Ellarta had just left Giovanni’s quarters, dressed and camouflaged in her own clothes and skin. She flitted out the escape door and started down the long ancient path to Ekuziel’s habitat. She had to remain low and out of site. The Pahn had spies and she had escaped him. The pathway was fixed with small little stones, rocks, pebbles, crystals and wood chips. They intermingled. The Rocks roared as she floated, flitted, walked , ran, skipped past. She gazed among the tall grasses : some green , some blue, some purple. The flowers leered at her , some inviting , some hostile, more amused and intrigued at the new adventures of this enchantress , Empress that she was .

This being the first step of the 7 tests, she would have to endure to reach Ekuziel and become joined to him. She didn’t know what they were or what it was , that imminently ,she had to face. She heard that same old humming. She froze with terror of remembrance of this particular sound: the humming and chanting of the snakelets. She had almost lost her way that day with Alagron and Guilio. She tried to fly and felt the same heaviness once again.This time she didn’t fight it. She joined and hummed and chanted with them as they arrived. They searched and searched for her the Snakelets but could not find her. Ellarya had blended in with the sound cloaking her own being. She chanted and hummed and saw them arrive.

The Fire Ants.

They flew and spat flames, little droplets of fire that burned and pebbled dashed the ground. They spat and planted themselves and started the search for Elle. Ellarya hummed. She chanted and she swarmed ,with the snakelets.

The rocks were quiet as she passed. Silenced by her sting. She had adopted Giovanni’s scorpio appendageal tail ,so she could release venom if needed. The crystals felt her and shone, so ,only she could see their light and light the way for her .The Fire Ants tried to throw her off the trail ,into the multitude of traps.

She had to pass the snakelet pit without being attracted to join them. She looked in and saw Giovanni, he was writhing and riding the snakelets, whispering to her to come down and join him. She watched as the rocks dribbled into the pit. Trickling down into the moving bottom . It slithered and swirmed hissed. The were an orgy of activity amongst themselves. Some were engaging in the act , some were being eaten , some were squeezing , some were biting , hissing and some were just humming along.

A snakepit of images . They writhed and rolled. The moved in waves, some fst , some slow. Some allowed themselves to be devoured , only to be reborn and come out with multiple heads, like a hydra

. The stream of rocks was slow then it became heavier and thicker and faster and Giovanni rose to the heights with them and soared . He laughed and showed himself , his strengths , his weaknesses and revealed all to her., he was being crushed , alive. He had lost his voice and his ability to sing had been stifled.

SNAP, the mirage of Giovanni vanished. The pit had not been able to entice her down and trap her. Giovanni was in his quarters at The Pahn’s Palace and he was on his bed, missing his wife. He had laid his head on her pillow and fell asleep. He went to her in his dreams and watched her pass the test by leaving him destitute and a prisoner within a snakelet pit. He whimpered in his sleep for her. She cried out for him to hush and rest. She soothed adn comforted him in his sleep. She assured him , his voice was fine. He was secure. She would never let anyone hurt him. She gave him that much ! She would always stand up for him. She would say, YOU GO THROUGH ME FIRST! I will be his shield. She was , until , the day came that her shield would passed through him , destined for another. For now , she let him know , she would be home to him soon.

Ellarya ignored the snakelet pit and she clug to her small little leather bag with its endless hidden delights. She felt Giovanni turn in his sleep. She reached out to him and touched his cheek. He felt the shimmer of a feather-lite touch of her . He tried to wake up to grab her and could not. He was held in trance. She would never know , if he missed her. She assumed , he just didn’t care once , he lost her control and all that came with it. He had wanted her power. He wanted to usurp her position, he almost succeeded. She had loved him beyond time. Time hesitated and he lost her!

Ellarya passed the snakelet pit and kept on chanting and humming. She was eased up the path , passing the stones, the rocks, the pebbles, the crystals , the wood chips. Between the stones , the rocks , the pebbles , the crystals and the wood chips , the roots of the very deep and surrounding woods started to come up the ground and twist and turn. The deep roots travelled and snaked up and along the path. Ellarya decided it was time to flutter. She hovered above and watched as they started to grow upwards to try to reach out and handcuff her. As she dodged and turned, she remembered Alagron and Guilio and how he had wanted to handcuff her. The only one to handcuff her was Giovanni. He jolted with sensation of the memory ,in trance and sent waves of not devotion or love but of possession to devour and conquer and keep always what he simply thought was just “his”! Elle decided he was right and let loose the the venom from the scorpio tail she had adopted and adjusted for this flight this night. She was enraptured and captured in the dark waves of the Green vines and wood root that tried to grab her. The roots sprouted green little delicacies to try and entice her to turn and join them. They wanted to bring out the Poisonous Avy side of her. They didn’t realize she was already there ,as she sprayed them and made sure she ventured forward to the next stage of the first path.

They came fast and quick the FIRE ANTS and they flew through the winding vines that shot out and tried to hold and bind her. The Fire Ants came in swarms of a bands that kicked off , as they ran over only the rocks. Over and over the Fire Ants and the rocks combined. They spat out and hissed and broke the chanting. They were blocking the sound waves. They were testing the wave barriers to see if there was anything hiding behind. Ellarya sank and went back . She went to the snakelet pit and hovered until she pulled in Giovanni’s mirage and there in the snakelet pit, she let the Fire Ants discover them. They found her with him being entangled and swarmed by the snakelets.The humming and chanting heightened and beat as Elle exposed the mirage of Giovanni and watched as the Fire Ants tried to sting him with the touch of their Fire Wings and feet. She let them see her protect him. She placed him in a protective seal made from the snakelet shed skin droppings.

She refashioned him in the case and left the mirage of him there, under what seemed to be clear stone. The mirage was just that. Giovanni was safe and sound and oblivious to the mirage’s activities. Ellarya , then ,went after Giovanni’s shadow next.

Two adversities had not been avoided by Ellarya . The snakelet pit, she escaped twice. Giovanni was safe. He was Happy in his dreamscape world with her. They were happy together and chased one another. They played in the Butterflairy tree and were more than best friends and lovers. Ellarya went on.

The last part of this first test was filled with thickening of the wood vines into filtered levels of up and down around the stones that become quite large boulders , the rocks that remained dark and sinister with undertones of darkness. Waves of bad feelings and sometimes darted to hex and jinx any passer-by ,if they got caught. The vines of different levels created veiled curtains and shadows. They were the balance of passing under and through the Veil. Ellarya could hear the sounds of those ,on the other side. She could not touch them. She could not see them. She could hear them calling her. She heard Alagron’s scream. She felt Giovanni rush to her side. They both watched the Drake plunge into the darkened waters. The Veil was playing tricks on Elle’s mind. Trying to draw her in. It played so many of Giovanni’s tricks on her . With Giovanni ‘s shadow , it was making Elle re-live some her most painful memories with him . Her deep seeded love for him, stood the test. The power of love and obsession, that seemingly gives someone that type of control over another soul. Some would say it is loyalty. Others would say , it is abusive control.

Giovanni didn’t realize. He didn’t have any power at all. Love and hate were the tools of power. Ellarya could be ” controlled ” by Giovanni because of ” love” . For Giovanni, Elle was never quite sure if he just hated her for ARYN, the he / she that was his most beloved secret ,”Crush”. She remembered, how hurt she was for him when she heart Araswati say, how much she actually hated him. He was the Dark Lord and he would attempt to take her life for power. Elle looked back many years later and would laugh at the thought, what would he say, if he knew that this “CRUSH” , he had , well and truly : hated him. Yes, they would have battles , they would hate. Elle would always want Giovanni to win. He afterall was a Dark Lord and she was part of its shadow too.

Ellarya went on and the Darkness of the Wooded Vines continued to call her. She had Giovanni ‘s aura, his “mirage” ,encapsulated. He was protected. He was safe. Elle came out of the Veiled Wooded Vines and found some sunlight and sunflowers. She stopped and rested under them. She had made it through to the next phase of tests. She had outsmarted the Snaklets and the Fire Ants..

Ellarya was one step closer to Ekuziel; one down, 6 to go!

Ellarya, let Giovanni wake up and eat, drink, engage, bath. He then had a day of frivolity, in one of his ” secret ” hidden chambers of the Pahn’s lower levels ,within the palace. Giovanni returned his quarters and once again ,missed his wife. He put his head on her pillow . Ellarya came to him in their combined 7th eye and sited to him, on this day so many moons ago, in a different time, in a different place, a leader took from Giovanni, his heart’s desire Elle stood back and watched as he stood up in the spot light , sang his songs and tears streamed down his face. She reached out to him and dried them .She stood behind him and hugged his heart. She held him and kept him from passing through and under the veil. The Vines had tried to take him. Ellarya would not let that happen. She stood by him and watched as he re-joined and settled in their room , in his quarters. She joined him there for a brief minute , then left him again.

She woke up and was in sunlight and sitting curled up on the head of a sunflower bed being shaded by another. Mother Sunshine and smiled down on her. The first stage to Ekuziel had been conquered.