Spring Blossoms (Kamalia, Closed)

[Gromhir]

Gromhir didn’t release his grip for a few more moments after he realised the meaning behind her words. The Kelvic’s anger boiled off in that moment, “My apologies, I did not mean to harm you.” Gromhir looked into Kamalia’s twilit eyes. The mass of anger that had burned in his chest had decreased but it was still there. She could still feel the anger that bubbled under the surface.

“Magic is dangerous, Kamalia,” Gromhir spoke plainly. There was a mixture of emotions in his eyes and heart. Concern, pain, anger, worry. It was a miracle the Kelvic hadn’t exploded from the mess inside him. “There has never been a time when it was safe. If it was my choice, you-“ Gromhir stopped himself short. Not willing to tell her his thoughts on the subject.

“I hate magic, Kamalia,” Gromhir spat after a few moments. “If it was not for magic, maybe I would fit in with these humans, or the Pack on the White Isle. But no, I have to strike a balance and fit in neither world because of some Nature-forsaken mage.” The anger was still there but there was also pain. A lot of pain, far more than the Ivaski would ever admit.

[Kamalia Timandre]

Kamalia breathed a sigh of relief when her guardian released her from the suffocating embrace. A silence stretched between them as the konti maiden stared up into Gromhir’s eyes. There, she saw tempests of emotion pummelling against his eyes’ placid visage. Through the konti’s natural sensitivities, Kamalia could sense anger flaming in his heart, amplified by the great bond that the two of them shared. She had known of his enmities, but this was something else. It was as if he had blown the top off of the volcano that held his smouldering emotions.

All her life, Kamalia believed that her salvation was in the gift of magic. It was her vocation and her calling. It was her destiny, as was divined by the seers who had guided her for years to take this path. Kamalia could not imagine herself without magic as much as a sculptor could not imagine himself without hands. She could not renounce the path that the All-Seeing Mother had lain out for her. Magic was dangerous, yes, but she believed with all her heart that being a mage was what Avalis desired her to be.

Gently, lovingly, Kamalia reached out with her hand once again to caress Gromhir’s youthful face and recapture the intimacy the pair shared. The konti girl smiled at him teasingly, “if it was not for Marcus Kelvic, then you won’t be here with me. I’m rather glad you’re stuck with me. I have found my home in you, but I’m scared of the monster that I’ve become. Would there be a time when you will learn to despise me?”

Scenes of her past flashed vividly in her mind: the glaring eyes, the accusing stares, the disbelieving gasps, and angry calls for her exile. Her heart clearly remembered the emotions—of rejection, of loneliness, of isolation. Blossom by blossom, Spring began. The frosts were slain and flowers begotten.

[Gromhir]

Gromhir growled. His eyes flashed as he looked at her. He could feel the rejection and sorrow in her heart as she thought back to her exile from the island. “You think I did not know the pain of rejection? Of loneliness?” she could see the struggle in his eyes. He fought with the urge to run, to transform into his wolfen counterpart and simply disappear. He wrestled to control his fight or flight instinct. “The only monster here is me,” Gromhir managed finally. A deep angry growl continued to rumble in his throat. He closed his eyes and looked away from her. “I am the one that turns into a ferocious beast, not you. I am the creature of the stories that eats children while they sleep. With vicious teeth and slathering tongue.” There was one memory running on repeat through Gromhir’s mind. Kamalia had seen a small glimpse of it before. A man and a small child. The man towered over the child, a single touch on the child’s head and the small being collapsed on the floor. The poor boy transformed into a wolf and back again. His body heaved in agony, his cerulean eyes filled with fear. The Kelvic sobbed suddenly and Kamalia was reminder that while he may have looked like a man and acted like one most of the time. There was still a child inside her great protector. “Until I found you, I had no home, no family,” Gromhir looked back to her. The anger that lurked in him replaced with fear and sadness. “I don’t want magic to take away my home and my family. Not again.”

[Kamalia Timandre]

Kamalia silently admitted that it was magic that took everything away from her as well. It was magic that snatched her away from the love of her family, away from lands of her birth, away from warmth of her home. Had it not for magic, she would not be here now, looking for stillness as chaos roiled within her, searching despairingly for direction in the darkness, seeking for acceptance in a world that did not care, and chasing fading dreams.

Fragments of Gromhir’s past flashed within the seer’s sensitive Sight. Dark shadows waltzed and danced and inundated her mind’s eyes. She saw silhouettes of a towering a man and an agonized boy, fearful and terrified. The same boy stared back at her through the cerulean eyes of her bondmate, trembling, weakened and afraid.

Gromhir had told her little of his past, and she knew through her seer instincts that he would not tell her everything, even as her goddess-given gifts revealed his shadowed memories bit by bit, fragment by fragment, piece by piece, in ephemeral visions and dreams. Through the bond, she strongly sensed his fear blending with sadness.

She enfolded her sworn guardian once again in slender arms, drying pearlescent tears shimmering down his face with locks of silver and white. “Hush,” she said softly in Kontinese, her lips curved into a half-smile. “Nothing will take me away from you, not even death herself. On the Seer’s Lily, I swear this to you.”

The konti’s gentle sunset eyes vivified, “Do you remember what Glav told you?”

[Gromhir]

Gromhir looked to his bondmate, his eyes searched for a solace that he knew he could find. Leaning into the embrace, he wrapped his arms around her tiny frame. Once again the vision of the frightened boy crossed her mind’s eye, hauntingly, almost as if Gromhir was projecting his memories to her. “Glav told me, I had to be what you needed,” Gromhir said suddenly. “He told me there was a way to help you find peace that I knew.” Gromhir carefully pulled away from her embrace. “But the only way I know is meditation. Sit with me.” Gromhir gestured as he joined her on the soft ground. Ever so softly, Gromhir took her delicate hands in his own. He looked deep in to her twilit eyes and Kamalia saw something in his eyes that was very strange. Despite all the emotions that seemed to rage around and within the Kelvic, he found calmness. His blue eyes became full of the warmth she knew before. Through their bond he seemed to take from her the good emotions and use them as his own. ”Close your eyes and focus on breathing,” he said calmly and smoothly. “For now, forget about the world around you and let them drift away. The only things that matter are us.”

[Kamalia Timandre]

Kamalia seated herself comfortably on the lush greenery and imitated Gromhir’s meditation posture. The konti sorceress only realized how tired she was, as the powerful spellcasting exhausted her djed and greatly taxed her physical strength. She sat cross-legged in vajra posture, with her pelvis titled slightly forward and her arms and legs relaxed. Posture was important in meditation, as it would aid in reducing thoughts and feelings of earthly attachments. In Personal Magic, this practice was not unlike gestures or incantations, which were mind-focusing tools that helped novice wizards enter the correct state of mind for casting spells.

The variochana posture required Kamalia to straighten her torso, not too comfortable but not too tense, just right to help her maintain a clear mind. Her right hand was placed in her left, palms upwards, with the tips of the thumbs slightly raised and gently touching. Kamalia smiled at Gromhir, following his instructions as he calmly told her what to do. She envied the serenity and placidity in his cerulean eyes, despite the wild emotions that besieged his heart. His inner peace radiated outwards, touching and soothing her, and melting away the darkness that clung over her soul with his own light.

The first stage of meditation was to stop distractions and make her mind clear and more lucid. As a wizard of considerable talent, this was easy enough. Spellcasting required plenty of concentration and her mind was trained to silence her surroundings. Marshalling the discipline she had learned in years of extensive magical training, Kamalia began to shut off the sounds of the forest—of the rustling leaves and chirping insects, of the singing birds and the whistling winds, of the whispering trees and thumping of human hearts.

With her eyes partially closed, Kamalia began to turn her attention to nothing but her breathing. She breathed through her nostrils, inhaling and exhaling, and shut off the world around her. For a few moments, there was nothing but herself and her breathing, and in those moments, she felt that the turbulence of painful memories, fears and sorcerous addictions began to subside, and her mind and heart finally began to be enfolded in peace.

[Gromhir]

Gromhir watched as Kamalia took up her posture. She could clear her mind, he knew that much. The more you did it, the easier it became. You learnt to just not think or feel to forget about everything but your own heartbeat. You’re breathing slowed and steadily a peace would begin to fill you if you left it long enough. But that was the one thing he knew Kamalia would struggle with. She could clear her mind but only to focus on the next spell or action. Meditation was something. Something different. Gromhir was not sure how to describe. Meditation came naturally to him and in many ways was a lot easier. He was far more connected to the world around than Kamalia was. Magic, Sight, these two things alone without the baggage that came with them served to cut her off from the world. And sometimes, even from him. The Kelvic’s eyes firmly focused on her face as he let his own mind become quelled of any fears he had. He shut his memories back in their vault in his mind. His body relaxed as he cleansed himself. He let out a long, slow breath. Deciding on the next course of action in a few seconds. Somehow, he felt this was right. Gently, Gromhir took her hands in his. Kamalia’s dainty hands looked so small compared to his. In her mind, Kamalia could make out a silver chord linking her to a cloud. The cloud did not stay in one form, in was a combination of many. The man, the adolescent, the boy, the puppy, the massive protector. It never stayed in one form for very long. The silver chord seemed to flare with energy, growing in the strength. Suddenly, in burned a fierce light and Kamalia felt a rush of peace fill her soul. She could feel Gromhir in her very heart and mind as he could feel her in his. It was like, in that moment, they were one person. One mind, one soul. Kamalia could see it there plain as day, even if Gromhir did not know what it was. She could his love for her as though it were her own. But, although she did not know how she knew, she knew he did not know how to act on it either.

[Kamalia Timandre]

Through meditation, Kamalia cleansed her mind and infused her soul with tranquillity. It was as if she were once again plunged into a sea-deep slumber in the depths of the Silver Lake. Kamalia’s mind felt lucid and spacious as she enjoyed this silent lull from her inner tempests. She focused only on the sensation of her breathing, retaining the quiescence of her mind for several chimes. In those moments, Kamalia Timandre knew silence, peace of mind, mental clarity and bliss—the amalgam of reveries she had known back when she was an accepted daughter in the Konti Isle.

It was as if the art of meditation itself was teaching her something aside from attaining inner peace: discipline. Focusing only on one’s breathing is a difficult enough task, especially when one possessed such powerful sensibilities, both arcane and divine. The konti’s goddess-given sight and her arcane magicks were invaluable gifts, but both weighed heavily on her soul.

Gromhir’s touch, gentle and serene, evoked a plethora of visions and colourful memories that permeated Kamalia’s Sight. She felt him hold her small hands in his own, and the arcane cord that tied their souls shimmered. She could hear a voice resonating in her mind, not the Sweet Whispers, but that of Glav Navik’s, the mysterious councilor in the Temple of All Gods.

"Avalis has long taught her daughters to listen to the silence within them, to dwell internally and infuse their forms with stillness. Within this stillness comes great power, incredible insight, and emotional and physical strength that has no equal. The art is called Meditation and your kelvic bondmate knows enough of it to teach you how to begin,” Glav’s voice reverberated in her mind serenely, "And it is something you'll desperately need because blood and death weigh heavily on your soul, Kamalia. And when guilt moves in, other poisons can easily be introduced. Anger is a sort of poison, but so too is guilt, and all of those things can lead to doubt and pain and even darker things like addiction or obsession."

Glav’s voice trailed off, before she saw a cloud that constantly shifted, portraying the phases of Gromhir’s life, before an intense light flooded her mind’s eye and bathed her in peace. All at once, the konti’s world shifted weirdly and Kamalia was swept up in the rush and roar of memories and whirling colors of a rainbow gone mad. Kamalia felt she knew all the names and faces of the people Gromhir had met, and could have said where he met them. The multifaceted clarity lasted but a heartbeat before their bonded souls and minds united in a single emotion: love. This melting of barriers, this sudden and unfathomable sharing, was beyond anything that the konti had imagined possible.

Kamalia shut her Sight close, ending the Vision, and opened her physical eyes. She gently removed her hands from Gromhir’s, and merely stared at him for a few chimes. Impulsively, Kamalia threw herself into her guardian’s arms, and flung her slender arms around him. Through their bond, Gromhir would sense his bondmate’s confusion, yet he knew she had realized his need, as he had realized hers.

The kelvic saw the joy shining in her violet eyes and it dawned on him that he did not need to talk: Kamalia leaned forward, and her mouth met his in a virgin kiss. For the first time in their lives, their souls met on their lips.

The konti smiled at him, and an unfamiliar moisture gathered in the corner of her joyful eyes.

This time, she did not hold her tears back.

[Leviathan]

Thread Award! Gromhir Exp +1 Flirtation, +1 Observation, +1 Rhetoric, +1 Interrogation, +1 Storytelling, +1 Teaching, +1 Meditation Lore 'A Lesson in Love', 'Magical Hunger' Kamalia Exp +1 Observation, +2 Interrogation, +1 Flirtation, +1 Reimancy, +2 Meditation Lore 'Gromhir's Past (Basic)', 'Magical Hunger' Additional Comments Sorry it took me a while to get to this. If you have any questions, problems, or comments about me or my grading feel free to PM me and we can work out a solution. Very beautiful writing guys, seriously. Keep up the good work.