NOVEL NEXT Chapter 129 - Ehlshinoi
WITH ZZURIEL TRANSLATING FROM some indescribably ancient form of language that Yaarah claimed he could study and begin to decipher in time – Frozen Snowflakese, Varzune promptly dubbed it – a peculiar conference shortly took shape. In one corner was the Janghorash, the mother of all Builder Dragons and last of her kind, and in the other, 197,476 freshly awakened Quellsteel Pixies, never mind how the exact number of their population happened to be known, largely surrounding a cohort of decidedly uncomfortable Dark Elves, a pair of rather less steely and visibly nervous smaller Pixies, plus assorted Fae and Felidragons.
Julfyria Janghorash, – jewel-fierier the Janghorash, Allory's mind supplied instantly – speaking through Zzuriel, said:
"Ancient and timeless beyond knowing was the season of Ehlshinoi's journeying, wounded yet pure of light; whole, yet weak and trembling, pursued by the ravaging spirits that upon her kind did desire to sup in an orgy of gluttonous ravaging. Though old I am, old beyond time, a creature hoary beyond knowledge or rhyme, yet she existed before I ever was, and it is she whose generative power first sparked my egg into life, for all of Ehlshinoi is light, and in her light dwells all the purity of life itself."
Ehlshinoi! That was Middlesun's true name? The Scintillant beamed inwardly. How fitting.
The Scholar Felidragon must be taking notes at top speed.
"Of the creation of Spheris much I recall, a time when all seemed young and pregnant with promise, yet I cannot remember a moment without her light, for she gave of her glory to all without stinting or pause, our Ehlshinoi; a star of soul rather than a soulless conflagration, a young and vibrant being, her matchless melody that of magic spun into song and laughter and light. In your tongue, you name her Middlesun and venerate her as the source of light, head and life; yet to me she will always be Ehlshinoi, the Shining One, which in the ancient scholarly tongue translates as – ah …"
Julfyria paused as Zzuriel struggled with the translation. Snowflakes drifted back and forth. Eventually, the Diamond Fae turned to Allory and beamed, saying, "The word means, 'Soul Blossom.' "
Allory managed not to produce her usual 'eep,' but her companions all gasped and gaped at her as if she had grown gorgeous golden fur and a splendid set of whiskers and started calling herself Yaarah.
That would have been strange. This truth was stranger.
"Why should she not know such things?" Amazas asked everyone, sounding rather querulous. "She's Allory!"
Right. Odds of that being a guess? How's about a little faith, runt?
Zzuriel appeared to explain this detail to the Janghorash, who cracked open her jaw in a toothy Dragon smile and wafted a tiny – for her – snowflake over toward Allory. Only the size of her home cocoon. The Diamond Faerie explained that this confirmed the veracity of her intuition and honoured the Elemental Scintillant.
After this brief interlude, the great Dragoness continued, "Wounded and in sore need of solace, Ehlshinoi desperately sought a refuge to escape the relentless enemy. Finding a place graced by elements suited to her purpose, it pleased her to give of her own pure light to create helpers, those who became both workers and companions to her mighty being. We Janghorash or Builder Dragons and the Quellsteel Pixies, the remnant of whom you see here today, were those first souls who built around her the superstructure of this world we named Spheris, over a period of time that came to be understood as being 1,732 years. In those days, we were so many, many millions of Pixies and Faerie and Dragons who with song and laughter and the dulling of talon in wearisome labour did construct around our Ehlshinoi the arcship, a vast protective lattice spun from the native quellsteel of the Pixies, a substance of outstanding tensile strength, lightness and unparalleled affinity with ariavanae, which was the light and breath of her soul, and the origin of all living beings.
"Ehlshinoi adored music and dance, always treasuring the companionship of other beings. She set about creating and populating the shell of this world with all kinds of life. It was she who designed myriad different habitats for her creatures to enjoy and thrive in, from oceans to dust wells, and mountains, jungles, swamps and the vast tarkume vestibules of the underworld. And – ah, how my mind wanders!"
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Smiling a terrifyingly supermassive smile toward Allory and her four Scintillant companions, she added, "You Scintillants were present too, from the beginning of all things. You were co-labourers in her mightiest works. Ehlshinoi always said that you sprang from her most joyous laughter, her ariahelyn, and as I recall, the way she put it was that the merry shaking of her soul's delight created scintillance from which sprang forth her tiniest workers, the Scintillant Fae. You are therefore the manifestation of Soul Blossom's laughter – the physical, spiritual and magical embodiment of her effervescent joy. The Pixies sprang forth from her love, the Elves from her soul's rest amongst tranquil leaf and bough, and the Dragonkind from the fires of her fiercest gaze. This is the great lore she taught us."
As her eyes tingled, Allory realised that her body was trying to weep without being able to. Formed of effervescent joy? What a beautiful legend!
"Yet all this time, we did not realise that the giving of life and the exuberant, overflowing joy of creation exacted a terrible toll upon Ehlshinoi. There crept in amongst us from origins unknown beings of shadow, entities of corrupt and cunning purposes who were parasites upon all living and magical things, and great were those discovered to be their masters, the Seven Spirits of the Septuani. Great damage did they wreak before Ehlshinoi at last unleashed total war upon them, and after a long and grievous struggle we did cast them down and break their bones in the dirt of this world we helped to fashion – but this also was when the Shining One began to speak of her future, of the need to change, to mature and transcend to a new state of being, as best we understood her intent. Above all, she needed rest and healing.
"Since our life and all life upon Spheris depends upon the power of ariavanae, we elected to rest with her in order that the drain on those resources might be minimised. She assured us of better times ahead, that one would rise amongst the Scintillants – one in whom all endings and all beginnings would reach their consummation, the keeper of the true lore, the one she called the final loom upon which all threads are woven unto their rightful end. That is, the Scinntarinae."
The great Dragoness turned her piercing gaze upon Allory, who tried her best to envision what brave might look like and ended up quivering like a leaf anyways.
Suggids. The final loom?
That sounded ominous. Awfully final-final, slathered in a great dollop of finality.
"You are both less and more than I ever expected," Julfyria continued. "I sense that the true light of Ehlshinoi gleams within you, yet Zzuriel tells me that the Scintillants have lost very much, that the legacy of who you are destined to be is no longer clearly understood, and that another mighty enemy rises against Ehlshinoi at this crucial time, one who appears to hold dominion even over the Seven Spirits we defeated and hoped were vanquished forever."
Allory hung her head. "It is so, o Julfyria."
"When such a wearisome weight lies upon the smallest of us all, and the task is as immense as the world of Spheris and all who dwell within its protective arcship –" the Dragoness' tone gentled, even though it remained fiercely frosty "– and I must confess even I know not what the Scinntarinae was born to accomplish, for Ehlshinoi never revealed her destiny to anyone … what is one to do?"
Excellent question.
Allory gazed about her. She considered the myriad Pixies, so stern and unbending, yet with their own hands and dust-driven magic they had fashioned the very fabric of her world. Deep into the Dragoness' eyes she stared now, yet there found only the waiting of one who had bided here for generations; nay, aeons. She scanned her many companions, from inscrutable feline smiles to a bold wink from Hansanori as he touched his Astral Harp, clearly suggesting what he thought was the right course of action.
Her gaze returned to the beautiful Pixie matron. She thought, How is the state of your dust, friend Pixie?
She smiled thinly. Archaic and fusty, child.
Here, the plants had responded to her presence, but these creatures had dwelled for untold generations far from Soul Blossom's incomparable gaze.
Perhaps … a gift? Would it even work down here, so very far from the light ?
Only one way to find out.
Allory chimed softly, "Hansanori, would you lead our Chameleon friends, please? I'll need all the help I can get, because I feel as stiff as a recently frozen corpse. Friends, I would love to dance for you if I am able, for this is the only way I know that I might bring the tiniest spark of Ehlshinoi's goodness into a place in which none of her light has shone for far too long."
Zzuriel translated rapidly.
With an elemental bellow, a snowflake splashed heavily upon her head. Sparkle-blink. Apparently, that meant something like, 'Terrific, let's do this!'
Worked for this Scintillant.