Free B00JX4CVBU EBOK by Peter Joison Page B

humans.’
    Turner frowned. ‘By who?’
    Celeste waved her hand at the gardens. ‘Mother Earth of course. Mother Nature. Gaia. It’s Mother Earth who is fighting the evilness. And it uses the fundamental elements: fire, water, earth and air, but in human form. Us.’
    Turner looked at Celeste. ‘You forgot spirit.’
    ‘Yes, and spirit. Although not a basic element, the spirit dwells within all of the others, yet stands alone as well.’ Celeste placed a hand on her chest. ‘Like the spirit of the Vordene,’ she said looking at Turner intently, ‘and … like the spirit of the Vordene’s Ring.’
    ‘But like I said, I’m not a spirit, am I?’ said Turner. ‘You were expecting a spirit animal not a twenty-two year old programmer from Hyde Park.’
    They had descended another flight of old stone steps and now stood beside what looked to Turner to be a small ancient shrine.
    ‘No,’ said Celeste, ‘we weren’t expecting a human for our Ring. But, and remember this, there must be something special about you to have been chosen.’ She pointed to the shrine-like building. ‘I’ll show you the well now, but back at the house just remember what we’ve talked about before you go making any rash decisions. There are much bigger things to consider than just you and I.’
    Turner rubbed the back of his neck. ‘OK, I won’t rush into anything. But I never imagined anything like this could happen to me. Seriously, the closest I’ve ever been to anything supernatural is playing RPG and fantasy games on my computer. This is just … huge, I guess. Scary huge.’
    Celeste looked at him kindly. ‘I guess it would seem a bit scary. But just take one thing at a time. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t meant to be. And as well as your new-found “super powers”, you’ve got a house full of girls who want you in their lives. So, so it’s not all bad, huh?’
    Turner nodded. He decided if he hung around he would at least stop acting like a scared little boy. If only for the fact he didn’t want Ember calling him ‘chicken-shit’ again.
     ‘Yeah. OK. Not all bad.’ He pointed to the little building. ‘Show me the well, spirit lady.’  
    The well’s structure was open on one side, with columns on each corner holding up a little pyramid of a roof. A lot of the old stone was covered in moss and lichen. ‘I thought it was a shrine.’
    ‘You’re right really. This is a well. A sacred well. There’s thousands of these scattered around Britain. Not all in good condition like this though. In their most basic form they are just springs of fresh water rising from the ground. Humans have always valued the springs of course, but over time a lot of these springs took on more spiritual, or religious associations. Probably because people could feel their power, you know, unconsciously. A lot of the springs were made into stone wells, some even covered like this. This is the Wicker Well.’
    ‘Like a wicker basket?’
    Celeste’s gave him a strange smile. ‘If you like. Come. This way.’ She entered the small stone building.
    Inside it was dim and damp. In the middle of the structure was a square, stone pool of dark water. A small channel carried the overflow out the other side of the building where Turner could hear the sound of trickling water. It was strangely warm in the small room, and the air was thick with the damp smell of moss and fresh water. Turner stood still in the semi-darkness. He could feel something. He wasn’t nervous but he felt the hairs on his arms rise. It was as if there was electricity in the air. 
    ‘I feel something.’
    ‘You should. Imagine all the wells, the springs, are joined like a huge metaphysical net across the land. Across the world really. Like arteries. We harness those connections and use them as a way of travelling across distances. Around the world really.’
    ‘Wait. What? You dive into the well and swim under the ground?’
    Celeste looked at him quizzically. ‘Oh