We returned to the keep and spent the rest of the day remembering the Elf we had sent on his next journey.
At one point I looked around and noticed Tariel was missing. I found Andrys and asked where the new Lord had gone. He didn't know. Together, joined by the others of our small group, we went looking for our friend.
We found him in the Great Hall, softly playing his gitar. Tears ran down his face as he played. The song he sang was one of beautiful anguish. Alone, he had come to mourn his brother.
We watched quietly until his song had finished. He looked at us and said, "As of today I am no longer a bard." With that he laid down the gitar and started to leave.
"Yes, Lord." My friends said.
As he passed by me, I asked, "Why can't you be both, Tariel. Lord and bard. The music is part of you. You will be a better Lord if you remain the bard. Please, take back the gitar."
Tariel looked at me, "How did a human get to be so wise?"
"Lord, I am only saying what we all know to be true. Please, don't give up yourself to your job."
Tariel nodded silently and retrieved his gitar.
Finally, the day ended and, as always, we gathered in our chambers. I went to the spirits cabinet and poured myself a glass of wine. I sat in my seat, knowing the Xiona and Diena would wait to drink, and pup would serve Andrys. I had never seen gentle drink.
Lord Tariel walked in the open door, his gitar on his back. He looked at the cabinet and gentle caught his gaze. She went to the cabinet, beside pup, and together they served the Elven Lords.
As I watched the ages old ceremony , I noticed a difference in the way they two gifted served the Lords. gentle served Tariel out of caring and respect. pup's service transcended that. She serves Andrys from love.
When everyone was seated, I said to Tariel, "Lord, I am honored the you asked for my help in the ceremony, but why?"
He looked at his glass and said, "My brother told me that he respected you. You stood up for what you believed. I knew that you would help, even if you didn't know what to expect."
"Weren't there a lot of others willing to help carry Tevanor?"
"Yes, of course, but you have constantly been helping others since you arrived. I thought it best to remind everyone of that.
"Your blessing was beautiful."
"It felt right," I shrugged. "Although, I didn't expect what happened next."
Andrys spoke. "The four blessings represent the for elements of our world. With them, Tevanor could continue on his journey."
"I still don't really understand it, but that's OK. There's a lot of both this world and mine that I don't understand."
"You still think of that place as your world then," pup said, quietly.
Tariel looked at me. "You still wish to return? I would have thought you were happy here, with us now."
"Tariel, everyone," I said, looking at each of my friends in turn. "You have all been the best of friends and family but I still miss my wife. I want to be with her."
"I understand," Diena said. "If your Love is anything like you…"
"She is better than me," I interrupted. "She is kinder, more loving. You have seen me at my best for the most part. Remember Yenefis? That was me at my worst. I have a lot of anger in me, still. I have better control but it is still there. Xiona knows. She lived my past and she saw again when we were the Phoenix."
"Yes, Dan, I did." Xiona answered. "But, you did control your passion. You used it as I did and together we defeated the demon."
"Maybe that's the secret, Dan. Whatever you have inside you, control it, use it, love yours, and with that you can stand against anything," gentle said.
"Well," Diena told us. "It's a new legend for the storytellers."
Tariel laughed, more of himself than we had seen in days. "How did you learn that trick, Dan, to gather the power of us all together?"
Andrys and I looked at each other.
"You tell them," I said and went to refill my glass.
Andrys told them of the Sphere and what we had found inside. He talked of the Lady and her sister, the Goddess. He told everyone of the deal we had made. Finally, he said, "when we returned to the keep, the sphere was gone."
"Gone?" Tariel asked, alarmed.
"Yes, gone," I answered. "We don't know what happened to it."
"this one saw it go but not where it went," pup said.
"What happened, pup?" Andrys asked.
"After Dan touched the Sphere a light flashed. Before the light you were both kneeling. After, you both stood, side by side. The light dimmed and the Sphere was gone. The light did seem to flicker for just a moment at Dan's neck. That's all this one saw."
Everyone looked at my neck. I really wished I could do the same.
Xiona came over and knelt before me. She reached up with one hand and cupped the cross I wore.
"I know where it went," she said.
Everyone came over to look as I reached back to undo the clasp that held the chain together. As I released the necklace and pendant into Xiona's hand I noticed a tiny glow from the cross.
There, imbedded in the center, was the Sphere.
We talked and argued good naturedly late into the night but still couldn't figure out what it meant.
That night while I slept, I dreamed.
The Lady sat next to the pool. She saw me approach and said, "Sit and I will reveal as much as you can understand."
I sat before her and was about to ask the first of my many questions.
She held up a hand. "You carry the Sphere for a simple reason. You have already passes through the Mists, when my sister brought you from your world to ours. Also, you do not see me as a Deity, as most Elves would. I needed a way to talk to someone of your group and this is the easiest way I had.
"Dan, time is short. You must prepare, all of you. The five of you can change the world, make the peace last, but only if you work together and trust each other."
"Five?" I asked.
"Yes, five, you, Andrys, Xiona, pup, and Tira. Those you arrived at the keep with you will leave with. I did what I could to bring you together. Though time IS short, you still have some. Study hard, child, and be well. I will tell you when the time to go has come."
With that, I awoke.
I told only the other four what the Lady had said. They accepted my dream as real and agreed, for now, to not tell anyone else. There was no use worrying others more. Everyone knew that trouble was on the horizon.
I continued my lessons with Andrys. It was hard work but I persevered. I became a good shot with a longbow and a decent one with a throwing knife. Andrys could always beat me with a sword though and that worried me some.
"Dan, I have been studying swordplay for over seven hundred years. Expect me to be better."
I didn't accept that and only worked harder.
The Night of Dreams. I'm sure the Elves never suspected a human in their midst on that occasion, but there I was.
We had been at the keep for just nearly a year. Andrys was still giving me lessons in swordsmanship, shooting a bow, woodcraft and, all the other tasks I would need in this world.
After a particularly grueling session, we sat in the courtyard, resting.
Andrys looked at me and said, " You are doing well, especially considering how new you are to our world. If we can continue like this, you will not need to worry when your strange weapons quit working."
"I was hoping to be home long before then.."
"You may get your wish, if only for tonight."
"What do you mean?"
"Tonight is the Night of Dreams. It happens once a decade. Tonight, we Elves get to dream our greatest dream. With you here, it might include you."
"I don't know. I'm human remember?"
"That might not matter. There is magic in your blood now. We all see it. It might be the soul-twinning with Xiona. It could be something else. The magic is there nonetheless. Besides, surrounded by us, there may be plenty of dreams to share."
"Being home for one night could be worse than never going back at all. I would mean I would lose my wife, again. I don't know if I could take it."
"Yes, but at least you would have had her."
That night as I lay in bed, preparing to sleep, I though of what Andrys had said. Maybe he was right.
I awoke in the morning, my bed a mess. "That had to be the most intense dream I've ever had," I thought. "Thank God, I didn't soil the sheets."
I lay in bed remembering the dream, the touch of her hand, the sweet scent of our love. "Yes, Andrys was right. I miss her even more, but at least I was with her again, if only for a while."
I rose from bed, dressed, and went downstairs to eat. Andrys, pup, Diena and, Xiona were all at the table already.
"Morning, all. Sleep well?" I asked.
They all looked up from their conversation.
"VERY well," Andrys laughed, a wicked grin on his face. pup blushed.
"I, as well," said Xiona. "I have never Dreamed before. I hope, for my people, it comes true."
"How about you?" pup asked.
I blushed worse than pup. "Let's just say I had a good night."
Soon after the Night of Dreams I had another visitation.
The Lady again sat by her pool. She watched me as I approached and sat before her.
"It is time. Tomorrow, take your leave from the walls you live within. Go to the Order of Night. There you will meet the One who will guide you further."
"Who is that?" I asked.
"I do not know. He is hidden from me." She replied. "I only know he works with and not against us. The Elves call him the Oracle."
"Lady," I said. "Are you sure that we are the ones to do this?"
She looked at me, crying. "No, I am not. But you are all we have."
The next morning I told the others about the dream. We all agreed we should tell our friends that we were going.
Xiona and I would tell Diena. pup would talk to gentle. Andrys would inform Lord Tariel.
We went through the day, knowing it might be the last time we would see this place, these people.
Late that afternoon, Andrys and Lord Tariel found me looking out the chamber window. Xiona and Diena sat by the fire. pup slipped in and sat near Andrys.
"Dan," Tariel said. "Someone has returned and said he has a gift for you."
With that an Elf I had never met before entered the room, gentle following him with a long package, wrapped in silk.
The Elf walked up to me and said, "Lord Dan, thank you for being here for mine while I was gone. I am Lord Junle. My gentle has told me all about you, sharing in her gift, what you have done."
"You are most welcome," I said.
"During my return to this keep, I dreamed. In the dream a Lady sat near a pool. She told me She had a gift for the one who would help her protect her children, and I was to give it to him. When I awoke, this lay at my side."
Gentle brought forth the package and laid it in Junle's hands. He turned and presented it to me.
I took it carefully and unwrapped it. Inside was a sword. Runes ran down the blade. Small blue gemstones were set at each end of the pommel. A silver stone was set at the point where the pommel and blade met. It was a magnificent weapon.
"It's lovely," I whispered.
"It's yours," Tariel said. "Everyone here has touched it, to bless it. After Junle brought it to me I knew who the Lady meant."
"I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything," Junle said. "Do something instead."
"What?"
"Make it yours," Andrys told me.
Following the instructions of the three Lords, I went downstairs and out of the keep. They hadn't told me anything specific to do, just find a place and introduce myself to the sword. The ritual would be one of my own making, enhancing the meaning.
They had told me to find a place special to perform the ceremony but I couldn't decide. So many places here held meaning to me now.
As I walked out the back of the keep, my eyes fell on the place the gifted would meet. I still don't know why, but it felt right.
I went to the shore of that clear blue lake and plunged the sword into the soft earth.
Setting my hands on the pommel I said, "May this place be blessed. I greet thee, sword. Together, may we protect and serve those I love."
I noticed the Elves of the keep approach me and strove to ignore them. This was hard enough to do as is.
The last thing Junle told me was to make sure the sword knew who I was and what I believed in. No one told me how.
I took my necklace from around my neck and wrapped the chain around my right hand, the cross in my palm. These are my core, my beliefs, I whispered to the sword, entwining my hands on the blade, the right with the cross and the left with my wedding ring. "Faith and love. Know Me."
I closed my hands on the edge and quickly ran them to the ground.
I didn't feel any pain, only warmth, as my blood flowed into the sword and the earth.
I rose to my feet, gripped the pommel and, drew the sword from the earth.
A voice whispered with the wind, "Well done," and the sword glowed.
The assembled Elves gasped as it disappeared into my right hand.
I opened my hand and looked at the cross held within. The pendant shone for a moment and then faded to normal. It had changed, still looking like a cross but with blue diamonds at each point and the Sphere in the center.
Heart rushed to my side, to heal my hands. Although they were bloody, they were uncut.
I took the chain in both hands and returned it to its place.