98 Lady of the Lake

While Emery, Morgana, and Brennus stood at the entrance waiting, the chanting became stronger, urged by the lady dressed in leaves, as it echoed in the whole cave. The group of women started waving their bodies as another woman made her way inside the circle and handed over the silver furred rabbit to the white haired girl. The white haired girl then presented it to the giant tree before the woman dressed in leaves and struck its head. 

Emery fell into a trance at what appeared to be a holy ritual where the beautiful flawless skinned woman dressed in leaves welcomed the white haired girl after the rabbit had been sacrificed. As he observed them in a transfixed state, the white haired girl emitted the same sense of familiarity similar to Morgana and the warriors with the black markings. However, the feeling of familiarity in his guts became stronger as his gaze fell on the woman dressed in leaves, it was like as if she was family.

After the leaf-dressed woman blessed the girl with white hair, the singing started to fade and the waving of the women became weaker. Soon enough, everything came to a stop and all the women who were sitting, stood and exited the tunnel in silence, leaving only the woman dressed in leaves and the girl with white hair before the giant tree. 

Once there were only the five of them left inside the cave's chamber, the white haired girl stood, walked barefooted on the root bridge and hugged Morgana with a slight jump.

Brennus, the old man, took one step forward, bowed and said with a solemn voice, "High Priestess, I have brought the young man you have requested."

This was the biggest question Emery had in mind. Why was he singled out in the earlier encounter and what was this feeling of connection between him and the people living here, especially from the woman sitting beneath the giant tree?

She then opened her eyes and looked directly at him. A warm and gentle whisper reverberated in his head. It said, "I have been waiting for you. Come here."

It looked like he wasn't the only one whom she had asked to come closer. Morgana, the white haired girl, and Brennus bowed at the same time as they crossed the root bridge in order with Emery being the last person to step on the root bridge. As he walked on it, he couldn't help but wonder if she could also speak to the black dragon, read his thoughts, or knew the existence of the black dragon inside him. Still, Killgragah hadn't spoken, so it was probably asleep again.

The ground trembled and the lake's water rippled; a huge shadow peeked behind the tree and revealed itself. As big as a house, a brown bear with countless green spikes on its back took a seat beside the High Priestess. No longer speaking to his mind, her lips moved as she said, "Let me introduce you to Artio, the Guardian of Gaia."

The bear roared, making Morgana, the white haired girl and Brennus simultaneously kneel. Emery was also affected by the enormous pressure the gigantic bear had conveyed through its deafening roar, however, he kept his head straight and stood his ground, barely standing however. He wasn't about to just kneel because something powerful had put pressure on him. No.

Contrary to his expectations though, Nimue let out a smile not a bit offended while the bear quietly stayed still beside her. She said, "I am sure you have many questions, Emery."

"Yes, High Priestess. The first question I have in my mind is how do you know my name?" asked Emery, still shaking on his legs.

"You were mentioned to me by your mother, Vivian. In fact, she was a priestess and my niece. However, she had fallen in love with a warrior from the world outside. It was regretful that we have lost her, but destiny had allowed it to happen, hence, it is what it is," answered Nimue with no hint of hatred or anger in her voice.

Emery had put the pieces together that his mother was similar to Morgana and he was related to them in some way or something. He had deduced that from the information whenever he transformed, just like how the symbol on his hand had identified Morgana to be a Fey creature. However, this confirmation only showed how much he didn't know about his own lineage.

More questions started popping in his head as he wanted to know more about himself and his mother, but he didn't know where to start. Starting to get confused on what questions he should be asking, he went back to one of the earlier questions he had. Emery said, "Then, what am I?"

Nimue stayed silent for a while before answering, "That is what interests me too, Emery. I have witnessed many of my male clan members be born with the same power of the females, the power of transforming oneself into our ancestor's image in my time. However, the power was too strong for the males to handle, so they were not able to live past fifteen years of age because their body started deteriorating from such a young age.

"Unfortunately, it was the same situation for the maleborns when my sisters copulated with the locals of the forest. Fortunately, in our desperate times, we were able to find a way and turn the blood of our ancestors into the black markings in a male's body such as the one from Chief Brennus. I wonder, what makes you special…"

Nimue then waved her hand, creating green blobs of light, hovering around Emery. At first Emery became wary and readied himself, but the green lights simply circled him before going back to Nimue and disappeared. 

"Hmm… there's something inside you, but I can't tell what it is. That must be your good fortune as to why you were able to activate our ancestral power and lived past fifteen years. I'd very much like to know what it is but Gaia asks me not to pry further," said Nimue.

Luckily, she had misinterpreted it. Indeed the spatial space of Khaos and the black dragon, Killgragah were inside him and she was talking about them, however, Emery knew his first good fortune came from the Magus Academy. Nevertheless, it was better for the High Priestess to misinterpret it since he wasn't allowed to speak of the academy anyway.

"Come closer," said Nimue.

Emery had no reason to reject, so he did. 

She gave him a lovingly stare and said, "You look like your mother…" 

Nimue then touched Emery's shoulder that had the missing arm and chanted. A warm sensation filled his right shoulder before it vibrated and out came a root like from the tip of the scar. It grew and grew until it was at the same length of his other arm before finally twisting itself and forming a hand. For a moment it was still the color of wood, but when he moved it, it turned to his skin's color and when he moved it, it felt like he hadn't lost his arm. 

"Think of it as your coming home present," said Nimue, smiling.

Emery waved it around with his eyes beaming. He was so grateful to her that he gave her a bow and said, "Thank you very much! High Priestess!"

Nimue chuckled. "I am sure you still have other questions, so feel free to ask and stay with us for as long as you like."

Still not raising his head, once again he exclaimed, "Your generosity is truly appreciated."

After that, Nimue mentioned she needed to rest, so Emery and the others left the cave. Brennus, the Chief of the village, guided him to a tent near his personal tent and left not long after. 

When Emery lay down on his bed made out of wood, Killgragah finally spoke. "Hmm. I didn't expect there would be a magus in this world."

"You sure kept quiet earlier, huh," Emery replied.

"That's because I'm considering whether to show myself or not," retorted the black dragon.

"Yeah, even when she spoke in my mind you didn't speak. Were you able to hear her?" Emery asked, sitting up his bed.

"I heard her, I'm not talking about that chick. I was referring to the tree behind her. She called the tree, Gaia. It's only faint but I can feel that Gaia is as strong as Khaos, so imagine my surprise. Anyway, this is a wonderful discovery. As for the place of power, I can say with certainty it's not in this place since the one here is already occupied. But there should be one more nearby, east of here," said Killgragah.

"Okay, I'll see it tomorrow. For now, I need to get some sleep," answered Emery.

New places, new plants, new people. He couldn't wait to explore more once he had awoken for the next day.