“The Avatar of Earth is here?”
Eleanor heard a strange catch in the High Lady’s voice
“Yes,” Conlan replied. The High Lady scanned the silent crowd around them, her eyes moving unseeing over Eleanor as she knelt on the floor at Cander’s side; she saw Freddie and stared at him, appraising him.
Conlan’s smile grew a little wider. “This is Freddie, Avatar of Fire. The Avatar of Earth is over there,” he said, pointing at Eleanor. Next to her, Cander gasped. Thinking he was in more pain she turned back towards him. The pain in his eyes had been replaced temporarily with awe.
“You are the Avatar of Earth?” he whispered.
“Yes,” she answered, embarrassment heating her cheeks.
“Avatar of Earth, approach us,” the High Lady commanded, staring down at her.
“Cander is hurt, he needs me to keep pressure on his wound,” Eleanor replied. There was another collective gasp from the audience.
Oh, what have I done now?
“Eleanor, you must not refuse a request from the council,” Cander whispered.
“I will help him now, Avatar of Earth,” Remic said, applying pressure as she removed her hand.
“Just Eleanor,” she muttered as she reluctantly stood and walked to stand in front of the council. She looked at the three old Dwarves sat in front of her; they all looked back with a mixture of awe and surprise.
“You are the Avatar of Earth?” the High Lady asked.
“Yes, my name is Eleanor,” she replied, pleased that her fear did not show in her voice; it felt strange to admit her true nature in front of so many strangers. There was silence as the council looked at her.
“I had expected you to be... bigger,” the High Lady said seriously.
Eleanor heard Conlan’s quiet chuckling behind her.
“Can you prove who you are?” The High Lady sounded a little uncertain, her glance flashing to Amelia. Eleanor looked at the devastation around her.
“I am not sure that would be a good idea, as I have no wish to cause your people further injury,” she replied. The High Lady glared at her, and the silence in the chamber seemed to deepen.
“Then it seems we must take you at your word, Avatar of Earth,” the High Lady said finally, sounding less than happy about it.
“Eleanor,” Eleanor corrected without thinking. The High Lady’s eyes narrowed. Eleanor smiled apologetically. “My name is Eleanor, High Lady,” she said, putting a soft growl of subservient apology through the sentence and dropping her head.
“Eleanor… You come to claim the Talisman of Earth, but you must prove yourself worthy of this,” the High Lady said, smiling at her slyly. Eleanor did not like the look. “You must pass a
maldra scelpa
.” There were more gasps from around the chamber, and low-level murmuring broke the silence. Eleanor gave Conlan a questioning look. His concerned frown told her it was not good.
“It’s a way of testing people to see if they are worthy to enter your group or tribe. The Elves have these tests for their young to perform before they can consider themselves fully functioning members of the tribe, and it seems Dwarves do too,” he said in English.
“What do I have to do?” Eleanor asked, fear tearing through her insides.
“I don’t know,” he said. Turning to the High Lady, he switched back to Dwarfish. “What must Eleanor do?”
“She must remain for four days and four nights alone within the Earth. While she is there she must ask the Earth for Her song, and when she emerges she must sing the Earth’s song for us,” the High Lady said solemnly.
“I’ve got to sing?” Eleanor asked, so horrified she momentarily switched back to English. Conlan looked at her, so many emotions moving rapidly across his face that Eleanor had no hope of working out what he was thinking.
“That’s the bit that’s worrying you?” he asked, bemused.
“I can’t sing, Conlan,” Eleanor whispered, feeling the embarrassment turning her cheeks red.
“You don’t have to do this,” Conlan said quietly.
Eleanor sighed; she did have to do it, if they wanted her Talisman this was the cost, but the fact that Conlan had offered her a way out made her smile. She turned to face the council.
“I will do as required,” she said slowly.
The High Lady nodded. “Remic, Alum will care for Cander, so please see that the Avatar… that Eleanor, is prepared for the
maldra scelpa
.” Remic nodded to the High Lady as Alum removed his sword from Will’s throat and came to take Remic’s place, several other Dwarves crowding around Cander. Remic rose and moved to Eleanor’s side.
“You have no idea what you have just agreed to,” he muttered.
Eleanor felt her fear creeping up a notch as he led her from the chamber, the others following behind.
Remic took them to a large round room, which reminded Eleanor of the main cave at home in size and shape. Benches lined the walls and two tunnels on the far side of the chamber led off from it into ominous darkness.
“Wait here, I will fetch someone to help you,” Remic said. Eleanor nodded, taking a seat; it was like sitting and waiting for the dentist. Will sat on one of the benches, still holding Amelia’s body to his. Eleanor reached out a hand and gently stroked Amelia’s soft black hair.
“Is she OK?”
Will nodded. “She’ll be fine, she just needs to sleep for a while.”
“Making the air move must be really hard work,” Eleanor said. Will did not respond. Eleanor raised her eyes to his, he looked distressed, guilty. Not understanding, Eleanor held his gaze.
“Moving the air didn’t cause her to collapse, did it?” Freddie said quietly.
Will dropped his head, shaking it. “I stripped her of her energy,” he whispered. Shocked silence filled the room.
“I nearly killed you when I did that,” Eleanor said, horrified that Will could do that to Amelia. Will raised his head, anger flashing through his eyes.
“I was careful, Eleanor, but I had no choice. She was lost in the powerful feeling of the air moving around her – she wasn’t listening to me and she was going to kill somebody.”
“You did the right thing,” Conlan said softly. Will nodded, his head dropping again as he hugged Amelia closer to him.
“Yeah, Will, Amelia will be glad you stopped her,” Freddie said, placing a reassuring hand on Will’s shoulder.
Will lifted his head again, giving Freddie a sad smile. “I hope so.”
Freddie turning to Conlan. “So what’s going on, Eleanor has to pass some sort of test?”
Conlan nodded. “She has to pass a
maldra scelpa
. She is required to spend four days alone in the Earth, and when she emerges she must sing the ‘Earth’s Song’.”
Freddie raised an eyebrow, turning back to Eleanor. “And you agreed to this?”
She shrugged and nodded.
“Eleanor, have you considered what four days locked up alone is going to do to you?” Freddie asked.
I need your support, Freddie, don’t tell me I can’t do this.
“She’ll be fine,” Conlan said, but Eleanor could hear the undercurrent of doubt in his voice, and the others would hear it too.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” she murmured, unable to look at him. Freddie glared at Conlan and looked as if he was about to say something more when a young Dwarf woman entered the room.
“Avatar of Earth,” she said, bowing towards Eleanor. “Please come with me and I will help you prepare.” Eleanor stood, walking quickly towards her before anyone could say anything else. Without looking back she followed the woman out of the room.
“My name is Eleanor.”
The woman glanced back and smiled. “I am Callie, sister to Cander.”
“I am sorry your brother was injured. Is he going to be OK?” Eleanor asked, putting an apologetic growl through her voice.
Callie stopped and turned to look at her. “Our healers are confident that he will recover. Thank you for the care you showed him.”
Eleanor smiled. “When you see him, please will you tell him I hope he gets better soon.”
Callie nodded, returning the smile.
“That will please him.”
They emerged into a small room, a screen blocking the door. Stepping around it, Eleanor was hit by a wall of steam. She soon saw why. In the middle of the floor in front of her was a large circular hole, the sides of which were made from the same polished stone of the council chamber. It was filled with water so hot that the steam was filling the room, condensing on the low ceiling above. Candles lit the room, giving it an inviting glow.
“Before the
maldra scelpa
you must bathe,” Callie said. She pointed to where Eleanor could find soap and towels, and then she left her in peace.
Delighted, Eleanor stripped and sank into the hot water. It was almost too hot, her skin quickly turning pink. However, it felt so good that she immersed herself, moving carefully until her body was more acclimatised to the heat. She slowly lathered the soap, washing herself thoroughly and allowing the water to ease away the aches and pains that travelling had created. Once she was satisfied that her body was clean, she bent her head back and washed her hair. She was shocked at how brittle and dry it felt, not to mention how much dirt came out of it, and by the time she had finished the water was dark brown.
Hauling herself out, Eleanor grabbed a soft piece of cloth left as a towel and began to dry herself.
“Eleanor, may I enter?” Callie’s voice came from behind the screen.
“Yes, Callie,” Eleanor responded, wrapping the towel around her. Callie came round the screen; she carried a pair of brown leather sandals and a piece of delicate-looking white material over her arm. Eleanor looked suspiciously at the material; Callie saw the look and smiled.
“These are the clothes you must wear.”
She placed the sandals on the floor in front of her and held the material up for Eleanor to see. With a soft swish it dropped to the floor, held up by flimsy shoulder straps in Callie’s hand.
“I have to wear this?” Eleanor asked incredulously.
Callie’s face dropped. “You do not like it?”
“It is beautiful, Callie, but it’s not something I would normally wear; I will feel very... vulnerable in it.”
“The test you face is a test of the mind, so what you wear is of little matter to whether you pass or not, but it is considered respectful that you enter the Earth in purity of body and spirit,” Callie said. Eleanor sighed, nodding.
In for a penny, in for a pound.
She carefully slipped the dress over her head, and the thin material actually felt pleasant as it fell over her still pink skin. It fitted perfectly, almost like it was made for her, the hem just brushing the tops of her feet. As she moved, the soft, silky material whispered over her. She felt ridiculous. Callie brushed her damp hair using small wooden combs to pull it back off her face, something else Eleanor did not like. When she was done, Callie moved back in front to inspect her work. Smiling, she nodded her approval.
“You are ready,” she said, squeezing Eleanor’s hand.
No, I’m nowhere near ready
,
Eleanor thought, but she nodded and followed Callie out of the room.
She was working so hard to fight her growing fear that she did not pay attention to where they were going until she found herself entering the antechamber where she had left the others. As she entered, Freddie and Conlan stood, staring at her. Will raised his head, his eyes getting a little wider as a grin broke over his face. The silence made her feel uncomfortable. Eleanor glared at them.
“I’m going to hit the first person who laughs,” she snarled.
“Not laughing, Eleanor, you look... Wow!” Freddie said, a slow, slightly goofy smile spreading across his face. Conlan just stared, his face blank, eyes wide. Feeling utterly embarrassed, Eleanor dropped her head as her cheeks turned crimson.
“It’s just a dress, Freddie,” she muttered.
“It’s not the dress…” Freddie started but then stopped as Eleanor shot him a deeply exasperated look. Remic entered the room; he smiled at Eleanor, his gaze running slowly down and then back up her body, eyes finally coming back to hers full of amused appreciation.
“Follow me,” he said, still smiling as he headed towards one of the dark tunnels at the far end of the room. As she walked past him Eleanor glanced at Conlan. The hard, emotionless expression was stamped firmly on his face, but Eleanor could see his tightly clenched fists held rigid at his side; he was not happy about this. She gave him a small smile before the dark tunnel absorbed her.
Earth's Vessel
As the darkness flowed around her, Remic reached a hand back for hers, leading her forward. She closed her eyes, trusting him.
“Do not be frightened, Eleanor, I will let you into a secret. It may feel like you are alone, but you will be watched over, you will be safe,” he whispered. Eleanor did not respond; instead, she gave his hand a squeeze. They walked a long way. Eleanor could not be sure, but it felt like the tunnel was sloping down. The further they walked, the warmer it got, until Eleanor could feel the sweat running down to the small of her back, collecting around her ribs and under the swell of her breasts. Remic stopped, taking both of Eleanor’s hands.
“We are here. We must crawl the rest of the way – if you kneel you will be able to feel the sides of the tunnel we must crawl through,” he said. Eleanor stepped away from him, trembling.
“You can do this, Eleanor,” Remic said softly. Eleanor nodded, kneeling down, reaching blindly towards the wall in front of her, fingers brushing rough stone. Remic placed his hand on hers and slowly moved it down until she felt the small opening in the rock. The space was just big enough that she could crawl through, her shoulders and head brushing the sides. She began crawling forward gingerly, her progress hampered by the dress; she could hear Remic following at a polite distance. After about thirty feet, she bumped into a solid wall in front of her. The tunnel at this point seemed a little wider, the roof a little higher but not by much; it was still claustrophobic and the heat was stifling.