The Soothing Scent Of Earth (Elemental Awakening, Book 2)
Read The Soothing Scent Of Earth (Elemental Awakening, Book 2) Online
Authors: Nicola Claire
The Soothing Scent Of Earth
The Elemental Awakening Series, Book Two
By Nicola Claire
Copyright © 2013, Nicola Claire
All Rights Reserved
ISBN: 978-0-473-26900-5
nicolaclairebooks.blogspot.com
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organisations is entirely coincidental.
All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.
Cover Art: by Nicola Claire
Image Credit: 123RF Stock Photo
Image #
6698398
Font Credit: Last Soundtrack "Birth Of A Hero"
More books by Nicola Claire:
Kindred Series
Mixed Blessing Mystery Series
Sweet Seduction Series
Sweet Seduction Shield (Early 2014)
Elemental Awakening Series
For:
Romantics at heart.... Never stop loving.
Aeras -
Air
; one of five elements
Aether -
Quintessence
; one of five elements
Anaisthetikos
-
Anaesthetise;
a
Gi
ability to channel the essence of a plant, in order to remove a person's sentience
Athanatos -
Immortal
; or near immortal
Basilissa -
Queen
Ekmetalleftis -
Elemental
; can control one of five elements
Gi -
Earth
; one of five elements
Hederin -
Hallucinogen;
a
Gi
ability to channel the essence of a plant, in order to manipulate what a person sees/experiences
Nero -
Water
; one of five elements
Oraia -
Lovely
; term of endearment
Pateras -
Father
Pyrgos -
Castle
Pyrkagia -
Fire
; one of five elements
Rigas -
King
Stoicheio -
Element
; five power-filled elements exist
Strychnos Toxifera -
Paralytic;
a
Gi
ability to channel the essence of a plant, (Curare), in order to immobilise a person
Thisavros -
Treasure
; someone precious, an Elemental mate
And Another Day In Hell Had Begun
Mist curled around my ankles and stretched hazy fingers up my legs, making it look like I floated through clouds, not walked through a rainforest. But the sensation of being cut off from the ground beneath my feet felt real. Earth, my
Stoicheio
,
no longer talked to me.
A bone deep sense of loneliness settled within my heart. But it wasn't just the feeling of abandonment that caused such immeasurable pain. My losses went deeper than being separated from the Element that was meant to sustain me.
Theo.
His name echoed through my mind, made a whimper rise up my throat and an ache so unfathomable pierce my heart, cleave it in two. Theo was dead, so why was I walking through a mist shrouded forest in search of something I knew could not exist?
Floor dwelling animals scurried away from my path, the sound of their claws scratching over dirt and fallen leaves sent a bolt of familiarity through me. But it had been weeks, possibly months, since I'd actually touched a creature of the Amazon and felt my soul cry out with joy. They ran from me now, as though I was the devil.
The boughs of the vine laden trees flanking the trail I walked - no floated - on leaned in closer, blocking out what little light was available overhead. Darkness edged in from the corners of my eyes, my vision dimming, but not yet succumbing to the void I so often found myself in these days. I pushed on, forcefully expelling the desire to give in.
They had taken so much already, too much already, they would not take my mind too.
But that argument was debatable, as I ducked under a branch, the hiss of a snake entwined around it reaching my ears, and stepped out into a clearing, that in normal circumstances would not exist in this dense parcel of flora and fauna.
I sucked in a deep breath through my nose seeking the soothing scent of Earth, but it was always just outside of my reach. A temptation that gnawed at my psyche, threatened to suck all reason from my mind, while all life was slowly seeping out from my soul.
The emptiness was excruciating.
Separating reality from fantasy was so hard. For a moment I just stood there and took in the scene before me and tried to see reason where there was none. But one thing reminded me that this was not real, as conversely one thing insisted it was.
The fact that I could not scent the Earth was a clue. I knew that when awake the Earth's calming scent alluded me. Yet when I dreamed it should have been there. A dream is something you can create subconsciously. My subconscious was crying out for Earth's cool scent.
Real.
Then there was the fact that I had not walked amongst Earth's creations for too long to count now. Locked away in a room without windows. A room without plants. A room without access to the Earth. And yet here I was surrounded by nature, not quite embraced by it, but close enough to remember what that sensation actually felt like.
Fantasy.
For several seconds I swayed between the two.
Real.
Fantasy.
Real.
Fantasy.
But like every night for the past six weeks the argument was made moot as soon as my eyes landed on the rose.
A scarlet red newly budding rose on a long green stem lay across a flat stone. My breath hitched in my throat. I'd known it would be there, but the pain of that knowledge did not surpass the pain of seeing it again. It meant one thing; this...
this mirage
was false. A fantasy. Not real.
I stumbled a step forward, making the mist swirl and retreat, and then regroup at mid shin. Blanketing the Earth beneath my feet, reminding me I was on my own. As if I needed that reminder.
I curled my hands into fists at my sides and stared at the perfect, beckoning flower that had taunted me unmercifully for so many nights. I knew this rose. I'd seen it many times in the Parnell Rose Gardens on Gladstone Road when I went for my early morning run. It was called Millennium. Or more commonly:
Everlasting Love.
That should have been enough to break me, but it was by no means all there was to crush my dwindling strength and shatter my broken heart beyond that which is reparable. This rose was bred in New Zealand and was not native to South America.
Fantasy.
But knowing this and being able to stop what always happened next was impossible.
I staggered across the clearing, my hand outstretched, reaching for the impossible. Reaching for Theo. Because no matter what I told myself I always believed this rose was from him.
Impossible
. Theo was dead. Had been for three months. This was a fantasy, a dream, a useless desire and nothing else.
The rose was not from Theo, but then why did I dream of it every night?
My fingers wrapped around the thorny stem, a prick of my flesh and blood welled in my palm, coating the stalk. The petals quivered, my breath was sucked in; preparation for what would come. A sense of anticipation invaded the clearing. Animals ceased all movements, branches stilled in the humid breeze, leaves floated to the ground without so much as a whisper.
And the rose burst into flames in my hand, burning, searing, licking the flesh away from my wrist, up my arm, until my whole body was ablaze.
I screamed, sucked in more fire, which felt like Fire - that's with a capital F - and sat bolt upright in bed.
My room was dark and devoid of personality. The air stale. The floor concrete. A prison fit for a
Gi
.
Real.
And another day in Hell had begun.
And It Was Never Going To Be Enough
Ice cold water splashed over my face making me splutter and choke on inhaled droplets. I coughed to clear my clogged lungs, and struggled to lift my head from where it lay defeated, chin to chest, lolling slightly from side to side.
I was so tired.
Another bucket full of the frigid liquid aimed directly at my face, followed by the clattering of the metal container as my 'interrogator' threw it across the room.
"How many more will it take?" the man's voice purred next to my ear.
He enjoyed this, there was no denying the thrill he got out of torturing me each day. I had no way of knowing if the sun had crested the top of the trees by the time he walked into my cell, but I guessed it was only just on dawn, as he couldn't possibly wait any longer.
"It's simple," he said from behind my other shoulder, "tell us what we want to know and we'll set you free."
"Liar," I murmured, knowing freaking well that even if I could tell them what they wanted to know, I would be killed, not freed. They saw me as a threat, why else would they lock me away in a windowless room, cut me off from the Earth which fuelled me, and question me unmercifully?
"Tsk, tsk," he admonished, as he finally made the circuit of my chair to appear before me.
Long brown hair floated unnaturally around his shoulders, piercing dark blue eyes which constantly flashed a vibrant green, blinding in their intensity, and a physique that screamed strength, menace, superiority.
His long, thick fingers reached out and cupped my chin, forcing my face up to his. I closed my eyes, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing my fear.
"Must we do this everyday?" he asked reasonably, as though what would come next was avoidable. It wasn't, I'd tried various responses to his questions over the past three months and
always
I ended up doused in
Gi
essence.
"Give it your best shot," I spat weakly, receiving a chuckle for my pathetic attempt at rebellion.
"Very well, but remember, this can all end. You need only tell us what we want to hear."
But that was the problem. To tell them what they needed to hear, I'd have to lie. And even though it would be a falsehood,
they
would believe it.
His fingers stroked my jaw, my chin, almost tenderly. But the sensation they created was not one of comfort, but a rolling wave of increasing dread.
"Hederin,"
he whispered, his lips so close to mine I felt the wash of heat as he spoke.
For a brief moment I was suspended in the beauty that is the Earth, as
Gi Stoicheio
flowed through me. This was one of the only times now, that I felt any connection to my Element. And it was borrowed, false, a trick. A glorious sensation hiding the evil beneath.
I sucked in a deep breath of air, floating on the bliss the moment gave me. Hearing the
Gi
interrogator's humourless laugh. And then the world shifted around me as the dank, dark cell we had been in disappeared.