48.1 First, Not Last

General Summary

Hope: Days 5 - 6

The coastal settlement where the ships will come in to port have their own refugee crisis, but they are wealthy people coming from the oasis and trying to take ships away from the desert entirely. There are high bidding wars on any spots available on outgoing ships. Many of them have had hired guards and mercenaries as they travel, who are now being left behind in the city as their patrons flee.   The city is not hurting for food, as the sea continues to provide fish and other nourishment. And there are Osyr in the city - clearly far from home and just passing through, but trading and doing what business they can. I startle when I notice them, and No Moon asks if I have ever met Osyr before. They are newcomers to land - it’s been only a millennium since they left the water and most have settled down in a few coastal cities but some are still drifting, seeking places where they might return to the water. Starfire thinks the most interesting ones are remaining on the islands and have changed themselves the least so that they can still move about easily in the water. She warns that they are all somewhat isolationist and the process of coming onto land has diminished their magical capacity quite a bit - the ones on the islands could probably compete with the Elder Dragons.  

Hope: Days 7 - 11

The ships come into shore and I make the acquaintance of a salty, tough osprey named Reveya who is very pleased to hear that the four of us are here as additional protection while they travel.   When she asks for news of the city, generally, she also asks specifically for news about Dakirim and the others. When it comes to Liva, she asks if she’s “safe and doing well” - clearly a personal question. Though when we inquire as to their relationship, she clarifies that Liva is her employer and seems very taken aback at the implication that they might be lovers.   It takes the entire caravan four days to make it back to the oasis, with no sign of any of Norcrack’s forces.  

Hope: Day 12

The atmosphere in the city as we enter is solemn, and white banners stream from many of the roofs. The city is in mourning, but it isn’t until we reach the government buildings that we learn why.   When we approach the palace, the half-spirit guards seem more alert than before, and they guide us in to the council room. Liva is there, with some attendants, but no other council members.   Liva seems relieved to see me alive and well, and dismisses her attendants to tell us what has happened. Norcrack’s forces apparently attacked while we were gone, in some kind of berserk rage. Dakirim led their forces in defence, and Epsila killed him in the midst of the battle. For whatever reason, Epsila had thrown in with Norcrack’s forces…though Liva expected that if anyone betrayed them, it would be Shal’neyah. Epsila, apparently, has fled.   Some are holding out hope that Dakirim is still alive, as he is a whirlwind that might have survived. But she thinks he will not come back so diminished. The city will officially be in mourning for four days, and then a revel to send a hero on his way.   I take in the news silently, trying to fit together whether this is true or not. It seems extraordinarily unlikely to me that Epsila was working with Norcrack and chose to reveal herself by slaying Dakirim - Norcrack’s forces do not seem inclined to subterfuge, and Epsila seemed ill-suited for it. The obvious speculation is that Liva simply took advantage of the situation to kill both of them, perhaps in some bid to become the city’s sole leader. Maybe Shal’neyah has been convinced to support her.   No Moon wonders aloud if the rage of the rock titans was a response to our attack on their raiding party, or a coincidence. If Epsila really was working for Norcrack, it is no wonder that his raiding party knew where to find the supply train, but it’s strange that a high-placed operative would have been used only to eliminate Dakirim. She could have done so much more.   I can’t read Liva’s expression, but the boys agree to head out in search of Epsila’s trail. I have slim hope that they’ll be able to find her, and suggest that they also do a fly by of Norcrack’s forces to see if they are preparing to move against us again. Privately, I hope they return with information that might properly confirm whether the attack on the city was related to the raiding party or if, concerningly, it is Liva who might be allied with them and feeding them information.   As we turn to leave the council chambers, Liva asks for my help too - turning the city from mourning to vengeance, and giving them hope that they will never have to face such a threat again. I’m unsettled by the request - vengeance is not an emotion I’m keen on conjuring, and the hope of never having to face a threat is not the one I would choose to impart.   Late at night, I tell Starfire of my suspicions about Liva and she shows me an interesting application of her magic (which I fix in my memory so that I might be able to use it as well, when I have magic again). It is a fiery, obliterating magic that burns away falsehoods - burning at my throat when I tell lies. Tomorrow, she’ll spend some time seeing if she can figure out the truth of what happened.   Finally, I am preparing myself for bed when the room seems to darken, and a tiny Grove Tree sprouts from the floor, imprinted with a gate in the middle of the trunk. It speaks:  

Are you ready to return? You’ve done well. You’ve brought food that brings hope to the people. You’ve also given hope to someone very close to your own family. If you feel you’ve done enough, then I will take you away. You may choose to stay. If you choose to stay, you will spend longer here so that you may accomplish more. I will only give you so many opportunities to return - this is your first. It will not be your last. Each time that you choose not to, it will become harder to choose to leave.

  I frown as the tree speaks to me. The idea that I could leave now is…strange. Abrupt. I almost wonder if this was a real thing that happened, or just a creation of Asphodeloideae’s that I happen to be walking through.    

What happens here when I leave? Will the people forget about me? Will it be like I was never here?   They will remember you, but you will be gone.   Then of course I can’t leave.   Then I will help you stay. We will speak again when it is time. For now, sleep.

 

Compassion: Day 1 | Hope: Day 13

When I wake up, things are different. I wake with an echo of songs - the tree has been singing to me for the entire night.   While my sword is still beside me, it is not the close partner it was when I went to sleep. Now, I can feel the magic pooling within me - warm and mystic. And the patterns on my skin have changed too - soft green along with my silver marks. I’m both hope…and compassion. I wonder if all fae of Drifting Seeds have cumulative cycles? Surely that is something someone would have mentioned to me by now…   I shake the feeling off and rise, heading outside to my chambers. The tree gave me at least one thing I know I will have to do - I cannot leave these people behind without warning them that one day they will wake, and I will simply not be there anymore. It takes on such a shade of sadness to know that I won’t ever see them again, not in the same way at least. By the time I meet Void again, he will be someone I cannot warn him that he will become.   While I’m lost in thought, Kiita remarks, quite gently, that I seem less sharp than usual. Indeed, I’ve left my sword behind in my room. She fetches me pale green robes and a suitable staff, which I appreciate. When I finally finish eating my breakfast, I’m eager to track down Starfire and show her what has happened overnight. While some of the magic feels familiar (I’m a formidable healer again), I can touch something that I’ve always associated more with Bran than with any of my own magic.   So we find ourselves in a practice yard as I unleash a blazing ring of fire around me, as bright and hot as I can manage. Starfire is delighted, and even more so when I find that I can still reach for some of the principles of elemental magic that I learned with Rainbow.  

There was all but a dragon’s roar in your magic!

  And I condense the ring of fire into a gentle ball of nurturing flame while I explain to Starfire that I learned from a dragon wizard - Rainbow.   Starfire will put aside her investigation for the day, and we will study magic together. I have piece of wizardry and ritualism still in me from my other lives, and this is too interesting to ignore.