The Faithful Ones

Part 1- Chapter 7

Raine found a pretty book about something called the Forgen. It was made from gold, silver, and many kinds of crystals, forged into a hollow sculpture of a phoenix flying from a lavender rose. The book had a wonderful picture of it. 'The Forgen' was a shorter name for its much longer one: Living Bright-Jewel-Gold Forgen, which was Ebëldatën Zrahgaithën-Guëlie-Gatûkai Farietûkaithiem in Dwarvern. A humming could be heard near the Forgen, but no-one had figured out why for certain. Some believed a spirit lived inside the Forgen, and others believed that the Forgen magnified the mountain's song to an audible level somehow.

"Amedël, could you please take us to see the Forgen one day?" Raine asked.
"Of course. We can go right now if you'd like," she replied.
"I'll ask the others," nodded Raine. They were all interested, so Amedël led the seven to see the sculpture. She took them past the cold carvers' workshop where Zadut spent his time.
"The Light Clan did a lot of work in making the Forgen, but it's deeper into our caverns and more towards the Hollow Clan area. If you listen carefully you might be able to hear its song." The seven were quiet. Soft footsteps, the trickle of a small underground stream, then a distant humming. As they walked, it grew louder and louder until Raine could almost feel it. The song was a bright, lilting melody. Amedël started singing in Dwarvern, a song made to fit the tune emanating from the Forgen. When they reached the sculpture the seven found that it was truly a work of art, more beautiful than any picture could tell. The Living Bright-Jewel-Gold Forgen was splendid, and each delicate crystal had been shaped to fit into the exquisite phoenix. It was huge, and with the song it hummed it was no wonder that people believed it to be magical.

"What does the song mean?" Sunny asked.
"Forgen, Forgen, oh why do you sing?/ Your gold is bright,/ your crystals light,/ and you guard us in our caverns./ Living Bright-Jewel-Gold Forgen,/ singing, always singing,/ what magic do you bring?/ Living Bright-Jewel-Gold Forgen,/ echo in us all./ Although we may not hall/ hear the humming,/ it repeats, repeats,/ through the tunnels. / Living Bright-Jewel-Gold Forgen,/ singing, always singing,/ what magic do you bring?/ Living Bright-Jewel-Gold Forgen,/ echo in us all./ Ever wondrous,/ created with magic./ Silver melody, golden fire,/ bright and shining crystals./ Living Bright-Jewel-Gold Forgen,/ singing, always singing,/ what magic do you bring?/ Living Bright-Jewel-Gold Forgen,/ echo in us all./ Shine, illuminate the stones,/ let our home echo (echo)!/ Sing, raise your voice, / let our home echo (echo)!/ Shine, illuminate the stones,/ let our home echo (echo)!/ Sing, raise your voice, / let our home echo (echo)!/ Living Bright-Jewel-Gold Forgen,/ singing, always singing,/ what magic do you bring?/ Living Bright-Jewel-Gold Forgen,/ echo in us all./ ...Echo in us all, echo..." Amedël said.

"It would sound wrong if I tried to sing it in common speech," she added.
"Why can't everyone hear the humming?" Freya asked.
"Nobody knows. I sometimes think it had to do with whether or not they believe the humming exists. The popular answer is magic, and it probably is, although some of us don't believe magic exists."
"It exists. This is proof. The Water Spirit near our Village said the magic Chose me to bring hope and life, and marked each of us with her Glitter," Raine raised her hand to show the Spirit's Glitter on her wrist. She'd been feeling brave for a moment, but then she felt nervous. She traced the Glitter on her wrist.
"You were Chosen to bring hope? You've spoken to a naiad? What was it like?" Amedël asked.
"We all talked to the Water Spirit heaps," said Sunny.
"Yeah, we've spent a lot of time at the lake's shore," smiled Rose.
"I was nine when I first talked to the Water Spirit. She gave me the Glitter and told me was Chosen, and a year later I met Rose, Sunny, Salma, Freya, Matthew, and Blaze. At first I was scared, but I accepted the magic; I hadn't wanted to be different, but I found six friends who were as different as me. We grew close," Raine looked at each of her friends, still tracing her Glitter.
"Wow," Amedël said.

Raine dreamt that a torch hanging on the wall became a fire that spread through the tunnels. She ran, not knowing where her friends were, hoping they were safe and just fleeing as she was. The flames were chasing her. A familiar song echoed through the caverns, growing louder, then a phoenix was flying beside Raine. The song had words that Raine couldn't understand, and through the flames the phoenix became Raine's reflection. Pounding feet led Raine out of the caves and into twilight. She was running through a forest, still fleeing the fire, but the fire had gone and now wolves chased her.

Raine climbed a tree, and a leopardess padded towards her.
"You're lost Raine. Come with me, and I will show you the way. Trust me," the leopardess smiled.
"Why did the phoenix become my reflection?" Raine asked,
"Soon you will know a new melody and begin to understand more of the magic in this world. Until then, know that everything will become new like a phoenix rising from its ashes." The leopardess rarely made any sense. As the dream faded, the creature smiled and yearning filled its eyes, and it murmured one word.
"Soon..."

"How are you today, Raine?" asked Matthew.
"Good, besides the strange dream I had last night," she replied.
"What happened in it?" Raine explained the two parts. She often talked to Matthew about her dreams when there was nothing else to do, like today, since the traders had arrived and the dwarves were busy.
"That is a strange dream. I don't think it's meant to make sense, although as usual with that leopardess the meaning should come with time," said Matthew.
"What do you think the last part means?" Raine inquired, tilting her head.
"I don't know, but I think that's for you to decide," replied Matthew.

The traders had come to the Spirit-Pool Village, so the Westheathites recognised them. Lucas was a carpenter, Finn was a blacksmith, and Evan was a stonemason; they helped the dwarves with fixing things the dwarves didn't quite have the skills for. Matteo, Zac, Zane, Ulric, Odin, and Lachlan helped with whatever they could, selling their services -- Ulric, Zane, and Lachlan were the only ones who actually brought objects to sell. Piper was a bard, bringing news from other places, so he helped the dwarvern bards and record keepers. Odin and Zac were really just travellers working wherever they stopped, but the dwarves considered them traders. They'd arrived a week earlier than usual, which Taigat-Zhëtzen and Zadut were happy about.

"Oh hey Raine. Uh, what're you doing here?" Piper walked out of his room and did a double take when he saw Raine sitting on the bench in the courtyard.
"The Water Spirit told us to come," she replied.
"Well everyone in your village thinks you've died or something," said Piper, and Raine looked down for a moment.
"We're well and truly alive."
"I see that. Why did the Water Spirit tell you to come?"
"Piper, are you coming?" asked Lachlan.
"Yep. We'll talk later, Raine," he nodded.