Diyrl is lying under the shade of the densest gathering of trees. Her eyes are shut but she is not asleep. She is deep in thought, close to a state of meditation or contemplation, and completely oblivious to her surroundings.
Adahlia peeks around a nearby tree. Carefully stepping over Diyrl’s rigid tail, Adahlia crosses and sits on the ground in front of Diyrl. Diyrl lets out a deep breath and then inhales sharply. After a moment, one eyelid slowly draws upward, only the inner membrane covering the eyeball remains in place—obscuring the natural color of Diyrl’s eye.
“Hello, Adahlia,” Diyrl says.
“Hello, yourself,” is Adahlia’s reply. She offers Diyrl a warm smile. “Thank you for saving me, Diyrl. I know you were only trying to protect me when you burned that goblin. I’m not mad at you for what you did. I might have done the same. Now, he’s wandering around with two chips on his shoulder. I think he’s more dangerous now than he was after he shot you with that spear. I don’t think you should have healed him. He might try to kill you—or any of us—again.”
“This is true,” Diyrl agrees. “But whether it was I—or Lerfaf—who healed him…He was going to be healed. I thought it should be me. I’ve been thinking about what Lerfaf said, the first day we met him, and he seems to be right. My abilities do seem to be slowly returning. I had no idea, at the time, if I could actually heal the cursed thing. Had I failed, I might have appealed to Lerfaf to finish the job. But I wanted to try. At least this way, I have proven myself to be a formidable foe. I have magick.”
Adahlia grins from ear to ear. “Yes, you do. And it is wonderful magic. I wish I had that kind of magic. Oh, I know you gave me that long speech about life and real magic. But what you and Lerfaf do is different. It’s a special kind of magic. The kind of magic children like me can only dream of their whole life. That is, until they grow up to become stuffy, boring adults. I wish I had your kind of magic—Or Lerfaf’s kind of magic. I wish Sotet and I both had magic. Maybe together we could figure out a way to make it so this whole mess never happened? Maybe I could go back and be with my mother right now—instead of six world cycles from now. I miss my mom. And I know she misses me. When my father died, we became everything to each other. My mother and I are like best friends. I hate to think about the pain and suffering I have put her through by being here.”
Diyrl becomes cross and opens both eyes completely. Her brow furrows and she leans her large head close to Adahlia. “You have done no such thing, Adahlia! You did not capture, imprison, and banish yourself. The Shretonian figureheads and their puppets did that! To punish an innocent child and separate them from everything that they love? That is the kind of judgment I have come to expect from the Olotir overlords. No different than when they cut off my world, and caused many lix to die or face debilitating injury. You are a child, Adahlia. You are not to blame.”
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Adahlia draws back a little. “I don’t like hearing you talk badly about Shretonia. Shretonia is Sotet’s home.”
Diyrl once again hovers close to Adahlia, her voice becoming soft and reassuring. “I have nothing against Sotet, Adahlia, but facts speak for themselves. Shretonia is now a world controlled by a cruel government. A world shrouded in secrecy—hidden even from its citizenry. In fact, especially hidden from its citizens. It began not long after the reign of Gytil and Jotk—the Monoch rulers whose reign was brought to a tragic end by a Fria epidemic. After Jotk’s death; Gytil created the First Law restricting all travel to Olotir worlds—and the other Olotir leaders ratified it. The First Law was implemented immediately upon ratification. Families were left stranded on other worlds. Some were even exiled to barren worlds like this one—to live out the rest of their days. As you should now know, not all who came to the wandering sands were criminals. Some were simply travelers who could never return to their homes. Such was the fear of another epidemic. It was about this time that the Shretonian rulers approached the Lixuwon leaders with a new provision. In the provision, Lixuwon was asked to surrender a small portion of our population over to Olotir scientists to be subjected to observation and testing—in an effort to create an elixir which would allow the Monoch and other Olotir world figureheads to escape disease, thwart the aging process, and attain some level of immortality. The consequences of refusal were never disclosed, but it was obvious they were not asking from a place of kindness. I advised our leaders, in particular Queen Livwon, to refuse the provision and make our position on delivering up our kin very clear. Not even two settings of the suns later, the Olotir worlds withdrew their support of Lixuwon. They stopped all shipments of our supplements and sealed all of the traveling ports to Olotir worlds. I doubt the Olotir citizens even know the true extent of what occurred. No one is sure from which world the Fria Bug originates, but I have heard rumors that it was said to have been Lixuwon which caused the plague. A clever disguise for the desolation they wrought upon my world. I do not speak ill of Sotet. But Sotet has no idea what his puppet leaders are truly capable of.”
Adahlia climbs to her feet and strolls to Diyrl’s side. She hugs what portion of Diyrl’s huge body she is able to wrap her arms around, and stares up into the lix’s enormous eyes. “I’m sorry you lost your family and your world, Diyrl.”
Diyrl stems the tears pooling at the corners of her eyes and smiles down at Adahlia. “You needn’t be sorry, Adahlia. That was so many many life lines ago. You and Sotet were not even born. Being old comes with a lot of joys, but it also comes with a lot of memories. Some good, some very bad. But you learn to take the good with the bad. In this way, the bad does not overcome you.”
Lowering her head so that she is nearly eye to eye with Adahlia, Diyrl grins wolfishly. “And another thing…What would you do with magic abilities if you had them, Adahlia?”
Adahlia only needs a brief moment to think. Returning Diyrl’s wolfish grin, Adahlia steeples her hands in front of her. “I promise I would use them only for good.”
Diyrl lifts her head to the sky and releases a bellowing laugh.