Reborn

The wind whipped wildly across the hills, tossing leaves to scatter amongst the various debris. With one hand gripping upon her hood she trekked downwards, feet stumbling on the loose gravel, she dared not look back. There within her arm, tucked between it and her chest was a dark, worn black leather bound book that she clung to desperately. The long tattered material of her dress danced between her bare feet as she slid down the gravel embankment running toward the coast. With each crash of waves atop the shore becoming louder as she approached the salt spray embraced her with it’s trickle across cloth and flesh. Suddenly the echo of a screech could be heard in the distance, a heart wrenching guttural wail that gripped her at her core. The sound was so powerful it was as if her body responded instantly, crumbling to the ground as it seemed to take her breath from her.

With long ebony tendrils trickling from beneath her hood she fought to raise her head as eyes peered out from beneath her strands focused towards a cluster of rocks not far from where she had fallen. Lips, dried and cracked parted ever so slightly as she inhaled a slow draw of breath before speaking “ b’æḍauye, nerɔi r̂üchǔ” It was an ancient dialect that only was passed on through the generations by other of her kin . This phrase fell from her lips repeatedly until her body began to slowly break free of whatever held her there. In almost a phased state of existence her body pushed through the air, fingers and toes digging into the sand that felt like cement as if it was frozen in time.

Each breath was a battle as her diaphragm would expand feeling as if within the confines of restraints to do so. Each moment passing the bellow of thrashing air could be heard closing the distance followed once more by the grueling shriek taunting and grasping to once more gain control. “v́üzhæ , nedhaurɜɜ chyeḍœ “ free hand gripped the stone pulling her body towards the cluster as she repeated this phrase over and over again. The sands beneath the stones began quivering just as ankles felt the boney cold grip encompass them. Without hesitation or second thought she took the book from within the crook of her arm and tossed it into the cluster of stones which seemed to consume it . Turning within the clasp of the creature she stared blatantly into its eyes “meɦeiśer̂ǔ zh́üthe fe” and with that her hand raised up and a brilliant flash of light engulfed them both.

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The joyful music of the festival was playing off in the distance as the sun set atop the horizon filling the skies and waters with an enchanting array of fire like radiance. The glow from the festivities lit the trees and nearby buildings with a decorative collaboration of jewel tones that could be seen behind Deirdra as she walked toward the shoreline. Taking a moment to catch her breath after the dancing and to shake free any loose flowers that hand tumbled into her waist long curls cascading down her back like the flicker of embers on a freshly lit fire.

The laughter erupted as a few more girls came running along the beach , ribbons held high in their hands as the trains flew above their head in a dance within the last reach of the sun's rays. Lowering to the sand, Deirdra leaned back into a rock as she watched the sun set, and reveled in the sounds of the water rising and falling along the shore. With fingers dipping into the cool sand she paused, that wasn’t sand at all. Looking over she saw something dark and hand grasped it pulling it to her. With a quick shake and dust off of it’s surface she realized it was a book, one stitched by hand with pressed engravings in the ebony leather.

The world around her seemed to drown out as fingers slowly traced along the leather, her heart slowly began to speed up as did her breathing with heightened rise and fall of her chest. Gripping into the edge of the cover she pushed to open it . Nothing. Pushing harder. Nothing. A soft almost whimper expelled from full pouty lips as the book refused to divulge its contents to her. With that the sun's rays dipped fully behind the surface of the water leaving just the glow from the celebration and from the stars to travel by, so she pushed herself up , gathered the book and hid it within the folds of her skirt before dusting off and making her way back to the party.

The book and the secrets would have to wait until she had more time to study it. Entering into the village heart the warmth of the lamps and the festivities fully engulfed her as arm is grabbed and she is pulled once more into the dancing fray. This celebration was that to mark the beginning of the harvest time before winter set in , it would last a full week before ending with all the harvest being preserved for the coming cold season.

While the village was bustling about, Deirdra slipped from the comfort of her bundle feeling for the book she kept with her all night , secure with it in hand she quietly entered the eating room grabbing a muffin and slipping out the door. With frazzled fire like curls framing her face she quickly wrapped it in a sloppy bun with tendrils trickling about her shoulders making her way out into the forest to once more tackle the mysterious book in her possession.

When she finally felt secure in her privacy she pulled the leather-bound book from within the folds of her skirt and placed it on her lap just staring at it. The brighter day allowed her to see in more detail the pressed leather engravings , fingers traced the imprints but she had no idea what they meant. Their intricate patterns, woven within each other created an unbreakable connection that traversed the entire cover without one break in the lines.

Turning the book over in her lap she noticed that the lines seemed to almost flow in a particular direction convalescing at a symbol in the center of the binding. Staring at the symbol she did not at first recognize .Her eyes phased and the symbol seemed to dance upon the leather drawing her further into its presence. Within her mind the lullaby her mom sang to her when she was just a babe echoed hauntingly. Deirdra hadn’t heard this song since the passing of her mom and was unaware of the deeper meaning. From her lips subconsciously she sang the words with her mind and awareness in that of a trance-like state unaware of her actions and the results.

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The brilliant flash of light that surrounded both the creature and the woman with the long flowing raven strands seemed to slow as if being sung into a lull. The voice of Deirdra could be heard, her lullaby breaking through time and space, absorbing that brilliant light from the woman. From within her body came a translucent wisp that ebbed with a pulsating force leaving her body to puddle atop the sands, lifeless beneath the creature who dissipated in a crumple of ashes into the air. That same wisp manifested slowly from the book as it filled Deirdra, enveloping her with the warmth and euphoric bliss that sent her mind reeling with an unexpected emotional overload.

Through her mind rapidly played pictures, sounds, music, voices, places, a random array of knowledge that seemed to be passed on for thousands of years. The emotional load caused her body to tremble slightly, tears began streaming down her face as breathing became sporadic. The wealth of information that encompassed her mind, her heart, her soul, left her motionless, curled in a ball atop the foliage well into the setting sun.

With a flutter of eyelashes she slowly awoke with the book open beneath her hand. There she watched as words began to fill the pages right before her eyes. The language was none she knew but the symbols she recognized but didn’t know where from. Turning the pages she paused on one, a very familiar symbol which meant to prosper decorated it’s pages as her finger traced it. Subconsciously her lips uttered the name and the words that were slowly filling the page even though she knew not the language she read or spoke.

With a shake and rough vibration the book began to jump and bounce from her onto the ground until in a violent eruption of money began shooting from it’s pages into the air and falling around her, there must have been close to 20,000 in currency that continually poured from the book. Deirdra had fallen backwards as eyes stayed wide watching the event unfold, but unbeknownst to her, this was draining her, pulling from her very essence as the world slowly faded and she fell unconscious.

When she finally rustled from sleep she realized she wasn’t outside, her hand quickly feeling around for the book which was safely in the folds of her skirt. Looking around she noticed it was a small room, a plate of food and drink was on the table beside her, the odd smell of spices filled the air . “hello?” she called out while slowly pressing up from the bed and standing up “excuse me is anybody there?” from another room you could hear a commotion as a woman peeked around the corner “OH good! You’re awake then deary, come on let us have a look at ya “ looking around Deirdra saw nobody else, so she was a bit confused “where am I? How did I..” she began but was quickly interrupted “how did you get here? Oh dear me, you have no idea “ she took Deirdras hand leading her over to the fireplace where she ushered her to sit .

“Now then what do you remember of your mother?” the question seemed a bit odd coming from a stranger but the whole day had been odd so she took a moment before responding “I remember her tea always 2 dollups of honey, and her skin was so soft and always glowing … oh and she smelled of gardenia “ with each memory her smile got broader and broader “yes yes child all that is good, but what things did she teach you?” the older woman questioned, her silver hair being readjusted into a large bun atop her head with random wisps escaping. “Oh, well she taught me how to cook and sew and garden and…” washing over her face was a look of exhaustion as the color slowly seemed to be fading “ oh my.. This is worse than I thought “ the old woman quickly rushed to her side just as Deirdra fainted into her arms.