he looked up at the towering archway and nearly stumbled backwards trying to see the top of it. After several more minutes of walking, she reached the archway and stood the frozen statue of an eighth note on the edge of the column’s base. She looked at the opposite column and realized it was at least a hundred yards away.

The archway was easily large enough to fit a small building through!

Alanna followed the walkway bordering the channel through the archway into the chamber.

Floating over a huge circular pool of glassy water in the center of the chamber was a silver-colored chalice. It was completely smooth, wrought from cut metal, and shaped with delicate lines and curves. It was tipped so the water inside could pour into the pool.

The channel flowed from the pool out through the archway and towards the waterfall, almost as if the chalice were the source of the roaring falls she had seen.

The far wall was bathed in a pale lavender light, but she could not see its source. Several smaller channels just like the one she had followed extended in all directions from the circular pool. Alanna walked closer to its edge and looked up. An elaborately decorated railing and balcony were visible high along the edges of the chamber.

Blue and white lights shone along the walls of the balcony, casting long bright splashes of color along the pale cavern walls. Alanna could only hear the distant sound of the waterfall and the echo of her own footsteps. The pool was exactly the same depth as the channel leading to the falls.

“Beautiful…” Alanna whispered.

“There is nothing stronger,” a voice said.

A man wearing simple white robes emerged from the soft, pale gray shadows of a nearby antechamber. The sleeves and trim of the robes were decorated with a royal blue hem and embroidered silver glyphs. Behind him, light shone through windows high on a wall, illuminating a circular table decorated with an engraving of a smaller chalice.

“Where is the water coming from?” Alanna asked. “How is that vase floating in mid air like that? That’s a pretty neat trick.”

“The waters simply are,” the man said. His eyes were a steely blue, and his hair was cut short and a light blond color. He looked very serious. “They return here when they have nourished the land, the forests and the people.”

He walked over to the edge of the pool and held his hands out over the calm surface. A graceful, silent shape emerged from the pool and reared into the air, spreading huge wings.

A creature made entirely of clear, flowing water stared down at Alanna, who felt as if all the air had suddenly escaped from her lungs. It resembled a winged serpent with what almost looked like the head of a horse. Its gaze fixed on Alanna, and it swooped down, its snout floating right up to Alanna’s face. It’s head was easily twice as tall as Alanna.

Then it blinked. Lids closed over iris-less eyes, then opened again. Alanna backed away a few steps as it raised itself to full height and soared into the air, spiraling up further and further before gliding out the archway and into the sky. In moments it was gone.

“Are you surprised by its beauty?”

Alanna shook her head, eyes wide.

“With the weapon you carry, you will become the waters, equal in power and grace to the creature you’ve just seen,” the man said. “You will have the power of the strongest force known to man. There is nothing above or below the Earth that can resist the power of the waters. Mountains are but playthings to the oceans. The kings of men spend lifetimes to build great cities to glorify themselves, only to watch the rains sweep them away in a single night. They do not understand balance. But you will.”

Blue and white flecks of dancing energy were swirling around Alanna’s Bracelet. The light was softly illuminating the walls and floor. Alanna hadn’t really paid much attention before, but now she noticed the etching of the chalice on her Bracelet was exactly the same shape as the chalice floating over the pool.

“The symbol of the chalice is a symbol of balance. Symmetry. It is at once empty, yet ever-filling. The waters of the rivers begin their journey here, among the clouds, and travel across the great canyons, across the snowbound heights of Ultan, through the deep forests and thickets of Varcarel, and across the broken lands of Rotensha to the sea.”

“To become the river, a warrior must learn to be present in attack, and elsewhere in defense. You must learn that a river can at once have power and cunning. Water can become the impenetrable ice, or the invisible vapor. You can block light, rock, fire and wind, yet be the source of survival. You will learn all these things, and more, if you choose to study the treasure you carry.”

The man walked up to Alanna and looked her directly in the eye. It was only then that she realized he was exactly the same height as she was.

“When you have perfected your balance, Alanna Kawa, you will dance into battle, and you will be invincible.”

lanna watched the clear water as it surged from her right to her left and sailed off the edge into the canyon. The river was not deep, but it was strong. She followed the straight path of the river’s current back to her right, away from the canyon.

She walked through snow at the base of a massive structure that seemed to be cut directly from the top of the mountain. The river’s channel led through an arch formed by two immense columns that appeared to be made of icy stone.

Past the arch columns Alanna could see a cavernous room. A soft lavender color reflected from the far wall. She turned and looked back towards the canyon. With the exception of one much larger mountain in the distance, there were no other peaks near the height of this one.

Movement in the sky caught her attention. She looked up and saw a huge shadow pass overhead, only very slightly visible through the clouds. For just a moment, Alanna thought she saw the powerful downward movement of a huge wing, but as quickly as it had appeared, the shadow had passed.

Alanna’s gaze settled on the snow-covered peak of the mountain. It formed the top of the structure and appeared to have many levels, with each decorated as elaborately as the arch on the ground level.

The entire structure looked like a castle of ice carved out of the mountain’s peak. She wandered along the channel’s edge, her feet crunching in the powdery snow. It was cold, but not uncomfortable.

Who could have built something this beautiful? Alanna thought.

She looked down into the flowing channel and saw her reflection in the smooth surface. She crouched next to the edge and reached into the cool flowing current. As she lifted her hand back out, the water in her hand froze and formed a delicate star-shaped jewel.

Alanna’s eyes widened and she laughed, astonished at the lovely shape.

She gently lowered the jewel into the water of the channel and it melted away. She lifted her hand once again and this time the water froze and formed a flower that resembled a delicate lily.

I wonder if I can make what I think of?

“Hmmm..” she said out loud. “What should I make?” Alanna thought for a moment more and then said “I know!”

She cupped her hand into the water once again and watched the flower melt away. She closed her eyes and concentrated as she lifted her hand from the channel. When she opened her eyes, she looked and saw a musical note frozen in her hand.

“I did it!” she said out loud. “I thought of something and it appeared!” Alanna stood up, gently carrying the eighth note made of solid clear ice as she walked through the shallow snow towards the looming columns.

As she got closer, the size of the structure became more apparent. After several minutes of walking, Alanna had only reached the halfway point between the columns and the canyon’s edge!

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