Winds to Light up the World

Chapter 24

Dripping rain woke Tanora the next morning. She remembered staring into the fire, thinking about what story they could tell to persuade Rane and Shalya to turn around, until Rane offered to take the next watch. Despite all the pondering Tanora didn't come up with a thing. Improvising it was! One thing she did find out was why Cove and she were hiding the fact that they took the Stone of Lum. It felt like a secret to her, something that might perish if it were open to the world. Like maybe the meaning of the act would lose some of its value. Tanora had in relation also thought about Leevana and Lum's love story. The day humanity had shunned Leevana everything had gone down: her goddess' place in the world, her relationship to humanity and the other gods and most important her relationship with Lum. What if the same happened to Tanora? What if one day Rane and Shayla found out they had lied to them and believe her a fraud? Would everything crumble around her like it had around Leevana? Then she mentally shook herself. It had been ages since Tanora had thought like that, she wouldn't start again. Maybe she was just selfish.

When they all were awake Tanora breached the subject of going back to Crivers. First Shayla and Rane looked at her in disbelief before the objections came.

"Didn't the prophecy say to go to the source of the Great River? Do we look like we're there?" Rane asked, staring at both her and Cove.

Time to get her brain working. "The source is like at most a day away. What could we possibly find in those few miles, compared to what we've already seen? Shayla," she said, "is there anything mythical or worth notice at the source? Any legends, stories or tales?"

Shayla shook her head glumly.

Rane looked at her and mirrored their friend's movement. "Tan, since when are you the one to give up? In all the years we've known each other, minus the ones where you were just Nick's annoying little sister, there I'm not so sure, you have never given up! You always stood up again, caught anything that came your way."

"I'm not giving up. Fine, maybe a little bit," she admitted begrudgingly and held up her hand when Rane wanted to say something, "The dark part of me thinks about how stupid we are, thinking we could save the world. We're a bunch of teenagers! But a part of me thinks that what we need we already have. Something we went through together and subconsciously picked up. Do you trust me?" Tanora's friends nodded around her, "Well then, can you trust my feeling that we already have it?" Again, bobbing heads around her.

That was it then. They were heading back. Cove suggested riding south until they left the Forest behind then aim a bit more to the east. And so, their trek back began.

Tanora rode next to Cove, a bit ahead of the other two, who sounded like they were having a great time. Shayla seemed to be one of the few people that could actually stand Rane's blabbering. She and Cove rode in comfortable silence, having formed a kind of bond through getting the Stone and agreeing on heading to Crivers.

"Are you excited to your family and friends again?" Tanora asked out of the blue.

Cove answered quickly. "Absolutely! I'm dying to see my parents again. I didn't really tell them of my plans so they're probably worried sick. Shit! Now that I think about it, they'll probably kill me for just disappearing for ages. Madron knows what's going on though, so he should be able to reassure them," He paused, "What I'm not looking forward to is the hubbub of the court, the bustling castle and all the people. I've grown accustomed to time for myself these last few weeks. Don't get me wrong, I usually love being around people, exploring new places and all, but I've noticed how exhausting it can be. Right now, I have time to do what I want, joke around with you guys or just ride in silence, like all day long. But at the palace, of course I have privileges as a lord's son, but people expect things from me. Whether my father wants my input on a business matter or the like, or my daily routine. It's a lot," Cove kind of trailed of there, getting caught in his thoughts.

Wow! Tanora had not expected that. And to be honest she thought life at the palace was a picnic. "I have to apologize."

He looked at her weirdly. "Why?"

"Well, I kinda thought you lived like in heaven at the palace. I judged you completely wrong. Even if you didn't notice, I judged you. Damn," she paused, "I'm not much better than all the people who would judge me."

Cove smiled at her. "It's all right. I think we all have some prejudices against certain people. As long as you can change your way of seeing those people and change those judgements, it's ok."

They rode in silence again, each mulling over the words. In the end people were so similar. You couldn't judge one person for doing something you yourself also do.

Days went by and the weather got worse. Fall was in full swing now and that meant weeks of rain at a time. The trees of the Forest gave them a little cover but if they didn't want to get soaked Tanora had to keep a shield of hard air above them and, in the worst case of wind, also around them. It tired her so much that she fell asleep in no time after supper. The other, grateful of her keeping them dry, usually took over her watch. All in all, the journey was getting to be miserable. It was the same scenery all day long and at some point, they, well except for Rane, run out of things to talk about, so they just rode or walked in silence.

One night, after a long, but dry day of travelling, sitting around the campfire, they finished their game they had devised due to boredom. In the evenings every person would tell the others what the weirdest thing was that they saw. And because they couldn't prove anything it morphed into who could tell the weirdest, or most interesting story, based on something everybody saw that day. Shayla and Rane were the best and so most evenings Cove and Tanora just sat and listened to one of them. That day Shayla claimed to know a legend concerning a river, and because they had seen a little stream earlier, it was her turn.

In the firelight her face was lit up with orange and red hues, creating the perfect atmosphere for story time. "Once upon a time there was a forest, not unlike this one here, yet much more dangerous. There was a tale concerning that forest. Since the beginning of time people had told each other that there was a magical river flowing through the heart of the forest. It did not end anywhere and had no start. It just was. The catch was that the heart of the forest was the most dangerous so getting there would involve perilous tasks.

"Most men and women would never know the magical properties of the river and its effects. And yet some brave and maybe stupid people searched for that river. Most folks never made it, they entered the forest and never came back. But those who did claimed back spouting poetry and all the knowledge of the world, their words like heaven on earth. They say as soon as they had taken a sip of the river, a river that shimmered and glowed, they had received knowledge and the ability to juggle words, twist sentences to their liking and bring down the most powerful men by simply talking to them.

"It was no wonder that these "enlightened" men and women became the rulers of the realm. Yet all that knowledge did not give them wisdom. They were so full of themselves, drunk on their own prowess they didn't notice the small things that really matter in a reign: a family. So, in the end, all rulers failed; they failed their kingdom, their families and their friends, despite all their knowledge."

"Wow! That was somewhat depressing," Rane let out with a sigh.

Shayla shook her head at him. "Well, it wasn't supposed to be a goodnight story. It's supposed to teach us that the basic and simple things never cease to be important. And that little things like that are needed, so like you can't only live a life based on the greatest thing there are, you need some basics."

After the tale they fell asleep quite fast, all except Tanora who had offered to take the first watch. Due to the fact that it for once hadn't rained she wasn't spent. She mulled over Shayla's tale for quite some time. All she needed was the basics, she noticed, the friends and family. If I have that I can live happily ever after, Tanora thought, and luckily, I have already found those people.

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