CHAPTER 2
THE DESERT OF AMDIR
It did not take them long to disembark. There was excitement and
hope in their hearts. They looked around for trees or any sign of vegetation,
but there were none. Also for a river or stream nearby, but it was in vain.
They had never seen a desert before, only heard of such places in tales. It was
known that in those lands people lived in dire conditions. Their home had been
quite different—green and with rivers, although their pureness and beauty had
faded away drastically as the magic in their lands had as well.
Bazur and Nurunn
helped scout the land nearby. Even though elves possess a keener sense of sight
and hearing, dwarves can endure heat far beyond humans and elves. It was not
that they were ordered to do so, they volunteered. They took every step with no
great effort, for the dwarf people are sturdy and enduring. Nurunn was one of
the few dwarf women that had travelled across the sea. Sadly, she had been the
only one to survive the journey and missing her friends and family was
difficult to bear. Nonetheless, she was thankful that her husband was with her.
They had married just before they left their home and wore rings forged from
the minerals from their old home.
“Bazur!” said Nurunn. “Do you see the mountains
ahead?”
Bazur stood only a few steps behind her and he
quickly sprinted to her side. He was tall for a dwarf and had a friendly
disposition. Being a young dwarf, his beard had yet many years to grow big and
strong.
“I see them now,” said Bazur with a smile. “They
do not look at all like the mountains from home. Look at how dry and red they
are.”
“They seem to continue parallel to the seashore
for quite a distance. Do you think we should follow them?” asked Nurunn.
Bazur stroked the bit of beard he had as he
replied thoughtfully, “I believe so. It can provide us with shelter and also
guide us through our journey. Can you imagine the minerals inside, Nurunn? The
weapons we could make? The jewels?”
“I can,” she began with a smile. “Perhaps there
are minerals that have not been discovered yet. Stones waiting to be polished
by our hands. We could—” Nurunn stopped as she looked at her hands and
remembered. Bazur saw her face change, her smile fade, and he took her hands in
his.
“We will not let our people’s legacy fade, Nurunn.
We have been chosen to carry out this important task—just you and I—and I am
not saying that our people were meant to die that way or anything of the sort.
I miss them just as you do. It’s just that I know that they are with us every
step of the way. We can save what is left of our race because we are our race.
We can do this together, Nurunn,” said Bazur with hope in his eyes.
“You are right. We can do this together. I know
your heart suffers, for it is my heart as well. I just hope that with time we
will both heal and make our people proud,” she said smiling gently.
Bazur embraced his wife and smelled the ocean in
her hair as he replied, “We will, my love. We will make them proud.”
It was then when they saw Silme flying towards
them. His silver wings made him look as if he were made of metal. They waved up
at him as he descended a few feet and immediately they heard Thinidiel’s voice
in their minds speak: My friends, please return and share with us what you
have found. We must part soon. We shall wait for you. After he had
delivered the message, Silme flew away back to the harbor. As he did so, he saw
the dwarves become smaller little by little and soon he arrived where the
others where. Everyone stood nearby the ship. Some were eating, others preparing
and building the wagons for the road and the animals were calmly walking around
or just waiting.
Among the animals stood out a majestic white
she-wolf. She was great in size—enough for a grown person to ride—and elegant
with each and every step she took. Her name was Faana and she was the Spirit
Animal of one of the king’s sons: Valruin. Prince Valruin was the youngest of
the royal family. He was a great warrior and the sword and daggers were his
weapons of choice. His hair was long and dark like his mother’s, but his eyes
were bright and silver like his father’s. Close behind him was his eldest
brother, Camlhach, and he was grooming his mare, Tinwe—a silver coated beauty
unlike any of the other horses they had brought. She was the last of her line, as
many of their animals were. Prince Camlhach was quite different from his
brother. He did not have dark hair, but instead his was golden and his eyes as
well—it was a color known to some of the first elves of the past, before King
Thinidiel’s time—and his weapon of choice was the bow and arrow, although he
was a skilled fighter with any weapon in hand. There was not a single battle
they had not fought together or where they had lost; they were their people’s
pride, though they had always been a trio before the storm.
“Oh, Faana,” sighed Valruin, “there is no grass
to rest beneath you, nor tree to give you shade.” Faana looked around and then
to Valruin who was searching his pack for the special food they had made for
the animals. Luckily, elven cooking was very efficient and little bites could
give you a great amount of nutrients. The dwarves had also taught them of their
hearty meals and they had fusioned new food. As Faana ate, Valruin pulled out
some of the fusioned food and bit off a bit.
“Who would have thought that one day we would be
eating dwarf food, brother?” said Camlhach as he too feed Tinwe.
Valruin smiled and pulled out a satchel of the
little water they had left to give to Faana. “This may all be new to us, but
for the younglings and their children, sharing with dwarves will probably be
one of the most natural things in the world. It is fine by me.”
“And by me,” replied Camlhach as he also gave
some water to Tinwe. “I know we are not alike in many ways, but I am glad that
we have them as allies and that we sealed a pact of friendship before the
storm. I cannot believe that Bazur and Nurunn are the only ones left.”
Valruin took a sip and put his water away and
Faana left his side to explore nearby. He walked over to his brother as he
replied, his voice a little lower than before, “At least they have each other.
Telwen is the only human left. Were it not that she has so many friends among
our people, I fear she would be lost to agony.”
Camlhach sighed and turned to look at his
brother. They both knew they could not allow themselves to become too attached
to their emotions. Many found their people cold and heartless in their old
home, but it was not that they delighted in having to suppress feelings and
memories. The elves had always been misunderstood among other races, but with
the last years in their home they had been able to show their new allies how
they truly were. Luckily, the only dwarves and human left on the face of the
world knew them and accepted them, as they did them.
Camlhach turned around and spread his arms as he
surveyed the landscape and said to his brother, “Well, if this is to be our
home, I shall require lighter attire.”
Valruin uttered the first laugh since their
arrival in reply to his brother, strong and youthful like in his homeland, “And
what would you require for this new attire, your highness? As you can see there
is not even a leaf to hide your pale skin.”
Camlhach smiled and said, “There’s bound to be a
leaf somewhere out there and you’d better search; otherwise, you’ll have to see
far too much pale skin for your own sake!”
At the sound of Prince Camlhach’s remark, more
than one elf laughed or a giggled, for the princes were known to have not only
lightness of feet, but also of heart. Always a team in every deed as they
attacked with such unity and might, that none had ever survived before their
blade and arrow. Of course, it was also Tinwe and Faana who had helped them on
their triumphant quests.
Valruin made a disapproving glare. “Mind you
words, Camlhach. We do not wish to stir a fair maiden’s heart, now.”
His brother smiled, knowing that Valruin’s
comment was not at all as serious as his face showed. Yet, he paused for a
second, biting his lower lip as he looked back to the sea in thought. Valruin
saw the look in his eyes, the longing, and quickly looked away.
Thinidiel looked at his sons with a smile, for
he admired their youth and light spirit, a trait not so common among the elven
kind, and soon his eyes met that which was the loveliest of sights in the
world. It was his queen and wife, Tin Nimtar who had been seeing to her
people once again. She smiled at him, as if no harm had fallen upon them, no
loss, and she made her way over to her husband, a beacon of hope as she passed
by all Erathiel, illuminating their hearts as she held out her hands towards
them, healing them with her ancient magic to give them strength and to take
away their tears and pain. Her raven mantle moved gently with the hot desert
wind, a dark and beautiful color uncommon amongst the Erathiel, for she had not
been born among them. Her origin was known only to the keeper of her heart and
he had unveiled it to no one.
“My lord,” she began with the gentlest of
voices, “our people are hopeful and ready to part and Bazur and Nurunn are
almost back. I believe we are ready for our new journey to start.”
“That is well,” replied Thinidiel, “The heat is
strong, but the sooner we find shelter the better. Did you see to Telwen? Is
she better, the poor girl?”
“I did and I feel darkness in her heart. I believe
the loss is still very strong for her to bear, but Enora and the girls are ever
by her side. Friendship and love will heal her,” replied Nimtar.
The king smiled as he caressed his wife’s face
gently. He had always loved how small and gentle she was in comparison to most
elves. However, the light in his eyes faltered but for a second and Queen
Nimtar knew what had crossed his mind, for it was always present in hers and
their hearts. She had reassured him that there was still hope and that it would
be only a matter of time before they were united once again.
“Our sons look well,” she said with a gentle
smile. “It seems as if the healing has already begun. Do not you think so, my
love?”
Thinidiel’s eyes held uncertainty. “It seems so,
but how can that be?”
Nimtar’s emerald eyes met with her husband. “It
must be so. That or perish.” She paused only to touch his face, “You know that
a broken heart is not something that I can mend, my love. Cry, as I have cried,
but weep no more. I have yet to study the visions of the future, but one thing
I truly know.”
Thinidiel looked at her almost timidly. “And
what is that, my queen?”
She whispered back, “That nothing is ever truly
lost if it wants to be found.”
It was then when Bazur and Nurunn had returned
and all greeted them with happiness. Once they had reached the King and Queen
they bowed and it was Bazur that spoke first.
“King Thinidiel, Queen Nimtar,” spoke Bazur, “we
have scouted the land with Nurunn and it is as we suspected. The land is not
difficult to walk upon and the wagons will not suffer the journey, for it is
flat and smooth. There is both dirt and sand, but if we remain not too close to
the sea, then we will have no need of treading on heavy sand.”
“We also saw that the mountains carry along next
to the sea as far as we could see. Perhaps we could find shelter in these—a
cave of some sort—and to use it as our guide along the journey,” spoke Nurunn.
“Thank you Bazur and Nurunn,” replied Queen
Nimtar. “Now we can truly part and know that the road will be safe.”
Bazur and Nurunn bowed once again and took a
step aside for the King to speak.
“My warriors, my
children, my friends. Gather your belongings. We shall cross this desert of amdir, of hope, and find shelter by
nightfall.”
