Winds of Fate [Books I-III]

Chapter Twenty-Three: Roots

"Who do we have here?"

"Ah!" Eleanore jumps back in terror. Her heel hits a rock and she topples backward, landing on the mossy ground. "Ow." She plants her arms beside her and looks up. Her mouth falls open.

A translucent woman with markings all over her gleaming body and pink hair and wearing flowing robes with soft pink light emanating from her stands by Eleanore's feet, leaning on the tree. 

Eleanore looks around her, and then at the necklace sitting on her chest. It glows in the same hue as the spirit. "You..." she stares, eyes open wide. "Oh, my-"

"You can see me!" the spirit squeals, pointing to her. She announces with enthusiasm to her companions far away, "She can see me!"

"Impossible!" the rough blue woman retorts. Now all three women gather behind the three. Eleanore backs away, her eyes darting left and right. There is a blue woman, hands on her hips. Her hair is of the same shade and she does not wear a robe, but a warrior's gear. Then at the right of the pink woman, was a large woman gleaming gold - her eyes soften as she studies Eleanore.

"The amulet has not failed us," the golden woman sighs. Her eyes narrow. "But you do not look like a child of these lands-"

"She does not," the blue woman retorts, "Because she is not one of our own! She could have gotten our amulet from someone else-"

"But if she had-" the pink woman points out, smiling, "She would not have seen me!"

"Our children are dead," the blue woman harrumphs, striding to Eleanore. "Give it to me!"

Eleanore closes her hand over the amulet. "This is mine!" She pulls herself up, staggering under the dress.

"Foolish mortal, this was made by our hands!" the spirit raises her arms and the winds pick up, swirling around her. The skies darken. Eleanore steps back-

The lying vines wrap tightly around her legs.

"Hngh." She tries to pull her legs up, but the vines only dig deeper. Thunder crackles.

"Come to me!"

"No!" Eleanore yanks her feet free of the vines. She falls on her face again, but picks herself up immediately. The young woman grasps her skirt and makes a move to run.

A gust of wind knocks her back on her palms.

"I am the Goddess of the Juracán! How dare you steal from me!"

"I did not steal this!" she replies in vain, turning on her back. "It was my mother's!"

"Mother? You...Your race!" the Goddess of the Juracán hollers, "Traitors! Murdered the people of my lands!"

Eleanore gasps. "No...No...I-"

"What do you have in your defense?" She advances to her, a hazy cloud of blue surrounding her flashing form. Where her eyes should be are blinding lights, like lightning. "Do not even hide, girl. You are the daughter of the men who came from distant shores. Who took everything away from my wards! That relic-" One bony blue finger stretches to Eleanore's chest. "Was our gift! It is not enough for your ancestors to rob them of their possessions, but also their very life!"

It slowly dawns on her now. The Spanish did not succeed through peace. There is a price to pay for the foundation of this city. And they paid for it in blood. Eleanore lifts the amulet. "They...killed everyone," she echoes, "My..."