The Faithful Ones

Part 1- Chapter 15

The second moon ended and the Midsummer Feast was held, and a momentous occasion it was, for the eight had nearly died but were now free. Raine said the customary words before they began eating, and when the talking was done they danced. The brightness of the fire reflected in their eyes, and their joy was expressed in their songs, of which many were sung -- made up, learnt, or known off by heart. The stars glowed bright and the moon was empty. And Raine did not fear the fire, knowing she was safe with Mel.

They walked through the mountains, and more often than not, Mel was in her leopardess form, since the landscape suited that form well. This part of the coastal mountains was rockier than the part Raine, Rose, Sunny, Salma, Freya, Matthew, and Blaze had walked through a year past. It seemed they were higher up than the last time for mist often sat on the peaks and floated down to where the group was walking in the morning. Nights fell and days dawned, songs were sung and campfires lit. There was a wildness in them all, plain to see, an aliveness from their experiences on the Fire Plains. Even as Sunny walked she danced, picking flowers for Raine and herself to make daisy chains with.

There was a rumble overhead but the sky wasn't stormy. Then a large boulder with many behind it came tumbling off the cliff the eight were walking beneath. They ran through the thick fog that had settled in the valley, unable to see that the path curved around the mountain. Mel was running behind her friends, urging them to go faster, then suddenly realised the path fell into an abyss.
"Stop!" she called but the others had already fallen over it. Thinking quickly, she lept down where the cliff wasn't so steep so she faced a large ledge on the other side of the abyss. Gathering herself up, she jumped so she would collide with her friends, knocking them onto the ledge.

They landed in a heap on the stone, winded, bruised, and minorly injured. Untangling herself from arms and legs, Raine stood up and saw a white paw disappear over the edge. She hobbled over and watched in horror as the Leopardess-Elf fell and fell and fell and landed on a heap of rocks at the bottom, her mouth agape.

"Freya, would you come with me to get to Mel?" asked Raine, and Freya nodded, then Raine turned to the others, "Get back up to the top and stay there until we come back." The other five nodded, and Raine and Freya began making their way down, Raine hobbling as she went, having sprained her ankle when she'd landed. The pile of rocks wasn't really far down, it was just hard to find a safe way down. A bush clung to some of the stones, standing in their way, so the pair had to ease their way off a slope about half as tall as Raine. And of course, once down they found that they were better off on the other side of the bush which was impossible to reach from their side, so they climbed back up and nearly fell down when Raine stepped on an unstable rock. This is a fairly regular occurrence when climbing, and particularly frustrating with a sprained ankle and a friend to retrieve.

"Oh, Mel!" Raine cried when they got to the bottom. Mel was almost as still as the rocks she lay on, but her chest heaved and her eyes opened, and she was awake.
"Raine? Freya? What are you doing down here?" said Mel, trying to lift herself a little to get into a better position.
"Stay still. There was a rock fall and you pushed us to safety, remember? You didn't land on the ledge with us, so I though maybe-" Raine and Freya stroked Mel's marbled coat.
"I didn't. You seven are safe and alive, that's all that matters," Mel replied, and shimmered to change forms. She stood.
"Aren't you hurt?" asked Freya.
"Just a few cuts and bruises, but I'm ok." Mel healed Raine's ankle with a few murmured words, and they got up the steep slope much quicker than before.

The others were also astounded at Mel's wellbeing when the three returned, but she said nothing of it -- only that the fall wasn't far enough to seriously injure her. Raine was tired of near-death experiences which all seemed to happen close to the Coastal Mountains. Soon they'd be back at the Village,, and then what? Only Mel would know, and she was likely not to tell. Maybe that was alright, maybe it was better to take the world one day at a time than know and act in accordance with the future. As the part of returning to the Spirit-Pool Village drew closer, the moon waned and after vanishing it grew again, and Raine completed the piece of cloth telling the story of their four tasks.

The height of the mountains became less and the eight started following the river to the village. Mel told her friends how her Creator helped a little shepherd boy kill a huge man. The warrior giant and his people had invaded the boy's land, taunting its people and daring them to fight him. Everyone but the shepherd boy was too afraid. He took his sling and stood before the giant, and the giant laughed, amazed that this young boy dared to stand up against his height and armour. But the shepherd boy knew his Creator would help him now as He helped when lions and bears attacked his flock. He put a pebble in his sling, swung it around, and let the pebble hit the giant's head. The giant toppled to the ground, dead, and his people fled. The shepherd boy had won, because his Creator was by his side.

The Spirit-Pool Village came into full view, and stopped being a blob on the horizon. They'd returned at last, and yet they wanted to go on, but they'd finished their tasks. In a few weeks' time it would be Autrin's Ehv.