“There’s only one sparkle left!” Athanashal gasped as he turned back from Gefforen’s distraction. He watched it move closer to the mountain.
Eshezy watched too. The tiny point of light seemed to be oscillating above one cleft some few hundreds of yards above their position. As she observed it, suddenly it swooped down and was gone.
The sun creature moved down too, taking a position over the same cleft, showing his superior size compared to the sparks. His closeness caused a faint feeling of warmth to splash briefly over the chilled survivors. Then he swooped down and was gone, too.
The only light was now the faint red glow of the dying fire.
“Eshezy?” Gefforen’s voice wavered. “Is this like where you came from? Is this night?”
“Come closer. I don’t recall.” Eshezy refrained from attempting to explain that night was never completely dark, because she did not recall what held back the blackness in her previous life and because she knew how scared and brave her little friend was becoming.
Gefforen scrambled across the intervening distance, dropping down beside and pressing herself against her heroine’s shoulder. She felt a warm closeness against her back and found the cougar had moved nearer; his big forepaws showed against the pale red glow and she could feel his soft underside against her lower back. Athanashal moved to the other side of the majestic beast and started hesitantly stroking his flank.
Eshezy found Rauffaely climbing onto her lap. She smiled, amused at the thought of the cougar doing the same thing – squashing her in the process – and amazed that she was not scared that the end had finally come. We were too late, after all…
A sound of snapping broke the seemingly lifeless silence. The fire seemed to be glowing a little brighter, and then a small flame rose up in brilliant solitude. Athanashal threw another piece of broken arrow onto the fire and reached for the ones left in his quiver. “Will it be like this back at your Fortress?”
Eshezy thought before responding. “They have the huge fireplace in the grand room. And I expect there are other ways to stay warm there.”
“Maybe these two warm friends will keep us safe?” Athanashal mused.
Eshezy did not respond, but wondered how long the higher body temperature of felines could delay them from becoming finally, fatalistically frozen. At least there isn’t any breeze. Almost like the whole world is going to sleep. But I don’t feel tired anymore! She determined to watch for as long as she could, though there was only a small circle of reality illuminated, scarcely enough to allow her to see her companions, the fire and a small bordering platform of red-glimmering stone.
The absolute blackness was held back a little longer by the fire, until all of the remaining arrows had been consumed and the red glow faded slowly away. The only sense left – apart from the increasing cold from the thankfully still air – was the tactile sensation of skin against fur and shoulder against shoulder.
Time passed, though no one could tell if it was a brief period, or if many meal-times had been missed. Athanashal broke the silence. “Thank you for bringing me on this adventure, Eshezy! I wouldn’t have missed it for all Terraless!”
“That’s what it was for!” Eshezy rubbed Rauffaely’s ears, finding his purr to be soothing, glad that, in the absence of constant conversation, his rumble kept the nothingness at bay. “Never did a leader have better companions.”
“I don’t feel scared anymore, Eshezy!” Gefforen sounded astounded at her declaration, but it was clear from her calm tone that it was true. “I’m going to sleep for a bit.” She moved so that she could rest her head against the cougar’s shoulder. He did not object, and the warmth soothed her. Almost instantly she was asleep.
Athanashal found his eyes closing. He opened them again, but nothing looked changed in the blank nothingness that surrounded him. He sagged slowly, his posture and his eyelids dropping until he, too, was asleep.
Eshezy sighed. She rubbed Rauffaely’s ears one more time, listening for the purr that followed. I did try, Janeesise. I’m sorry it wasn’t enough.
Something sparkled from far across Terraless. In the absence of all other light, it brought her attention to an immediate focus. Like white fireworks, flashes burst forth from far away, though they lit the human and animal huddle so that Eshezy could see her companions as they slept. Unlike fireworks, however, the distant sparks did not fade, but instead they rose ever higher. The mountain slopes behind and above them were revealed; the distant lowlands before them glimmered; the vast inland ocean reflected the light back up.
Those sparkles… Eshezy watched as they gradually filled the night sky, though they did not stay still, preferring to swoop and … dance! They do remind me of the sky at night back… wherever I came from. They are called stars there! But these ones are better! She watched as the star-creatures danced and flew. In the crisp light, she could see her breath puffing out, dissipating into the velvet blackness. Should I wake the others?
Athanashal broke the silence, making her question redundant. “I’m content to see this – whatever it is! What a show!”
“I dreamed…” Gefforen raised her head. “What is that?”
“I think we can call them star-dancers.” Eshezy responded. “Where I come from they are not mobile like this, but I think these are truly wonderful!”
The three watched, not noticing how, from time to time, the eyes of their furry companions opened to take in the silvery vision. The star-dancers weaved across the vast dome above them, making brief patterns and shapes which tantalised and teased, being almost recognisable. Eshezy smiled as she thought they had created a heavenly image of Rauffaely, but it was gone before she could be sure she was not imagining it.
After some time, Eshezy realised she had missed some of the dance, as the sky, though still incredibly dark, looked blue-tinted again. I must have slept – though I would not have wanted to miss a moment. “Ooooh! Watch now, for we are about to see something so amazing! He’s coming back!”
“Who?” This inevitable question issued simultaneously from four lips.
“His name is Waalaeth.” As Eshezy said this, her voice cracking with emotion and excitement, a brilliant beam of deep red light splashed up from the suddenly black, silhouetted distant mountains, carving a glorious wound across the sparkled velvet, making the star-dancers scatter, though they seemed to be flying from the redness as if it were part of some kind of game. “You know him well, but now you shall know him better!”
The sky brightened to deep blue, the beam spread, the distant mountains caught fire, the fire rose….
“It’s the sun-creature!” Gefforen gasped as the light spread over the land, her eyes glowing with the blue as the sky burst into colour, flooding the land. “And he is warm! No… he is hot!”
The deep red brightened and changed to a brilliant orange as Waalaeth appeared above the far horizon. He was far brighter and larger than Eshezy could ever remember him being and the warmth transferred from him – even though he was still so low in the sky – pushed away the chills of the night.
The cougar stood and stretched, almost unnoticed in the excitement, his eyes narrow-slotted again in the light of day. Gefforen gasped as she realised he was heading for the edge. “May the blessings of Janeesise continue to fill your life.” This she said as she followed him, hoping for one last chance to touch his warm body. She was not disappointed as he turned and regarded her at the edge, allowing her to stroke his back and warm flank again.
Eshezy caught his eye and nodded to him and Athanashal raised a hand in salute, whilst Rauffaely raised a grin on everyone by emitting a plaintive meow. The cougar simply stepped over the edge and Gefforen watched as he seemed to glide down the cliff, shrinking rapidly until he was just a fawn dot moving towards the treeline.
Gefforen finally walked back across the stone plateau to her three companions. “I don’t think we can go down there.”
“Just enjoy the dawn a little longer.” Eshezy urged. “Our way down will be r
evealed soon.”
“But… what is ‘dawn’?” Gefforen admitted her ignorance without shame.
“I see there are some new terms for you to learn.” Eshezy was surprised and thankful that she could recall all of them. “The time of the star-dancers is the night – our sleep-time, normally! When the sky starts to brighten from that velvet black that allows them to look so bright in contrast, this is the beginning of dawn. When Waalaeth rises, that is daybreak, and now, when he shines and warms the land of Terraless, now is the day. Later, when there has been enough time for breakfast, the midday meal and the last meal of the day, he will rest again, and the star-dancers will return!”
Gefforen considered this for a moment, all the while enjoying the warmth as Waalaeth grew ever higher, ever brighter, ever warmer. She looked at Athanashal, her face suddenly mischievous. “The only thing I need to know now… is if you have ever heard of velvet?”
Athanashal shook his head. “No, not me. It sounds intriguing, though!”
“Good grief!” Eshezy exaggerated her response, knowing how much her friends deserved to laugh. “Velvet is a kind of fabric that feels like the heads of those little flowers near Neechaall. I suppose you’re going to tell me that you never touched them?”
Athanashal and Gefforen looked at each other and then Eshezy. Both nodded.
“But I promise to find a flower just as soon as I can!” Gefforen said solemnly. She let out a little shriek as the solid rock underneath her started to soften. Eshezy grabbed her, wincing as she inadvertently used the now puffy-fingered right hand to do so.
The companions backed up, watching as the stone became like fresh loam and began to bulge up, rising into a massive mound as tall as Eshezy and wider than the shade of a large fruit tree. It continued to expand, starting to spill over, tumbling down towards their feet, making them step to the back of the great cliff that reached up from there, almost to the heavens. A head the size of an entire elephant burst forth, gleaming darkly, the single eye – as large as the space between a basketball hoop and the wooden floor below it – looked down on them, the iris of deep-flecked brown and gold glowing in the light of Waalaeth.
No one, not even Gefforen, felt scared as the front paw broke free of the new-made soil and squashed down the loose earth.
“Good day!” Eshezy bowed to the majestic and mildly monstrous mega-miner. “My friends, this is Proosthein, the power that resides in the depths. And this is a Stheinling!” She smiled as a miniature copy of the grand beast popped out of the hole and ran over to them, his strange, almost inchworm-like gait showing the muscles beneath his sleek fur coat. He ran straight to her, letting her stroke his long, long flanks for a moment before he stared into her eyes. I wonder if he is the very same one?
This she knew not, but she did know immediately what he would do and was so thankful for this reprieve. The instant his smooth, warm tongue touched her hand, the fingers ceased to throb and the normal, graceful shape of each digit was restored. She laid herself down and let him find all the scratches on her body and though there were many, he was done in a surprisingly short period. She sat up, determined to speak to him this time. “Oh, thank you, thank you! You are soooo beautiful! My friends, Gefforen… Athanashal… This is how I was able to heal everyone in Neechaall.”
Gefforen nodded, smiling, as she remembered the strange furry neck-wrap and the mysterious faint touches she had felt, lying with her eyes covered by Eshezy’s hand on the bed by the window of her old sleeping shack. She let Rauffaely greet his old friend and was content to close her eyes as she felt the licks that removed the gouges and scratches that were littered across her limbs and torso. “Your turn, Athanashal!” She watched as the Stheinling loped over to the lanky lad and started to administer his unique relief. The pink tongue surprised her, coming as it did from such a dark head. Or is that all one body? Gefforen was unable to discern where the head became neck or where the long body began. She felt a warm glow as the tongue passed over Athanashal’s lacerated cheek and it was magically and instantly restored. Think what he could do if he went to Survivor!
The lithe body loped back to her as soon as the far-sighted youth was fully fixed and the lone brown eye stared into each of her glorious blue ones in turn. Somehow, she knew that this idea of hers had already been acted upon – soon after they had departed from the Zilmard village, in fact, and that her special scaly friend was whole, her missing arm restored, her scratches erased and her wounds all healed. She stroked the thick fur behind the head in gratitude, marvelling at the smoothness and softness of the dense coat. “Eshezy, he says Survivor is all healed, just like us!”
Eshezy looked at her young follower, shaking her head as she observed the glow that surrounded the young face, watching as Gefforen caressed the Stheinling. She is more gifted than I ever imagined: she can hear the Stheinling, too!
They watched as the two-yard-long offspring of Proosthein bounded around, sniffing at the rich soil piled around his parent. He began to dig, a coordinated alternation of front and back paw jabs that were like a bestial ballet-bolero. He pulled something out of the dirt and dragged it over to the massive head still hovering over the scene. Though he held on to only one part, the string between the two fragments of curved, carved wood kept the pieces from separating entirely.
Eshezy and her friends watched as the wondrous eye focused on the remains of the battle bow. Something seemed to rend inside Eshezy as the remembrance of all the deaths she had inflicted flooded her conscious mind. Her eyes blurred over. She blinked back the tears and then saw the sorrow also present in Proosthein’s solitary eye. A huge tear formed and dropped with exquisite slowness. There, directly beneath the regard of this benevolent beast, was her broken bow. The head moved back, and Eshezy knew she should step forward. She picked up her bow. United, but still two pieces! She looked in amazement at the bow and pulled wonderingly at the string: the two fractured fragments were aligned as they should be, the twine taut but not overstretched, but the halves were joined by a glistening, jewel-like crystalline section, many-faceted and sparkling in the light of Waalaeth, a generous two inches long. A rainbow of colours to hold my bow together! And now it is more powerful than ever!
The cougar paced silently into the circle of friends, Eshezy’s still-sheathed sword in his mouth. He lowered his head to the two healers and dropped the weapon before Eshezy, a faint growl issuing forth as he looked her in the face intently. She picked it up, amazed at this unexpected additional restoration. Nothing is without purpose. I wonder…
He rubbed his pale shoulder against the Stheinling and turned to leap over the edge again. A flash of fur and he was gone.
Dirt started to tumble around as Proosthein moved, his long form swivelling like a fur-covered, infinitely articulated tube train. Eshezy, Gefforen and Athanashal backed away, expecting the beneficent behemoth to depart. Rauffaely bounced up onto his favourite human shoulder. The peace-powered pachyderm popped his proboscis promptly into the prior perforation, startling the witnesses with his lithe speed and grace. All expected the body to follow in quick order, but after the first thirty yards or so had flowed down into the mountain, the movement slowed and ceased.
Eshezy and Gefforen exchanged glances, both wondering if what had sprung into their thoughts could be true.
Athanashal looked from one to the other, puzzled at the knowledge which they seemed to share.
“Time to go!” Eshezy bowed to the Stheinling. “Thank you again! I anticipate our next meeting with sorrow, as well as unending joy.” She climbed onto the strangely flattened, almost hollowed-out portion of the Proosthein’s back, Gefforen moving to join her a moment later, and gestured for Athanashal to climb up. “Everyone! Stay still and stay flat!”
The body started to move again. In a few seconds the gloriously light morning was blacked out and the whoosh of air was the only sensation… other than falling.
Afterwards, Gefforen was secretly glad that she was forbidden to tell how they had descen
ded from the mountain peaks at the edge of Terraless. How could I explain? The speed, the air rushing by my ears, the dense feel of the mountain depths as we fell ever faster… Soothing softness below us, rugged hard rocks rushing past just inches above. But it was an incredible ride… what a ride!
***
The blackness was blasted away by daylight, but a slightly softer, milder light than that in the high mountain range. Proosthein had stopped just outside of his rollercoaster-like tunnel; the light of Waalaeth showed that they were at the top of a gently cresting hill, short grass growing greenly all around and a few solitary trees encircling it, including some apple, pear and that highly nutritious one that no one knew the name of.
Yet.
They descended from the hollow of the back of Proosthein, savouring the feel of his velvety fur as they slid down, and watched as his shape was restored to its more curved and tubular norm. The huge head regarded each of them in turn, then the furred fulsome funicular form hurtled back down the tunnel.
Eshezy and her companions had to scramble to move away to solid ground as the disturbed soil collapsed in on itself, glistening as it melted to mire and a petite pond filled the depression left behind by their high-speed transport.
Rauffaely jumped from Eshezy’s shoulder once they were clear and walked down the slope, heading for something he had spotted. He sat down after sniffing the topmost tips of both things, turning to look back as if to make sure they were following.
There, sticking out of the grassy knoll, were two arrows.
Gefforen pulled them out and held them up.
“Hmm. I think they’re mine.” Athanashal noted they were the slightly shorter kind which his quiver had contained. These must be the ones that missed. How did they get here? He looked up and saw something flickering in the distance, low in the sky. “What’s that?”
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