Of Magic in Man

The Aeloria

"I heard that in Sean Bean's voice," Ruddy interrupted chuckling. He shut up when Valemdar wheeled on him with a glare more fierce and wounded than anything Ruddy had seen on anyone's face much less that of the stoic Eladrin.

Valemdar went on calmly, "Your home, is over here." The king waved a hand over the orrery and whispered, "Thralorith Homodar."

The surface of the orrery shifted. It seemed to move slowly yet countless star systems passed before Ruddy's eyes, journeys of millions of years by conventional travel back home, until it rested on a familiar sight, Earth.

"This is Homodar...your home. You orbit Avarsi Homa, which you simply refer to as 'The Sun' in the constellation Magnus. With me so far?"

Ruddy just nodded trying to take it all in.

"I suppose it remains easy to deny that this is not a dream, yet pay close attention as we are just getting started. Knowledge is the antidote to all forms of ignorance especially the unwitting kind. Follow me."

Ruddy obediently followed the king to an empty spot on the shimmering floor. The king raised his hands toward a sphere that hummed softly with energy high above them, "Thralorith venylur." 

The orb descended from the ceiling and came to rest a few feet off the ground between them.

"This is the Astral Nexus. It is a tool, nothing more, through which we connect with the Aeloria. Master Finarion has surely explained the Aeloria?"

Ruddy nodded, "Yes, the magical energy that flows through your realm like water in streams."

"It is more," Valemdar said, "The Aeloria is not magical energy it is the life force of the divine mother, the conduit's through which her life flows to all others and returns to her when their time is done. It is infinite and yet balanced, the epitome of what you call love. Love and life are one in the same. Those who do not love, wither and die even before they are dust. Do you understand?"

"Not really," Ruddy replied honestly.

"You will. Place your hand on the Nexus."

Ruddy did as he was told. It was warm and soft to the touch despite its cold glow. There wasn't any one moment that he could describe later where he understood. There was no magical crackling of kinetic energy or a sudden sense of euphoria. He just seemed to gradually notice things, like how the headache he'd been nursing from last night's study session was gone and how light he felt, like he could run and run forever and never tire out, how beautiful Elowyn was. He shoved that one to the back of his mind quickly. Even if this wasn't a dream, he still had a fiance to get back to.

Peaceful, that was the feeling. Not excited, not sad, not euphoric, not emboldened, peaceful and light, like he could endure or be anything he needed to be in service of one thing, this in himself and others.

Ruddy looked up at the king, who just smiled softly and nodded, "Thralorith avanyr."

The orb rose back to its place near the ceiling.

"Now you have met the Mother. And yet...this could still be a dream...couldn't it?"

Ruddy nodded. He couldn't seem to manage much else, though he did manage to mutter politely, "Yes, but I'm beginning to wish it wasn't."

Valemdar chuckled and led him to a small pool on the raised pedestal in the corner. 

Ruddy had noticed it earlier, but brushed it off as a bird bath. Who knows? Maybe the harmonious king of the high elves likes bird song in his study.

"This is the Lylorstone. Through it we can see anything."

"Like the one Galadriel shows Frodo?"

Valemdar cocked an eyebrow at Ruddy, "You know Galadriel?"