The Faithful Ones

Part 3- Chapter 28

The pegasi flew the Faithful Ones to Amerínen since the sea between the two islands was filled with jellyfish and the distance was further than they could swim. When they'd landed on the island, Raine was torn between meadow and forest. Mel chose forest, and so they went to the right side of the island first. An eagle screeched its welcome, and a doe showed them a berry bush. They followed animal after animal through the forest, learning and teaching some songs. The songs of the animals were more like humming, but were beautiful anyway. They slept in the forest, beneath branches that obscured the sky. The shadows made the starlight a deep blue, and the air had an awakeness that called to stay awake and called to slip into dreaming. A gentle breeze stirred leaves and the night was filled with chittering and quiet movement of the nocturnal ones. The next night was spent in the meadow, with the same blue starlight and tired awakeness as the night before. Raine watched the wispy clouds sail over the ocean of lights, her head full of thoughts and daydreams, until her eyelids fell.

Their raft had been brought over and beached, since they still wanted to visit Wálafex'issad. They extended it a little to make it stronger so they could cross to the last island. The sandbank didn't reach so far, and the rocky ocean floor was below where anyone could reach without wasting energy. When they arrived there, tired and soaked entirely to the bone as they always were after such a long swim, they found it seemingly empty of life. it was quite the opposite of Amerínen.
"Ütó?" called Freya. The crackling of fire answered and was hushed in the language of dragons. Rose thought it was the grey dragon for a moment, but then she realised they'd have noticed if he'd flown.
"Warlel perá terelis?" asked Karen, and again the crackle of fire answered and was hushed by Dragonish. A few seconds passed and a nine-tailed she-wolf stepped out from behind a boulder. It had white fur and a pink nose. Despite this and its soft green eyes, it was covered in scars from its snout to the tip of its tail and it had a harsh expression. It sat on the stony ground, growling quietly, studying the fifteen.

"Isó erá Corusínell. Warlel eran yarít?" spat the wolf.
"Isó erá Karen. Teríc eran móss farúmá," replied the centaur. Fariet began creeping towards the wolf.
"No, Fariet," said Salma to the goblin. The crackle of fire came again at his name, and a small fox ran from the same rock that Corusínell had stepped from. It had pale yellow fur and an orange-red tail. Its pupils were such thin slits that it seemed the fox only had grey irises for eyes.
"Come back, Fariet," urged Amedël, and once again fire crackled. It came from the strange fox -- each time the crackling was heard the fox had flames on its tale.
"Daz isó luret yarít tarm mazer, fíráfex?" Corusínell asked sternly. The little firefox whined but, apparently as mischievous as Fariet, made a sound like a laugh and ran away with the goblin in tow.
"Tósatarleh!" growled Corusínell, snapping at him and beginning to chase him. Salma cried for them to come back, but the sounds retreated into the distance. Raine pulled out her panpipes and began playing. Fariet quickly returned, followed by Tósatarleh who looked rather disappointed that his new friend was more interested in listening to panpipes than a firefox.
"Tósatarleh, dá yarít twil tarm cómülú wóta árí?" Mel crouched down to face the creature. It sat quietly for a moment, considering the offer.
"Pelwí cógúle?" he asked.
"Arvepelwí."
"Cómülúlé," announced Tósatarleh.

Night fell and a waxing slice of moon took the place of the sun. The cooking fire had long ago been blown out by the wind, but the firefox lit itself up to provide them with some light. The Faithful Ones ate their dinner and sang, teaching Karen and Fariet some of their favourite songs while Tósatarleh listened and grinned. They were exhausted, so they soon fell asleep. It wasn't long before some of the nine-tailed wolves that lived on Wálafex'issad started howling, and the little firefox woke and whimpered and snuggled up to Raine because he liked her panpipes as much as Fariet did. Raine was half awakened by this, and absent-mindedly stroked his fur as she fell back asleep. Another howl rose in the air and she woke again, startled. She sat up and played the forest lullaby on her panpipes for Tósatarleh who'd begun whimpering again. As she played she remembered what had brought her here, every event from her first meeting with the Spirit, and she began singing.
"In the moonlight we shall run,/ until we sleep/ or see the sun,/ and safe will the stars us keep./ The shadows prance/ in a long, wide dance,/ and the wolf howls up to the moon,/ and the dawn is coming soon./ The wind is but a sigh,/ and soon the birds will fly,/ the snow-melt begins to flow,/ but we know where to go."

The sun rose, and the morning was spent packing up their camp and finding their way back to the shore. Tósatarleh stayed with Raine for most of the day. They returned to Scall'issad, to ask Thessadá-Fótaü and the pegasi to fly them back to Port-Clare. They agreed, so the pegasi were mounted and Karen was held by the dragon once again. It took until late that night to reach Westheath, where they were set down on the grassland. They fell asleep without even cooking a meal. The next day they continued their journey, north now, and they reached the trading port around noon.

The Spirit was glad that the Faithful Ones had returned. They exchanged tales of what had happened over the past few weeks, and when the army noticed they'd returned they were happy. Many had chosen to remain in Port-Clare since they'd made lives for themselves there, but Gatûkai-Zhëtzen had returned with two hundred or so of the dwarves who'd fought with the Northesians as well. He said he's missed the Faithful Ones and had had a feeling he wouldn't see them again if he didn't return. Everyone was ready to move on. Several trading ships came all at once, thankfully, and they bargained a trip to the Sylvan land from the captains. Once the captains' trading was done, and once everyone in the army's camp had packed up their things, they boarded and set sail at the turn of the tide. There was about a hundred to each ship.