~The Hatching Journey~ [PR]

Rhaenys smiled and nodded.
“Quick and silent, that’s what you’re made of, isn’t it, Aimon?” she said and stroked his neck. Rhaenys looked over the field and nodded when Thélowên spoke. Taking point meant assuming the most exposed position, which was dangerous, but gave Thélowên the opportunity to take out enemies on the way. Rhaenys took a deep breath, and held her hands out close together with the palms up. She looked down and whispered a prayer in a different language. When she had finished, she looked up and nodded. She was ready to leave Harlond for good.

Rhaenys vision was blurry, and she felt the hands grabbing her and lifting her from the ground. They carried her easily, and suddenly she felt something soft on her back. They had lied her down in a comfortable bed. She still had a spasmodic grip around her bag, and refused to let it go. The people took off her clothes, and she heard some gasps.
“Look at all the wounds. It seems like she has gone through torture of some kind. We need to clean the fresher ones” she heard a voice say, and it was quiet for a while. Suddenly, she felt a lukewarm, damp cloth touching the cut she had on her stomach. Rhaenys started to scream and throw herself around the bed to avoid the cloth. She didn’t want to relive the feeling of drowning again, she didn’t. She begged them to stop, and it took quite some time for her to calm down. When she finally breathed normally again, her vision had gotten better. She now saw the people around her. She was scared and her eyes were wild, but she was sure she had come to a better place, or at least she hoped so.

“Let’s go” Rhaenys said and Aimon started to move. Rhaenys leaned towards his neck to make herself as invisible as possible, but still be able to draw weapons if necessary. She felt the movement of her horse and focused on the bushes ahead. She looked back to make sure that Thélowên was behind her.

Thélowên rode right behind Rhaenys, barely leaving a meter of space between Voron's head and Aimon's hooves. She kept scanning her surroundings and being behind Rhaenys gave her the chance to take out possible hindrances from all directions. Being the first was a big risk but with only the two of them it was their best strategy for travelling through open plains.
"Keep going!" she called to Rhaenys as they were getting close to the midpoint of the field length. Voron's paws pounded and grasped the ground underneath as Aimon's hooves galloped across it. Thélowên felt the wind grab her hair, overhead a couple of birds flew in a V formation and on either side of them was quiet field and still forest. There were no enemies in sight, no movements or flying arrows. But Thélowên kept her guard up as she knew how treacherous a view could be.

The sun shined down on them - heating Thélowên's face and front. Voron was barely out of breath and his body was somewhat relaxed underneath her. They weren't travelling in top speed and that was not the point either. But she felt an eagerness in Voron to go faster,
"Not this time Voron..." she mumbled in to his ear and he let out a sort of snort to her words. A show if disappointment. Thélowên sat straighter and gazed from the west to the north and then to the east before checking behind them - nothing. Perhaps their journey would start a bit more smooth than expected. They still had a few more minutes of riding thought to cross the enormous golden field. Thélowên remembered a story about the field, something her master had told her at the start of her rigours training in Harlond.

...It had been a sunny day, Thélowên was putting away the equipment she had used for the days long practise. But she was suddenly not alone, Master Mithlandos came up beside her and she bowed deeply to him.
"Master Mithlandos, what gives me the honour?" she asked with her eyes on the ground. A sign of great respect for the man standing before her. He had helped to train former generations in her family, the Duilin family.
"Thélowên, raise your head child." Thélowên did as she was told despite feeling a need to contest his label of child on her. But whit his thousands of years she was probably no more than a child in his eyes with her mere 264 years. She was still just a speck in the universe without any real impact.
"How are you settling here at Harlond?" he asked with a calm voice and bright eyes, heavy with knowledge. Thélowên straightened her back,
"I'm adjusting well, master." she answered sincerely. She had been in Harlond for almost precisely 53 years. It was very different from Gondolin and her life back there, back home, but she was starting to feel more at home in Harlond now.
"Good, that's good my child." Master Mithlandos said with a sincere smile and Thélowên stood silent before him.
"I have a riddle for you. If you wouldn't mind?" Thélowên nodded tightly - she was not in a position to refuse the masters request.

The Master smiled with joy and started to pace,
"I cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. I lie behind stars and under hills, and empty holes I fill. I come first and follow after, end life and kill laughter. Who am I?" The master stopped and stared at Thélowên, watched as her mind started to tick and spin. She repeated the riddle in her head, several time and stated to pace back and fort. the sun was setting outside of Harlond over by the horizon and soon the last rays of light would be gone. She stopped and looked up at the sky, then back at the master,
"I am Darkness..." she said and the master smiled.
"I have another one." Thélowên sighed and nodded, she was in no mood for riddles but had no means of refusing, "okay, well this one might be a bit more tricky."
"Is there a point to the riddles, Master Mithlandos?" Thélowên was not the type of person to do things she disliked if there were no meaning to them, but the master nodded with his eyes fixed in hers - so she nodded as well.
"You will find him in the mountains. And you'll find him in the creek. He has no mouth - yet he speaks in every tongue. He has no ears - and yet will answer every cry. Always having the final word. Who are you looking for?" The master gave a hint of a smile as Thélowên sighed. She started to pace, something she sometimes did while thinking.

Time ticked by and the master was ever patient with her. She had given several wrong answers to the second riddle and she was getting more furious by the second.
"I don't know!" she called out and the answer called back to her as her own voice got the final word in the form of an echo, "ECHO! I am looking for the Echo!" she said and felt a small victorious jolt of joy that she had solved it eventually. The master gave a light smile and chuckled,
"Yes my dear, you did. Ready for the third one?"
"Another one?!" she called out with a sigh - the second one had nearly driven her mad. But still she had to do it. So she nodded reluctantly.
"You see him when its light, but he's not there to give you a fright. In darkness he's gone, without doing any wrong. He gives no sound yet he can always be found - just find the light and he'll surely be back. Who is he?" Thélowên groaned at the riddle, she was tired and her head was starting to hurt - or, more accurately spin.
"This is ridiculous Master Mithlandos, why am I answering these riddles?"
"You'll see if you can answer the third one." She sighed and started to pace. Paced back and forth while repeating the riddle. This one took less time than the other ones to solve,
"He's the shadow." she said while coming to a halt and turning towards the master. He smiled and nodded.
"Very good Thélowên, very good indeed."

Thélowên looked at the old but handsome man before her, waiting for an explanation to why she had to answer the riddles. But he was silent for a long time.
"Master Mithlandos?"
"I know, you want to know why I asked you the riddles." She nodded, "well, you will be sent on a mission soon - to the golden field - and I would like you to know the story behind it. And now you do."
"Excuse me? I do?"
"Well you answered the riddle, that should help you enough, no?"
"Absolutely not. What does Darkness, Echo and Shadow have to do with anything about the golden field?" the master sighed,
"I guess it is a bit thin - information wise I mean." Thélowên nodded, "well the story is that the field was poisoned wit sorry from a woman's heart thousands of years ago and that's why it never grows green and lush. It's always dry and golden."
"What happened?" Thélowên loved stories, despite not being a child anymore.
"Well, she was in love with a man, and he was in love with her. But she was pure. Like sunshine and snow. He, was not. He did truly love her but not all can be pure enough to let love rule. He was toppled by greed when he found out she was very wealthy and held extensive power. He tried to trick her in to giving it to him - the wealth and power - as her husband. And she was standing in the field when she was consumed by darkness, became a shadow of the light she had been and as her last words echoed over the field it died. It was poisoned by the great grief she felt as her heart broke."

The master's words were cold and calculated yet filled with remorse and sorrow. Thélowên didn't quite understand it.
"But what does it have to do with me? And my mission?"
"Well, the field is a reminder of what happens when darkness overcomes light and is never made right again. I want you to learn from the story, remember it and always have it as an example of what love - such a pure and wonderful thing - can do to a heart. Think of it, as a life lesson I guess." Thélowên said nothing, she knew there was more to the story than what the master had told her - much more according to his deep eyes. But it was also clear that he would speak no more of it.
"Thank you, Master Mithlandos." she said with a grateful voice. The Master of Knowledge was a busy man and he had taken the time to come down and talk with her - allowed her to think for long periods of time and even spent time on telling her a big part of a story with some kind of importance. Exactly why she did not know at that point...

She now knew that the story the master had told her was of great importance. It had over the many years since kept teaching her lessons and every time she found some more information about the story another piece of the puzzle called life fell in its place. She was fond of the memory since it had been one of the first time the master had spent time with her and her alone. there had been many times after that but that specific one was very important in many ways and it was a lesson in knowledge that kept teaching her. Voron's breaths got her attention as he panted a bit more now. they had crossed the midpoint of the field and was almost starting to close in on the edge of it. The wind graced her face, and a whisper was carried in it. A whisper she had hear a few times while in the golden field. it said beware of the fair, he with golden hair with a soft female voice. Very few could her the voice of a wind but elves had a knack for it. And Thélowên knew it was the woman who had died in the field from a broken heart as the man she had loved was fair and wore brilliant golden hair - or at least that's what the history books said. And the wind always whispered those exact words here if you cared enough to listen.
"Almost there!" Thélowên called out to the rest of the company.

Rhaenys leaned forward even more towards Aimon’s neck, to make herself more invisible. She followed his movements with her body, and listened to the sound of Voron and Thélowên right behind her. She heard Thélowên call for her that they were almost there. Rhaenys could see it.
“Soon” she whispered and took a firmer grip around Aimon’s mane. She looked up, but the skies were clear of both clouds and enemies. The sounds of Aimon’s hooves and Vorons paws, which were almost hitting the ground at the same pace, filled her ears. Rhaenys looked across the field again and felt a bolt of joy through her body when she finally crossed the end of it, and Aimon started to trot to finally come to a stop. They were now protected by the trees and bushes. Rhaenys breathed out, but she was still incredibly aware of her surroundings, just in case. They weren’t safe yet.

She turned to Thélowên.
“You okay?” she asked and smiled. She felt good, and she opened her bag to take a peek inside. The egg was pulsing fast, it had probably felt Rhaenys adrenaline rush during the ride through the golden field. She hadn’t realised until now that her body was pushing adrenaline through her.
“We’re fine for now” she whispered to the egg, looking in between the trees. She stroked Aimon’s neck and scratched him in his mane. She closed the bag and looked over at Thélowên and Voron.
“I suppose we’ll continue?” she said, looking around with both her eyes and ears open for anything even slightly dangerous. Rhaenys couldn’t relax until she was sure they were safe for the moment. This was also new territory, which made it even harder to make sure of their safety. Rhaenys wondered if they would ever feel completely safe ever again.

Rhaenys listened to Thélowên explaining the route idea. She just nodded while the brown-haired elf spoke, since she had no idea where they were, she just followed. However, she didn’t like when Thélowên mentioned the cave. Rhaenys didn’t like small, enclosed spaces, such as caves. She bit her lip and tried not to think about it right now, they weren’t even there yet.
“Sounds like a plan” she just said, agreeing with Thélowêns plan. Rhaenys just had to handle the cave situation later. It could be a big one, but the darkness would still be a fact. Rhaenys scratched Aimons neck.
“You did great out there, my friend” she said and Aimon snorted for an answer,
“I am bred by the Army, after all” he said and Rhaenys laughed. She turned to Thélowên.
“I’m ready when you are, show the way” she said with a smile. She wanted to feel the wind in her hair again, and hear the pounding of hooves on the ground.

Rhaenys nodded.
“Come on, Aimon, let’s go” she said and the black horse started to move. Because of the slower pace, they could now ride next to each other. Rhaenys had never been to this part of the forest, and she nodded when Thélowên spoke of fairies and unicorns. Rhaenys hadn’t seen a fairy in real life, she had only read about them.
“Yeah, maybe we will” she said as she looked around the forest, letting the sun warm her face. She loved the sun, especially the light it gave the world. Her mind slipped to the cave, which Thélowên had spoken of, again and she shuddered just by the thought of it. She grabbed her water skin and took a few sips, just to get her mind on something else. Rhaenys hated when she dwelled in thoughts, especially thoughts about things that hadn’t happened yet. She turned to Thélowên.
“I would say that this is the first real step on our journey, since it’s on unknown territory, at least for me” she said with a smile.

Rhaenys smile disappeared when Thélowên mentioned her feelings about small spaces. Sometimes she wondered if Thélowên could read her mind. Of course she couldn’t. but the coincidences of conversation topics were strange sometimes.
“Sure” she said emotionlessly, she wanted to talk about something else. Rhaenys had never spoken about what had happened before she came to Harlond, not even with Thélowên. Her brown-haired friend had, however, added some pieces together, one apparently being about how Rhaenys felt about small and dark spaces. However, Thélowên wouldn’t lie to her, which meant that the cave was probably bigger in reality than in Rhaenys mind. She stroked Aimon over his neck and looked forward on the road ahead. The path was beautiful, with trees and bushes everywhere, protecting them from enemies and prying eyes. Rhaenys took a deep breath, and breathed the fresh air and felt it filling her lungs.
“It’s truly beautiful, you know” she said and smiled again, “the nature. It’s unbelievable how it could be created like this”.

Since Rhaenys believed in the animistic belief, that every little thing in the world has a spirit, it was even more beautiful to move around in the forest. It was said that Eywa, the spirit which created the world, was the one to guide each and every spirit to its proper place during its hosts life, even after the host had died. It was also said that Eywa could guide and help people in different ways. Rhaenys was sure that Eywa had been the one to guide her and the egg to Harlond, and therefore saved her life. In Harlond, she had developed her beliefs even more since she had met Master Aerin, the spiritual guide of the Council. Master Aerin was a phenomenal woman, and Rhaenys liked her very much. They had met quite often, mostly to discuss the relation between Rhaenys and her unhatched egg.

As if it could read her mind, Rhaenys started to feel how the egg pulsed in the bag. She put down her hand in the bag and felt the uneven surface.
“I feel you” Rhaenys said with a smile, and she felt calmer. It was as if the egg could feel her feelings and help her feel better. It was a truly remarkable connection. Rhaenys turned to Thelowên with a smile.
“I wonder what its name is” she said and returned her focus on the road ahead and her friend.