The Amethyst and the Guardian.
A soul that turned to stone, a vow that would not break:
from a monastery wall to the grottoes, all for love’s sake.
Freely inspired by the Romanian legend of Ana and Master Manole. Ana’s transformation into an amethyst, Luxara and Medusa’s fate belong to the universe of this book.
Act I
The Wall
A sacrifice that does not end with death.
IBefore the sacrifice
The Road to the Monastery
Up the muddy road to Argeș, Ana climbs,
with bread for the man she loves, as many times.
Among the scaffolds Manole stands and waits:
he knows the price the trembling wall dictates.
IIThe walling
Stone by Stone
He lays the stones around her, row by row;
she laughs and thinks it is a game, and so
the wall climbs to her heart and holds her tight,
and the church that always fell stands firm that night.
IIIMemory in the wall
The Light in the Stone
Her sacrifice does not end where breathing ends:
her soul stays in the stone, and light ascends
through every carving, pulsing like a vow,
while Manole rests his brow against her now.
IVBirth of the amethyst
A Soul Made Stone
The years go by; her ashes and her name
sink into earth and burn without a flame.
Deep in the dark a violet crystal glows:
her soul made stone, the truest gem earth knows.
Act II
Luxara
A cosmic paradise of light, water and white stone.
VThe discovery
In the Palms of the Divine Mother
The Empress of Luxara, veiled in white,
lifts from the dust a stone of violet light.
Between her palms she feels what it has known:
love, sacrifice and shelter, turned to stone.
VIUnder Luxara’s protection
The Stone on the Pedestal
She sets it on a pedestal of white
within Luxara’s gardens, drowned in light,
and speaks one law for every soul to own:
no hand shall ever touch the sacred stone.
VIIThe encounter
Medusa, Still Human
Medusa walks the garden, still a girl,
brown hair unbound, a dress as pale as pearl.
She finds the stone and feels a nameless call:
to keep it safe, whatever may befall.
VIIIThe broken rule
Held to the Heart
Not for its worth, nor for the power it brings,
she lifts the stone, as one lifts fragile things,
and holds it to her heart, a mother’s hold,
and breaks the law the Divine Mother told.
Act III
The Abyss
Beneath the light of paradise, a universe of grottoes and sanctuaries opens.
IXThe curse
The Transformation
The Empress finds her fallen to the ground;
the curse moves through her body without sound:
her hair turns serpent steel, her eyes a cyan flame,
her skin to stone and armour, never more the same.
Her sentence, spoken once, will echo without end:
all that is sacred, she must forever defend.
XThe exile
The Fall
The threshold of Luxara breaks apart;
she falls into the dark, the stone against her heart.
Above her, paradise recedes from sight,
but in her arms she holds the violet light.
·The descent
The World Below
Below, a world no living eye has known:
grottoes and falls and sanctuaries of stone.
Step after step she walks into the deep,
still holding Ana, whom she swore to keep.
XIA new purpose
The Soul Stones
Here every soul that dies becomes a stone,
and none of them will ever lie alone:
Medusa gathers each one in her hand
and sets it by the amethyst, where all the others stand.
XIIThe eternal guardian
She Who Keeps Watch
Upon a cliff above the endless deep
she stands, the sceptre’s amethyst to keep.
Powerful and alone, bound by her vow:
a cursed hero, keeping watch, even now.
End of the first chapter
The book · Coming soon
The Book of Medusa
The story you have just walked through is the first chapter of a book: Ana’s sacrifice, the light of Luxara, the curse and the long watch below. The rest is still being written.
Coming soonEpilogue
The Same Being.
Another Fate.
I · The face
II · The silhouette