Evening Song, part two

IV

Darkness shrouds the desert and covers the sky with a blanket of
brilliant stars. Yet small grains of sand in whisps of wind
still find their way to the eyes and mouth of travelers
unaccustomed to the conditions of Skarch.On the very edge of
hearing, one can sense a slight rustling in the sands; a herald
of creeping danger beneath sand. A sting of a poisonous scorpion
could, indeed, bring down a highway-traveling cow - though even
the scorpions avoid the camp of dracnari nomads: their fires
challenge thedarkness around and their excited voices carry far
in the stillness of the night.

Some distance away from the settlement, two figures appear
from the shadows. Interestingly enough, they do not seem to be
disturbed or troubled at all by the darkness or the unsteady
conditions of the desert - closer examination reveals them to be
of the dracnari race with their greenish scales and dragonlike
features. The other one, a young female, is supporting an
elderly male by the arm. They are both dressed in nomad robes of
tan leather, though they differ a lot in decoration and style;
she wears a simple, shorter robe that ends above the ankle,
while the male wears robes that bear many a decoration and an
opulent clasp that has a strange emblem on it.

These two dracnari walking by seem, at first glance, a father
and a child, but the manner how the female is regarding the
male exceeds a family relation in respect.

"Dear child, do you know why I wished to speak with you?",
the elderly male says gently while slowing down his steps
slightly.

The female shakes her head and looks away thoughtfully. The male
smiles.

"The reason why we are on this stroll is that I might know
something that may interest you. I knew your parents and was
your father was a dear friend of mine."

"Oh? I know not much of my parents. They both died before I
hatched. Am I right?", the female says quietly. The male looks
thoughtful.

"Indeed - I am afraid it was so. Your parents were very
brave, both descendants of the pyromancers of Gaudiguch - you
might be surprised of some names in your family line - but sadly
their threads were cut when the seal of Nature was weakened and
Kethuru released.

You lay in your egg unhatched for some amount of time - I am not
entirely sure how this is possible, physically. Fortunately I
found the egg in your parents' dwelling and gave it to the
tribe's women to be cared of - you hatched quite a few years
after your parents ceased to be."

"That means that you cannot even be sure if I am the child
of who you think I am, with all due respect... What you are
suggesting is somewhat unlikely and almost impossible. You see -
I cannot think of myself but as the child of the tribe - I sleep
in the guards' quarters, the ones of my age do not spare a
second glance at me - I am pale in skin, thin in frame. How
likely is it, that I am a child of the brave couple you so seem
to cherish and praise?", the female says with a reluctant sigh.

"Saaga. You are being foolish again - do not drown yourself
in that well of self-doubt for it is an endless well if you
choose to jump there. It matters not what others think of you.
What matters is how you see yourself - and who you know you are.
Your form does not matter, your role in the community does not
matter - these are things that are under constant change", The
male makes an indifferent motion with his scaly hand and
continues: "What matters is your shard within you, the thing
that makes you who you are. You hold tight onto who you are,
dear child. Cherish it and know that you, after all and
eventually, live for yourself. No matter what form or role you
may hold. Know this and be who you are." He then turns to leave
for the camp.

-"Dearest Saaga. I tell you, now, that your time with us is
about to end. You are of the age that is to enter the Portal of
Fate and have your soul rewoven by the Fates. I cannot follow
you there, but I advice you to find the Mountain Seirode and
meditate there before heading to the Portal of Fate itself."

"But, but, honourable Elder Iborchi, please... I have not
been away from the desert before! I have never been to the
Mountains or the Portal of Fate - where does it lie? I do not
want to go - I am safe here. I know my place, I know my role,
dear Elder, please..." The female known as Saaga shouts with a
tone of despair and falls to her knees.

"Saaga! Do not be foolish! Head north towards the highway.
The Portal can be found on Avechna's Peak. Remember what I said
- off you go!" The male turns away and walks surprisingly
swiftly away.

The female dracnari is left alone in the sands, tears
welling up in her eyes. She looks about with an air of
frustration and confusion, ashamed of her act of childish
despairing and sighs eventually, arising and making way to the
north, muttering her confused thoughts out loud.

V Saaga

"Skarch Desert - Near Midnight

Dear Diary,

The wind whisps small grains of sand on my face. I care not.
I have been driven away from my fellow nomads... No, no. Elder
Iborchi is only interested of my well-being. I know that. Each
of us young must step through the Portal, but why is it my time
now? I am merely sixteen years of age. And what is there on
Mount Seirode? Why did he wish me to go that way?

I can see the Highway now. Traveling it are odd beings I
have never seen before. They are blue-skinned and have scales
and fins, like fish. I must see them closer."

-

"Highway - Midnight

Dear Diary,

They are called the merian race, as the beautiful priestess
told me. They had to wear skarfs to cover their faces from the
heat and sand, both men and women - the merians breathe water
like air and are very susceptible to the dryness and temperature
of the desert. The priestess was traveling with two soilders
that called themselves paladins - my first time to see such
shining and well-kept armor as these two were wearing.

The Priestess spoke a beautiful blessing and bestowed a
benediction upon me. My heart swells and my eyes light up when I
try to remember how it felt.

My travel continues. From the Great Pass I climbed to the
Mountains when I saw an astonishing shroud of Twilight that
lingered towards North and Mount Seirode - I wonder what that is
and speed my steps."

-

"Mount Seirode - Nearing dawn,

Dear Diary,

Between the brightess of day and darkness of night lies a
small period of time when all is bathed in twilight blue that
softens the edges and contrasts to obscurity. Mysterious blues
and purples mingle together into a soft dance that soothes the
senses.

I stand here on this Mount Seirode and I see many others,
alike me, come to witness this twilight wonder but who seem
invisible to me and I to them - all I know is the Lord Twilight
in front of me. My scales glow in blue and silver and my eyes -
I feel them change.

Within me, I find unnatural calm and peace, like I have never
felt before. The Lord Twilight comes to being in front of my
eyes, His form bathed in billowing robes of aether that cover
his nonexistent body - I can see right through him and yet all I
see is starry twilight. I am whole.

I see it all clearly now. Whatever form I may hold, what
ever role I may be in, I will always remain forever changed by
this sight. I find twilight within me.

Emanating from the aether, a sonorous voice echoes in my mind,
"Greetings, little Cousin. You have sought Me?"

-

One year later

I stand here now, before the Portal of Fate, preparing to step
in. The substance of what the Portal is of seems not of the
Prime Plane. I touch it and meld softly in, my body, my mind
disappearing and diminishing...

Just before my memories fade in to obscurity, I dream of the
desert shrouded in twilight. And I hear the Evening Song one
last time.