark of the trees. Today she would start the final preparations.
Reaching out with a hand, Lyra touched one of the hanging vines near her head. It, and the tree it was attached too, shuddered every so slightly. A thin link began to form, and with a thought Lyra willed the tree to move. Its branches lifted, vines curling to wrap around its trunk as the willow slowly shifted backwards from Lyra's touch. A smile grew on the outsider's lips, and she raised her other hand, thin lines of black smoke flowing out to encircle the trees around her, and slowly they began move. Roots pulled themselves from the earth, pushing and pulling their trunks outward as the circle grew wide and wider. The limbs of the trees stretched up and outward, vines wrapping together to form a canopy as branches braided through one another. With a hand Lyra traced symbols in the air, and where the imaginary line overlapped the braids the trees reformed themselves, matching the symbols with their branches and vines.
Beneath her bare free Lyra felt the roots of the trees extending outward, braiding with one another as they too formed pictographs of unknown design. Breathing in Lyra touched on the power of the mark on her sternum, the mark of her child's bother, the mark of the void, and drew out a silver of its power. She ran the aether through the knitting braids of living plant life, and from its power blue flames lit along branches at the edges of the clearing. She stood now in the center of a clearing several 30 feet in diameter, illuminated by blue fire that cast odd shadows that seemed to dance of their own accord.
Looking down Lyra sighed and rested a hand on her stomach, a feeling of fatigue washing over her as she slowly floated up to rest a moment.
