Discoveries

26

Voices filled my head.

Strange voices, whispering and shouting through each other, making it impossible to hear what they were saying.

Suddenly the voices were silent.

"Alyssa," a crystal clear voice said.

"She came. She came," others whispered.

"Alyssa.'

A hand came out of the darkness. I took it.

"Come with me, Apprentice. I shall show you what is to be shown."

The voice was beautiful, not belonging to a gender, just purity.

I saw a vague light, and then I stood in the Grove. Everything was in full flower, the people danced and laughed. Many more Zalkun stood, and everyone had a Flower, not a leaf in sight.

And they had wings.

Beautiful wings, of every size and shape. Everyone had a pair. They flew through the trees, playing and practicing fights. The garments the Niandori wore were made of a light, beautiful fabric that looked like cobwebs knitted together. And the colours! Pink and green and blue and purple and so many more, the purest imaginable.

I walked around in wonder. So this was what it used to look like. The Realm, long ago, in all it's glory.

Ah! The Hollow Oak. Was it really that old? Already then it was massive. People hopped from branch to branch

What would my tree look like? I strolled over, but found a tree that definitely didn't belong to an Apprentice. More like a Silera's. It was so tall I couldn't see the top, and not shaped like a flower. More like an Alcibel. With a rough bark.

Bellys.

To the North was another.

Ciara.

In the West grew the third.

Alyssa.

Had I gone that far back? To the First Three?

As if hypnotised I walked to my namesake's tree. Huge roots surrounded me, in themselves taller than the average person. I looked up, and suddenly stood at the top of the tree. A dome of leaves surrounded me. I walked out over a branch to it's edge, and peeked through the greenery. The ground was so ridiculously far away, it made me dizzy. I was at about the same hight as the top of that lady's mountain, I guessed.

I turned at the sound of footsteps. Three Niandori were walking to the middle of the crown; Bellys, Ciara and Alyssa. Somehow I recognised them. All three had long, flowing hair in unnamable colours, and were the most beautiful Niandori I'd ever seen. I understood now that man had seen them as gods. Their long garments were of the finest quality, decorated with a touch of gold here and there. And those wings... High and wide they stood, in all their glory. Bellys's were feathered beauties of the deepest black, Ciara wore ones like jasmine petals, and a butterfly's decorated Alyssa's back, in all rainbow colours, with gold and silver veins. I looked at their faces, which didn't seem to belong to a gender. Were they even male and female? Or was it just a thing I'd been taught to believe?

The Three were now in the middle, standing around a tiny Alcibel. They joined hands and started humming. This went on for about five minutes, before they raised their hands and silence followed. At once they disappeared, and a few seconds later I did too.

I found myself in a dark and damp cave, with hardly any light. Alyssa entered. It was obviously quite a few years later; she seemed tired, worn out almost, but there was a determination in her eyes that didn't tolerate defiance. It was her, you must remember, that could decide life or death.

She walked right into the deepest part, and I followed. At the end lay a little pool of water, that was fed by a trickle from between the rocks. When I looked closer I could see the pool was deep, very deep indeed. At the side stood a stone cup, which Alyssa took and dipped into the clear water. She drank deeply before throwing the cup away. It bounced off the floor several times, the sounds echoing through the cave. Alyssa now held a razor-sharp dagger in her hand. With an expressionless face she cut her palm, letting the blood drip into the pool. For a few minutes nothing happened. Then the water started to bubble. She undressed and jumped in.

A minute passed.

Another.

There was no sign of her.

I rushed over to the pool's edge, but she had disappeared. Without hesitating I jumped in too. I didn't feel the water, and soon was at it's surface again.

Alyssa lay in the cave, twisting in agony, as if she had been poisoned. There was nothing I could do; I wasn't really there, you see.

After a while the movement stopped, and she lay a deadly still.