loraine

The song called to her. The melody, ethereal and foreign, beckoned her on; and unable to resist, she followed it.

Terra walked the corridors of the Waverly home, the estate left to her by her uncle a few years earlier. The mansion became her passion, uncovering a host of family secrets: mysterious writings of an ancient language where she recognized names of her ancestors, and rich paintings depicting fascinating rituals and scenes.

She murmured a greeting to a passing servant, barely noticing the ancestral eyes that followed her from the portraits lining the walls. Not even the surreal painting of Great Aunt Loraine could pull her attention from the music for more than a few seconds.

Loraine stood within a circle of stones nestled in the woods. Terra felt as though she should know the location of the picture’s scenery, but its secret eluded her. Why was Loraine pouring water into the circle? And what of the two harps dangling from her necklace? What did they represent?

But none of that mattered now. Now, there was only the music. The melody and words wrapped her in their cocoon. The rooms, paintings, and servants… all passed in a haze of disinterest as the music whispered to her soul.

The music led Terra to the reading room on the second floor; to the fireplace along the far wall where the song tuned a promise of revealing a secret to her. She reached up and removed the clock, setting it on the end table.

She glided along the melodious waves. Her body obeyed unspoken commands, ones whispered to her soul; and she reached to push the brick behind the place now vacated by the clock.

The fireplace slid inward, revealing a secret passage. Terra passed into a darkened tunnel, broken at regular intervals by shafts of light that shone from hidden windows into the various rooms of the mansion.

The music pulled her deeper into itself, drawing her further along the passage. The floor slanted downward and she imagined herself spiraling to the center of the earth. Gradually, the floor leveled out and she came to a wooden door.

Beyond the door, moonlight illuminated the woods. The music drifted away from her, calling her to follow, its melody pulling at her soul and promising to show her a secret she longed to know.

The wet leaves of the maple trees shimmered in the moonlight, twinkling to the melody of the song. A gentle breeze blew through the branches, inviting her to join the lighted dance until Terra’s spirit wanted to glitter there too.

The music drew her into the woods. Heedless of danger, she walked as though gliding on melody, her feet barely touching the ground. Moonlight brightened the pathway before her – a silver tunnel.

The covered pathway journeyed around a corner and up a hill, appearing as if it followed a beam of moonlight. The song beckoned her urgently on, its melody rising to a higher crescendo. Upwards, she left the trail and rode the effulgence, to step off inside a clearing surrounded by trees of white and purple leaves.

The moon hovered above, so large it looked as if she could reach out and touch it. Its luminous rays revealed the entire clearing as if it was day. Trees released their leaves in a colorful rain.

The music softened to a quiet hum, and she heard the gentle splash of a waterfall. Between two trees a rocky formation jutted from which water cascaded into a stone basin at waist level. The water’s surface rippled and gently lapped at the rim of the rocky pool, without overflowing.

Terra reached out and let the water flow over her hand, its touch cool and tingling. She then recognized the golden pitcher sitting at the basin’s edge; the same one the picture of her Great Aunt Loraine depicted. Draped over its handle hung the necklace with the twin harps.

She took the necklace and placed it around her neck and dipped the pitcher into the water, filling it to the top. She then turned and saw the stone circles from the same painting. The soft hum of the music combined with the gentle sound of the water combined to draw her to the top of the circle stones.

As Terra looked down, she saw that the platform she stood upon had been sculpted to form three concentric circles, each larger than the other with the middle one the smallest and with a round center within it. On impulse, she poured the water into the circle’s heart as her Great Aunt Loraine did in the painting.

The water bubbled and spiraled down around the other circles, its gurgles mixing with the rising tempo of the music. Winds tore at the treetops, flinging white and purple leaves down around her, yet not even a breeze touched her. A hiss and a boom sounded from the center of the circle.

A force flung her from the platform and she hovered in the air, before gently floating down to the ground. Heart thumping, she found her balance and stayed on her feet, but she felt no fear as she watched the platform she had just been thrust from.

Vast amounts of steam hissed from where she had poured the water and coalesced into the shape of a person. The mist dissipated, leaving Great Aunt Loraine behind. The woman’s blond hair fell down her back and shoulders in lustrous waves, and the woman smiled openly at her.

“Welcome, Terra,” she said in a musical voice, the sound of harps playing with her words.

“Great Aunt Loraine?”

“Yes, it was me who called you here.”

“Why?” Terra looked around the moonlit clearing nestled in its purple and white bedding. “And where is here?”

“You are my descendent and the one chosen to guard the way and guide those in need.”

“Guard what way? Guide who? Where is this?” Terra insisted.

“This is the gateway to Yeleninim, the land of the fairies.” Loraine pointed behind her where the moon shone a brighter ray down to reveal a doorway. From within flew two hand sized fairies; golden of hair and their pert faces smiling, they fluttered to her and spiraled around her body.

“But…” she said as she listened to the musical laughter the small beings made, entranced by the colors sparkling in the moonlight from their wings, “why fairies?”

“They are the guardians of good and the muses of creativity for many, and we are their guardians.”

“Who am I to guard this path?”

“Read the writings within your home and you will learn.” Loraine motioned with her hand to the fairies and they flew back through the doorway, waving to Terra.

“But those are ancient writings,” Terra insisted. “I can’t understand any of them, except for a few names.”

“You possess the twin harps. They will help you understand.” With her last word, the image of Loraine faded and then vanished.

“No! I don’t understand!” Terra cried as she reached out her hand to her Great Aunt Loraine, and then darkness descended upon her.