Return to Blue Mountain
Part Six: Full Circle
Skywise embraced Aroree farewell. Aroree smiled. “Take care, my little friend. Come back soon. I would love to meet the mother of your bright little daughter.”
“I will. Send for us when Two-Edge returns from his travels. Suntop will hear you.”
“Two-Edge will be... astounded. I only pray it gives him peace to feel his mother’s spirit at home in the Palace.”
“Didn’t I tell you that nothing feed your soul like the Palace? No one can ever be afraid once they step through its doors.”
Aroree looked over Skywise’s head at the glowing Palace. Suntop had easily lifted it from its side and set it right once Haken had left, and now it floated a mere hand span above the rocks outside Aurek’s house. Skywise saw the longing in her eyes. “You know, you and Two-Edge can come live in the Great Holt with us.”
Aroree smiled again and shook her head. The light morning breeze whipped the pale gold strands of hair about her face. “No, Blue Mountain is ever my home. But I will call for you now and then, now that I know I will always be heard.”
“No elf will ever go unheard again. Suntop proved that last night.”
A short distance away, Vaya watched as Aurek strapped his bedroll to his back. The outlines of a few small trinkets poked through the blankets. His bright green snake coiled around his wrist.
“You travel light, Egg-maker.”
“Is that approval I see in your face, Daughter of Snow?”
“Perhaps.” She fell into step alongside him. “So, how long do you figure you’ll be staying with the Palace?”
“Until I have learned enough, I imagine. Aroree can take care of my plants. I could stay for a day or a year, perhaps more. I imagine I will right at home in the caves underneath the Palace hill. Why?” he gave her a wry glance. “Do you care what I do, Daughter of Snow?”
“Just curious is all.”
“Of course,” Aurek nodded with a knowing smile. He turned to Aroree. “Here.” He held out the Egg of Six Spheres. “I leave the Egg in your hands.”
“Oh, Aurek, I couldn’t. I’m not rockshaper; how could I keep it alive with memory? The Egg belongs to you.”
“I can always build a new one. Please. This Egg should remain at Blue Mountain. I don’t know when I will next return.”
Aroree took the Egg hesitantly and cradled it in her hands.
“You’ll find it carries a magic of it own. Learn from what it has to teach you.”
“I will. Thank you, Uncle.”
Skywise smiled and reached up to pat Aroree’s shoulder. “You’re a memory-keeper now.” He turned and saw Quicksilver slip out of the Palace door and hop down to the ground. Unconsciously, she clenched her fur parka more tightly closed against the afternoon breeze.
“How are you doing?” Skywise asked. He held out his arm and Quicksilver drifted to his side for a hug.
“Mm, I’m fine, Father. I little... overwhelmed.”
“Tell me about it.” He touched noses with her. “So I’m a grandfather now, huh?”
Quicksilver grinned. “Uh-huh. Don’t worry, you’ve got two years to get used to it before the cub makes her appearance.”
“Her?” His eyes lit up. “You think it’s a girl?”
She shrugged. “Suntop and I have a feeling.”
“Suntop...” Skywise glanced over at his daughter’s lifemate, standing on a rocky ledge, his back to the Palace. Just beyond Suntop, Timmain gazed over the valley below, her long silvery-white hair blowing in the wind.
“High One?” Suntop asked.
“They have already left the area. I can’t hear them on the wind.”
“Where do you think they’ve gone?”
“Towards sun-goes-up, I think.” She glanced down at Suntop. “Will you follow them?”
“Not unless you think Haken is still a danger to us.”
“No. He is at peace now. He has all he truly wanted.” Sadness touched her face. “Do you think less of me, child? You call me the mother of the Wolfriders, yet I was never a good mother to my own daughter. Chani... I wish she could have understood. The winters were growing more intense – the summers shorter. I had to hunt constantly to find food for the tribe. I could only truly hunt as a wolf. And with each day I became more and more a wolf in my mind. Chani became no more than another face among my two-legged kin.”
“It was a difficult situation for all,” Suntop said simply.
“I wish I could have spoken with her.”
“Would it have stopped her from leaving?”
“No. But I might have eased the pain in my heart.”
Suntop could find no words. Timmain sighed. “Do you know how long I have lived? The years I have spent on this two-mooned world are but one-sixth – perhaps one-eighth – of my total life. I remember when Haken was born – the last child born on our dying world. I remember when the others left in their own palace-ships. I remember everything. It was my task.”
“I know.”
“I feel so tired sometimes. When I lived as a wolf, I knew only the moment. The past was nothing more than a blur of practical memories – when the ice would break under my paw, the warning signs of an angry stag too strong to be brought down. The future was only the empty whiteness of a blizzard. I felt alive. Now... seeing Haken again, seeing Chani... come to life again... it is all I can do not to escape into the simple instincts of a wolf.”
Suntop licked his lips nervously. “It would be a loss to us all, Timmain.”
“I know. And it is for my children that I will remain an elf. I owe it to you all – to be a better mother than I was to Chani.” She glanced back at him. “You have answered Recognition’s call?”
Suntop blushed a little. “We have.”
“I still remember when I Recognized Aerth. It was... so... striking. If what I shared with my dear heart Adya was a soft, subtle bond, then what I felt with Aerth was as sharp as skyfire. The light struck home, then disappeared... but it left a scar. One I will always carry within me. I hope never to Recognize again. It is the least I can do for Aerth, to call him my only Recognized, since I could not call him my mate. Ah... but I watched from afar and I saw how he and Sefra became bonded mates. Aerth was happy while he lived. Yes, Suntop, I will remain in this flesh. And I will dwell in the Palace with Aerth, and Sefra... and my dearest Adya, the only true mate I will ever have. I only wish...”
Suntop touched Timmain’s hand. “Haken and Chani are out there. There is no guarantee our paths will not cross again. You may have that chance. Just not right now.”
Timmain smiled. “Yes, you are right.” She cast a last, longing look over the late winter landscape. “Is the Palace ready to leave?”
“Yes.”
“Then I am ready as well.” She turned back to face the gently floating crystal ship.
Suntop knew something was up when Strongbow called to him and asked for the Palace to touch down outside Thorny Mountain. **The snows fell pretty thick since you left, and we could use a change of scenery. Besides – I think we’d all like to see our family in the Great Holt... after what happened.**
But when Suntop landed the Palace, the snow seemed no heavier than before. And there was something in his tribemates’ eyes that he didn’t quite trust.
“Augh, it’s good to get out of these coats.” Ember tossed off her white parka, revealing a scanty deerskin dress and heavy furred leggings. “Let fly. I want to feel that deliciously stifling heat of the rain forest.”
“It will be wonderful to see Dart again,” Moonshade said as she peeled off her fur mittens and shoulder-cape.
After no more than an instant in flight, the Palace gently touched down on the hilltop just west of the Grandfather Tree. As Suntop led the way out the door, he was promptly attacked by half the inhabitants of the Great Holt.
“What’s going on?” Suntop stammered as Yun caught him in a headlock, then threw him into Swift’s arms for a bear hug.
“What do you think, cloudhead?” Swift hugged him tightly. “You think you could just rope all of us together into that sending-to-end-all-sendings and come home like nothing happened? We’re having a howl tonight, cubling!” She pressed her lips to his forehead. “My brave son.”
Swift turned to Venka, and Rayek cornered Suntop, enfolding him in his arms. “You know how to make me worry,” he gave Suntop’s nose a tweak, then hugged him even tighter. “Sunny, sunny sun-top,” he whispered, and Suntop laughed at the endearment, one he hadn’t heard in years.
Savin broke through the crowd and sprang into Skywise’s arms. “Stars, this is the last time you’re running off on a quest without me! Evil Firstcomers, one of Suntop’s sending calls, everyone throughout the world linked together – something I still can’t wrap my head around – not without me, next time!”
“You were there in spirit,” he offered with a timid smile.
“Not the same!” she cried, and kissed him long on the lips.
Swift and Rayek embraced Venka in turn, as the other travellers scattered to reunite with their own loved ones. When a clothed Timmain and a tall newcomer emerged from the Palace, a gasp went up from the elves.
“It’s Egg!” Pike cried. “Don’t you all remember Egg? But he’s Aurek now.”
“Cheipar!” Vaya rushed to take her son from Wavecatcher’s arms. “Did you miss Mama?”
“Rotten fish guts!” Cheipar laughed, an apparent affirmative, as Vaya scooped him up and set him on her hip.
“We have a celebration tonight!” Swift shouted.
Quicksilver drifted over to her lifemate. “Mm, we have... another reason to celebrate, too.”
Savin, Swift and Rayek looked at her in confusion, until she touched her stomach. Whispers spread throughout the crowd of elves, then a delighted cry rose up from the elves. Everyone rushed forward, falling over each other to be the first to congratulate the newly Recognized couple.
The hunters had brought in two large staking birds and roasted the meat to perfection. For the traditionalists, sections of raw shagback were laid out. Newstar and her family had prepared Sun Folk stews and mixed greens. Kimo played the flutes while Pike and Skot beat on their improvised Go-Back drums. The dreamberry juice flowed freely.
Swift turned to Rayek. “Well, lifemate, is it time?”
Rayek gave her a wry glance. “Shall I make a rather tired joke about the Now of Wolf-thought?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” she smiled, and gave his nose a little tweak. She stood up. “Suntop.”
Suntop rose from his seat next to Quicksilver and Venka. The rest of the tribe recognized the tone in their chieftess’ voice and got to their feet as well.
“Suntop, because of you the world is safe from Haken’s wrath, and the first elf born on this world is once again alive. You have performed nothing short of a miracle.”
“And you have proven the full extant of your power,” Rayek cut in, “and linked all elfin minds as one. Because of you there is now nothing we cannot accomplish.”
“And, lest we forget the smaller truth inside the larger,” Swift smiled. “You and Quicksilver have given us another gift, just as precious. In two turns of the seasons we will have a new Blood of Chiefs, and perhaps a future Master of the Palace as well. To honour all that, a new tribe name is yours. From now you are... Sunstream.”
Quicksilver gasped, and a delighted smile touched her lips.
“Hmmm...” Shenshen reflected. “It has a nice flow....”
“Like it?” Skywise asked his lifemate.
She gave him a wry smile. “I know better than to argue with the chief.”
**Well done, son of wood and desert, moon and sun!** Strongbow and Moonshade sent. **Well done, Sunstream.**
“Huhn...” Skot frowned. “Makes him sound a little... older.”
“You’ll get used to the change,” Redlance said with a little wink. “I did. And you know... Strongbow was once named Fluffy.”
Strongbow shot Redlance a scathing look. Moonshade covered her mouth to smother her giggle.
Suntop – now Sunstream – sat down next to his lifemate. **What do you think?**
**It’s nice... like a shaft of golden light. But I can still call you Suntop sometimes, right? That wouldn’t... violate tribe law, would it?**
He kissed her. **Don’t worry. I don’t think anyone would hold it against you.**
**At least Malin doesn’t change.** She kissed him back.
He smiled. **No... some things never change, Khai.**
Vaya paced the bank of the river, Cheipar dozing on her hip. Skot and Pike had given the boy a little too much dreamberry juice, even if Vaya had kept Cheipar out of the more intoxicating wine. Occasionally the toddler hiccupped, then settled down again. A pace along the babbling tributary of the Green River had quieted his brief tantrum, and now he was slowly beginning to nod off to sleep. The sun would be up in a few more hours. It was time to return to the dens.
**I hope I am not disturbing you,** Aurek’s sending touched her mind, gentle as the river’s voice.
**No. It’s all right.**
**How is the little one?**
**Almost ready to fall asleep. I figure I’ll let Pike and Skot pound each other’s brains out for a while, then go back to the den once they’re ready to sleep off their hangovers.**
**You share a den with them?**
**We call it “treeing.” But I have a little extra room to the side so I can come and go as I please without stepping on them too much. It would just be cruel to take Cheipar and live in a different tree, and those two are far too addle-brained to raise a baby without me. What about you? Has Ekuar set you up in a nice new cave?**
**Mm. It feels like the early days of Blue Mountain.**
Vaya shifted Cheipar on her hip. **So what are you going to do? Learn to read the Scroll like Suntop – I mean Sunstream? That Egg must seem a little useless with the Scroll right there to read.**
**There are many layers of truth, and many different forms for the same truth to take.**
**Riddles.**
**Go-Backs do not appreciate riddles?**
**We don’t waste time scratching our brains when the trolls are massing outside our lodge.**
**There are no trolls here... at least none nearby.** He smiled enigmatically. **Perhaps you might be interested in continuing our conversations from earlier?**
Vaya flashed him a grin. **Depends which conversation... exactly.**
Aurek gave her a little half-bow. “The choice, I leave to you.”
**Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Egg-maker.**
His eyes seemed to glow in the shadows. “I never do.”
Vaya smiled, softer now. Cheipar stirred, mumbling assorted nonsense words. She bent her head and whispered to him soothingly. When she looked up again, Aurek was gone.