Little Cherine Book 02 - BPost002
“Her name in English means ‘wild flower’.”
Wendy asked, “Could we call you Lisa? You smile like a Lisa.” Shyly she nodded.
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“Lisa then, do you think you know what love is?”
“I thought so. Now I do not know.”
“I would like all of you to know what we think love is like. Please sit down. Cherine my love, a golden circle, but keep it within our room.”
Without replying I felt her send me a quirky little bit of love. I grinned and closing my eyes went deep into myself, found that bottomless pool of love that floats like a sea of quicksilver within my heart and sent it all back. To her and to all my girls. Cherine sat raptly drinking it in till it had filled her heart and she sent it back with all the love she now had with the love from all the girls. Stronger and deeper it flowed around and around between us. Cherine now brought our new friends in and they felt the love. I opened my eyes and ‘saw’ it shimmer in a band of gold. We all sat entranced as it grew with each revolution until we thought our hearts would explode.
At that moment the baby floated in. She hung suspended in the centre of the golden glow and she sang from her mind. As she sang she revolved until she was facing Wendy. Her black eyes stared at Wendy and she rose, floating until she touched her fingers to the round little face. Then we suddenly felt the love of the baby, the love for parents lost and for her new mother. Wendy sang with her and it was the song of a soul that knows no evil, a soul that is born to love.
As the song ended Cherine let the golden band of love sink gently into each of us. For a long time nobody moved.
Wendy holding the baby took her to her mother. “She says her name is Lua.”
Her mother held her, still overcome by the experience. I stood and bowing put my fingers to the chubby cheeks, “Welcome Lua. Lady Melina chose well for you. The pain is over, now you will have nothing but love.” The girls filed in behind me to greet Lua. The mother sat with tears that flowed from her wretched memories and the wonder of what she saw as a miracle.
“Lisa. You have been truly blessed. Your daughter is a rare talent. The only other I know of is Wendy, the one who named you. I think your heart has opened again, as it was before love hurt you. Will you keep it open while you listen to us?”
I told the story again and it was different again. With the lingering effects of the band of love it took on a beauty and glory it had lacked before. Even the girls sat as if entranced. Cherine took Dommi by the hand and they sat to either side of me, their faces warm with their love for me and each other.
When I paused, a soft voice took up the story and continued. Meli spoke of my leaving for another world, of them all dying from grief at losing me. Of my return, my rebellion, not accepting death as our final master. Of our return. She spoke of the green cloud, our battles that in size defied anything a human could imagine, of the two hundred million or more I killed. She spoke of my dance with Cherine that brought the Sparklers to try and understand us. Of my opening myself to them, of Solomon, of their mission. Of my guilt when I realised I had killed so many souls. Of the Cherine that lived within me, of her shadow mind fighting back. Of the departure of the Sparkler world to find their own truth and of their probable return. She then spoke of our visit to her world, of meeting the tree villagers, of the father who grieved for the daughter and wife he had lost. Of her dance.
She showed us for the first time her magic with words, her telling a poem that transcended language and spoke directly to the heart.
We all sat silently waiting for what we knew not. Lisa lifted her face to us. “You ask of me that I love again. Lua I can love. I do not know if I can love a man again.”
Gently Wendy said to her, “You felt how much love was given to you?” She nodded. “Can you truly keep all of it just for yourself Lisa?”
“Wendy, you speak and I am shamed. To hear of your suffering and say I cannot love when you did. My heart must be so small.”
“Give it time Lisa, it has been wounded. We can all wait.”
I looked around. It was time. “Wing, you now know the reason for the banks I am creating. Will you accept to guard them for us?”
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“With my life.”
I smiled. “That will not be necessary. After we dance you and your circle will also be placed in there.”
“A lot of Messiahs have spoken to mankind, promising eternal life. You are the first who promises that eternity here upon Earth.”
“I am no messiah Charlie. Just an artist given a gift because I loved a remarkable little girl.”
“It is frightening to think the future of mankind depended on that love being born.”
I stared at Cherine for a moment. “Not only frightening, humbling too.”
I caught the flight next day. Our goods had to be sent air freight and I paid without the slightest regret. This has been a truly worthwhile way to celebrate our anniversary.
“I cannot believe you have spent six hundred thousand!”
“Two hundred. The four was invested, which I get part of it back from you and Elia.”
“Still, two hundred thousand within ten days. What did you buy!”
“Lua.”
“Lua!! What the hell is that!”
This was the cue the girls were waiting for. He had to keep asking them to slow down. Then they had to start from the beginning again. When he was told that she is originally from the world within his daughter’s mind, he flipped.
“Roberto please, this is madness. How can it be?”
“I wish I knew. We saw her Alki. The infant sang for us, just like Wendy does. You should have heard them together. I could not leave her mother depending on others. We bought her an apartment and left money to take care of her for a year. Now that she is independent, she will be free to love again I think.”
He shook his head, but his mind was beaming. “I cannot argue with you. You are a slave to your love of little girl children. You better accept the offer of the trust fund or else you will go hungry one day.”
“I thought you said I was going to become a multi-millionaire.”
“That may come about, but for now you need to feed a whole village of girls.”
“More than that Alki. I need money right away. I want to buy the house we live in and if possible, the one next door. There are too many of us. Once the twins are here it will be impossible. We need to change our sleeping arrangements. Here is a sketch of what I was thinking.”
I had designed a central bedroom with wide openings to other rooms that had their own beds circling it. This way we could get some sleep at night, without the girls having to make themselves into toddlers, while still in sight of each other. I wanted more garden space to provide facilities for them to play and exercise.
“This will cost!”
“I know. Remember when I went back in time to kill Richard? If I could do that, I am thinking, why can’t I go forward into the future. All I need to do is see a newspaper. If I can see which shares are going to rise it should not take long to increase my balance.”
“So, why are you telling me? Have you tried it?”
“No. I am afraid to. I have the feeling it would not be honest.”
He laughed, “I have never met a man so troubled by his conscious.”
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“It is not just my scruples Alki, I have this fear that if I misuse my gifts I might lose them. I would also become a bad example for others - mainly the girls.”
He glanced at the girls and gently asked me, “Do I detect a note of fatherly love there?”
“Not just my three girls Alki - all of them.”
He sighed. “I have talked with Elia. He suggested we form a corporation with you. We get twenty per cent each, the balance is yours. We will invest a total of five million. This is for you to create your specimen banks world wide. If you earn a profit, good. If not, it does not matter to us. The main purpose is to protect the lives of those we love, and ourselves.”
“That is wonderful! I am very grateful.”
“Based on your future prospects, I will buy the two houses for you. Prepare your design for an architect. I will arrange the changes you want. You must remember, having the kind of property you want to create will cost a fortune in maintenance and taxes, so design it wisely.”
The girls and I spent many exciting hours designing our home. They came up with some good ideas. They were also sad at the idea of not all sleeping together, but saw it will soon no longer be possible. At least with our design it will almost be as if we are all in one room.
Chapter Seventy Two
Alki asked me to meet him at his office, giving me permission to jump there directly, as he had ensured his door is closed and nobody will interrupt us. Wondering what it is all about, but suspecting he is having second thoughts about spending so much on me, I asked the girls for privacy.
As I arrived, I sensed he is worried, but I decided to let him broach the subject in his own way. He aimlessly moved some papers about his desk and then looked at me. “Roberto, this man you met in Dubai, it worries me. I respect the intuition of both Cherine and you, but I feel it is wrong to take such a relaxed attitude because he appears to be friendly. We’ve taken so many precautions to keep the information about Cherine and you secret, and to now allow a stranger to have such a hold over us, it is wrong. I have a good firm of detectives who can at least gather some background information about him. They will be discrete and he won’t know we checked on him, since that is what you want.”
“If it was just me, I’d agree. Alki, Cherine sensed and vouched for him, you know my trust in her gift is absolute - so how can I justify sneaking around behind his back to find out who he is? What does bother me is that both Cherine and I have the feeling that we know him, despite not remembering him. With our improved memories I cannot explain it, but every time I start to worry about it, I tell myself that since Cherine also has the feeling she knows him, as he claims, then I’ll have to trust him - ” I gave a tense smile, “ - even though the truth is that I’m doing so because I trust Cherine. Then there is the matter of choices we have to make. Do we live our lives without trust, or do we take risks and trust some people now and then?”
“As you said, Roberto, with your improved memories, if you had met him, you should remember him. I’ve been wondering whether he has used some kind of power to make you think you have a vague feeling you’ve met him?”
I grinned. “Cherine had the same thoughts and solved her worries in her own way. She told me that if he used a power to make her think she remembers him, then she would not have a way to check whether it is so, however, if he used such a power on me and she studies my mind, she is certain she’ll sense it. To be doubly certain, she took Dommi with her when she entered my mind. They are both certain no power was used to alter my memories.”
“I don’t agree with you, I have the feeling that something is wrong, that there is more to this story than we think, but I will not take any action without your prior agreement.”
I thanked him and jumping to a quiet place close to the Delta beach, I walked for a while, trying to understand why I feel so strongly about not spying on the man. I realised that a negative fact is affecting the way I think. My protector instincts have not sent me any warnings about him. I then felt free to let my mind roam and I wondered about the way Alki is willing to spend so much on me and my loves - even with some of them being his daughters, it still is unusual for any levelheaded businessman to throw money around the way he is doing for us. What if his love for us ends up driving him bankrupt? I cannot allow it.
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Once I was home, I confided my worry to Dommi. “I fear I may be harming Alki. He is far too kind and with him investing so much just on my say-so, now he also wants to lend me the money to buy and rebuild the houses. I know he is wealthy Dommi, but surely not that wealthy that he can afford to spend this kind of money? Should we accept, or wait until I have the money?”
She laughed at me. “Poor Roberto, to Alki you are his son. He is grateful and in awe of you, but more than anything else, he loves you. Do not worry about him, he can afford it. Tell me, would you think my father could afford it?”
“Yes.”
“Alki is far wealthier than my father. My father is in shipping which has a glamour attached to it. Alki is a major shareholder in more companies, all over the world, than you or anyone else can imagine. He prefers to keep a low profile, but it is suspected that the cash he has secretly stashed offshore is more than what everyone thinks he is worth. Just to save Niko he invested over thirty million and what he wants to spend on us is less than his daily income. Accept what he gives you and us Roberto, for it comes with love.”
I was stunned, I had thought of him as being wealthy, but never realised to what extent. It certainly eased my mind.
Rosie giggled to herself but did not speak. I sensed she wished to speak, but was afraid of hurting me
.“Come on Rosie, out with it. What’s so funny?”
“I just had the thought that when you found yourself a fairy godfather you sure picked the richest one.”
“Pappou is not a fairy!!” Cherine’s arch tone and play on the words amused us. “Robert, maybe that explains it.” I stared at Cherine, wondering what she was talking about. “He has been part of us longer than anyone else, even before Dommi. Why is it he does not share his mind with us? He loves and trusts us. To him it must be crucial he keeps his secrecy.”
“You mean he fears we would love him for his money?”
“No silly. He has spent his whole life doing his business secretly, he is used to thinking that way.”
“May I change the subject?” I nodded at Meli to go ahead. “You all do remember that my sister Bernadine is to be born tomorrow?”
“We would not forget my love. How do you feel, knowing you will not be of the same circle?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You are in our circle love, not with your birth family. She…” I stared at her in dismay, unable to speak. Not one of them helped me out. Finally I burst out, unable to accept it. “Never!! I cannot do this to your parents.”
“Silly, it was they who decided. They want to adopt children who are not of their blood. That way they will not feel guilty of incest. They cannot change Robbie. They want her to be with us. Where else could she go; with Themi? I do not think so!!”
“Still, this...”
Claudia tried to explain, “Don’t you see Robbie? This way they know all their children stay together as a family and our circle is the closest to theirs anyway. It makes sense.”
“Oh squiggle tail, it makes sense, but it hurts me.” Claudia squirmed at my nickname and everyone laughed, changing the mood. I left them to their teasing and games and walked over. Marian opened the door, took one look at my face and pulled me in.
“Alki, our Robert is here. I think he needs to talk.” He came, looking worried.
“What is it?”
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“I think the girls told him about Bernadine.”
“I cannot accept this. You will one day resent me. It would…”
“Stop talking before you say something you should not. Let us talk instead.” Marian was being firm and I stared at her, in a way rejoicing at the way she has grown.
They sat me down, a cup of coffee appeared at my elbow and Alki sat opposite me, leaning forward, his arms resting on his knees, his hands clasped as he stared at me. “Did you love the parents of Dominique when you made her part of your circle?”
“You know I did.”
“Yet you estranged their daughter from them, became their most hated enemy.”
“I had no choice. I loved her.”
“Our Wendy girl, to take her into your circle, you killed her father?”
“No, that is wrong. Our intention was only to get her away from him, to save her. It was after that, she captivated our hearts. You know all this Alki.”
“True. And Claudia? You love her parents?”
“I do not see what is the point you are trying to make. You know I despise them. This is not the same.”
“Of course it is not the same. What is the big difference Roberto?” He put his hand up. “I will answer for you. The difference is we love you and know how you will love and care for our children and we want you to be the one they belong with.
All parents bring up their children with the knowledge or hope that one day they will love and marry and not belong to the parents anymore. You have changed the world for us Roberto, you and Cherine. We now have to decide, or at least accept, from birth, or from before, who they will belong with.
Marian and I come into this with prejudices. Maybe in twenty years time we will have outgrown them. At this moment we cannot cast them aside. I know myself Roberto. Marian knows herself. We are both people who would, as you, treat them with gentleness, tenderness. Whatever the passion, however long we danced, we would never hurt a child. You have shown us there can be beauty in the love between an adult and a child who has the mind of an adult.
However, we cannot find it in us to make love to our own children, not even when they are adults. I cannot accept I would make love to and impregnate my own daughter and the daughter of such a union. I cannot, not even with a healer and even if I see I may be forced to change one day. Not now Roberto.”
“Then keep her in your circle Alki. Do not impregnate her. Give her the relief she will need, but wait until your circle has grown and allow your children to form their own circle within your circle.”
“I have seen your intentions in that regard. Have the girls allowed you Roberto? Do they not all feel hurt if you refuse to make them your women? Would you say that because I am not Roberto, I would be able to stand hurting them that way? Would I not too capitulate, love them as even my own heart would demand of me?”
Marian put her hand on his. “Robert, I have talked with Bernie. Especially after our last dance. She tasted your love and wants to belong to you, not some other. We suggested she might be happier with Andrea and Britta, but she said she belongs with you.”
“Would you allow your love for us to cause hurt to our daughter and us by refusing us?”
My hands were shaking and tears were falling as they talked. I felt dread that someday they will resent me for enjoying the love of their children. I could not see however how I was to refuse. Not if she does captivate me, as she is certain to, since the others already seem to love her. I cried out in anguish, “Where will this end? How can I, one man, keep so many girls, women, happy? I even felt the way my own sister Laura wants to join us. She has remained out of the circle of her parents, waiting for me. I pretend not to notice, hoping they will grow into each other. If I start accepting all, where does it stop?”
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“At some point you will have to mature Robert.” Marian stared me in the eyes as she spoke. “Someday you will have to accept that you cannot. That you need to bring some young man into your circle, or have sons. Till then, the burden is yours, for you must keep them all happy.”
Alki gave a short bark of laughter. I could not, for the life of me see what he thought was funny.
“How you have changed us! I, a Greek father, pleading with a man to love my babies!!”
“That is why I grew to love you.” Her eyes were warm with love. “I wanted my own grizzly bear, but it was also the big heart and the wisdom you have that allows you to listen to your heart and learn from it. It made me feel here is a man I could give myself to without reservations. A man I could trust with my heart and life.”
I saw the depths of his love for her, the love they have for each other and it made my own love for them grow even deeper. I realised it is no longer a choice, if the circle takes her in, I too will love their precious daughter with all my heart.
*I was so afraid you would not want me. It hurt so much.*
*Bernadine!?* Even as she used the word ‘hurt’ I recalled the sweetness of her at our last dance and my heart went out to her. We all, the girls and I, felt the circle expand and she was suddenly part of us. Marian looked at me in surprise and her face lit up with joy.
“Alki love, it has happened. She is in their circle. Oh Robert, you have now all three of my daughters.” She began to cry, but I could sense and see, these were tears of joy. If there are gods, how they must laugh at the way the wheel spins around.
Despite all my qualms, as I returned home I was walking on air. As I entered our home, the girls flung themselves at me with their joy.
“This is the first time ever my love. She must really be special for the circle to have taken her in before she is even born.”
“I know Dommi. This will really make Niko despair of being able to find a girl for himself, he will say he has no chance since I am now grabbing them before they are born.” That got a few laughs.
Wendy asked, “Robbie? May I write a special song for her, to welcome her tomorrow?”
Meli laughed, delighted by her idea. “I have a better idea. When she is born, can you all come into my world? Bernie can come as a girl, not a baby. There Wendy can sing her song.”
“As long as you do not embarrass me with those damn flowers of yours!” I added gruffly.
I believe Cherine loves the idea of my being embarrassed. “I think it is a great idea. Don’t worry about him Meli, he is just jealous because he can’t write stories like you do.”
Meli teased her back, “Are you certain he can’t Cher? If he can create such wonderful pictures of worlds that only exist in his mind, who says he can’t write a story? Maybe he is just afraid to try.”
Cherine turned to me, suddenly fierce. “We all have a lot of homework to catch up on. The babies, well Meli must go be with her parents tonight, it is a special night for them. It is about time Dommi tries some of that cooking she has been learning. Anyway, you go and lock yourself in your office and write us a story.”
“You do wonders for my heart love. You truly seem to think I can do anything!” I laughed as I kissed her. “Do your homework. I fear though, you will be greatly saddened by my lack of ability to tell a story. Certainly I do not have the magic way with words that Meli has.”
I struggled for hours. The hardest part was in coming up with a concept. Once I had an idea, even though it was vague and I could not see how it would develop, I began to write. I only wrote the first chapter and stopped, tired and dispirited. I sensed it was stilted and found myself not knowing how to carry on. I re-read it a couple of times, making some changes and then I printed it out and decided, it would have to do as a first try.
I was not surprised to find them all sitting waiting for me. As I walked out of my office, Meli appeared with her parents following by a more conventional method of locomotion. They entered through the glass door, a look of pleasure on their faces. They could see that I am in the process of making an idiot of myself and came over to gloat at their daughter proving herself to be so far superior to me in the field of story-telling. I cringed, even though Cherine sat by me. Even more when she did so. Her confidence in me, I felt, was going to be sorely tested. I wanted to hand over the sheets for someone else to read, but they insisted I read.
“This is just a first draft, though I have re-written it a dozen times. So, here goes.”
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Man lived as man did, with his destiny in hands sweaty, calloused and often bloodied. The centuries and millenniums were of time blended, where the palette swirled with glowing streams of oily spectrums, silver mercurial metals and the liquid brightness and depths of watery clouds; a charismatic chaos of probabilities.
Gaea sparkled and laughed in her gift of servitude, abundant in her spirit gifted to the life-given forms that spanned her lands and seas. Her spirit was named 'Magic' by the life she cradled.
Dragons, Elves, Trolls, Mermaids, Unicorns and Man ebbed and flowed, drew boundaries and re-drew them, sometimes with blood and sometimes with reason and generosity, defining and re-defining according to their needs and the needs of others. Magic was the catalyst that blended and sweetened their days, dissolving the restrictions miserly hearts sometimes place upon us.
Except for Man.
Man was not a creature made of starlight and moonbeams. Man was not of the golden berries of the earth and the tingling green grasses of the fields. Man was made of labour and servitude to others and ambitions, from birth to death. Man was not of the present as were the others. Man was of dreams and imaginings. Man was a begetter of tools and inventor of machines.
And so the wise ones of the races foresaw that in the palette of Time, the blend of their essences are starting to coalesce and the silver mercurial streams of Man will drift to pools apart and alone. They recognised the portends of loss to all of life, though Man was in many ways and at many times an irksome creature, and in alarm reached out to each other, convened a meeting and three of the wisest were sent to Man.
Man learnt of how the streams of Time were blended, allowing magic and their neighbours to share one stream with them. They learnt of the power of disruption their growing technologies had on the fluidity of infinite possibility. They were told that Time would split them off into a probability stream of their own and they would be alone forever more.
Some wept at such loss and pleaded for Man to turn from inventions and technology, to live with the world they loved. Others saw this as the fulfilment of their dream to have a world that belonged alone to Man. None of them though had the power to stop the mind of Man or influence the course of his future.
During the time of Magic, a man, alone in the wilderness, climbing rock strewn slopes in the hopes of crossing the brow and finding new lands where he could someday bring his future family to live a better life, slipped on a moss covered stone by the edge of a ravine. When he swam out of the darkness of pain he found himself in a small room gently swaying on the branches of an oak tree. He had been found by an elf. She healed him and they spent a long time learning of their differences and what they had in common. When it was time for him to leave, she did not tell him she was bearing his son.
The son, Allerest, grew up alone with his mother. He did not know much of Man, and what he knew of Elves was through observance of the sweet ways of his mother. He did inherit from his father the wanderlust and by his eighteenth year he had climbed to the brow and seen the new lands. His mother told him they are the lands of the Dragons.
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Ivera, a young maiden of fiery breath and ice green eyes, hated limits that made little sense to her. She flew often on her own, gone for days or weeks, testing and challenging the boundaries imposed by her elders and tradition. On this day she had flown all the way to the edge of the brow where the Strangers land began. She saw movement below and saw what seemed to be a man creature. She swiftly landed behind a copse of trees. After a few moments of hesitation, she prudently decided to take on the form of Man, for she knew her dragon shape could be quite intimidating to such a puny sized creature. Laughing, she spun herself a magic silvery cobweb robe.
She sat by a stream bank, hugging her knees, exploring the strangeness of being man-shaped, while little soft giggles of anticipation escaped her as she imagined his surprise when he stumbles across her.
Allerest having grown up mostly as an Elf, did not have the fear of dragons his father would have had. His mother had taught him well of their gentleness and the renowned wisdom of the elder dragons. She taught him that men fear dragons because they more often than not meet very young adventurous dragons. Young Dragons have an impish sense of humour and tend to forget to control their fire-breath when excited.
Allerest inherited from his mother some of the abilities with magic that men do not have - for all the races of Gaea's children have some common abilities, but at the same time they each have special abilities that other races do not share. Elf eyes have the ability to see the true forms of all creatures. Such true forms are not really the physical forms of others, they are the soul forms, flames coloured by their race, characters and personalities. Though not fully adept, as a mature elf would be, Allerest knew enough to read in general the basics of the souls he saw.
Allerest, thirsty and tired, but still exhilarated by his boldness at starting on this adventure, heard the stream and turned. As he came out of the trees his eyes fell on the highly unlikely sight of a young girl sitting on the embankment. His first feeling was of deflation. The sight of a young girl sitting there, relaxed and obviously not wary of imminent dangers suddenly ridiculed his daring adventure. Then his elfin eyes saw her true shape. Each pattern of flames was gilded by such a gentle glow of golden aura that he knew no girl of Elf or Man was before him. She must surely be a creature of pure magic. His heart hammering anew with his sense of having found a real adventure, he stepped forward and she turned and looked up at him.
Allerest puzzled Ivera. She saw him as Man, then he seemed to flicker and was an Elf. Surely this was a mystery for the Elders. She saw he did not have the malice Dragons usually spoke of when describing Man; yet he did not possess the full powers of an Elf. As they talked, she decided to travel with him a ways, until she has solved the puzzle. She wondered, with a barely concealed excitement, has Gaea created a new race?
As the days went by she was many times tempted to change her form back to its dragon shape. This endless footsore walking did not make any sense when she could be soaring and gliding so effortlessly. However, she would lose him without having her questions answered if she did. Ivera also found that she was enjoying her conversations with Allerest. His ways of thinking were very different to hers and she could feel new paths of knowledge opening up in her.
As she got to know the aches of her form she also came to enjoy some of the pleasant sensations of her thin skin, that were so different to her less sensitive dragon hide. She gently tickled her arms with a grass blade; with her fingertips; swirled her hands and toes in cool running streams; smelt flowers in her cupped palms. Allerest saw the way, amidst her bright chatter, she revelled in exploring sensations of her body. His suspicions returned, but he could not take them seriously as a threat, she was so very innocent and child-like in her enjoyment.
As they walked, what started by feeling like a stroll grew to feeling like an undertaking. They were both walking in new territory, both getting further and further from their homelands. The land was not tamed and though most of the wildlife, apart from the insects, stayed distant, they were attacked one night by a striped animal with large fangs. It obviously felt they were justifiably easy prey. In her startled reaction Ivera almost changed form so as to attack it with flame and claw. Allerest surprised her though with his speed and agility as he leapt in front of her and battled the animal with his knife. Once the animal felt the sting of several cuts, none of them very deep, it decided there is easier prey in the forest and disappeared with a bound.
'You're hurt.' She grabbed his arm, looking at the blood from a claw mark.
He smiled. 'I'll live.' He then saw she was upset. 'Don't worry. I'll wash it and it will heal within a few days. I think we better move on now before that big cat decides it is still hungry.'
Ivera desperately wanted to transform back into a dragon, or even a giant eagle, so that she could carry him away from the danger. She no longer believed he would be terrified of her if he knows what she is. She just did not want to risk altering the basis of their relationship yet. She decided she will tell him later. She felt her own arm. It had felt different touching him. His skin and the hairs on his arm were rougher. She withdrew into herself, trying to analyse why the feel and warmth of him felt so nice.
Allerest bound his arm and they walked until, exhausted, they found a tree they could sleep in. They had been walking uphill for a couple of days already and the night was now chilly. Ivera was not used to being so sensitive to cold and when they settled in a fork she nestled close to him for warmth.
A dragons' nose, because of all that fiery breath, is not very sensitive to smell. Most of what Ivera smelt in her present body was new to her. For that reason the sweet scent she inhaled upon awakening did not warn her. She was curious though and traced the smell to Allerests' arm. He was still asleep, though he was muttering and his face was beaded with sweat. Ivera tried to waken Allerest without success. She was starting to worry, illness was not something she knew anything about, though she had heard that Man and Elf are susceptible to many different kinds of infections. Finally she unstrapped his arm and saw the wounds were a greenish-yellow and the arm was swollen and red.
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She mentally called out for help, hoping another, more experienced dragon, was in range. There was no reply.
Checking that he still was not conscious, she metamorphosed and swiftly carried him to the nearest pool. There, as a young girl again, she gently bathed him with cool water and then removed a small part of her magical robe, infused it with her health aura and wrapped it on his arm. Cradling his head on her lap she softly sang dragon lullabies. She did not know what else to do and it made her feel useless..
As the sky darkened, she sent out her senses to search for any dangerous animals. She identified a carnivorous animal that was tracking their scent on the breeze. Carefully she removed his head from her lap, checked that he still was not conscious and moved off into the trees. There, dragon again, she swiftly hunted out the animal. Finding it she let out a roar with flame. Terrified the big cat ran.
As she stepped out into the clearing, adjusting her hair, she saw Allerest sitting up and staring at her.
'I heard a roar. There must be something very big out there. Ivera, it could be dangerous, don't wander off into the trees again.' He stopped and looked around. 'How did we get here?'
'There is nothing to worry about. I went to get some food for us.' She held out some nuts. 'You were sick I think, so I had to carry you here.'
Allerest was still too weak and self involved with his needs to puzzle it out, how such a slim, almost dainty girl, could have lowered him from the tree and carried him here. The look of worry in her green eyes as he collapsed again were all he needed at the moment. She fed and washed him and he drifted off into a healing sleep.
The next day he was recovered enough to insist they leave. He still remembered the monstrous roar of the previous evening and, knowing he is in no condition to protect her or himself, he wanted as much distance between the animal and them as possible.
On the fourth day they crossed the summit and saw the valley far below them with a lace of long white beach stretching into the hazy distance. It was the first time Allerest had seen the blue waters of the ocean reaching from the horizon and crashing in a foamy spray.
Ivera sat on a large rock, hugging her knees, lost in thought. She had been gone from home longer than anytime before. She knew that if she did not return soon her family would have to enter her name in the book of the dead. She was not gone on a known journey, they could not presume that after such an unexpected absence she would still return. They knew that her sense of the dragon net of life would be calling her to return. There are many families who wait so patiently for the book of the living to give them a chance to form another young one. Her people being so long-lived could not reproduce without an empty space being formed amongst them - this they called the book of the living. She was too far for the net of life to sense her. She needed to leave now.
Her experiment with Allerest had taught her a lot. As far as she knew, no dragon had ever held another form for as long as she had. She had also learnt a lot from it. What she had not expected was the emotional turmoil such prolonged change had brought her. She felt crippled, such a lack of power and abilities and such blindness to the spirit of Gaea, only able to see the strongest magic, out of, what seemed to be the corner of the eye.
Yet, Allerest was not the weak to be pitied creature she’d thought he would be. He is as fully human as she is, she realised with a start. He has all the qualities she admires in her people and his heart is as stout as a dragons', no, even more so, for his skin is thin and easily damaged, he does not have their strength and he cannot fly. There are parts of him, parts that she still found fascinating though alien and unfathomable. No, she would have to risk staying a little longer.
'Ivera, I do not see peoples of any race here. Could this land truly be ours?'
She smiled at him. 'Ours?'
'You found it with me.' He grinned, 'What is the point in having a world without anyone to share it with?'
She felt vaguely disturbed, it sounded too close to the mating ritual of her people. She shook her head, suddenly amused by her fears, what would his race know of her peoples' rituals. 'Allerest, are all of men the same as you?'
'I don't know. My father was of the race of Man. My mother is an Elf. Had you not guessed?'
'I had not guessed. How could I. I am of neither.' She stared at him, 'I am of the Dragon race.' There, she had said it.
He laughed, delighted. 'You are certainly of some race of magic born. I've known that since I met you. But, a dragon?'
720
'Would you fear me if you saw me as a dragon…as all of men do?' She waited with a small pain of fear, such as she had never felt before. He stared at her for a moment then his dark eyes lit with a smile.
Ivera shimmered and leapt off the rock. A dragon, silver blue metallic scales from wing to wing with orange to red from belly to tail tip, flew from Allerest and circled back to him. The dragon shimmered and Ivera stood before him again.
Allerest put out his arms and holding her by the shoulders, staring deep into her eyes gently kissed her on the lips. 'You are as beautiful as I always knew you are.'
Forty days passed before they met the first mermaids. They were playing in the sea, close to shore, and after briefly stopping to stare at the two of them, returned to their games. As is usual, all good or bad things seem to come together, so that very same afternoon they met their first unicorn. They paused in awe, for he was an Ancient, born perhaps at the beginning of time.
He snorted in amusement when seeing them. 'Good day my dragon lady. It is not often one sees your kind so far from home.' He looked at Allerest with a greeting ready on his lips, looked back at Ivera and he paused. He bowed his front legs and head, the ivory tip of his horn glinting in the sun pointing at them. 'Praise the spirit of Gaea, a new race. I welcome you.'
Allerest smiled. 'And welcome to you. Do you know of all the races on this earth that you should bequeath me with a new title?'
The unicorn shook his head, as if shaking tears out of his eyes. 'I am an elder of my race and I have travelled over many lands. I have never seen or heard of such as you. There is a resemblance to the best of Man in you, yet you carry the spirit of the Elven. Gaea in her wisdom has created you and the new one.' He shook his great head again. 'Speak not, for the spirit talks in me and I must listen.'
The sound of the distant waves, of bees and the call of a lonely bird were the only sounds as they stood there.
'Dragon lady, I see why you are here. You are here to do Gaea’s work. The new race is not completed. You are to bear his child, the child that completes the triangle. The child will grow at this time of the great Parting, to heal wounds and return hope.'
Ivera gave a loud cry and before Allerest could hold her, she shimmered and flew into the sky. A piercing cry came from above and the dragon flew away.
The unicorn stared at the vanishing dragon, then turning, saw the grief on Allerest’s face. 'Do not grieve young one. She will return.' He turned away lost in thought till from a distance, as if suddenly remembering Allerest he called, 'This valley is yours to share, home for the new race. Treasure it for their future. I will return to greet your new-born'. With that his ivory outline faded into the bushes.
Ivera flew as high as her mighty wings would carry her, trying to leave behind the Ancient unicorns' words, "you are to bear his child". She felt fear and grief as if it had already come to pass, for it is known that of all the races, the Unicorn are always the first to foresee changes that affect all the races, as they had of the Parting.
A child of such a union would not belong amongst her people, she would have to leave her home and family. Suddenly the realisation hit her, for such a prophecy to come true she was already too late. Her name was already in the book of the dead. She let out such a cry as to freeze all life on the land far below and surely reach the stars. There was no answer from her family. Valiantly and desperately she flew without stopping until even her strength, fortified by all the magic she could remember, had been consumed. In despair she landed on the crown of a hill and huddled in misery for the night.
As the sun rose fresh from its rest she heard the distant call and soon there appeared in the sky the golden wings of her father and behind him, mother, sister and an elder. Disheartened already by what she feared is the truth, she waited for them on the ground, but sent a tremulous query to her family. Their thoughts came back, soothing and caressing her with love.
As they landed, they each rubbed and twined necks, scratched her breast with their claws in loving gestures of welcome. Her sister nipped her on the nose, blowing gently tendrils of smoke and Ivera felt like crying, her heart breaking. These gestures of love were partly their expressions of relief and happiness to know she was well, but they were also usually reserved for those proclaiming their love when mating for life and for those no longer part of the living book. She was no longer part of the net of life that bound them together as a race.
When her misery had subsided and the family had all settled in comfort around her, the elder rested his wing across her, slid his head alongside and softly asked, 'Daughter of dragons, what could have led you so far? Did you not feel the time come upon you when your name would belong in the book of the dead?'
'Ancient father, my sense warned me…but I cannot explain it to you. Would you allow me to pass to you the fullness of my memory, perhaps you could then judge and advise me.'
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)24th April, 2019
* posted on Steemit: 24th April, 2019
@nikosnitza
If you wish to have your name added above, I would be honoured.
