Poisoned Well

Chapter 1.2: Damage

As Ophia and Navieve slept, and Arie finished cleaning Ophia's birthroom, the others sat on the sitting room couches, weary from the healing. Canúden had sliced bread, spread it with jam, and served it to his guests, along with a bowl of naya fruit, which glinted violet and orange in the slanting sunlight. Lianna experimented with feeding Chadwick after a lesson from Arie; Lianna leaned against Emick, tense from the new pain of nursing.

Emick sipped from a mug of water, then broke the restful silence with, "I say, Skel, you seem to be a fabulous source of information."

Skel smiled as though she blushed, but the ebony of her skin hid any such show of emotion. "I do hope that, as a time mage, I have earned a bit of knowledge."

"Canúden and I saw Tavaris in Minara's tower," said Emick.

"Yes, we all saw him in the chamber," said Skel.

"You must know loads about him, since you are Rekaliputian. What can you tell us?" said Emick. "What do we need to fear?"

"Fear nothing, but prepare," said Skel. A strain of worry touched her face, a hesitation in her words as she stretched her fingers gently. "What do you know of him, each of you?"

Canúden shrugged. "Nothing, really. Apparently, from what I've gathered, he is a demon imprisoned in a little black ball. He wanted a body, so Minara devised this elaborate plan to create and then to steal Chadwick's. She's been maneuvering for hundreds of years, maybe."

Skel nodded slowly.

"Since Rekalipun is just north of Turbia," said Emick, "of course I've heard of him. Don't know much. Never studied mythology."

"Yes, my people have protected his prison for thousands of years," said Skel. She closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and relaxed into the cushions of the sofa in which she sat. "What you have said is but a speck of sand in a desert. He is not just any demon, for there are thousands. He is the first conceived in Briannel's Womb."

They stared at her. Then Emick said, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Sighing, she shook her head. "You Gungalis have forgotten so much in your Ancestor worship. We all dwell in Briannel's womb. It is the universe, all the substance of everything. We are born at the time of death, born into the Otherworld of the Taleni, which is as much more compared to this realm as life is from existence in the womb. Tavaris is the Lord of Waiting and Chaos. Entropy. Hallel, the second conceived, is the Lord of Love and Gathering. It is because of Hallel's power that objects come together and make things like stars and planets."

"Planets, like the moon?" said Emick.

Skel smiled weakly. "More or less. That is a subject of another lecture." She closed her eyes, breathed deep, and something stiffened about her posture. Her voice acquired  a smooth, rhythmic tone. "As Hallel laid the foundations for this earth, Briannel and Yellel knew all their children. We are all Taleni, children of the Taleni. We are meant for great things. For us to accomplish these, Yellel and Briannel offered a way for us to... grow up. To learn to love, and to build, just as they learned to love and to build."

Skel opened her eyes, black pools of wisdom. The others stared at her. Emick could see that they were as confused as he was. She smiled a half smile and continued." The Taleni endow all their children, all the life on earth, with two gifts, the power to create new life and the power to die. The final power in life is always death. This birth, and then death, are necessary steps to become like them, adult Taleni, able to have children of our own." She paused, a knowing smile touching her lips.

"But people have babies all the time," said Canúden. "I just did."

"Yes,"said Skel. "You brought Briannel and Yellel's child to earth from the Otherworld through the conduit of your yuki. You will love and raise her, and she will be great and beloved in the world. Bringing life thus is a gift that all life shares, from the mightiest finnat tree to the tiniest ant. Miraculous, yes, but not unique.