by Sanders, Dan
Everybody looked at Emily, but she shrugged.
“No, it’s not about Emily this time,” he said. “I have a new apprentice.”
Magas lifted up Xavier’s arm. Xavier looked sheepishly at his feet.
Everybody clapped. Lupi and Sabina took turns at giving him a hug. Lupi accidentally knocked off Xavier’s hood, revealing his red hair pulled back into a ponytail. Sabina moved his hair aside to kiss his cheek.
“Look, his face is the same colour as his hair,” Daimon laughed. He took Xavier by the shoulders and kissed each cheek once then stepped back.
Emily looked at Lupi quizzically. Lupi said, “It must be an Earthling thing.”
Bevan patted him on the back and said, “Well, my boy, a Melder of the realm of Eostra. How do you feel? What have you to say for yourself?”
Xavier stood next to Emily and cleared his throat. As he spoke his throat choked with tears. He stopped and wiped his eyes. He tried to speak again but a sob broke from his mouth. A minute passed as he tried to compose himself. He waved his hand and took a few slow deep breaths. The others watched silently with understanding eyes.
His voice squeaked when he first spoke. “I don’t have any words to express what I feel. I am unworthy of such an honour. I am unworthy of your friendship and to be part of this circle. I only hope that I can one day be as all of you. I only hope that one day I can make up for my mistakes.”
They all ran and hugged the crying boy. When his crying stopped he looked up, smiling. They heard a buzzing sound from across the lake. They looked up from their huddle and were surprised at what they saw.
“Linnet!” Xavier cried.
“Sirakon,” Sabina shouted.
A giant dragonfly darted across the lake, zig-zagging left and right, as though searching for a lost child. It disappeared into the water fountain sprouting between the lake and the hovering egg-shaped Kalen-Na, before reappearing out the other side. Its baby-blue tail hung low and its gold-rimmed eyes shimmered in the morning sun. In a flash it hovered near the group but didn’t settle on the ground. Sirakon jumped off and wrung the water from her long red hair. She ran over to Xavier and they embraced. She wouldn’t let him go. They rocked on their heels, still in each other’s arms. Magas coughed and they let their hands fall. The dragonfly buzzed back across the lake.
Xavier stepped to Magas and said, “Thank you, for everything.”
“That wasn’t my idea. It was his,” Magas said. He pointed to a man with faded red hair and a red robe hobbling up the hill. An electric blue wolf with crimson eyes strode casually next to him.
“Sashiel,” Xavier said. He ran to Sashiel and thumped his chest in formal salute.
Sashiel waved him away and stood next to Bevan. Xavier smiled, and with as much dignity as he could salvage strode over to his new companion.
“Well,” Magas said, “this is a splendid start to Eostra morn. I have one more request from Emily before we begin. Emily, as with many streets and landmarks in this nation, the lake before you has yet to be named. As the presiding authority of this city, could you please name the lake that protects the most important building of Kalen-Na.
Emily placed her paw on her chest. She was surprised. She didn’t know anything about such things. She saw patient eyes waiting. She flicked through all of the many people who had helped her and saved her on this miraculous journey. And then it came to her. She nodded her head and an ear flopped across her snout. She pushed it away.
“Lake Bijou, after my father who comforted me when I thought I was different. He told me I was special and to always prepare for when my special life would become a reality.”
Everybody clapped. Lupi wiped away a tear from her cheek. Emily guessed she knew why it meant so much to her.
Magas nodded and said simply, “Let the friendship flight begin.”
Magas faced the mountains surrounding Havendel, raised his staff and spoke in the ancient Melder tongue. Even Emily couldn’t understand. Xavier looked on with wide eyes. The round crystal doors that nestled in among the trees and crevices of the mountain opened to his command. Like sweets being poured from a great height, thousands of multi-coloured rabbits poured through Havendel and onto the plains. The valley below Emily was suddenly filled with the tasty sight of Emily’s new friends. The clicking sound of excited rabbit teeth echoed across the range. Her heart filled with joy.
“Emily, you have your own army,” Lupi said, buzzing around in excitement.
“I can’t believe how many rabbits there are. No wonder they are the symbol of fertility,” Daimon said.
“There are six other portals like this spread around Annwyn,” Magas said. “Each corresponds to a portal on Earth. When you connect with your army, you will direct them to the far-flung places on Earth.
Alecia came to Emily and said, “Eama, the First Eostra Rabbit, symbol of spring, rebirth and fertility, you are now ready to deliver your symbols to Earth.”
She handed Emily a lilac silk sack. Emily took out an Egg. When it first left the bag it was tiny, but when it hit Emily’s paw it swelled to fill her paw. Everybody looked on in amazement. It was wrapped in a yellow ribbon with a small scroll attached.
“What’s this?” Emily said.
“We thought it was important to introduce the gift properly. Read it,” Bently said, “it was my idea.”
Emily patted Bently’s lime green forepaw. She unrolled the small scroll in her paws, held it up with great importance and read,
Dear child of Earth,
The winter night is lost and gone
And spring’s new day is here.
The power of the Twin World, Annwyn
Through this egg has shone.
A great gift has been bestowed
Upon you this morn,
Eostra’s Egg has great power
To undo that which was torn.
So remember in all you do
That you are of the Earth
And the Earth is of you,
To care for her
And she will care for you.
This egg is the symbol of Eostra’s day
The first day of spring
Where hope has its way,
So hold it to the light
And with your heart you should sing
That my Eostra’s Egg,
Like a bird on a wing,
Shall be used for good
And for right,
To show all the light,
that Eostra’s Day
is the day of Rebirth
Of the Earth.
Emily looked up and saw all members of the Circle holding hands. Alecia fitted the egg back into her pack and the eggs tinkled inside. Emily hugged and whispered thanks to each of them. Bevan and Sabina knelt and she hugged them. Then Xavier knelt, followed by Lupi. Daimon, Rupurt and Sashiel all knelt. Shoulder to shoulder they bowed their heads. Emily held her paws to her chest and without knowing why, tears ran from her cheeks and some of the tears sat on the end of her nose. Trying to be brave she wiped them away but her round nose was still wet. When they raised their heads from their silent submission she saw all their eyes and cheeks were filled with tears. They didn’t wipe them away.
As Emily was about to turn she saw another apparition emerge from the mist. One hundred white butterflies and one hundred fire-wraiths, like a cloud, bobbed across the lake and hovered before Emily.
Her voice was barely a whisper. “Aldrick… and… Kato?”
The white butterflies and fire-wraiths hovered and bustled and formed two flickering rabbits, floating above Emily’s head, blinking in the yellow sun. The butterfly rabbit bowed. Emily sobbed and gently passed her paw through the flittering forms before her. Her friends drew around her, reached out and passed their fingers through the rabbit forms. They were all crying at the return of their rejoined friends. After a few moments, the flickering white butterflies and pulsing fire-wraiths turned and hopped away into the orange mountains behind them. For a long time nobody moved.
Magas gently patted Emily’s ears and said, “Deliver these eggs into every home, for every child on Earth. May Eostra be in you.”
He bowed to Emily, and Emily bowed to him. Her long white ears spread on the grass.
Magas said, “Thank you, Alecia.” He turned to Daimon and placed his long fingers on his shoulder. “Daimon, Master of the Blade, take the Adros Dagger, for you will lead with Emily through the veil between the Twin Worlds.”
Magas withdrew from his robes a crystal dagger with an orange handle and green hilt. Its black blade flickered night across the companion’s faces. Emily held her breath. She remembered the destructive and magnificent power of this artefact. Magas pressed it into Daimon’s shaking hand. He wrapped his newly forged stone fingers around the handle. Emily recognised some of the symbols, but many she didn’t yet understand. She would ask Sabina.
“You will connect with the Dagger and cut a portal between Earth and Annwyn.”
“But how do I know?”
“You are from Earth. Feel for your birth world. Feel for the known.”
It was Emily’s turn to ask a question. “How do we get into each of the homes?”
Magas smiled and said, “May Eostra be with you. Now go.”
And with that the ancient Melder of Eostra swiped his staff in three wide circles above his head. The blue crystal in his staff burst into flames, and a circle hovered in the air. He pointed it to Emily. Blue tendrils wound around her. The tentacles of light flowed into the valley and through the rabbits.
Magas Thoughtspoke her, “Connect with your friendship flight and connect with the Twin Worlds. Remember you are the Air.”
Emily’s heart thumped in her chest. This was it. This was what it all meant; to bring the harmonising power to the Twin Worlds. She shut her eyes and concentrated. She pictured the thousands of rabbits and suddenly her mind exploded in colour and song; of giggling, joyful, giddy happiness. Love poured through her mind and her heart. This was a mind meld Eostra had talked about. With so many she was swamped and almost overcome. And then she felt other minds, older, powerful minds that she knew. Lupi’s mind, the door in the clouds; Sabina’s mind, the door of water and books; Bevan’s mind, a mighty stone door; Daimon’s mind, a door of song and passion, and Xavier’s mind, the red door surrounded by fire. She welcomed them, their help and their strength.
Just when she thought she would explode, she felt the power of the Elementals watch down from on high. She let their ancient minds fill her and guide her, give her knowledge she could not grasp and would not yet understand, but she felt their power and love.
And in that moment she knew what it was like to be truly connected with the land and with the people. When she felt she couldn’t hold in any more, she opened her eyes.
At first she couldn’t make out where she was, but quickly realised she was floating high in the clouds. Her paws paddled the air, then she realised she was as Magas said: she was the Air, she had been a bird, and this was her natural place. She relaxed and drifted on the lofty breeze. She looked down and saw a stream of never-ending coloured ears, like silk streamers flowing through the clouds to the land below. The higher she rose the longer the streamers stretched into nothingness below.
She was holding Daimon’s hand. The sleeve from his robe rubbed against her forepaw. With the hand that had been forged in Earth Lore, he held the Adros Dagger high above his head. His brow was bent in concentration and his hair flapped in the breeze.
She looked up and held her breath. She saw Earth above her. So close, she was almost into their clouds. And yet she knew she was in between worlds. It reminded her of her own peculiar mind. It was what Theni and Torek discovered that fateful day. The bright light in the darkness was her, as she was now, in between the Twin Worlds. Her ocean eyes stared at Daimon. She read his thought and his feelings. He was pushing the scared feeling away. She reached out to him and Thoughtspoke, “Feel your world. It is different.”
He nodded mentally without looking away from the sight before them. Her heart beat faster. He gently poked the air. The sky rippled at the black blade’s touch. The ripple disappeared. He tried again but this time at various angles, the sky rippling each time. He withdrew and the sky smoothed again. She felt his heart beat faster. She sent calming energy into his mind and body. His heart slowed and his connection strengthened. He tried again, and this time he cut the air with a circle. The two ends met and the world exploded in blue light. The circle grew and she felt both of their hearts pounding in their chests. Daimon held his straightened arm to his ear, pulled Emily tight into his body and then they were sucked into another world.
For a moment Emily saw nothing but she knew her rabbit friends were still connected to her, singing playfully. She burst through the portal into Earth and hovered among the Earth clouds. Daimon kept his eyes closed. Emily knew he was relying on her now. She was the Air and in control. In a blink, all her early life as a bird came back to her. She felt the currents of Earth and sat on them, tilting, bobbing, nudging up and nudging down. Her old life had mattered. A hot wave of air smacked into her, but she just absorbed it. She was the Air Element. And it made her stronger. Sabina was right, she thought. All our old lives matter. It makes us the complete version of ourselves.
She knew what she must do. She looked behind at the stream of colour that twisted across the blue spring sky of Earth. It had not been raining in this world. She felt the moisture in the air. It would not rain until the next sunrise. She knew those things for sure now. As they descended, the night of the land was still upon them. It would almost be dawn for the people of many lands. They had to deliver before the children woke.
At the speed of thought she gave instruction to her army; Emily’s army. She nodded in her mind. It was an army of light and love and hope and rebirth. Each rabbit had its sack. They parted ways, but connected always, they roamed the Earth, to the various lands, to the millions of homes, and delivered their eggs and their message of the first Eostra Day.
“Can I stay with you, just this once?” Daimon asked.
“Of course, Bard of Eostra. You must know what takes place.”
His hand in her paw, Daimon flew alongside her. He trusted in her power now. She held him safely in air currents and protected him with her energy.
They swooped to a city which Emily had never visited before, lodged in a snow-capped mountain range. The winter thaw had begun. Spring had worked. The homes had high curved roofs of green and red wood. Daimon’s curiosity turned into concern as they landed next to a home. Some of the other rabbits stayed with Emily to deliver to other homes in the city. Emily and Daimon looked into the pre-dawn sky and saw the colour streams spread like a thousand fingers, the high dawn sun glimmering off their painted furry bodies.
“How do we get into the houses?” Daimon whispered, making sure his voice still worked on his home world.
Snow fell from the roof and landed on Daimon’s head. He shook his head and shivered.
She whispered, “Stay connected to the land and you will not feel the cold.”
He looked at her and laughed. Emily took out her first egg and held it to the light. A deep purple glowed from the centre of the egg, its soft light shining across their faces. A tiny parchment scroll wrapped across the egg.
“Watch me closely,” Emily said.
Daimon held her paw and squinted through the grey light. The first home they arrived at had left the window ajar. Emily blinked and they swirled into the Air Element, and as a gentle breeze they whisked through the gap in the window frame. Emily placed crystal eggs–orange, yellow and lime green, at the foot of the children’s beds. They wafted around the house to make sure the parents were asleep and breezed back out the window.
The next home Emily reached had all windows closed. In respect of the Fire Lore she concentrated briefly and turned them both into a flame. They poured down through the chimney, and flickered out from the fireplace across the room before reforming back into a rabbit and a
human, standing on the timber floor. Theirs was a fire that did not consume the wood. Daimon steadied himself on the kitchen table. Emily placed two eggs on the table, turned both of them back into flames and back they rose through the chimney.
“Amazing,” Daimon said. “Absolutely incredible. The power and energy. How did—?”
Emily hushed him with her paw.
The next home was a small house with closed windows and no chimney. Emily mentally scratched her ears and had a thought. “Hold on,” she said to Daimon. He squeezed her paw even tighter and with more excitement. He trusted her completely now and simply enjoyed the ride. She broke down their bodies and turned them into fine sand. They rolled under a gap at the bottom of the door along the wooden floor. They took their natural forms, and laid three more eggs on the soft covers of the little children. Emily hopped over to one of the stirring children. She stroked the child’s eyes. Daimon sang softly in his sweet voice and the boy laid his black hair down on his pillow and went back to sleep with a dreamy smile on his brown face.
All morning they whisked around houses, turning into the elements, checking on the children, and smiling with joy at the gift they were leaving. It was as though time had stopped for Emily. Within a few seconds she could be in and out of a home, with gently pulsing eggs glowing on the beds of the sleepy children. Within minutes an entire town was left with the gift of the original Eostra Day. All around the globe she received giggling messages from the other rabbits that their mission was accomplished.
When the task was almost complete, there was one place left to visit; Daimon’s home. With a warm mental shout Emily discharged the other rabbits. They streamed through the sky like coloured ribbons, floating beyond the clouds, waiting for Emily–their Chosen One—to join them through the portal.
Emily flew Daimon to his home town. They landed outside the door to his terrace. Emily’s footpads slapped on the stone road.
“Well, my friend, this is it,” she said.
He bent down to her and threw his arms around her neck. She nuzzled into him. For a long time they said nothing. The first Athenian light cut across the stone lane.
