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The Final Word
Posted: 24 Sep 2007 09:16 AM |
((OOC – The one hundredth post on this thread, and somehow fitting - the final word, as always, is hers. My labour of love into whom so much care and thought was poured and without whom whatever happens my life will seem emptier. This is dedicated to all players and team members past and present who helped through their own imaginations to shape her and make of her what she finally became, foremost among them Aesir, Trishy, Tsu7, WickedArtist, pdwalker, Sirac, Solitaire, Barnas, Fictrix, SQ, renter6, and so many, many others too numerous to mention. Most of all though to Ara and Lisen, without whose generosity and selflessness this world and all that takes place, has taken place, and will take place here, would simply not exist.
To you all, be well and safe travels.))
Elmirie paused at the top of the long, treeless slope, so close to the safety of the trees but with no hope now of reaching them, her chest rising and falling painfully as she herded the two little girls behind her and turned, like the huge panther at her side, an animal at bay.
Whatever it was, the invisible pull, the air of finality, the hopelessness and emptiness of the future, that had caused her to leave Ferein and attempt this final journey, was now forgotten after days of careful travel through some of the most hostile terrain in the world. The two children following soundlessly, uncomplainingly, uncannily aware of the necessity of the journey.
All had gone well, the short boat trip from the shores of Ferein to Asashi and then the hidden, silent travelling through the Deep Forest, passing unnoticed whether by fortune or design those who would certainly not let them live if they were spotted.
Whatever it was that had given them away was forgotten now, as for an hour or so they had run, pursued by the Tarikians, few at first but growing in number as others heard and joined the pursuit. And now, at last, there was nowhere to run, the children huddled behind her against the rock face at the top of the slope as she turned and stood spear at the ready, Trin gathered ready to pounce at her side.
Below her they left the trees, some twenty of them, crudely tattooed and unkempt yet as always well armed, vicious, killers with their prey at last in their sights. Elmirie watched, her eyes flickering back and forth as she gathered her breath, her spells readied in her mind. They hesitated, some thirty or forty feet away, for some reason save one, obviously in control, reluctant to proceed. Muttered voices she could barely here passing among them, almost betraying an uncharacteristic fear until at last the leader laughed loudly.
“Superstition! A woman and two children and you are afraid? Of what, whispers on the wind, some nameless and shapeless huntress who does not even exist?”
He turned on the nearest of his companions, a swift merciless jab with his spear at the throat sending him to tumble noiselessly to the lichen strewn ground.
“Those who show weakness are not worthy of being hunters, now get them or join the weakling!”
Elmirie took a tighter grip on her spear as once more they began to advance, still slowly yet clearly more afraid of him that whatever it was that had caused them to halt. Twenty feet, fifteen...
Elmirie knew there was no chance, that it would end here for her and the girls, no imprisonment, no capture, just death, most likely a slow, tormented death.
One dropped soundlessly, thrown off his feet by the arrow that screamed out of nowhere and ripped through bone and flesh to tear open his heart. Another, and a third, arrows screaming into their number and cutting them down mercilessly. Two more fell and the others, broken, turned and ran for the bottom of the slope and the safety of the forest as with a scream of frustration and anger the leader launched himself at Elmirie, brushing aside her thrust and beating her to the ground with the butt of his spear, lifting it to aim the cruelly barbed, razor sharp point at her chest.
Before he could make the final thrust his head snapped back, the small figure appearing behind him pulling back with surprising strength to expose his throat and drawing a dagger across it, his blood spouting in a gout across the rocks at his feet before he crumpled, the breath gurgling from his torn throat.
Dazed from the blow Elmirie stared up at the hooded, barefoot figure who wiped the knife on the fallen leader's clothing before sheathing it, and almost in the same motion slid a masterfully constructed bow from shoulder to hand.
The children sat silently, Elmirie pushing herself into a sitting position and gathering her fallen spear into her hand. Trin, though coiled ready, made no sound.
The stranger reached out a gloved hand towards him, and to Elmirie's surprise the panther, with what almost might have been a purr, stalked over to sit nearby as the hand fell on his head, soft almost inaudible noises of reassurance coming from the newcomers unseen lips.
Elmirie gasped as the figure pulled back the hood, her blonde air shining in the fading sunlight of early evening, her deep green eyes shining with an amusement mirrored by the – for once – unguarded smile. The girls ran past their grandmother and ran to the newcomer, throwing their arms around her waist as she laughed softly, a sound at times that Elmirie had thought she would never hear.
“Acelilceil...” she began.
“Not now mother, there will be plenty of time later. Take the children along the ridge there, you'll find a small hidden cleft that leads down to a stream, follow that and I'll be along very shortly.”
Still stunned, Elmirie nodded and stood, taking the children by the hand and following the path Elvalia had pointed out, looking back every few moments to stare again at her daughter.
“It's all right, no one will follow, they've learned better,” came Elvalia's soft voice as she watched them disappear from view then turned.
Standing here at the top of the slope she was well above the tree line. The air full of moisture and hazy yet nevertheless the view was spectacular and panoramic, mile upon mile of endless green forest and... far off in the distance... the merest pinprick of light above a range of tree covered hills as the sinking sunlight caught and lit up the walls and windows of Tel'Ilmela.
The tiny figure stood the for a few moments, brushing back the characteristic lock of blonde hair that had fallen across her eyes as a single tear ran down her cheek.
She lifted her hand, half in salute, half in farewell to her people, then turned to follow her family home as her whispered words were caught by the soft breeze and lost amid the rustle of the trees:
“Fa lalloa, be safe.” |
Elvalia - Chosen of Aros
Elrith Mellin
Perin - 'Cleric (an' drewid) o' Elbreff' Weddin's an' pies a speciarality
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Rebirth
Posted: 27 May 2008 07:02 PM |
((OOC - Usual disclaimers apply, if you haven't heard this or any part of it/suspicions, whatever, you quite definitely do not know))
She came out of her reverie with a start and sat bolt upright in a rush, gasping for air, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she pressed her hand to her sternum and, gradually, relaxed and leant back against the tree, her hand falling automatically to rest on the bow at her side. Plain, unadorned, simple in its manufacture and yet without doubt the best she had made, bar none.
As she became fully alert her senses attuned themselves to her surroundings, the girls talking softly to each other a little way off as they fished in the fast running waters of the stream. The appetising aroma of a meal being prepared by her mother. Her eyes travelled rapidly around the clearing until, at last, she satisfied herself that it was once more only the memory that had roused her.
With a cry, a great heaving inhalation she sat up suddenly, her hand lifting automatically to where the arrow had torn the huge hole in her chest, the ragged tear in her robe charred at the edges from the energy the projectile had contained, the material stiff, darkened to her pelvis with dried blood. Her fingertips searched gingerly for the wound, for a scar, for any sign of the injury that had taken her life.
Nothing.
Puzzled, she took the material in both hands and pulled it apart, looking with her green eyes for sign of what her touch had failed to find.
Nothing; the skin beneath her breast clear, unblemished, unbroken and unmarked.
“Finally,” said the voice; warm, kindly, “I confess I was beginning to wonder whether perhaps I had been in error, but it seems not.”
Her right hand scrabbled briefly in the grass at her side for her weapon as she turned rapidly towards the speaker, before remembering that it was gone, that she herself had destroyed it in front of Him on the shores of Ferein. Proof that she no longer needed or wanted His aid.
“You healed me. Or am I dead?” She asked softly looking first at the woman sitting not far away and then around her, recognising nothing and yet still somehow feeling strangely at home, in surroundings she somehow knew.
“No, I did nothing. Nothing save bring you here. Time, so the wise say, is a great healer, though I had not anticipated you would require quite so much. It depends too I imagine precisely what requires healing, some things are quite simply never cured.”
The woman smiled, her hazel eyes as relaxed as the rest of her body, open, genuine, completely guileless or at least apparently so. Dressed in nothing more ornate than a simple, brown robe, or perhaps it was green, the light was strange here and even the young elve's sharp eyes had difficulty in deciding precisely what she saw. The woman's hair was unadorned also, falling lazily to mask the sides of her clear-skinned face. She looked completely at ease on the fallen tree that she sat upon, a plain oaken staff resting upon it at her side.
“So you brought me here to heal, yet you did no healing, who then? What is this place? Are there others?” The younger girl stood then, looking around her, brief anger flashing in her green eyes as she brushed the blonde hair from them and looked around. “Is He here?”
“No, He is not here,” the older woman said, a hint of what may have been regret in her soft voice, “nor is he ever likely to be.”
“As to this place...” she smiled, the smile developing into a soft laugh, carrying echoes of a light breeze through leaves, of water running gently over rocks, “ a Dream perhaps, an Ideal, what – had things grown as they should; as they could – the world might have been. If no other description fits then I suppose if nothing else one could call it home.”
Elvalia looked around anew, the air she breathed seemed richer, the breeze cool yet fresher, the grass beneath her feet greener, softer upon her feet, the trees around her old, yet more... alive than any she had seen before. The birdsong from the surrounding woodland clearer, the skies where they could be glimpsed through the canopy above blue, crystalline. Yes, given a choice, if this were a place she had come upon in normal fashion, she would have been happy to call it home.
She turned back toward the goddess who had watched her silently throughout, “Why?”
Elbereth merely watched her, remaining silent and waiting for her to continue.
“Why have you brought me here? I am alive, you say, although you say too that my healing was none of your doing. Why am I here? What do you want of me?”
“Let me ask you a question in return before I reply,” Elbereth said at last, “why did you do it? Why did you face Him?”
“Because there was no one else, no one else who could or would do it,” said Elvalia softly, “no one else who could show him for what He truly is; show that the only thing that concerns Aros is Aros.”
Her soft voice hardened, eyes took on a metallic glint as the anger built, the bitterness rose, the frustration took hold, “He LIED to us, lied to me, he misled every single elf that ever called upon him or looked upon him as their god; and he's still doing it. Those who went with him continue to believe in him, believe what he says. I don't. Not any more, and with any luck at all others will have listened and realised too.”
“At what cost though, child? Your life?” asked Elbereth gently.
“If necessary,” Elvalia answered without hesitation, “I knew I could provoke him. It worked. The mere fact that he would even attempt to kill me would have said more than any words I could have spoken. If nothing else it proved I was correct. If I am alive, by whatever means, it changes nothing. He meant to kill me, others saw that.”
“So you felt betrayed, misled, and for that you were willing to die so that others might see what you suspected,” Elbereth's gaze was penetrating, though young in appearance her wisdom showed in her eyes, clear, all-seeing.
“No,” said Elvalia angrily, “not suspected, what I know.”
Elbereth remained motionless, waiting, watching the elve as her anger built, the indignation and confusion she had felt for years rose within her, waiting for the time when she knew she had to ask.
“What do you know, Elvalia?”
The sound of a splash, followed by delighted laughter pulled her from her thoughts and she looked over to where her daughters were, standing with a resigned sigh and walking rapidly over to them.
“So..” she said, her face set as stern as she possibly could though every instinct was crying out for laughter, “you 'fell in' again.” Reaching down she grasped the hands of her laughing daughters and pulled the dripping girls from the water, experiencing the momentary jolt as she always did when looking at their faces, looking into a mirror almost of herself at that age. She crouched down in front of then, smiling wryly in spite of herself as she lowered her voice, “Good luck explaining to your grandmother, you had best go inside and dry yourselves, change your clothing.”
“Are you coming too mother?”
“In a little while, I think I'll enjoy the evening out here for a little longer, go on, run along I'll be there soon.” She watched as they ran dripping to the cabin she and her mother had constructed then turned and sat beside the stream, peering down into the clear, rushing waters.
Elbereth had listened, listened as the pain, the anguish that she had carried around within her for the last two or three years spilled out, her anger at Aros had been given full vent and now she watched as Elvalia stood before her, shoulders heaving, fists clenched. Gradually regaining control of herself, deliberately calming herself.
“You knew,” she whispered, “you knew and said nothing... the voice, the voice was female my mother said! You knew and you were the one who stopped her! Stopped her from taking me with her when she found me, it was you! Why? Why would you do that?”
Elbereth stood slowly, taking her staff as she rose and began to walk away, “Aala, it was me,” she glanced over her shoulder to check that Elvalia was following, “what do you believe He would have done had I not? If I had allowed her to take you from His 'care'? Do you believe He would have let you live? Let her live?”
“He chose you because it was convenient, parents – or so He believed mistakenly – dead, too young to question, too young to realise what had happened. If it had not been you then it would have been another, if she had taken you and He had reacted as I suspect, then another would have been found.”
Elvalia's voice was low, thoughtful, her mind racing as she walked, fitting Elbereth's words with the information she already held, “If you knew he had done this, then you also know, or at least guess, why. Know also what he has done?”
Elbereth stopped, turning towards her and nodding slightly, “Aala, I know, both the why and the what. That is why you are here, why I must speak and you must listen. Then you must make a choice.” She turned once more and began to walk through the trees again, her bare feet barely disturbing the grass beneath her feet as she passed.
“A choice? Must? You talk in riddles.”
Elbereth halted once more, and turned again to face her, “Elvalia,” she said softly, “what has been done cannot be undone. Not by me, not by Aros, not since you became aware of it. Now, it is part of you... irrevocably.”
They had reached the bank of a wide, clear, slow moving stream which cut through the trees and reflected here and there the clear azure skies above, Elbereth sat, gesturing to Elvalia to do likewise as she continued to speak. “What was done, as you rightly say, was done without your knowledge and without your consent, it is time for truths. Once you have heard them will come the time for your choice, one you have to make.”
Elvalia stared into the clear waters. It always came down to choice. She ran her fingers through the grass at her sides, absently letting the blades trail across her skin. At least this time she had one, even if it resulted from something beyond her control.
Her expression darkened as she listened to the faint sounds of conversation from the cabin, signs that the evening meal was almost ready, Elmirie's laughter as the children artfully explained their 'accident'. A choice governed by the fact that, ultimately she had no choice.
She had wept, tears of anguish, pain, tears of despair at Elbereth's words; at her explanation. At the revelations which turned her world upside down, changed it and her completely, and yet as she wept she told herself that she had known, that ultimately she had known so many years ago. Her mind reached out over those long conversations with Ronan, it was all there, the answer was all there and she had known it all along without ever acknowledging it. So had he, and yet he too although he held all the pieces of the puzzle had not been able to put them together. It all fit, explained so much.
She had known as Elbereth had spoken that her words were the truth, complete, unedited, the stark, bare truth, and she had turned from her as she had finished and buried her face in her hands.
And yet still she had wept, for her family, for her people and indeed for others who would go on in ignorance. Mostly though... she wept for herself. Just for once, for perhaps the first and only time, she wept for herself.
At last though, after what seemed like hours as Elbereth sat and watched, and waited, she calmed, shaken to the core perhaps, the world she had known destroyed forever, but she calmed and began to think coherently once more.
“There is no end then,” she said softly, “no completion. No way out.”
“Everything has an end, Elvalia,” said Elbereth gently, “everything and everyone. There are no exceptions. What differs is the means by which that end comes about. Yours now is in your own hands. That is true to an extent of everyone of course, but in your case only you can bring it about.”
“Who knows?” Asked Elvalia, “Of the others, who knows?”
“He will know soon, if the thought has not already occurred to Him it will not take long. Of the others... none, though some may guess. As to whether they discover it is largely dependant upon your choice, all will become aware or all will exist in ignorance unless you should tell them. Either way it would only be as a result of your own doing. Some may suspect, Nethar'u for instance regarded you as quite a prize at some time, your dawning knowledge at the time, quite apart from your reaction to their threats meant that ultimately they would never get what they sought, some among them, the more intelligent, may have made educated guesses as to why. As soon as you became aware of the difference, whether you understood it or not, it became part of you. Now that you understand fully you are complete.”
“So what do I do?” Elvalia asked.
The silence that greeted her question caused her to turn, look over her shoulder to find that Elbereth gazed upon the ground, whether deep in thought or simply from a reluctance to answer.
“What would you have me do?”
The hazel eyes of the goddess lifted, travelling up from the ground until they met her own.
She looked down at her hands, fists clenched, her knuckles white, the grass she had been running them through torn from the ground, just the memory of Elbereth's suggestion, her preference, set her teeth on edge and an anger rising within her she still even now, months later, had difficulty controlling. Not that, never that. Never.
She had shouted, the word 'No' echoing through the trees such that all around fell silent, if Elbereth were surprised by the reaction she did not show it, simply nodded as if it had been the reply she expected. If it had been what she had expecting Elvalia was certain she would never know, certain too that she would never ask.
“What then will you do? Whatever you decide what has become of you can never change, not by my design or any other including yourself.” the sympathy in the goddess's voice was clear enough, the knowledge of the pain she was experiencing, the confusion, the sheer anger. Elvalia turned away once more, her hand on the bark of the tree, feeling its life beneath her tough, sensing the sap circulating within it, almost feeling it grow. She snatched her hand away as if she had been burned, staring at the tree. “I... I do not know, I truly do not know. How long have I been here?”
“Two months, three almost, to those outside you are gone, dead, mourned even, there is no haste required in deciding what you must do, you can remain here as long as you wish.”
The blonde hair flew as her head snapped around and she faced Elbereth, her eyes glinting dangerously, “With you? You do not understand do you? You are little better than He, than all the rest of them, why would I wish to remain here with you?”
Elbereth looked away, the pain in her eyes brief and quickly hidden yet readily apparent.
“Where is He? Will he come for me, once he knows? Would the others?”
“Still you do not understand do you? You know where He is, you have only to answer the question yourself. None will come for you, not any more. Once you gained awareness of what He had done everything changed, everything. Had He been aware that you knew on that shoreline He would never have even attempted to do what He did. Elvalia... the only thing he, any of them will now feel should they discover is fear. Fear of you and what you could and might do. You will be left alone, by all of them, by me.”
“Alone,” Elvalia laughed bitterly, “well that at least is something I am used to, whether everything has changed or not, that is one thing that will always remain the same.” She thought for a moment, “Yes, I know where He is, and for his own sake he had best stay there, and leave Ferein in peace.”
“So you mean to go back then?” Asked Elbereth, “go back and resume your life as it was?”
“No, but I shall not stay here either, I will find somewhere, somewhere to live in peace so long as I am left alone to do it, until the end arrives.”
“If it does it will be of your choosing Elvalia, everything ends, everything tires and fades, everyone tires and fades, nothing is limitless; absolutely nothing,” Elbereth looked into the waters wistfully, looking momentarily vulnerable, alone, “everyone tires and desires an end eventually, the pain of life outweighs the happiness, suffering outweighs the pleasure.” She looked up and around at her surroundings, “Dreams fade, ideals change, become twisted, corrupted. You will see in time if you haven't already.”
Elvalia regarded her silently for a few moments, digesting the meaning of her words though deliberately not responding, “How do I leave this place?”
Elbereth smiled then, “However you wish, you are leaving now?”
“Aala, the sooner the better I think, I have much to think on, and I think best in solitude,” she inclined her head and vanished.
Elbereth closed her eyes, concentrating for a moment until she realised where Elvalia was headed, then smiled, “I should have known,” she said softly to herself, “far enough away to be out of sight yet close enough at need. You were right, Elvalia, some things never change.”
She laughed, as once more the forest around her came alive, the birdsong that had stilled once more rose to lift above the trees and she rose once more, taking up her staff. “I wonder though, how long it will be before you realise that I too could have killed you. Perhaps I should have done, many would say so. Many will say so.”
She waded into the stream, feeling the cool, clear waters bathing her feet and lower legs, soaking the bottom of her robe, “Yet one thing stayed my hand, Elvalia,” she mused, “the knowledge that you won't do as you will, but what you should. That too will never change.”
“Eight months”, Elvalia thought, “eight months is long enough I think,” she rose to her feet and walked to where she had left her bow, looking round as her mother appeared from the cabin and approached.
“Your meal is ready Acelilceil,” she said, studying her daughter before sighing softly, “and I suppose once we have eaten I had best start collecting our things together.”
Elvalia's brow lifted in surprise, Elmirie smiled, “You are going back, aren't you?”
“Aala,” said Elvalia quietly, “it is time, but you and the children are staying here.”
“We are? Why?” Elmirie, frowned, not having expected Elvalia to say what she had.
“You are safe here, perfectly safe, I want the children where they cannot be found, I want you where you are safe and cannot be found.”
“And what of you? Should you not be safe also?” Asked Elmirie.
“I am safe anywhere mother, but those close to me aren't, it may be that others may try to harm me though you and I cannot allow that, stay here, please?”
Elmirie nodded, confused at her daughter's certainty and concerned at the thought of her being alone to face whatever she had to, “Very well, when will you leave?”
“After that meal I think,” Elvalia smiled, “I have been tempted by the aroma all afternoon and I'm certainly not going anywhere until I've discovered whether it tastes as good as it smells.” |
Elvalia - Chosen of Aros
Elrith Mellin
Perin - 'Cleric (an' drewid) o' Elbreff' Weddin's an' pies a speciarality
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Time to think
Posted: 30 May 2008 06:57 AM |
The gate slid open, slowly sliding ajar on oiled hinges and then closing once more almost soundlessly.
Having slipped through she stopped and checked the grounds of the tower carefully; no one present other than the guardians so she made herself visible, walking past them as their eyes swivelled briefly towards her, recognised her and again took up watch of the grounds and approaches to the tower.
Slipping through the door she once more hid herself and made her way quickly and silently to the Inner Sanctum before again setting aside all precautions and sliding into a chair.
She had spent some days just travelling, moving unobtrusively through Vives and taking note, stopping here and there to listen to idle conversation, spending time scouting herself until she was happy that she was once more up to date with current events. Lastly, she turned towards Ferein, slipping unnoticed onto the ship from Ladriel and making her way first to her home before deciding that she needed somewhere less obtrusive, more secure.
So Tel'Elena it was; visited by none other than for the most part Ferein's arcane community, and here in the Sanctum, by no one other than by invitation. She looked around at the piled of scrolls, books, taking in the half finished experiments and odd equipment lying here and there. No sign of Arien, no doubt busy these days at Tel'Ilmela. That suited her, she wasn't yet ready to step back into the mainstream of Ferein government, wasn't ready for that matter to decide whether she would.
So for now, she would live here, if Arien returned then she would deal with it, if not all well and good, more time to think and more time to decide what, now she had left her seclusion, what exactly she would do. |
Elvalia - Chosen of Aros
Elrith Mellin
Perin - 'Cleric (an' drewid) o' Elbreff' Weddin's an' pies a speciarality
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