10.4 Missing Family

Days 96- 98

We spend several days travelling to the Weaver’s village. The weather is brutally hot and nearly unbearable but with Hella’s cleverness, we manage through it. She and I work together on dispersal magic combined with water to produce a fine mist that cools us as we rest.   Some of us, the more military members, recall the Collective using this same style of magic on oil. The fine mist of fire surrounding our soldiers and setting the very air on fire. So this...watching Hella use this magic to cool us and keep us safe from the sun...this is what makes our war worth fighting. Children like her should grow up without ever having to know about the things that lit the air on fire and burned anyone who stood their ground.   Knotrael especially deserves a bit of this happiness in this moment. We slip from cold reminiscence about the war into a screaming and laughing fight, pelting one another with felt balls.   The evening closes with my silent thoughts of the Shadowgate opening and whoever is on the other side not receiving anything from me. Surely the Empress can tell them that I’m safe and...safe and well. Not just alive, but alive.  

Day 99

We arrive at the Weaver’s village and Willow allows himself to be persuaded that this might be safe. The elven statue is further uncovered, and the sign at the entrance welcomes us to the shade in Elvish. I assure him that it was the humans’ idea and I simply provided a translation for them.   Tommin and Moira come out to greet us. I take it upon myself to explain the village’s rules against weapons, and both Alder and I make a big show of depositing every single weapon into the waiting basket. It is Willow’s example that guides the Recovered to add their weapons to the pile.   Over dinner, the tensions relax. One of the Recovered tentatively asks if we might have some fine fabric with which to make hoods. Tomorrow we will sew together, and I hope the practice of joint creation lays a solid foundation for a relationship between these elves and humans.  

Day 100

Indeed, we spend the day weaving, sewing, embroidering, and making things together. I see further excavations being done on the statue, and children exploring the spot where the second statue lays hidden. Kadia, too, is healing here.   Moira speaks to me quietly and remarks that she hopes we can have a friendship that lasts for a long time. It’s both a sad and happy thought. I’m sure it will be a long time for her. I hope our people will continue it long after she’s gone, and then long after me as well. Time is so relative, but a long time in every sense of the word is what I want for us.  

Day 101

The time is drawing close for us to be leaving...perhaps tomorrow. Willow tells me that many of the Recovered here would be happy to simply stay and live. Himself included, perhaps, but he wants to get to the Severed as well.   Inland from the river to Deldrin he knows of a lake surrounded by many human settlements. The leaders of the Severed have long meant to target it and now that they are growing bolder, we may find some raiding parties there.   Bran, with his visions of the possible, sees possibility but not certainty there. He resolves to ask Vaneili about it tonight. Perhaps she will be more certain.  

Day 102

In the morning, Bran tells us that Vaneili sees fire and pain if we head towards the lake. As terrible as that sounds...it is exactly what we are seeking.   I prod him to share more about her. She’s feeling more uncertain than ever before, and wishes he could be there to support her. She misses family. I suppose it might be worse to be so close and simultaneously bound to your duty. Certainly, I feel the sharp pain fresh every time I get to see Lyssa and say goodbye to her anew.