Raven landed near the small house that Narrator had lived in. He thought that it would be a place that Enaid would want to see. It looked as though time had not passed. The people living here, in this place of light, had kept it as she had left it. No one was permitted to live there. No one even entered beyond what was needed to keep it clean. It sat there, on its little hill, waiting for its master to come home. But she never would and it was likely that this house would remain empty forever.

Enaid climbed from his back and didn’t notice when he tried to show her the house, nor did she hear what he said to her. The Telling Tree was calling to her and she was powerless to deny its claim upon her. The path was well worn. Large, flat rocks had been set into the hill side to make steps down to the clearing that the Telling Tree towered over.

Standing beneath it, she looked up in awe. Its bark was golden with copper colored lines that marked out where the bark was peeling. Its branches stretched beyond where she could see from that vantage point. The leaves were vibrant pink and rang like small bells when the wind ruffled through them. The tree itself smelled like sage. She sat at its base, in the roots that looped over each other before diving her fingers into the rich soil. Lifting up a handful of it, she could smell cinnamon.

From here, she could clearly see the tree line that marked out the edges of Erebos. There was no fading of the sun light or gradual darkening of the vegetation. The line was dramatic and clear. One could never mistake where this Eden ended and that woeful place begun. Turning so she could look over her shoulder, she tried to take in the foul ring. It was immense, circling around all of Aer. She covered her mouth in horror. How many lived there?

“It, it is n-not as large as it, it seems,” Raven hissed.

He had come silently or she simply had not heard him. Reaching out to him blindly, she struggled to grasp the awful task that now lay before her. Raven moved so that her hand could find comfort in his presence. Considering the way she was always petting his feathers, he knelt down and hunkered so that she could bury her fingers in them. She gripped tightly and it was painful, but he didn’t mind. For her, he would allow anything. Once he had come here to be brought back to life, but now he was willing to die here, if she asked it of him.

“How did it come to be this way?” she asked.

“I don’t kn-know,” he answered.

Pulling on him, she stood on her wobbling legs. Even from that distance, the darkness was oppressive.

“You, you, you don’t have to go, go in there,” he said.

She shook her head. He’d known the answer already. Walking with her, he wrapped an arm around her to pick her up.

“No,” she said. “I need to walk.”

He nodded; not sure he understood but knew that it had been the same with her mother. Dropping down onto his hands and knees, he crawled next to her so that she could use his body to steady herself more easily. Standing, he was too tall and she had difficulty bracing herself on his moving leg. Either she knew how much she needed this help or she was oblivious to the way he was humiliating himself. For now there was an audience. The Named Ones had come out of hiding and they watched as the pair made their slow journey. It didn’t matter. If they would not help her now, they did not deserve to have her touch them.

This thought took him aback. The implication was that he was somehow better than them and was worthy of her touch. This was not true. Nothing about him was worthy of her. But she graced him with not only her touch but her trust. This time things would end differently. They had to. Another woman could not die while he watched without the power to help her. That would be a fatal blow; knowing that made traveling more difficult.

At the edge of these two worlds, they stopped. She gasped for breath, her sides heaving like an injured animal. Had it been this difficult for Narrator? Perhaps she had just grown accustomed to it. Every time he felt that his sorrow for the Narrator could not increase further, another knowing came to him. As the greater picture came into focus he began to realize what the world had lost. This was the first time that he questioned his choice. Had he been wrong to let her die?

Tendrils of shadow reached out and twisted about them. The ones touching him writhed as though still seeking. But upon Enaid, they settled around her gently and slowly drew her forward. As she went forward, he forced himself against the darkness and followed her. He had once been Narrator’s guide through this place. Her daughter would not be allowed to go alone. Once past the border, all resistance fell away from him. But it seemed that it became more difficult for her.

The ground was uneven and the path wound through the underbrush haphazardly. He found it odd that there was a path, but had known that it would be there. It always had been. Rising to his feet, he extended his wing down to support her weight. Leaning back against it, she sighed gratefully. He cut through the brush with swipes of his claws and lifted her when her legs could not extend over a fallen branch or crack in the packed dirt.

She required frequent breaks and when she stopped she allowed him to lift her up into his arms or she sat down on his knee. But she continued to forbid him to carry her. This edict was absolute. It pained him to watch her struggle and the most difficult part of their travelling was fighting the urges to help her more.

There was no way to know where they were going. The path took them forward unrelentingly. On the previous journey he had taken with the Narrator, the wood felt smaller and the trail shorter. Was it possible that it was getting larger in her absence? Perhaps it was a place that was in constant flux. He didn’t know and realized that he didn’t care. That provoked a small laugh from him. He could think of no other time that his curiosity failed him.

She grunted in an effort to ask him what was funny. He shook his head and grunted back, meaning “nothing.” Hopefully they would have better conversations then that in their future.

Screaming and clutching her head, she fell to her knees.

"What, what's wrong?" he asked, kneeling down beside her and taking her shoulders in his hands.

"They're here," she whispered.

He had not been aware of them until she announced their presence. Had he become to completely distant from them? While he was glad to no longer be a part of this place, he was saddened that he had so completely abandoned them. But if that was the price of leaving here, he was not sad to have paid it.

Like mist, they formed a cloud around her. Swirling and churning, they attempted to touch her, each pushing at the others to be the first that she Named. But she was not Narrator and she made no effort to Name them or to tell their stories. She had come for some other purpose.

Standing and staggering a few steps, she breathed deeply and tried to ignore their pleading. She could not help them the way that they requested, but she believed that there was a way. But she didn’t know how. That meant she had not yet made it where she was supposed to be. Once there, she would know and then it would come to her what her task truly was. She didn’t know where this confidence came from, but it was as real as the ground she stood upon.

“We’re also there,” she rasped.

The small pool was like glass and reflected everything around it. She could sense that there were things within the pool, but there was no way of knowing that. A conflict rose inside her. The force that had been driving her told her that she needed to go into those waters. Everything else in her mind told her that this was a dangerous place and going into the waters was a bad idea.

“I have to go in,” she whispered.

Raven said nothing. There was nothing that he could say. This was her journey and he never had the power to decide for her. But he knew that he would remain at her side and that he would pull her out if there was any indication that she might be seriously injured. He would not let her die. She couldn’t. But he was unable to deny the possibility. This place was beyond reason and there was no way that he could predict the intentions or the outcomes of events.

Stepping into the water, she shivered. Despite the air being dry and hot, the pool was just above freezing. Staying long would cause her to die. But that didn’t matter. Even the slight pause she had taken to adjust to the temperature change was enough to rise the screaming in her mind that she had to keep moving forward. Now! Go!

Without further delay, she took another step and fell into the waters. It had been much deeper then she’d expected and she plummeted without touching the bottom. Water rushed up over her head and she was certain that she would drown. But Raven caught her and pulled her back up to the surface. She coughed, bringing up water. Trembling from both fear and cold, she clung to him.

“Do, do you want out, out?” he croaked.

She shook her head. She would not give up when faced with the first challenge. These people needed her. And without knowing when or why, they had become her people. Clearing her lungs and breathing deeply, she relaxed her grip on Raven’s arm. Slowly sliding away from his, he made no effort to stop her. Treading water was easy now that she expected the need for it.

No brilliant flash of insight came to her. But this is the place! This is where I am supposed to be! She growled without realizing that she had and Raven reached out to her again, stopping just short of touching her. With this, he had let her know that he was still there and that he would pull her back if she needed or wanted him to. That was comforting and gave her more confidence. She could do this. She had to.

“I’m going under,” she said.

She could see that he didn’t like it and she prepared herself to argue with him about why she had to do it. But he surprised her.

“I will hold my breath. If you don’t surface by the end of my breath, I will come after you and I will take you out of the water.”

There was no stuttering or pause in his speech. It came out firm and certain. His resolve in this matter was a strong as her own. And that trumped her, because she had no power to physically resist him. She nodded. After all, she didn’t want to drown and it was a reasonable bargain. She wasn’t sure that she could do the same if it were her that had to stand by and wait, hoping things would turn out alright.

They both took deep breaths. She let herself sink beneath the surface. Then she turned herself so that she could actively swim downward. The darkness was complete. She could see nothing and this frightened her more than the creatures she could feel swimming around her. They would do her no harm. After all, she was their only chance at being released from this place. And like the others, she could sense that they had no desire to remain here.

Her hands struck the ground and pain jolted up into her wrists. But she bit down on the cry that wanted to come with the pain. She needed the air. How long did she have before Raven would come for her? There was no way of knowing. Feeling around blindly, she felt loose sand. Searching, she ran her fingers through it. It was here. She had to find it. Panic began to settle over her when she fingers fell upon a small round object. Once she closed her fist around it, she knew. Got it!

Moving upward, she clutched it to her chest. Her lungs burned and her legs grew weak. This was the last of her strength. She would die here. Water rushed and moved around her. Raven’s arms wrapped around her waist and she felt him pull her tightly against him. She couldn’t tell if it was his tight embrace or the need to breathe that caused the crushing sensation in her torso.

Warm air hit her face and she gasped. Raven stretched out his wings and with two strong beats he had them up out of the water and into the air.

“Wait!” she cried.

He stopped and hovered over the pool.

“I found it,” she whispered.

He lowered them back to the ground and set her next to the pool. Her body shook violently. Staggering back and dropping the item she had recovered, she groped for Raven but he was further away then she expected him to be. Trying to ask where the orb had gone, she mumbled and slurred her words to the point of incomprehensibility. Eyes heavy, she struggled to focus on what she had been doing. It had seemed so important. What had it been? Her breathing and heart rate slowed as her energy seeped away. She could sleep now. It no longer mattered.

Raven tugged off her saturated clothing and wrapped his arms and wings around her. He dried her with his feathers as best he could. He would not let her die. Her skin had gone pale except for her lips which had become grey. She gave no protest to his actions. Instead she seemed completely unaware of him. This was what frightened him the most.

“Stay awake!” he roared at her.

Her eyes fluttered open and immediately began to close again. Shaking her, he repeatedly called her name. Erebos was the hottest place he had ever known. It was the best place to rewarm her, but he felt an urge to take her from here. But doing so meant he could no longer cocoon her in his own heat.

Keening, he rocked back and forth. This helplessness had gripped him before, but this time it was more vicious. It tore its claws into him and rent his soul. He could not let her die. But how could he save her?

“Please,” he pleaded with no one in particular.

The temperature around him increased and he raised his head. Light was moving towards him. The flickering shape of a man approached. Raven could not make sense of it. Suddenly, there was fire all around him. The heat of it crisped his feathers and many burst into flame. He bellowed in pain, but did not release Enaid nor make an effort to move from this inferno. Agony overwhelmed him and he could feel his flesh beginning to blister. Then it was away. As quickly as it had come, it was moving back along the path towards the place of light.

“W-w-wait!”

He reached a hand out to it and had expected it to continue to move away from him. But it stopped and turned to face him. Then he could see that it was one of the Named Ones. It had the basic form of a man, but it was ablaze. He noticed then that there were others moving along the path. Tears came into his eyes. They had come. So many of them had come.

“Th-th-thank you,” he said.

The figure nodded. The others crowded around the fiery one, but none came closer than that. Fear was painted on their faces. He looked down at Enaid and confirmed what he already knew.

“Sh-she is al-alright,” he croaked, his voice breaking with his relief.

It had been someone else who had saved her. In the end, he had been as powerless as always. But he was still grateful that she was breathing evenly and that the color had returned to her cheeks.

“No,” a small one said.

Raven looked at it, confused by its form. Tiny lights buzzed through the air marking out haphazard lines in the darkness. It was beautiful, but his mind could not comprehend it being more then dancing fire flies. The lights drew together and coalesced into a human.

“No, you were the one that pulled her out,” he said.

Raven could not absorb what he was trying to tell him. Instead, he continued to stare at him. It seemed impossible to pull his eyes away.

“Who, who, who” he couldn’t get it out.

“Dipak.”

He had been the source of the flame.

He was lean and short. Red and yellow locks of hair framed his face in untidy locks. Some fell across his forehead while others stuck straight up from his head. Rich brown eyes looked at him with a burning intensity that suggested he could see beneath the surface, that his gaze could peel away the façade and reveal the truth beneath. Beneath his white skin, the sparks danced. Everything about him glowed brilliantly. Finally noticing that Dipak was naked, Raven blushed and adverted his gaze. It was foolish to be bothered by such things. Few of the Named Ones wore clothing. He was naked himself.

“The fire helped, but that would not have been able to save her if you had not pulled her from the water,” Dipak said.

Reaching into the shadows, Dipak pulled out a pair of white pants and stepped into them. Drawing them up over his hips, he smiled and then winked at Raven who was again watching him. Raven gaped. The absurdity of it was mind boggling. Where had he taken the pants from? How had he known that they would be readily available for his taking? And why had he winked? That was the part that bothered him the most.

Drawing out a pair of white leather boots, he continued to dress as he spoke.

“What did she bring up from the water?”

Raven looked over at the muck slicked object and shrugged.

Next he found a pair of white gloves and pulled them up in a single quick gesture.

“Do you think that it can help us the way that Narrator had?” Dipak asked.

Raven shrugged again. Why did this man think he knew anything at all? He had always been nothing more than an observer.

“That may have been true in the past,” Dipak stated while fishing out a jacket. Then added “Now you are every bit a part of this as she is.”

Putting his arm through the sleeve, he pointed at them, still embracing each other.

“I don’t kn-know what, wh-what to do, do.”

Dipak carefully ran the belts into each of their buckles and fastened each snuggly across his torso so that the three were aligned down the center.

“First, you can stop that,” He said, flicking his wrist dismissively. “I have no time for it.”

“Stop what?” Raven asked.

But his attention was pulled away from this strange man when Enaid stirred in his arms. Her eyes opened and she moaned.

“What happened?”

Then her vision came into focus and she reached up to Raven’s face. The touch made him aware that there were wounds on his face, stinging when she stroked them gently.

She repeated the question.

“I caught on fire,” Raven stated. He gave her a crooked grin. When had he last smiled? Not since his last life; in the time of Horse and innocence.

She jerked away from him and scanned the area.

“Where is it?”

Raven and Dipak pointed; neither moved to touch it. She got up easily. Her body now fluid and relaxed as she always remembered it being. Once in her hands, she began to wipe away the film that covered it. When she went to pull her sleeve over her hand, she realized that she was naked. Flushing and falling to her knees, she tried to cover herself. Dipak chuckled and drew a cloak from his seemingly endless wardrobe. He draped it around her shoulders, even though the two of them could see her eyes had glazed and she looked out into the distance. She was unaware of the cloak entirely. Running her fingers over the surface of the object, she hummed softly. It was the Narrator’s song. The grime was slowly worked away, but that no longer seemed to be her purpose. Now she seemed to be speaking with this music and only she could see the one to whom she spoke.

But they could all feel the change that was coming.