The Faithful Ones

Part 1- Chapter 9

"Keep telling the stories," murmured the leopardess near the end of the dream, blinking slowly. Raine nodded.
"Soon..." the big cat said, more like a promise to itself than information for Raine, but after hearing the word so often in her dreams she knew it was a small piece of knowledge. Raine just didn't understand it: what was soon? She woke. The leopardess almost always ended the dream like that now, and whatever was coming soon seemed to be getting closer. Raine sighed, turned the dream from her mind, and got dressed after washing in the waterfall room. Taigat-Zhëtzen came to take them to breakfast as he usually did, even though the seven now knew their way around a fair bit of the Caverns.

As it had been for the past four weeks, -- or was it five? -- the seven could go where they liked within the Caverns. Usually Raine went to a gëmenzrzëtûm, but today she felt like wandering. There was an unused tunnel on the way to the Ice Clan Rose had pointed out the day before. Raine had asked what it was, and the record keepers of the Ice Clan had said it was nothing in guarded tones. Of course that made Raine curious to explore. So she followed the tunnel with one hand on the wall to guide her way, as none of the torches were kept lit. Then she saw a dim blue light that grew brighter as her eyes adjusted more, and found a small cave with a lake at the far end filed with bioluminescent creatures. Raine heard a quiet song being sung in Dwarvern, so quiet she didn't even know if it was only in her head of not. Stopping to listen, Raine learnt the song quickly.
"Zhan, hourai,/ zieën rôge haze./ Gudf'ë zieën angliet,/ uzen'ai zieth haze./ Grëb vamûth tôul klëûth,/ aizhektën tôul zlafetën./ Fiedë vûnbouzie mie utie ërd,/ utle'ëk en vëzpriek /zum uzen'ai bethaltaitën."

Raine knew enough dwarvern by now to understand the words, and she realised the tune was similar to one Nimue used to hum when she came to her when she was upset. The first part stirred memories of being held by her mother on a stormy night, and of sitting by the lake with Nimue. The second part Nimue hadn't hummed before, but it reminded her of several stories Nimue had told. It struck Raine that there could be a spirit here, so she called out a friendly hello. Nothing, but a momentary pause in the song, then one different verse.
"Little one,/ never give up./ What your heart seeks/ will be soon." It was in common speech this time. Another pause, then the other song began again. Raine looked up from watching the water; for a second the voice had sounded like the leopardess from her dreams, and all the times it'd murmured 'soon' echoed in her mind. She sang the song aloud and wondered what her heart sought.

"Guess what day tomorrow is!" Rose said excitedly as they ate dinner. Raine counted the days silently.
"Your birthday?" she said and Rose nodded, beaming. Tomorrow marked Rose's thirteenth summer and fourteenth winter.
"How many years?" asked Taigat-Zhëtzen in his rough voice, and Rose answered. "Were you a dwarf, this would be your last year as a child, but you're human and already becoming a teen. Braid your hair for tomorrow; I'll have Zadut make a suitable dwarvern gift for you." So, the hairstyles many dwarves wore bore a second, more traditional purpose other than keeping it neat, although what that was Raine didn't yet know. After dinner, Raine, Sunny, Salma, and Freya sat talking together as Rose's hair was braided. Odin and Zac talked to Matthew and Blaze -- Piper had left a week ago, and the rest had left two and a half weeks ago.

When the seven returned to their cave-rooms after lunch they found several dwarves waiting in the courtyard. Amedël, Zadut, Taigat-Zhëtzen, Miedle, Jadaiz-Hailëm, Glazalkr, and the Ice Clan bard named Iemley were all there. Zadut handed Rose a small package, and she opened it to find a small gold bead for her hair.
"Put it on one of your braids," said Zadut. "It's a tradition to add one of these rings to our braids when we reach particular milestones."
"You've passed from childhood. We wish the years and adventures ahead of you would be fruitful," Amedël smiled. Rose thanked them, and they spent the rest of the day talking amongst themselves.

There was a particular story that always made Raine think. Salma told it this time. There's a magic in the world that knows what everyone needs and provides it. Those who know of the magic say it shows itself in the form of a person who gives hope and life, but there is an older telling that declares this magic sang the world into being from inky blackness.. In those older days the magic took the form of spirits and often interacted with other beings, before all the truth of it became a lost myth. Now, this story is not known by many but it is still true nonetheless. Rose added a short explanation to the end so the dwarves could understand more. The Water Spirit had told the seven this message and said the magic had formed her and created everything.
"The hope of life has already come, still without shape yet, and you seven will be the first with this gift of life," the Water Spirit had said, almost a whole year ago now, Raine remembered.

Sharing Nimue's stories and messages became easier as the seven gained courage throughout the moons. Shortly before Freya's thirteenth birthday they were called to tell Gatûkai-Zhëtzen some of the stories. They chose the one Salma told on Rose's birthday, the rhyme, how they each got their Glitter, and the full story about how to keep a promise safe -- among others. They continued telling stories to almost every dwarf they met, and told the Dwarvern king the most since he seemed to greatly enjoy them. Freya's birthday passed, then Blaze's thirteenth in the eighth moon and Sunny's twelfth in the ninth. Raine's and Salma's were in summer. It was the beginning of winter, although this was not something they worried about, being underground and well provided for by the hunters and gatherers of various clans.