A single raindrop fell upon the smooth, wan skin of a young Lironti girl, her face upturned to the rumbling clouds as her world seemed to be ripped apart around her. Screams pierced the air that was thick with smoke as homesteads her ancestors had christened went up in flames with no remorse for those trapped inside. Mothers clutched desperately to their squalling children as they tried to stand bravely before armed men, faces stern and unreadable. An older man with lines etched into his face told her to run, but his voice was a mere whisper to her mind, she blinked and he was gone. It was if time ran rampant around her, blurring her vision, then coming into focus, yet a mixture of fear, sadness and sudden indifference kept her rooted to the spot, unable to move or speak.

Her dirt-stained cheeks were free from tears; they would not come, even as she stood in the square of her village watching as men with the mark of the King took woman, child, and man and clapped the already defeated people in irons. She was numb, as she had been since they lit the funeral pyre of her father only two days before. The wind moving the tightly-woven fabric of her pale green dress went unnoticed by her; even the cold rain, droplets clinging to the thick lashes framing her almost emerald eyes, seemed to do nothing to tear her gaze from the sky as she wondered what her people had done, what she had done, to anger the gods. She remembered feeling as if she could sink into the cool mud that formed between her toes as a large man stepped into her view. The grey sky above matched the dismal note in his almost hypnotizing hazel eyes. She saw pain and disgust there, and for a moment he froze, seeming to be entranced by the frail form before him, rain forming small, dirty rivers that flowed down the delicate curves of her cheeks. He raised his arm to strike and looked away, but those eyes were the last thing she remembered before everything went black.
--

The ground dropped out from beneath her. She was falling, sinking through something as thick as honey, yet intangible as air. The darkness surrounding her seemed to evaporate and leave behind an ethereal glow from a source she could not name. She was surrounded by walls of rushing water, flowing faster than the icy waters of the Dandyrn, yet silent and filled with images of her past.

Her hair floated out in front of her as if she were submerged in water, she felt weightless, calm, and subdued despite the horrors she had left behind. Water had the ability to do that; it could bring life, harness power, and wash away everything in the same breath. Suddenly she heard voices, not in agony or in despair, but her own lilting laugh, her father's deep resonating call, and of friends and neighbors she had long forgotten. What was this place? Why was she here? She opened her mouth to call out, but no sound emerged. Try as she might to scream to whoever or whatever was holding her here, it came to no avail, the only thing she could do was wait and listen. It felt like she remained in this watery place for days, simply falling and remembering and wondering.

The encounter with the King's soldiers became a shadow in her mind, falling away as she continued to fall herself, her destination unknown. Before she had time to gain her bearings she touched down on the soft grass of a clearing, the walls of rushing water disappearing as quickly as they had come. Great oaks stretched for as far as the eye could see, surrounding the field like a protective, impenetrable barrier. The air was crisp and cool, stirring her senses that had dulled during her journey to this place.

Everything here seemed immaculate; the grass beneath her feet was like a velvet blanket stretching over the entire meadow, the flowers were more vivid than anything she had ever encountered. She smelled more than their fragrance, she smelled their essence and being, this place was unnatural, but perhaps it was the perfected form of what everything could be. She spun around trying to take everything in at once. There was no sun, but the sky was aflame with reds, purples, and oranges of the most beautiful sunset. Her flaxen hair, now in waves down her back, was aglow with the light, her cheeks once again flushed with color that had left her since the moment she heard of her father's death. This memory brought a pang of sadness, but it too was lost to the wonder of this place.

Her wild spinning came to an abrupt end when she spotted a calm lake with a strange building formed in its center. Her small lips formed a determined grin as she took off in a dead sprint towards it; she wanted answers and she had no doubt she would find them there. As she approached her eyes took in more of the eccentric building before her. There were no walls, just columns of smooth river rock, seeming to fit together perfectly with no mortar to speak of. It grew from the water, not out of it, every part of it being connected and seeming to radiate energy she had never felt before. Something did feel familiar, however, in this place she had never been, in a realm she could probably only think of in her dreams, something called to her heart and mind like an old friend coming around after years apart.

She slowed as she approached the edge of the lake. She looked around desperately for a sign of life but found none, nor could she spot a way to reach the foreign building afloat the glass-like surface of the lake.

'I could swim across.'� She said aloud, her voice sounding strange to her own ears, but as soon as she did she gulped and took a step back, hugging her shoulders tightly. She eyed the inviting waters suspiciously. How had a few moments in this place made her forget something so ingrained into her being? It was like forgetting how to breathe, or how to eat. When she was younger, old enough to question good sense, and bold enough to try her own way, she had ventured to the beaches beyond her tribe's encampment. It was forbidden for her to go alone, to step into the cool waters of the sea, but there was a siren call, something that made her want to run into the breakers and float to somewhere far away. Her father caught her, of course, he always did. He had a knack for stepping in just in time to catch her doing wrong, or looking for trouble. She smiled absently, remembering his knowing smirk and his kind eyes. He was the one who had passed on the knowledge of the great waters and their perils, the reason why there were no deep-water ships, why no one traveled to the lands in the distance, and why especially no one swam in lakes or oceans, for fear of what controlled the deep.

'Ah, you could, muyena, but do you dare to tempt those who lie beneath?'�

Her head snapped up from the surface of the water, her eyes darting left and right looking for the person who had spoken. Muyena, meaning dear-one in the old tongue, what her father called her. She put her hands to her head, gripping her silken hair between her fingers, that voice'�it couldn't be.

'Who are you?'� she cried. 'What do you want?'�

A lone figure stepped from behind a column and walked under an ornate arch, which marked the entrance to the floating temple. The girl's hands slipped from their places on her head to her side with a force that almost brought her to her knees'there stood her father.

'Father!'� she shrieked. He was apart of this realm, she could tell. He was solid and looked just as he did the last time she had seen him, his green eyes shown brightly under bushy eyebrows that rose and fell with all of his expressions. His full lips formed a kind smile as he opened his powerful arms to her, arms that would lift her to his shoulders as if she weighed nothing at all. Even at this distance she wanted to run, wrap her arms around him and see if she had finally passed the mark just below his chest where she had last measured, only a week past. Silence spread between them, all she could do was stare.

'Father? Won't you speak to me?'� she asked mournfully. Still he stood silently, watching.

She looked from him to the water's surface and back again. She had lost him once; she wouldn't let her fear separate them again. She clenched her teeth and eyed the water warily. She took a step forward, and then another. Her next step would be into the lake itself and as she raised her foot the water rippled as something moved right beneath the surface. She gasped and took a step back, her heart beating fast.

'Calm yourself, Raenora. I have not brought you here to be afraid. I have brought you here to open your eyes.'�
She turned her gaze once more to him and waited. Trelyr, once High-Chief to the Lironti, raised his arms, his lips moving silently. Raenora heard a deep grumbling beneath the lake and felt the ground shift. A large shadow, rectangular in shape, materialized from the edge of the lake to the foot of the temple. It looked like the darkest Obsidian, reflecting no light, only consuming it. Her father beckoned her, and with only a moments hesitation she took a step onto the mysterious bridge that had formed before them. The bridge was solid and cold, it sent chills immediately up her spine, goose bumps quickly growing on her arms and legs. She kept her eyes locked on her father's and slid her feet one in front of the other until she had passed the dark water and stood before him.

'You are brave, my daughter, not many would trust in the unknown, and overcome their fear for what lies within their heart.'� He smiled and stepped aside, allowing her to enter the temple behind him, as if she had just passed a test of sorts. The floor was made up of fitted panels of thick glass; it allowed Raenora to see down into the lake itself, something she had never witnessed before. Fish darted to and fro, colorful markings running along their sides. Tiny bubbles danced and circled, finally clinging to the surface of the glass before disappearing as others replaced them. Though the scene was beautiful, something heavy and unknown waited in the darkness of the water, all was not what it seemed. Raenora braved a few steps onto the thick glass, coming to stand in the center of the temple. Her eyes followed the columns to the ceiling where there was a great opening, the sky grew dark while she watched and stars burst across the expanse, shining like powerful torches flickering in the distance. Raenora spun to face her father, eyes full of wonder.

'This place is'�amazing, I have never seen such'' she fell silent as he brought a finger to his lips.

'There is much I would say to you, muyena, but even Melindor himself could not hold you here long enough.'� She nodded, linking her callused hands behind her back to keep from wrapping her arms around him and holding him close. 'I had hoped that you would never come to know the dour face of death, a wish all fathers have, but few receive. You now see that our people are in grave danger, a danger that could shape the remainder of our time in this world. We are being scattered to the wind, Raenora, our secrets lost from within and stolen from those outside our tradition, and our people degraded to the place of slaves, and worse slaughtered before they have time to learn and pass on their heritage.'� The beads and feathers woven into his thick brown hair rustled softly like fall leaves as he shook his head sadly. 'I cannot be there to guide you anymore, I cannot reveal to you the knowledge that I have, that I would have told you, had I known'�but no one sees their own death, not even those blessed by the great elders.'� He gave her a bolstering smile as he continued, 'I can try to help you find your path, a small thing, yes, but a very important part of the journey you must undertake on your own. You must find your way for the sake of the Lironti, and her brethren.'� Raenora clung to every word that escaped his lips, cherishing the cadence of his words, the depth of his voice, and the kindness in his eyes as he spoke to her. 'During your journey you will encounter many, some will help you, and others' only purpose will be to hinder you and keep you from your task. I warn you, Raenora, look inside those you meet, do not trust all, but do not close off your heart to them either. Where you go and what you see will help sculpt who you become, but it is those you encounter that will help you transform into the woman our people need you to be.'�

'I understand, father.'� She intoned as he turned his back to her. Trelyr moved towards the center of the temple and extended a hand, his tanned skin marked with scars Raenora had never known the origin to. Dark smoke formed around his hand, snaking down his fingers and swirling to create the figure of a man, his body was the black of the curling smoke, only his piercing hazel eyes could be seen, along with the steel of his sword, gripped in a misty hand.

'You must watch for two men, Raenora. One will open your eyes to possibilities of change and growth, and the other,'� he paused as the shadow form melted to the ground, pooling like molten metal in the forge. As he began to speak again something moved within the pool, a man rose to one knee and then forced himself to a standing position, the liquid streaming from every part of him, dripping to the ground, and running down the length of his blade. 'The other will only wreak destruction and desecration upon our people. They will clamor to his name, but he will lead them to the Molien fields with a river of blood washing their path.'�

Raenora's heart began to beat faster. 'How will I know, father?'� she cried. 'How will I know now that you are gone?'� Her throat tightened, only here in this dreamscape could she let herself succumb to tears. They welled around those eyes that were the color of her homeland's hills in spring and they ran freely down her face unbidden and unstoppable.

'Elraenora,'� Trelyr's voice rang through the temple, 'you are my only daughter, a daughter to a lineage far exceeding the catalogs of man'take strength from your people, take courage for your people. Tears are for those unwilling to accept their fate'they are for the weak. Cry no more, Elraenora'accept your calling, remember my words, and know that I am with you.'� His form, which had seemed so real began to fade, the edges of his cloak blurred, and soon he was gone, the image of him still burned into her mind. She rushed to where he had stood in vain, reaching out into thin air, feeling the warmth of his presence quickly fade into nothing but a cool breeze upon her skin. She fell to her knees and her body was wracked with sobs'tears she had not cried at her father's crossing came now with a vengeance. She was terrified, wounded and even angry for her loss and new found task that seemed fitting for someone much older than her fourteen years. She cried long and hard, knowing that when she left this place she would have new purpose in her life, and that no tears would ever touch her cheeks again. She slept, unaware of the man of shadow melting once more into ground, the liquid metal of his body moving towards her with a purpose.

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