Willow's End - Jera Skyspear
Elvish words/phrases linked to Glossary OR hover mouse to see translation.
Rain

::He's right, Jeranda. Neither you nor I are warriors. Dagaz seems at peace despite his situation. I --- ::

::Storm Temple:: is all Jera thought back to her father, then she cut him off. She closed her mind to whatever else he thought to say. She would meet him, face-to-face, at their place of power. Lightning or no lightning, she wanted to confront him there. She felt like a youngling about to throw a tantrum, and she very well might.

When she arrived, Uuringar was already there, on his usual platform, backed by a standing stone. It was odd to see his shadow drawn across the stone because this place was not oft used in sunlight, most usually in the nighttime, when the sky was alive with sparkling and thundering power.

Jera took up her post too, a long stone step to his right. They both faced out, looking across the shrunken central pool which currently reflected the sun. They looked out onto the distant valley, as clear a sight of it as one might ever see, for lack of clouds to obscure or shade it.

"You are leaving then." She had lost most of her fiery anger through her heated walk to the temple.

"Yes. I can do nothing for Dagaz. I have done all I can to help those here on the mountain, but..."

"I know. I see the outcome too. I tried to count it as a momentary lapse from fear, but I know."

"Yes, daughter." He stepped down from his own perch and joined her. He spent a few silent moments looking at her. He stroked her hair and let his thumb brush her wet cheek. "Jeranda, come with me?"

She was lost for a moment, then looked into his impossible blue eyes through her watery gaze. She shook her head. "I shall miss her. I shall miss you. There is only a small glimmer of hope that I may see Dagaz again, but truthfully... I simply cannot go, father. We have spent my whole life searching for a place to be happy. Have we not learned? Do we not already know that there is but one place for that?"

Uuringar arched a brow and waited. Jera lifted her hand and placed it over his heart. He tapped his fingertips lightly under her chin as he smiled. Then, he pressed his hand over her trembling one on his chest. "Yes, of course. And no, we do not all know this already, nor do we always remember it." He paused a moment, still looking into his grown daughter's face. "Your mother taught you well. Although... is it not the other places which make it all so very interesting?"

"Yes, and difficult, but we make our own paths by choices, do we not? I am not ready to leave my life behind. I've barely begun to explore, yet I've learned that it matters not one whit where I do this exploration. So, I choose. I wish to stay here... at least for now." She gave him a smile, albeit it a wry one.

In exchange, her father leaned to kiss her forehead. "Farewell, then, my daughter. I have wish to merely think back on these days, these centuries, of exploration. I shall convey your greetings to your mother, personally." He and Jera embraced for a stretch of moments, then he stepped back over to his own temple perch.

Jera watched him gesture smoothly and listened to his quiet words of reverent summoning. She took up his song to help sing him on his way and express her love for him as well as for her mother. Her watery eyes followed his movement as he faded while seeming to step off into thin air, until he became as invisible as air himself. The part of her soul which had been linked to her father also faded into silence.

Again Jera noted the sky streaming with sunshine and the lush valley spread out below this stone menagerie. How wondrous this world is, she thought. How could anyone leave it? Yet how could she stay if all those she knew and loved were gone? This reminded her of Dagaz, whom she still could not reach. Then she thought again of the children and the community center. She ran all the way back, arriving quite winded, made more so at the shock of the place emptying out.

"Jera! I was afraid you wouldn't make it! Hurry! We're on the move. Even the warriors have been called back. Did you not hear?" No, Jera hadn't heard because she was dealing with her own dilemmas. But here was Ilouia, one of the biggest gossips, always a fount of information to catch her up. The gist of the situation was that three remained from the council. Only six of the nine were sent as a delegation, for just such a contingency. These three would soon summon the Road and take as many as they could. Some family groups were choosing to go it on their own. In other words, the mountain was being evacuated. They wouldn't even risk taking much with them.

Jera had explained her choice to her father and could not currently reach Dagaz, which troubled her greatly. She saw no reason to tell anyone else of her plan to stay here, not on the mountain but on this plane, in this world. Surely there were peaceful spots in it. It seemed plentiful and peaceful enough when viewed from the Storm Temple. If it was not so, then it mattered not. It seemed to Jera that there was hardship wherever they'd gone, she wanted to continue her own journey, but on this present path, just to see where it might lead?

So, she volunteered to help with the last of those being gathered up. In the end, when all seemed to be prepared or divided or leaving, Jera was able to slip away, unnoticed, she hoped, even by Ilouia.

DHP © Jun 02 2002

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