24.1 You're Close
General Summary
Day 397
Before we bid him goodnight Gedrin gives me a deep crimson candle with a golden sheen around it. It's magic from the Candlemaker - a protective dome that will keep the user safe even when they must rest alone in dangerous lands. It's a heartfelt gesture and he accepts a songbird in return. I hope to hear great things from him in the future. Perhaps he will one day be able to tell me how the Church of the Candlemaker received my letter if I don't get to Haven first.
Back in Meila's home I curl up with Lyssa again and am lost in warm sleepiness when my letter box chirps. Inside I find a sheaf of small papers sealed with vibrant, colourful sealing wax. It is from Liliales and contains day-to-day news of Dreamfall as well as a new piece of magic. He recalls memories of our home being flooded with songbirds that would mimic songs and sing them together with us. He's created something similar and included notes on adding new songs to the illusion; it may fit together with my heartsong as well.
Second mother, it hasn't been long but I miss you so much!
The magic he's created summons a brilliant illusory songbird with a crested head and extraordinarily long tail feathers. This one has a rich blue back with purple and green edges and a crimson-gold throat as it puffs up to sing. As I listen to it I'm struck with the memory of standing with my son in an otherwise quiet grove, a waterfall nearby. A flock of these birds swirls around us in the air like fish in a pond, singing with us.
Day 398
I wake early and head out to a rock outcropping from which I can see the entire village. With Lyssa quietly tending a fire and passing me small morsels of food I summon the illusory heart magic that Liliales and I had worked on. From this point I see the mist rising from the spring, the bright torches ringing the cottages and shocking greenery amidst the melting snow of the outside world. I had waited until now to send Andstella a painting because I wanted her to see how more people live. She is no stranger to beautiful and empty landscapes.
Before we set out Meila gives us a packet of travel herbs and spices and reminds us to send elves this way if we find any in need. She'll stay here for a few months before paying a visit to Spindle.
A day's journey finds us out of sight of the place where the village is hidden. Before I fall asleep I am once again roused by the Shard's calling to step away from the camp. This time she manifests in front of me, cloaked and still, telling me that she has a task that requires trust. Not my trust in her or her trust in me, but my family's trust in me.
She wants five drops of blood from each elf so that she can traverse five generations of memory back and forward again. She tells me carefully that she will not inspect any of their personal memories, just those of their ancestors. She's searching for something. To complete the working she expects from me she paints a set of glyphs in the air between us. I recognize some of them from Afan and remember how recently that must have been in her memories. Both then and now our blood is hers.
Day 399
We journey onwards and encounter a flock of enormous birds who we dispatch without much trouble. I can feel their magic like the touch of the grave around them - it must make them fearsome hunters of even living prey even though they are clearly carrion-eaters. These ones are skinny and desperate.
Mystery has seen them before, high in the mountains. Goblin tribes refer to them as Cristfela birds or "birds of death". Their feathers are used in charms to make spears fly further, cause wounds that don't heal, or to write curses. Many of the Lesser Races have their own legends and myths of magical creatures like this. Goblins say they were created to prey on some god's enemies. Others believe the birds consumed enough death that they became it. All of these races have stories of a great cataclysm when the world burned and unnatural things walked the land.
As Alder and I butcher them I save both the feathers and blood, which gives of the same grave magic.
When we camp for the evening I ask the elves for blood and of course they agree. As I complete the ritual I feel the flood of memories from five elves' ancestors of five generations and then all of their descendents. It is utterly overwhelming and when I wake again, I am in Lyssa's lap with a pounding headache. I remember fleeing through the mountains towards the place that is now home, guarding and protecting a wounded Empress.
From the Shard I feel something new and soothing.
Thank you.
For the rest of the night I sit with my eyes closed replaying the stream of memories that flowed through me. Without the active leadership of the Empress the fleeing elves succumbed to chaos. She had only two Hands and even they struggled to manage the panic and fear of the retreat. I see Dread Lords turning on one another and doing foolish, reckless things that no sane commander would do. I can only guess that their sights were set more on glory than on the safe passage of their people.
In these memories I catch glimpses of the Empress' consort beside her still body. The set of her jaw is familiar to me - clenched so tightly that it aches to release it and speak. Easier to stay quiet and do what needs to be done.
Day 400
On our third day of travel the river bends South towards looming mountains. In the distance we can see our destination - a foggy dead forest with circling dark birds above it. Tira notices wide-area magic around it distorting the space around it so that it seems a fixed distance away. Being near to it is strange - I can feel the faintest echo of a heartsong here but it is drowning in sorrow.
That night Bran and I slip into the Dreaming to inspect the forest closer. I reach out for Thalien but he doesn't answer, just as he didn't answer Bran earlier. After decades of living with Thalien I can tell when he is up to something and this feels like he's off trying to learn something that he can't find any other way. He's hiding from fate. Which also makes him hidden from us. Bran looks appalled that "hiding from fate" is possible.
In the Dreaming the forest around us is vibrant and similar to Kadia's trees. They are filled with sadness and pain and I can hear only distorted songs croaked from parched throats as I strain to listen for any songs that might lead us further. It is a tortured forest and I am near despair when Dal slips out of the trees and into my arms.
You're close!
I don't know how long we can safely spend here with him so I push for any information we'll need to come get him. As much as I would love to stay, it will be easier when I can feel my arms around him fully.
- The Witch Queen is pillaging the forest's magic.
- She does not understand the Dreaming and can't reach it.
- Dal doesn't know if she's truly wicked but she may not even live long enough to heal from whatever hurt her.
- He tells us to approach from the South and that there will be no soldiers, just witches in an ambush.
- It will be easier with just a few women approaching. They don't like men here.
- He tells us that he is hidden deep in the Witch Queen's tower.
- And that we should not enter the Dreaming while we are within the forest.
