Star Scion: The Mortal Realms Trilogy, Book 2

Herald of the Seldarine

"Open your eyes," said the soothing voice.

Oriander blinked slowly. She was laying on a very soft patch of moss in a deep, and very green, forest. The hum of the insects and wind blown branches silenced when the light entered the pupils of her eyes. Vision drowned out the other senses.

Last she remembered, she was holding onto a strange angelic looking man, flying east. She remember the clouds brushing her cheeks and making her skin feel cool. The rhythmic beat of the man's wings, whom she remembered was named Celestriun, had put her to sleep.

Now, awaking to his voice, she saw the man again. He knelt beside her and rested the palm of his hand on her forehead. The touch was gentle, but when her eyes focused on him, he stood up and back away. There was no emotion to read in his face.

Beside Celestriun stood a type of man Oriander had not seen in years. It had the legs of a goat and the body of a young man. His kind were called satyrs, and there were many of his kind in the Feywild.

"This is Kalamantapolous. He is a friend."

Oriander sat up and brought herself into a standing position. Something about this place was familiar to her. The smell and the texture of the air brought back memories from a nonexistent part of her mind. It was a memory that she would never be able to place, because it belonged to a former self. Still, it brought her comfort to know that she was home again.

"Call me Kal," The satyr said with a smile. He stepped closer to Oriander and placed his hands on her shoulders. Kal's eyes looked her up and down and the smile widened.

"It is remarkable," he said to Celestriun as though Oriander wasn't there.

"Excuse me," she said. "What is remarkable?"

Looking embarrassed, his gaze returned to her as he let her go. "Forgive me Ori... I mean, Oriander." Kal walked over to the edge of the small clearing and turned to address her again. In his hand was a small multi chambered flute.

"I have touched the magic that flows from the heavens, and I have played for the unopened blossoms across worlds. But it is the mortal spirit that continues to fascinate me." He pointed to her chest. "Your spirit is unique. Never have I seen a gift like this."

Oriander had a vague memory of names and certain faces. She even remembered part of how she came to be in Faerun. "They say I am two in one, the 'Dualist Soul,' yet I only feel half of them at a time... I am home, but I do not know this place."

As tears began welling in Oriander's eyes, the two men could hear her heartbeat quicken and her muscles tensed. As she continued speaking there was a fire in her eyes.

"I have come to kill the diamond queen." She forced out between clenched teeth.

The satyr nodded calmly as he placed the flute to his lips. "You are a piece of a much larger puzzle. Listen as I sing your song."

And as the first notes exited the flute, two wisps of light extended from Oriander's chest and began to dance about. Oriander watched as the origins of the world unfolded before her eyes using the light of her twin souls.