***EVERSTONE***

BY: ALIRA

***Summary*** Just a little something I wrote as a break from my other fantasy story, this is just a one-shot fic. Priestess Destria lives in a small, unexciting town… until she is paid a visit.

***Authors Note*** All characters (heh, technically there is only one with a NAME) and the plot are mine, so if you would be so kind as to not plagiarize and not take them without asking me? Thanx.

~_^ Alira

Destria was a last outpost, positioned in a small, border village. As priestesses went, she had no status, and even less power. The village was so small that half the villagers didn’t know its name, but they ALL knew its history. It was that same history that helped Destria to sleep each night.

Being a priestess was fairly simple; little to know and little to do. She lived at her “shrine,” a combination prayer house, workroom and home. There was a small building as the primary structure, which stood within a fenced off piece of land and in front of the Fortune-Tree. The shrine was on the outskirts of the village, but villagers could come by to take down a fortune or hang up a strip with a fortune or a wish of their own written on it. In front of the tree was a small silver rock with blue speckles. It had always been there, and there it would probably always remain.

Destria’s duties comprised of performing small ceremonies, rites and charms and guarding the shrine. She was also expected to guard the village, but Destria knew that if they were attacked, she would be of no more use than any of the other young village women. Despite this, the villagers repaid her by preparing meals and performing small tasks for her.

Her final duty she had taken on all on her own; it wasn’t necessary for a priestess to also serve as a healer. But Destria did do her best to patch up the villagers when they were hurt or ill. Therefore, as soon as she was finished tending to a couple boys who had gotten themselves into a fight, Destria decided to end her day early. She ate the meal that the village wives had prepared for her before falling into the bed they had made for her, using the extensive village history to knock herself right out.

************

“Destria,” came a low and somehow melodious voice, even if the melodies it hinted at reminded her of the Forbidden Songs. The voice soothed her, and she looked around calmly for its source.

Destria found that she was in a place comprised of shadow layered upon shadow, where nothing seemed solid or real. In her eyes’ confusion, Destria’s ears could not place the voice.

“Who is it?” she called back tentatively, a bit afraid.

“Only an old friend,” the voice replied. “One you probably won’t remember, yet also one you couldn’t forget. But I have news for you.”

“What news?” Destria asked slowly.

“Nothing specific… not yet,” the voice told her diffidently. “But I should tell you… you could be great, possess awesome power, do things you never dreamed, never dared to.”

Destria shook her head. She was a priestess. She wasn’t supposed to be concerned with games of power. And yet the thought intrigued her. She, Destria, the girl with the nondescript brown eyes and plain sandy blonde-brown hair, the one who hadn’t been thought of as a girl and would never be considered a women. That creature, obtain power? Never.

Bearing these thoughts in mind, Priestess Destria decided to hear the voice out. “Go on,” she motioned.

“Not to be getting ahead of things,” the voice said testily, sidling up to her. “But have you heard tale of a rock, a simple stone, which could grant you previously unattainable power? This stone can never be destroyed, and it is rumored that the power within it is equally immortal. With this stone, nothing would be beyond your grasp- anyone’s grasp.”

Hearing this, Destria had to stop and think. True, a lowly priestess like herself could USE such a gift, but was it right? Such an artifact would involve great risk, both in attaining and operating it. And that was assuming you were well intentioned. In the wrong hands, this would be quite a weapon, and also quite a force to contend with.

Still battling things out inside, Destria had absently tuned out the voice. Therefore, she never noticed when it… left. And so she remained, contemplating the origin of such an artifact within the land of shadows.

************

Destria awoke that next morning with a pounding headache and scattered recollections of her dream proceeding the now-bright morning. Stumbling out of bed, she went to her doorway in her nightclothes to look out.

Finally, she realized that she wasn’t seeing things; someone was coming, a cloud of dust approached them on the road. Destria went back inside to get changed; whoever these visitors were; she wanted to be there to greet them.

A short while later, a fully clothed Destria walked into town. This Destria found herself just in time to witness the arrival of the ranks of dark-clad soldiers marching into town; obviously they were the “visitors” she had spotted. Thinking fast, Destria finally decided not to jump to any conclusions; the soldiers could be perfectly peaceable, after all.

So she found herself still standing at the top of the rise leading into town when the single mounted soldier, obviously the leader, made his way through the ranks to the front of the party. He, too, was clothed entirely in black, wearing black armor and seated upon a black horse.

Destria continued to watch from the rise as the village “mayor” came forward, along with two other elders, to greet the mounted soldier and his company. Seeing his “welcoming party,” the black soldier turned to hear the mayor out.

“Welcome,” the mayor said, typically, spreading his arms in order to augment the statement. “Our village greets you with open arms, but what, may we ask, brings you here, of all places?”

The black soldier gave him a grim, but not overly threatening, look. “I come in search of a rock,” he replied plainly, without elaboration. “These are my entourage.” He gestured at the black clad foot soldiers surrounding him. “We will search the village.”

“But… you can’t… You can’t just do that!” the mayor cried.

As if in response to some unspoken sign, the black soldier’s arm flew up, and in a low yet clearly audible voice, he said, “Search.”

With that, the careful ranks of foot soldiers surged forward, fighting their way through the villagers gathered around the square, despite the fact that the villagers didn’t ever offer token resistance. The soldiers broke down doors, bashed windows, and threw possessions out into the street. The search itself was orderly, even if the ruin left behind wasn’t. The soldiers were well taught, even if they weren’t well intentioned.

Seeing it all, something within Destria simply clicked into place. This was HER village, and it was HER job to protect it. Storming down from the rise, she held herself with all the poise and dignity of the High Priestess in the capital. Coming up behind the nearest soldiers, she wasn’t even spotted. Just that simple fact triggered a new wave of anger coursing through her, and she succumbed to the force of the rage. Her eyes flashed, and for a mere second her eyesight went out completely. But as soon as it returned, she saw the soldier before her reduced to a pile of ashes upon the cobblestones.

Realizing what she had done, Destria wasn’t upset. She grinned maliciously with the thrill of this newfound power, daring any of the soldiers to get in her way. She then saw that the other soldiers hadn’t yet seen what she had done. Her eyes shone once more, and within seconds she did away with two more of the enemy.

Making her way towards the center of town, a dozen more soldiers were smitten with the fire of Destria’s rage. She quickly discovered that if she blinked when her eyes glowed, but opened them for the flash, she could lessen the eeriness of the horrible, momentary blindness. Reaching the town square, Destria took in all of her handiwork with a cold stare. She had taken out almost half of the black soldier’s force already, but once again her head was pounding with headache.

Steadying herself against the wall of one of the buildings, Destria discovered her next new power. Her hands, too, were hot with rage, and burned into the stone of the building. Using this against the invaders might give her eyes and head a break. Another grimly malicious grin passed across her face, and Destria set out to rid the rest of the town of its invaders.

Reaching the first new, live soldier, Destria pointed a finger at him, giving him a solemn look. Then a dark beam, blood red laced with black, leapt from her finger to ravage his body and reduce it to bits, sending her reeling back with the force of it. Her grim look returning, she decided she would have to maintain the force behind the blast. Just enough to kill a man, she thought, more than the slightest bit sadistically.

Over the next five fighters, Destria determined the right force for her blasts, and after that they fell cleanly before her. After the next couple dozen, her headache cleared up a bit, before coming back with a vengeance. Obviously, the finger trick still affected her head, but she stuck with it. Using her fingers, she could hit two targets at once, and better maintain the force behind the strike. Finally, Destria looked around, and saw no more invading soldiers, anywhere. However, she didn’t see any villagers, either. They must have fled the village because of the violence and carnage.

Briefly, Destria wondered at the fact that the soldiers had no counter to magical attacks. But what had she expected? It hadn’t originally been her idea to swoop down and exterminate the pests in a fiery blast of power. Things had just ended up that way. But what did she do next? Then it occurred to her. She had only killed foot soldiers, the black soldier, as she had come to think of him, was still out there.

As if in answer to a summons, a black horse basically appeared before her. Sitting atop the horse’s back was the equally black soldier, who stared down at her with a look of grim amusement.

“You pass, Destria,” he said cryptically. “You will do, nicely, you will do.” With that, he rode out, leaving Destria confused and returning to normal. This couldn’t have been a test- not with all the killing and violence involved. Then she thought; his voice, now wasn’t that familiar? Shrugging it off, she turned to return to the temple.

However, some force of will stopped her halfway up the rise, and something within her snapped. It didn’t return her to normal, but she could no longer be thought of as the avenging angel she had been before. With a cool purpose in mind, she returned to the shrine.

Reaching it, she instinctively passed through the gate, but didn’t enter the building. Walking around back, she saw the Fortune-Tree. Kneeling before it, she first muttered a soft prayer, something she hadn’t known that she had known. Then, with dreadful surety, she set her sights on the stone before the Fortune-Tree.

Pressing both hands quickly over top of the stone, it glowed bright blue, intensifying until white light of a blinding nature flooded virtually everything. As her hands were kept pressed to the rock, she let out a long, loud, ear-piercing scream, letting out as much pain as all of the soldiers must have felt. As her hands burned with cold fire, the opposite of her flames of blood-red rage, the stone beneath them seemed to liquefy. At her touch, it turned as if to water, shrinking until a round stone a foot in diameter was only a pebble the size of her eye.

That was when the light died away, and Destria pocketed the stone instinctively. The pain in her hands was also quickly fading, and her brain was finally completely hers once more. Making quick use of it, she thought fast: what did she do now?

Realization slowly dawned on her, and she figured out that she was no longer simply a priestess guarding a shrine, but also the mistress of a tiny stone of immense power. She couldn’t stay in the village, she now had to keep the dangerous artifact safe and out of the wrong hands. With a grim smile on her face once more, she set out to do just that.

~END~

***Authors Note***

First, what do you think? Please review, especially if you liked it. I’m already working on one story that I plan to spend a large amount of time on, but if people actually like this, I think I’d make a continuation/sequel sort of thing. Other than that, Destria and the plot are mine, and will remain that way! Finally, I’d just like to see if anyone noticed that a few points in the beginning had been contradicted; these were things Destria was thinking, its meant that way! ^^

Thanx Happy Readers (*cackle*)

~Alira