In the middle of Rophion Forest, almost 3,000 years before the time of Dike and Samandra, the story of Hestia's fire heart was growing up because those who believed in the love and the respect of the fire, could also love and respect their own people.
„But does the same happen to the other people of the world?” Iohar wondered, on a starry night, which looked as if the light of the world had split into billions and billions of shining hearts, scattered throughout the Universe, while he was sitting on the ground, at the edge of the forest, watching the boundless.
Around him, the night was acting up with the leaves of the trees, lightly trembling them in a short, warm gust of wind and not letting them sleep, even if the thick trunks and the branches of the old trees had crossed the threshold of the world of the Titanide of Sleep, named Hyora, and since long ago, for their heavy movements would have been even more clumsy without a good night's sleep.
But not the same happened to the leaves, which, being small and fragile by nature, could be satisfied only with a slight numbness overnight when the wind was finally going to bed, giving them peace to breathe a sigh of relief.
Iohar, who wasn't aware of nature's numbness yet, looked up at the starry sky and smiled. „It's so easy to be a star,” he whispered, hugged by a slight numbness of melancholy.
„Do you think so?! But their coldness and the fact that they can shine only during the night, isn’t this a total sadness?” Syana said, a young woman about 30, who, even if was married to Iohar for about 10 years already, had not really gotten to know her husband yet and she often wondered what else his thoughts could bring to life in melancholic nights.
Iohar looked at his wife and smiled. „And yet, sometimes the coldness of the soul can also bring joy to someone.”
„Like?”
„Like… performing miracles. Let's take the cold blade of the sword, for example - although it may seem deadly to someone, it can be the escape and the survival for others, for not a few times people had to grab the handle of the sword and protect their realms.”
„Cosmos is also cold, but if an alive soul gets there, it loses its shine for sure because life has another shape there, Iohar.”
„But still, there’s life, my sweet wife because, even if you want it or not, this world is made from life, and we can’t live and survive here without a life.”
Syana kept silent and melancholically looked around - she loved the trees, she loved their new home covered by leaves, but she was still missing the mountain, for she had been born there, she spent her childhood and her youth there, climbing and descending the path of the mountain as if she was a mountain goat. But, after meeting Iohar and accepting his heart, the two of them started their journey throughout the world to know it better and later to turn back home.
But they didn’t get to the Lands of Neburon at the end, where the homeland of Iohar was. They stopped there instead, in the secret thickets of Rophion Forest, after they met Dike and he told them that, from them, a new, glorious people will be born and, with them, immortality will reach this world.
„Iohar, do you think we’ll make it?” Syana asked him in the end, after a long period of silence between the two.
„To make, what?”
„To bring immortality to these lands. As Dike predicted when he chose this forest as our new home.”
Iohar smiled because he knew well his wife's distrust, which he managed to accept and respect in time, for not in a few cases it stopped him from thoughtlessly acting and it forced him to think better before doing something, as, in the end, to succeed in everything he decided to do.
„I’m sure we’ll make it. Actually, the matter is that this world will exist, and, from now on, till the end of the times, and this means immortality for humans.”
Syana smiled, looking with love at him. „Then, I want to be a star after my death.”
„Why so?”
„Because only the stars can watch the Earth from the faraway Cosmos and see everything that happens here. Thus, I’ll always see how my people are and where this world is heading to.”
„But you said that stars can only exist at night. And that they are cold.”
„At least their coldness doesn't hurt the Earth, doesn’t predict death, for their coldness gives light to this Planet, even if so little. I can’t be a sun anyway because there's only one sun in this sky. But being a star, from billions of stars in this Cosmos, I can protect the Earth from the night.”
„And yet the stars are not eternal. They perish when their light dies.”
„Then I'll be reborn again, being another star, and so, I'll see our Earth again. And so, again and again, till this world won’t accept its real nature and meaning.”
This thought of Syana made Iohar even more melancholic than before and he looked this time at the small fire that was about to extinguish.
Thus, he saw the weak flames of fire, as if they were souls in search of a life-giving breath, seemed so helpless and so unprotected in the eyes of Iohar, and that was when he began to miss Neburon, the realm carved in stone, at the top of Mount Eldur Fjall.
Iohar leaned over the fire and put a few vines on top of it. A few seconds later, the fire resurfaced from its own sparkling ash and its flames head up to the sky again.
Then, the man lay down on the ground, laying his head on the outstretched arm, and he stared at the fire while the dance of the flames made him so happy.
„Sing me something, Syana. Sing me something about this world,” he asked his wife and Syana began to sing, with her low, melodious voice:
„World, world, dear sister world…
Where you're running with your people, bird?
And you don't give eternity,
Time for love and missing me?
Why do you leave behind you,
The secular grove, that's full of lures,
And you're allowing only the sky,
To fly with you, toward the sunshine.
Only the rain, with its sweet voice…
Washes the sunshine of missing joys,
Cooling our souls of flames of songs…
Of dreams of safety and of longings,
But what about your soul, dear my dear, sister world…
What is it feeling? Does it feel cold?
Does it feel like happiness? Does it feel the blow?
Does it cry for nothingness? Does it cry for the world?
Does it miss the sunshine? Does it miss the dust?
Does it miss my life, which has already passed…”
With her back to her husband and looking in the distance, Syana continued her song, slowly rocking her body, as if she was living the burden of each word she was singing then, feeling the power of the song deep inside her being.
Behind her instead, Iohar closed his eyes, and a sweet blow of breath of Hyora over him, who showed up next to the fire like a multicolored number of shines, made the man fall asleep and slowly-slowly immerse into a world of dreams while Syana’s voice continued to sweetly sound in his ears.
In his dream, Iohar realized that he was a young boy again, about 17, who was walking barefoot through the thick and green grass, grown into a big quantity all over the mountain, that served as a feeding field of the mountain creatures, and that fragrant touch of the herbs, accompanied by the scent of the flowers grown here and there through it, was giving a strange feeling of life to the boy.
Up-up in the sky, the sun was burning, heading toward dusk. But still, it was powerfully illuminating the horizon, and that celestial light made the young Iohar stop in place, close his eyes and, stretching his hands aside, he deeply inhaled fresh air in his chest and whispered: „The Life of the Earth,” and when he opened his eyes again, he saw two small daggers in front of him, whose blades were touching each other as if two swords had been stroke in a fight and they froze this way as if touched by Boor's icy breath.
„And this, what is this?” The young man whispered and he approached the two daggers, analyzing them. „Wonderful!” He said, and, approaching them more, he saw the artistry, which had been used to make them, so clearly in front of his eyes - their wooden handles had ancient symbols inlaid on them, whose hidden meaning Iohar didn’t know, but still it was reminding him about a fierce battle, long time ago finished, but which still couldn't be forgotten.
Then, two parallel stripes were seen on each of the handles - a red one on the top and a blue one on the bottom, but their place was changed on the second dagger as if it was for understanding the difference between them.
Yet, Iohar's gaze slipped on every detail of the handles until it reached the blades which had also been made from precious mithril, forged in the fire of Atar, whose altar could also be found on Mount Eldur Fjall, right in the heart of the mountain. That forging gave the blades a bright blue glow when the light of the setting sun mirrored his tired face in the mirror's blades.
Namely, that reflection of the setting sun forced them to show up, on both sides of the daggers, as facing each other, the Titanide of Fire - Hestia, and the one of the Sleep - Hyora. Both were wearing long dresses, of white color as the virgins used to have.
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Although they both were beautiful, they still were so different because Hestia had both red hair and eyes while Hyora had white hair, as if the snow of the mountain had scattered all over her head and shoulders and her eyes were blue.
„Hestia! Hyora!” Iohar quickly bowed in front of them and, suddenly, the 30-year-old man appeared in the young boy’s place. „What brings you to our lands, Titanides?” The man asked them.
„The Icon of Souls!” Hyora softly whispered. „I thought they were gone thousands and thousands of years ago, but they are still on Earth.
„The spirits of life cannot leave the Earth, Sister Hyora,” Hestia softly said. „What these souls await is, in fact, the one who will give life to them and a solid body that will last forever.”
„The Icon of Souls?” Iohar confusedly said. „What is this?”
„At the beginning of times when Yggdrasil has been created from nothingness, there was no life in him, but only a huge amount of wood and leaves.
Thus, although it was a monumental statue, what people call a work of art today, Yggdrasil was of no use in the world. That's why the Cosmos decided to give life to it.
But the mere breath of the Cosmos on the Holy Tree hasn't been enough. Therefore, from flashes of light and darkness, these two daggers appeared - the one with the red stripe above and the blue stripe underneath is known as the Dagger of Souls after Death or its name is Eftir Daudann while its brother - Lifid Ibloma, or Life in Bloom, is the one which gives birth to souls in Aeon.”
„Aeon? Where…,” Iohar hurriedly said, but so overwhelmed by the emotions of learning about those miracles of life.
„Where everything starts and everything ends,” Hestia said, and her light hand touched the daggers, which disappeared somewhere in the blink of an eye.
„After they gave life to Yggdrasil, these two daggers disappeared somewhere, as if they never existed. But they must be materially reborn on this Earth, and you are the one who must give them life, Iohar.”
„But… but… I’m just a man. I'm so unworthy of this. Better… the Titans had better deal with that. They have the power to create Magic and the Universe.”
Hestia and Hyora smiled instead. „We did not create the Universe, Iohar. It created us," said Hyora.
„Just as the Universe created humans and only It gave them the power to create the Miracle, because namely a miracle is necessary to create these daggers and give them as a gift to people, to face times.”
Suddenly, both Titanides disappeared somewhere. Iohar looked around in fright, but he saw them nowhere. „Where did you go? Wait! I cannot…"
„You must give birth to these daggers, Iohar. It's written in your destiny," Hyora's voice came out of nowhere.
„These daggers must look exactly like the ones you saw not long ago in front of your eyes or they won't be magical. And, after being created, you must keep one for your people, Iohar, and give the other one to the People that lives in the City of the Sun, for they are the ones who will fight beside you for immortality. And, never forget this: never lose your hope, for the world was created from hope and it will last forever also with hope in its heart,” and, with these words, Hestia's voice was heard floating to the horizon, as if the sun itself had called her into his sweet embrace.
***
Two twin daggers came to life in Iohar's hand, just as two twin girls have been born from Syana's body, for it was the birth of the Icons of the Soul which blessed their hearts, for the two of them could not have children until then, in spite of all the prayers and all the bows made before the Earth.
And they returned to the Neburon Realm namely after that dream that Iohar had had in the Forest and he decided to follow the urge of the Titanide of Fire and the one of Sleep, for something sprouted in his heart and he felt that he won't have rest until he'll bring that prophecy to life.
„Get ready, Syana! We are starting a long journey,” he told his wife the next morning after the first rays of the sun had barely warmed the earth, and he was already determined to set out.
„And… where are we going?” Syana calmly asked him, as they began to gather their few things.
„Homeward,” he whispered and smiled at her, and namely that smile gave Syana hope, for she had had a dream that night too - she was in a huge orchard of peaches and, as she walked through the trees, a light breeze started shaking the branches of the peach trees and Syana's hands caught two peaches, one fruit in each hand when she had stretched out her hands, guided by the urge of her heart.
Those peaches, caught in her hands, were round and perfect, as Syana had seen them, as they were perfectly ripped and their redness made Syana blush, for they reminded her somewhat of the first night of love which she had spent in her husband's arms and when, after his first hot kiss, her cheeks budded like red roses, and when he hugged her and laid her on their poor, but warm bed, poppy flowers had bloomed in all their splendor in her cheeks.
„Peaches in a dream means a baby on the road,” Syana softly whispered while she was clutching the noose of the saddlebags with things from off the horses'back.
„What do you mean?” Iohar asked her, hearing what she had whispered, as he approached her, bringing the last things.
„Nothing,” she hurriedly replied, and, awkwardly smiling, she moved away from him, for although her heart was predicting their blessing as parents, Syana didn't want to give him vain hopes. That's why she decided to shut up and wait.
„Ha!” She urged the horse in front, who she grabbed by the bridle, and she started the convoy while, behind her, Iohar was slowly walking, resting his tired hand on the back of the last horse, which, even if seemed to be so weak, was the wisest in fact, and namely this wisdom of the animal made Iohar often talk to him and tell him about the secrets of his heart, that he didn’t dare to reveal to Syana, not to make her suffer because he dreamt about having a lot of children, having a big family, giving birth to a new people, but still, Sky didn’t bless them with children and this was a curse for them.
Yet, even if they were so eager to get to Neburon, the road home had been extremely difficult. The weather didn't hold up with them, as the earth didn’t help them, for if it wasn’t rainy, the wind was madly blowing. Even so, the dream of smelling the scent of the fire from their home, for one more time, made the two spouses not give up and continue their journey.
Thus, they reached Mount Eldur Fjall after two years of a long and difficult journey. But loneliness waited for them at home, for Iohar was the only child of his parents, and they went out of life while he was away from home.
That broke Iohar's heart, who kneeled in front of the dilapidated house, as soon as they arrived and saw what the house looked like.
Syana said nothing instead. She just stood behind him, touching his shoulder with her warm hand while her glance was fixed on the destroyed house.
„Is this how our house will look like when we are gone??” She wondered, but she didn’t dare to say it loudly, so as not to make her husband even sadder.
But Iohar bitterly wept in front of the weathered, parental house. Yet, he recovered his strength in the end and, rolling up his sleeves, along with Syana, they started to work and brought the house back to its former appearance.
Then, after the house was good to live in again, Iohar began to look for a place for his blacksmith shop.
And he found that place in the heart of the mountain, in a cave dug by times, after a long search. But yet, the fact that he had found it and it was like the place he had seen in his dream, gave him the strength to carry on the prophecy, and his hard-working hands set to work.
At first, he laid the foundations of the oven, in which the iron had to be hardened. Then he built the walls and made it a vault worthy of the name of the mountain, to bring later fire from the altar of Atar and the necessary tools and begin the craft of the two daggers.
For their handles, Iohar chose worthy wood, beech, strong and durable, which could easily cope with the passage of time.
The beech, which he took the wood from, was one shot down to the ground by storm and oldness, and though it seemed rotten in places, Iohar didn’t lose his temper, but carefully examined its bark, then its roots, then he glanced over its branches and ultimately, he chose as the basis the middle branch, the one that seemed to be the axis of the tree and that split its crown into two perfect equal parts.
After bringing in the wood to the blacksmith, he carefully chose a well-sharpened ax and, after long measurements, Iohar cut two cylindrical shapes, about 30 inches long.
Holding the cylindrical shapes in his hands, Iohar stared at them for a while - it was nothing special in them, but they still seemed perfect for him, for they had been cut off by his hands. And Iohar smiled when the wood in his hands became somewhat warm, keeping, in its wooden body, the warmth of Iohar’s kindness.
„Now, let's get to work,” said the man, sitting down on a log, and, holding a small, sharp knife, used for carving, began his work.
It took Iohar three months to carve and engrave the details on the handles until he did them exactly as he had seen them in his dream. But he made it: after much toil and after many drops of sweat that had run down his face and throat as if bathing the tiredness of his hands like a bath.
„Perfect,” he said, watching the daggers, and, in his heart, the boundless joy, for something that was brought from his hand into this world, was filling him to the brim and it was forcing him to want to work even harder until he'll finally get the fruits he wanted.
***
Syana stepped into the blacksmith shop at sunset. She was bringing something to eat for him, hoping to watch for a while at his work.
But she found him looking with melancholy at the handles carefully placed on the work table. She looked in there and marveled at their perfection. „They seem so alive,” she said and Iohar nodded in approval.
„It seems so,” he said at last, and he looked at his wife. „It took me many hours of work to complete them and a long time away from you, but I can't run away from fate, just like I can't hide from it. So, it will still take me a long time to spend here until they are finished.”
Syana approached her husband and grabbed his cheeks with both hands and deeply looked him in the eyes. „It is possible for immortality, Iohar. For immortality, I am ready to endure everything. Even the fact that you're away from me, for even so, in the brief moments, when life allowed us to be together, we have created eternity.”
Iohar did not understand what she meant. So, he looked at her for a long time, and that look, full of love and kindness, made the woman reveal her great secret to him: in her womb, the peach fruit came to life, and what they had dreamed of for so long was about to come true. The two will become parents soon.
Happy and crazy at the top, on hearing this great news, Iohar held his wife in his arms and fled with her out of the blacksmith, running barefoot through the grass full of rain dew, for that day had blessed the Earth with life-giving water from Heaven.
And he didn't stop until he reached that place in the meadow, which he saw in his dream many years ago and, namely there, he kissed his wife - first, he kissed her forehead, then he kissed her lips, still hugging her with love to his chest because she was the entire eternity for him.
It was in this position that dusk caught up with them. The sun smiled at them as it slid down the sky, for the two spouses, embraced in dreaming, were looking into the distance and whispering to each other words they had kept in their souls for so long, but they had not had the courage to tell them to each other until then.
***
Seven months later, Syana gave birth to twins, on the same day Iohar finished the daggers and when the first cry of life of the children was heard floating inside their humble little house, Hestia and Hyora showed up in front of them.
„So beautiful is your family, Iohar,” Hestia whispered, lovingly watching the children's sleeping faces.
„As beautiful as the work of your hands is,” Hyora added, staring at the daggers on the table for a long time.
„I am overwhelmed by your kindness, Titanide. But it still seems to have failed, for these daggers have nothing magical in them. At least I don't feel their Magical Breath.”
„That's because the life of the daggers is in your children's bodies, Iohar,” Hestia said, and these words astonished the two young parents.
„When the girls will turn seventeen, and they’ll be ready for marriage, you must give each one a dagger as a gift. That's when these daggers will come to life - only in their hands,” Hyora said. „And remember this, Iohar. One of the girls must be the mother of the People of the Sun. That’s why, when her time to choose a husband will come, go West. There you’ll find a worthy husband for her and namely there Eftir Daudann must be taken, and the name of the girl who should carry it with her must be Kaerlleikans, and the one who will receive in gift Lifid Ibloma must be always called with the name Upprisinn, and she’ll be the mother of the People of Neburon,” Hestia whispered again and, taking the daggers in her hands, she threw them in the flames from the chimney, hardening their blades and putting Magic in their shapes, even if it was something unseen by humans'eyes.
***
Stepping outside Iohar and Syana's house, Hestia and Hyora walked together in silence while the setting sun and the rising sun could be seen together in the same sky.
„How is this possible, sister, that the Sunrise and the Sunset meet in the same world?”
„It’s possible for humans, Hyora. Don’t forget that they have the magic within them, a Magic we can only dream about.”
„And yet, forcing them to break up, did we do right? It seems to me that it’s not in our power the right to control and decide their destinies.”
Hestia stopped in her tracks and, turning her head to the right, she looked at her sister. „It is not we who have chosen this destiny, but they chose it. These souls, who saw the light of day today, left the Aeon with a single purpose in their hearts, lightly beating full of life - to carry the elements of the Balance of Time in them until they will be restored in one go. You also know that from people and Titans will be born the One, who will have the power to rule over the Balance, and only then time will work for immortality and not immortality for time.”
„Is that possible?” said Hyora, looking up at the sky again, but there was only the West Sun then. „I mean, could we control immortality?”
„We will live and see this,” Hestia dryly said and set off for the horizon, where immortality waited for the two of them.