55.1 Home at Last
General Summary
Day 1103
Despite my orientation towards night, Sandstorm inquires whether I would be willing to sing with them to greet the sun as it rises. He tells me of an old tradition of Avan’Nal, back when elves were closer to trees than shadows. In their ancient, near-fae language, the elves and dragons of Avan’Nal would sing to welcome the new day.
Wayin and Thalien come out into the dawn light with Sandstorm and Shale, though Bran has long since collapsed into sleep.
Beyond our own voices, I draw out my heartsong and feel the songstones around us respond. Ghostly apparitions of elves and dragons spring up around us — trees, people, dragons atop perches and children clambering over enormous tails and scaled forearms to see the sunrise. It is the city as it was, and surely as it will be again.
Once the sun is fully above the horizon and the shadows are long, Thalien and I slip into sleep just like the stars.
Day 1104
When I wake, everyone is gone from the cavern. The sound of clashing metal drifts up from the beach as Bran and Thalien spar on the sand, Wayin perched in the dusk tree and clapping in delight. They are so much more evenly matched now — Thalien is not 8 moves ahead because of his fate magic.
Wayin, naturally, is very excited to have been able to wander around and see new things and I follow him in good spirits as she shows me everything he has found. The Grotto is a beautifully curated garden of rare and magical plants, and Ipthina keeps it well-tended and protected from weeds and other threats. Here, Wayin is finding the common plants that he’s never seen before. It is sweet, and I tell him about each one and its habits, how hardy and durable each one is, and how Ipthina created a space where even the sensitive plants could survive without being crowded out by these rowdy plants. Some are native, but others are invasive, and he listens carefully as I explain the dangers of transporting invasive plants to new places.
With Wayin’s help, I spend the day guiding some more aggressive plants back from the places where they have made their home. Shale directs us in having the vines release the stones and statues they cling to, helping the buildings emerge without damaging the architecture or the plants themselves.
In the evening, we take to the sky again and head for Dreamfall.
Andstella and Liliales rise into the sky to greet us, and Andstella is shocked to see just how enormous my dragon form is. Anything Liliales told her clearly did not convince her of the reality of the situation.
But there are surprises for me too, in Dreamfall. A enormous palace has been constructed in the midst of the Grove, large enough even for small dragons to roost comfortably. There is a banquet waiting, and the hall is full of people who have been waiting to see me for many months. I do my best to greet everyone, but eventually manage to slip away to track down Dawn before I forget Artemisia’s gift.
Dawn herself looks wonderful, happy, energetic. She tells me that she and Andstella want to cycle first before making anything official about their family.
The gift itself is a duellist’s dagger, wire-wrapped with a sweeping blade. It’s a beautiful weapon, but it feels particularly like Artemisia’s nightmarish aspect. Dawn is confused, concerned, amazed, and a host of other emotions upon seeing it. I tell her a little about Artemisia and whether she can be trusted (undecided), especially because Dawn’s only experiences with Treeborn have been the best of them — Magdalena and Uncle Red.
The best advice I can give my young duellist is that she will learn more about herself by holding onto the weapon and knowing how she feels about it being an option for her, rather than hiding it away or choosing upfront to never use a weapon that would bring nightmares to the people it touches.
With the gift dealt with, Dawn brings me to meet some of the newer arrivals to Dreamfall. There are scores of children rescued from the Seasonal Grove, many of whom have heard stories about me to the point that I’m a character from a fairy tale. They have no idea how strange it is for me to have so many fae forms and a dragon form as well, as I show off for them and admire their drawings of Softwing atop the ziggurat.
Even Camellia comes stumbling out into the night to say hello, her dawn glow muted and dim. Moonflower, too, finds me. For the first time in years, I chatter away in the Carthian tongue, making plans to bring enormous trees back home and grow our own Groves there. Moonflower can hear the singing from the trees as they greet the dawn, the high sun, dusk, and the rising of the stars in the sky. I’m sure she would be able to hear the Celestial trees as well.
