My other webpages

Changelings

by Jade Owl

Chapter 1

The Egg is confused. Aurek sighs in his seat inside his creation. It has just begun to reform after it fell. The meories, all the memories, are mixed and matched. It is his job to sort them, to set them right, but first he must know what is wrong with them. Floating over his creation, he sees a particularly tangled knot. He touches it and surrenders himslef, letting the images wash over him.

* * * * *

Blood rushing, hearts pumping. Wolves running, chasing, deer running, fleeing. The moon shining down, making dappled shadows on the forest floor. On deer hide. On wolf fur. On elfin skin.

The Pack leaps for the kill.

"UUAAAAAAHHH!!"

The Wolfriders pause. Quick as a thought, but silent as ever, they convey their confusion to their companions. **What was that?** A dark haired archer asks, his "voice" sharp, annoyed at the interruption. Another, female, hair shining pale in the moonlight, is the first to realize the answer. **A child!** she sends, puzzled. **There is an elfin child!**

Doe forgotten, the Wolfriders now hunt a far more precious prey. They search the tall grasses, stopping now and then to listen for more cries. It is Strongbow, the archer who first sent, that finds him.

**Here, my chief. ** He sends, for though the prey is forgotten and will not be frightened of his voice, it is not his way to speak unnecessarily. A black-haired, roguish elf leans over Strongbow, flanked by the pale haired elfess, his lifemate, Joyleaf.

"Hahar!" Bearclaw laughs. "A fine cub!" And it is. Black hair, soft and new, covers the dark head. Now as, the Wolfriders gaze down at him, golden eyes opened and looked with surprising intelligence on his rescuers.

* * * * * * *

Golden eyes opened, and looked with intelligence down into the stream at the fish, swimming aimlessly.

Rayek flipped onto his back, supporting his head with his hands, and stared up at the treetops above him. **Crescent?** He sent, a faint line appearing between his thin brows.

**Hmm?** Came an answer from the girl, but her attention was obviously elsewhere. She had just spied a huge fish, one that provide a meal for at least three elves. She readied her fishing spear.

**Why did they do it? Mother and Father, I mean. Why did they take me in? Why didn't they just leave me there?**

Crescent dropped her spear.

She shot from the water, glaring. "What??! She yelled, the picture of indignation. "What kind of question is that? Of course they wouldn't leave you there! High Ones, Rayek, you're an elf - "

"But I'm not a Wolfrider...." He replied, sitting up to explain it to her. "I heard Foxfur say that I don't belong... because I don't have wolf blood."

"And you think that matters? Rayek, you're one of us." She climbed out of the stream, enveloping her adopted brother in a wet bear hug. " And nothing anyone says is gonna change that." She squeezed him tightly, reminding herself to give Foxfur a smack next time she saw her. The girl was too full of herself by half.

"Crescent..." Rayek said, grateful. Then his eyes widened. There - in the trees! Movement. And he doubted it was friendly. Not with that amount of noise. **Run!**

"What?" Crescent said, startled.

**Humans!** The other sent, struggling from her embrace. He grabbed her hand and ran - straight into a human hunter. Arms caught them both, and Rayek squirmed, looking upwards at their captor. Luminous golden eyes met dull brown ones, and time seemed to stop. Rayek could only stare, waiting to feel the blow of a club.

It did not come. After what felt like hours, he dared to try to push off the arm that held him. It fell limply to the human's side, and still the human did nothing. Without breaking eye contact, Rayek motioned for Crescent to run. She did so, and he followed, at first backing away, then running for all he was worth, laughing with the sheer joy of being alive.

Chapter 1.5

"Well done. It's amazing that you found him...he could have died out there. " Savah smiled down at the couple before her. "If anyone should adopt this little one, it should be you two. You deserve the chance to raise a child."

Unspoken was the thought that they had already lost that chance once. The kitling, theirs by birth, had gone missing scant moons before, and none could tell what had happened. But the couple ignored their recent loss, focusing instead on what they had gained. They bowed and thanked the Mother of Memory, and retreated to the privacy of their family hut.

The new parents gazed adoringly down at the small bundle of pale skin and red hair. Jarrah lifted a finger and tickled the end of her kiling's nose, smiling tenderly.

Green eyes opened, and Ulm came into the world with a gurgle of laughter.

* * * * * * *

Ulm stared at the ground, green eyes intent, watching, waiting. Finally, the curl of the fern before him slowly unfurled, the fronds spreading themselves out. Immediately he jumped up and ran towards his hut, eagerly calling, "Mama! Mama!"

Jarrah appeared at the door to the hut, hands full of herbs that she was bunching up to dry. "What is it, Ulm?"

"Come look!"

The elfen mother took a moment to bundle the last of the herbs, then followed her son, laughing at his excitement. The kitling ran as fast as he could to the small garden his parents had gifted him with and knelt gingerly by the fern. Jarrah knelt beside him, noting with pride the tenderness in her son's eyes as he looked at his plants, then turning her eyes to the fern.

"But...this isn't the right amount of shade for ferns..." she said, puzzled, looking around at the garden, bathed in sunlight. "And it certainly shouldn't have unfurled this soon."

"I know!" Ulm grinned. "I made it grow, Mama!"

Jarrah simply stared at her son, uncomprehending.

Chapter 2

Aurek lifted himself higher, hands following two threads from one knot to the next, searching through the memories.

Flash - A young Rayek, standing before his chief, his tribe gathered around him. They marvel as his knife rises slowly into the air without physical aid.

Flash - A young Ulm, humming cheerfully as he trots from a magic lesson with Savah to a gardening lesson with Minyah.

Flash - Rayek, showing a tiny Skywise how the stars are reflected in the water of the stream.

Flash - Ulm, blushing, watching as Shenshen, clad only in her hair, laughingly leads two young villagers to her hut. He looks away from her knowing wink.

Flash - Rayek, alone, standing in front of a cave, the stink of Madcoil's breath in his face -

Aurek pulled away from that knot of memory and the next, leaving them for a later time. the first was too convoluted, too soaked in pain and guilt. The second was, well, still too....diverging for today. He had different plans for today.

He followed the threads on, and his hands met. Here, the threads crossed. Here, the memories mingled.

* * * * * * *

It was the second day of wandering in the Burning Waste, and they had reached the mountains at last. They had had to abandon Windchaser after he had collapsed from heatstroke. Crescent, now riding behind her brother, was moody and drawn, her normal cheerfulness and curiosity siphoned away by the burning sun. The others were not much better.

When they reached the shade of the mountains, Cutter immediately went in search of water. Crescent collapsed off Sharpdark into the shade, and Rayek looked at her in worry. "Sister?" He asked anxiously, touching her cheek. There was no answer. She was unconscious.

Before he could do more than start worrying, however, a sending pierced his thoughts. **Skywise! Rayek! Get up here!**

Scaling the rocks, he hurried to where Cutter crouched, peering down into a valley. **Look! Elves! We've done it!**

Skywise shared in his soul-brother's joy, sending exuberantly **They're just like us!**

But Rayek was doubtful. They looked more like humans to him, out in the sun like they were. He saw no sign of wolves, nor trees, only neat rows of green.

**They might be dangerous.** He sent to his cheif. **I'll fly down first and scout the area. If they are friendly, I shall reveal myself. And if they have a healer, I will bring him here. Crescent has collapsed.**

Swooping off the ledge, he flew out over the village. None of the villagers even looked up.

After surveying the village for a while, Rayek decided to take a risk. Landing behind a hut near the outskirts of the village, he stepped out into sight and cleared his throat. A maiden, filling a jar of water at a well, whirled and gave a little shriek. "Wh-who are you?" She gasped out, clutching the water jug to her as if afraid he might steal it.

Rayek frowned and sighed at her foolishness. **Do not be afraid.** He sent to her, trying to convey comfort in his mindvoice. Without waiting for an answer, he spread his sending range to encompass the entire village.

**I have come from my people, who wait in the rocks above. We have crossed the burning waste to reach you. Some of our number have collapsed from thirst and hunger, and they cannot come down. Is there a healer among you that would come with me?**

The reaction of the villagers was not at all what he had expected. Some clutched and tapped at their heads in confusion, some cried out in pain, others merely looked puzzled. He began to grow impatient. **Well?** He sent tersely.

**Patience, little wanderer.** Came the answer, and Rayek's eyes widened. This mindvoice was tempered with age and wisdom, and tinged with amusement. Behind it he could sense great kindness, but also great power. **My people are unused to sending and such magics. Let them get over their wonder. After all, it is not every day that we get visitors from across the desert. I believed myself and my family were the only ones to even attenpt such a feat.**

Rayek was curious. This Wise One had crossed the Burning - the desert? About to send back, he was interrupted by the well-maiden stepping forward and laying aside her water. "I am a healer, wanderer. I will come with you."

Upon studying her more closely, he could see that she was quite a beauty, well worth dallying with. Under other circumstances - But no. Crescent was in those hills, and she needed him.

Stepping up to meet her, Rayek took her by the hand and flew upwards, ignoring her startled gasp. As an afterthought, he swooped down and grabbbed the water jug also and set off towards the hills. Both would be welcomed by his friends.

Chapter ?

Aurek stopped the memories with a thought, pulling back pensively. It was fascinating to see how things could have been, if -

He frowned. If what? What had happened, to cause all this?

Tracing the memories back, he reached the original tangle, now loosened slightly by his work on it. Examining it closely, he saw that there was another thread, a tiny, thin tendril that wound around itself thousands of times, here growing thicker, here thinning to the merest sliver of memory and stone. It wobbled this way and that against all reason, like the first yarn spun by an inept weaver. And this thread - he knew it. It led to -

* * * * * * *

Here. Elsewhere. A stony cave, dark and dank. Water drips, plonking onto the rock floor, adding tempo and measure to the rhymes of an unseen poet. The poems themselves float up from the darkness, twisting crazily in the musty air. To outside ears, they do not always rhyme, but they are rhymes none the less, because they come from the mouth of the Rhymer.

"Eyes of the sunny-sunny-sun, but the son wishes to be forgotten. That is why, yes that is why they were taken, both of them, though one the color of sunset and one the hue of night. "

"Night, night, hair of black
cascading down her ivory back.
Tended by servants
Of whom I am not...I am not...I am....I...."

"Who am I?

The Rhymer sleeps, now, curled up into a ball, but out of his dreams escapes a last phrase, the end to a rhyme of a life.

"Where are his bones, Mother? His bones...."

* * * * * * *

Aurek drew back, a single tear coursing it's way down his face. In the memories, then, Two-Edge had wandered farther, even into the desert. He was to be mourned, though still alive in this world, for without Winnowill's son, he himself would be -

Lost, abandoned in the ruins of Blue Mountain, starving and alone. Dead. These memories ended in death, death for the Father of Memories, and to Memory itself as the Egg showed it. If he allowed this stain to spread throughout the Egg while he remained inside -

He quenched the thought like a spent candle, and began working faster.

Chapter 3

Rayek watched, fascinated, as the maiden with skin so very like his own bent over his sister. As she started her work, his eyes widened even more. As a child, he had delighted in watching Rain the healer at work, sensing the power in him. Now, he realized that Rain's power was no more than a raindrop compared to the wellspring of magic before him now.

He kept watching, his eyes drawn to both the magic and the beauty of the specatacle before him. It was over all too soon, as with but a thought and a touch Crescent awoke. He rushed to her side, softly questioning.

"I'm fine, Rayek," Crescent replied, smiling wearily and pushing him off.

"Yes, she will be fine. However, she needs water, and a cool place to rest. Both you can find in the village." This was the healer again, smooth-voiced and enchanting. Rayek looked up, about to volunteer to fly the healer and his sister down, but another voice cut in.

"Yes, the village. Who are you? How long have you been here? Who -" It was Cutter. He had stepped forward and glanced into the healer's eyes. He froze, and so did she.

Well, thought Rayek. That was unexpected...

Reluctantly, he gave up on his plans to woo the maid.

Skywise, standing next to him, nudged him in the ribs. "Hey, " He whispered. "What's with them?"

"Recognition," responded Rayek. He grinned at his friend. "Just like your parents."

Remarkably similiar, actually. I liked Eyes High. She shared my love of the sky, just as her son does. He felt a brief pang of pain for the lost tribesmate.

Crescent coughed and stirred against him, bringing him back to the present. Walking over to the frozen pair, he coughed politely. "Excuse me, I hate to interrupt..." he said, "But if my sister doesn't get out of the sun soon, she's going to faint again."

The healer ripped her eyes away from Cutter's, looking at him blankly. "Ohy, yes, of course. If you could fly...us...down..." Her blank look changed to one of wonder, then of shrewd curiousity. "How is it that you can fly? Savah says that power is lost to all but the High Ones."

Rayek avoided the question, taking the healer by the waist and Crescent, who was more used to flying with him, by the hand. "Savah?" He asked, taking off.

"Our Mother of Memory. She presides over the village, and besides Ulm and myself, is the only one with magic. She's very ancient, and very wise."

Ah. The "Wise One" that had sent to him before. "I'd like to meet this Mother of Memory."

"Of course you will, you all-" She stopped, frowning. "Oh! I forgot to tell your people to follow us down to the Village. They must all meet Savah and my father."

"No matter. I will 'send' it to Cutter."

"You can send? And who is Cutter?"

"Our chieftan. You know, the one you Recognized?" By this time, they had reached the village, and Rayek set Crescent down in the shade before turning back to the healer.

She was standing stock still and staring at him as if he had the foaming sickness. "R-Recognition? Is...is that what...?"

Rayek was surprised. "Of course. Didn't you know?"

"No! I - I..."

Suddenly she wheeled and ran, darting through the village. Rayek watched her go, puzzled, before turning back to his sister.

To Be Continued...

This site was last edited on 15/02/2004 by Jerelyn Parker. Elfquest, its characters, logos and all related indicia are trademarks of Warp Graphics, Inc. All original artwork on this page may not be used or reproduced without the express permission of the owner.