Aisha continued reading where she had left off the previous night.
Thought looked upon his beloved wife and newborn daughter. He looked upon their children, now golden eagles clothed in their mother's feathers. And then he looked to the Ocean where he spent his years before Desire temped him with lies of hidden knowledge. He looked upon the Land that he had given Desire to satisfy his brother.
In the West the winds and sand formed a cloud low on the horizon. To the East lay the shore where Aisha alighted when she came from the Heavens. The Ocean beyond her shore could not sustain the their children. Thought lamented his waste of his birthright, for now his family would be pursued by Desire all their days spent on the Land.
He called out to his Mother the Earth, "Mother, I have sinned against thee! For I have given that which you gave me to my brother, Desire. And now he demands what cannot be given – my beloved and my children! But all that lives on the Land is his for I have given it to his hand."
And his Mother the Earth heard his pleas. In the mountains deep under the Ocean her heart broke for her son and her grandchildren. The Land shook in her anger, and blood and molten rock flowed again from her womb. On the same day Mila the Loved was born of Aisha, the Earth birthed the plateau we now call Adyll in a holy joining with the Ocean. This was new Land, covered in sea plants and fish as it rose from the depths. Where there were once sandy shores leading gently to the sea, there were now steep stone cliffs. The new Land's borders were scorching desert, and the other side Ocean. The land atop the cliffs was fertile. Trees, and plants, and birds, and animals came forth from it. From the rocks came a new kind of people, both men and women, born of the caves and the desert sands. These are the desert dwellers, who guard our land from those who would take it from us. Thought called these people Narim for they are strong and brave.
Aisha and Thought's children took flight up the cliff faces to build their nests. This is why it is decreed that those who kill a raptor kill their own sibling, for we are all of the same bloodline.
Aisha was weak from captivity and birthing and was close to death. "My dearest Thought, you must take Mila to the people of the desert. Find a nursing mother to provide for her. I will not survive the journey to the fortress land your mother has made for us. Hide in the caves with Mila. We will be together again one day, my beloved. But I must return to my own mother until I have recovered my strength. I shall return every year upon the longest day, to walk in the forests of Adyll with my children and to be with my beloved Thought. This is not the end, my beloved."
Thought's guilt and sorrow weighed upon him like stones heaped upon his head. Aisha returned to her Mother Moon in the Sky. His children left to guard the cliffs, and he was alone except for Aisha's newly born daughter, Mila. He tied her upon his back and went to do as Aisha had told him, to find a nursing mother to feed his daughter.
Desire still pursued from the East.
That day as the sun began its journey across the sky, the plateau of Adyll cast its shadow across the desert. Thought could see the cookfires of the desert dwellers against the dark purple of the mountain like stars against the night sky. He followed their light to the foot of the cliffs. The Narim met and welcomed Mila and Thought as if they were their own. But Desire still pursued, and Thought warned the tribe of his coming. He told them of the safety of the plateau. Some chose to go with him with their herds and children to the top of the plateau, but others decided to stay within the caves to warn of danger.
Aisha's children showed them the way to safety through the crevasses and cracks to the meadows and forests of Adyll where they were safe. From these people grew the country of Adyll. Mila the Loved became their queen.
Adyll was safe from the wars and troubles of the world, for it was separate from the world of Desire. The crevasses and cracks were too well hidden to find the way of the eagles. Adyll blossomed and became fruitful and bountiful. Its children were safe and grew strong. The canyons echoed with music, and the waters from the heart of the Earth burst forth to warm them when the winters came.
Thought hid himself in his guilt and sorrow within the secret caves among the dead. And Aisha, the Goddess of Life and Hope, returns to see her children on the longest day as she promised. But even as she searches for her beloved Thought, he is not to be found, for he lives among the dead and forgotten, drinking deeply from the water of Aisha's River of Tears. Always watching for his brother, Desire.
Aisha reached the end of the scroll. She returned it to its case and laid her head down to sleep. She could hear the distant call of the cliff dwelling eagles and wondered where the river of tears flowed. Outside the window, she could hear the Temple workers as they went about their business. She drifted off to sleep moments later to dream of the desert people.