49.3 Collected Teachings

General Summary

Day 1059

I collapse immediately after sending the letter to Void, snuggled in between Mistress and Lyssa. When I wake, Lyssa has gotten up but Mistress is still holding me and clearly watching my restfulness. I remember when she did this while I was at the academy - tired from late nights studying and only barely convinced to come to bed, she would wake first and just lie beside me for a time before I stirred. Our years and months apart have made all of us a little clingy.   When I wake, she muses aloud about over whether she might have been able to do more for No Moon and Starfield by staying, but shakes it off with the resolution that this is where she belongs, in our own time. But the experience shook her and she hasn’t felt so powerless in quite some time. As Fae of Drifting Seeds, all of us were stripped of our present-time powers and for Mistress, it meant no pigments, no ancestors, no family…and all with such vulnerable charges to protect. It seems that I took the loss of my own magic in stride - I’ve grown more used to solving problems with sheer charisma and persuasion, and nothing I faced was unsolvable without my magic. It might have been easier to grow food for the city, but there was no inevitable failure in my journey. It is clear that Mistress initially thought that she might have the opportunity to save Starry and change his fate.   We are silent for a time before she asks if I’ll lose some of my magic when I next cycle as Day and Night. I think I certainly won’t retain my dusk magic, and that feels normal and natural. But the other mystic magic that arrived when I first slept - that hardly feels ‘fae’ anymore. The lines have become all blurred for me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it all stays every time I sleep. I may not be Treeborn, truly, but I am not a normal fae.   When we rise from bed, Mistress asks me to stay close to her for the next few days. It is most convenient to no longer be enmeshed in the politics or military business of the Empire; there is no reason my partners can’t flank me as I go about whatever business I have here. For now, that means meeting with the luminous stone serpents. Ying Ling watches with some private anxiety as the three of us prepare to set out, until Starfield reassures her that of course she is still family too…just not with quite the same bond that I have with my partners. It is precious to watch the little crow find her footing around us, sheltered under the enormous dark wing of our resident dragon.   I get to see Mistress take on a familiar, motherly tone with Starfield now that the two of them have the same recollection of her time in the shell. Mistress is more than happy to step into the role of stepmother for the much-older dragon she protected as an egg, and I am delighted to think that there is just some quality about Mistress that makes her a good mother to dragons.   Before we depart, there is a chirping from my box as Oblivion sends me a response, and I quickly send word to have her join us here.   Mistress, Lyssa, and I head back to the tree and find it still chaotic, even though many have packed up and left. There are dozens of newly sprouted tees surrounding the enormous Tree of Origin, all being tended by newly woken fae of Drifting Seeds. And amidst them all - older fae who have clearly drifted into this time period after being away for so long.   Amidst the chaos, two people approach us directly - an elder fae with a timeless aura about him, and a young half-spirit snake, very clearly the product of Norcrack and Liva’s lineage. I laugh aloud to see such a clear resolution to the state I’d left them in.  

Look at you!

  She stone snake smiles, but it is the elderly fae looks at me appraisingly - apparently there have long been rumours about a fae of Drifting Seeds who blew into a desert city, upended everything, and vanished. No one ever knew who she was or had ever heard of her, but she was supposedly responsible for the arrival of guardians from the Luminous Serpent Holy Land, who have guarded the Drifting Seeds while they sleep for many generations. Rumour has it that this unusual fae was Drifting Seeds, Day and Night, and Leaf and Vine all at the same time.  

But none of the rumours mentioned how tall you are!

  The older fae have all been drifting for a long time without emerging into reality, and he was surprised to pop out into a very different Southern Empire than he remembered. He introduces himself as Tamir, and the snake-woman as Angla’shak, clearly a person of renown. According to her, Liva’s granddaughter was a Seer who predicted that I would return, and their people have been waiting for me to appear so that they could pass along the glass art that Liva and I created. It is very, very old at this point…and evidently has become something of a hallowed item.   She leads us to her tent where they have prepared to greet me, and I notice immediately that most of the people with her are half-spirits. Not just rock, but sand and light as well. Over tea, Angla’shak and Tamir fill me in on the last several thousand years.   After I left, Liva and Norcrack united the worlds of Sand, Dune, and Hill to create the Luminous Serpent Holy Land. And after that, Liva felt that they needed to honour and repay me for what I had done. Just like Liva and I talked about - some of their soldiers went North and protected fae of Drifting Seeds while they slept. Then, The Pruning happened and it sparked the Spirit War as well - after all, fae were the first to prey on spirits. And after that, there was a period in which fae seemed to just vanish and the stone serpents gave up their watch on the destroyed Grove.   So it was a surprise when Tamir emerged into their city, and Angla’shak was quick to take the opportunity to ask for his help in finding me. Tamir tells us that the young ones (new fae of Drifting Seeds) seem to have experienced the cycle in a very strange way. Fae of Drifting Seeds usually only drift forwards and to different places, certainly not back in time and remaining in the same place. It’s likely that the newborn fae will resume drifting in a more normal way from now on, I hope.   Tamir himself is also an Undying fae - one of the first of his cycle. He will preside over the Grove and help raise this new generation for a decade to settle the young ones and then cycle again. This, time he wants to be Hope and see the world with young eyes. Evidently when one has cycled so many times, it becomes easier to select which to cycle to next. He advises me that it is easier to avoid something than choose something, and that it is best to ‘reject’ rather than ‘fear’ it. This is the best advice I’ve heard on the matter, and I wonder if there are Undying fae of other cycles as well…maybe some of Day and Night still sheltered beneath Cereus’ tree?   As we natter on about fae things (Mistress points out that she is a winged elf, not a fae), Angla’shak speaks up again. Another thing she has brought is an enormous book of their history as a people, since I left. It is a delightful gift, that I’ll get to read everything that took place since I was last there. Her family has ruled for generations, always with an Emperor who exemplifies strength and a High Priest with sight and magic. Other siblings of the generation go free, and do as they please. It is a system that has worked for thousands of years. She also tells me is that there is a statue of me, Void, No Moon, and Starfire - the patron saints of their nation. Their history says that both dragons returned and visited at times, though Void never did. And now that the fae of Drifting Seeds are back, she tells Temir that her soldiers will return to protect the Grove. When Temir suggests that such a debt is surely paid off by now, both she and I wave it off as “not a debt”.   Between the lines of what she tells me, I glean that my impact on their land was far more the spirit haven I had hoped for. The four of us left behind a legacy that turned into a faith, and Angla’shak offers me a small leather-bound book embossed with silver titled “Sacred Teachings”. It is the collected teachings of Heiassa, No Moon, Starfire, and Void, transcribed and written by Liva herself, clearly stepping fully into her power as someone who can speak to the heart of her people.

• Starfire’s section is a lot about magic and the responsible use of tremendous power. It is said to be something Norcrack referred to a lot as he learned to be a leader.
• Void’s section is about having a foot in both worlds and seeking a place to belong. It is the most pivotal part of the book for the many half-spirits who make up the nation.
• No Moon’s section is thoughtful, introspective, and talks about bringing two pieces together to form something greater.
• My own section is not quite what I would have thought myself to teach, and I attribute it to the cycles I embodied while I was there. Passages of it speak to the determination and steadiness of hope against impossible odds, while others call for the gentleness and compassion that would never give up another soul as a lost cause.

  I can tell that Mistress and Lyssa are very amused to hear that I have become a patron saint (no more than poor Nina, I protest) and that there is a *statue* of me in some other land aside from the Empire itself.   Before we take our leave, Angla’shak asks permission to tell the people of her city that the prophecy has been fulfilled and I walk to earth again. But she warns me that it might mean that some of the faithful set out to seek me out to pledge service and learn from me. Thankfully, she agrees to wait four months before making the announcement to give me time to get out of the South. I tell her, quite sincerely, that any followers of my teachings should be encouraged to view a pilgrimage as an opportunity to live in a way that would recommend themselves to me. And often, that will mean finding happiness and settling down before finding me - a pilgrimage is a journey to their own fulfillment, not a quest to find a teacher.   Moments later as we exit the tent, Tamir asks if I have this effect everywhere I go, and I honestly tell him that I do.  

Are you free from fate?

  He asks if I was born this way or if I did it myself, though he suspects I must have done it myself. Those who are born with it are often tested in great ways, but those who do it themselves have typically become immovable against the world. We spend more time together and he introduces me to all the other elder fae as ‘that inexplicable one who sent the snakes’, to my great amusement. They all seem very pleased to get to the bottom of this mystery, and amazed that I hold many different cycles and am so impressively tall. I have to admit that it is very funny to have left behind such incredible rumours and still have something surprising up my sleeve.   One grandmotherly fae is surrounded by new Drifting Seeds, teaching them the things they will surely need to know as they set forth in the world. And when the three of us pass by, she hails us down as a teaching moment, describing my strange cycles and letting Mistress introduce herself as a winged elf.  

You see? All of them are unique existences - whenever you encounter a unique existence, be careful! You can’t afford to make them angry but you if you are lucky, might learn from them.

  It is several hours before I finally think to track down Jian Ming, and I find him sending his army home. To my great pleasure, he is no longer a roc…but a fresh-faced fae of Compassion. Once he has had a chance to learn from the other fae here, he is determined to try to mediate between the Frostburn Empress and his people. In support of this goal, I tell him about Norcrack, who learned from the Frostburn Empress. He will see if Angla’shak will accompany him to help mediate.   Over evening drinks, he tells me about his own journey. He was sent East, to the demons, and stayed for 333 years. When he first arrived, they were a scattered, ragtag group that had lost their war against dragons. While he also met Demon-Dragons, I do not recognize any of the assortment of names he recalls.   Amidst the demons, he tried to help them maintain peace and guided them to valleys where they could shelter and stay safe from flying enemies. He encouraged good-natured competition amongst them to vent some of their anger at the dragons, and helped them unearth some ruins of their Exalted Ones. It gave them something to unify around besides hatred. We commiserate over their promiscuity and how if they ever emerge from the Barrier mountains, everyone will be part demon in a few centuries. Privately, I don’t think this is a problem so long as we can sort out some of the bigotry. Such things exist in all societies to a certain extent…even some elves were adamant that Carthians would never be a full part of the Empire.