“I am only doing what my ancestors have done before me—following in the footsteps of YOUR Draoch of the Trees as closely as I can. I have served you. I have fought in your name. I have turned away enemies for you and in your name. I have disowned friends and members of my own family for speaking ill of you and disrespecting you. And yet, as I stand before you, knowing and trusting that you possess more than enough power to pluck us up off this plane and put us back down where we belong, you refuse to help me,” Gin said, her voice low and menacing. “Me! The Nature Walker! If you cannot help ME, then how am I to believe that you could ever help any of the people that come to me to intervene with you on their behalf?”
Behind her, Sath winced. “Gin…easy now- ”
“No, Sath!” Gin said as she looked back at him before returning her steely gaze to the goddess in front of her. The bear at the goddess’s feet began to growl protectively, but Sephine quieted it with a hand on its broad and furry head. “You will help us!” Gin demanded, her body positively vibrating with anger. “YOU MUST!”
Sephine was silent for a long moment as she looked down at Gin, her eyes filled with concern and sadness rather than anger. “My child, my daughter, this is not an easy thing you ask of me. The magic that has brought you and your…fellow Guardian to this place through the Void is strong and dark, and it is only made stronger by the magic of the Mother Dragon that holds you here. You will give me time to think about this, and I will return to you with an answer.” She reached out gently toward Gin and cupped the wood elf’s chin in her hand. “Will you do this for me, my daughter? Will you give me time?”
“NO! You have had ENOUGH TIME!” The anguish that had been building up inside Gin’s soul since they first found themselves in the Void welled up in her chest and began to spill out in the form of shuddering sobs. She covered her face with her hands and pulled away from Sephine’s touch, ashamed of the emotion and the fear that was behind it. Sephine nodded to Sath, who watched Gin in wide-eyed anxiety, and he broke through the circle of treants to run to her side. As the All-Mother watched, Sath tenderly touched Gin’s shoulder and waited—when she stopped crying, he took her hand as she took a deep breath, gaining control once more of her emotions.
“You love her, Qatu?” Sephine asked solemnly.
Sath did not take his eyes off Gin as he answered. “With all that I am, from here to the Void and back,” he whispered. The goddess studied him for a moment and then smiled sadly.
“The world I love has changed, Qatu,” Sephine said, her voice soft and dense with despair. “Something happened to rip a hole in the fabric of Orana. Dark magic threw everything in the Void out of sync and is causing anomalies.” She moved toward them, the corners of her mouth turning up into a faint smile as Sath placed his body between the goddess and Gin. “You have no need to fear me, Qatu, nor do you, Ginolwenye. I will try my best to help you and send you back to where you belong, but you must be brave,” she said.
“Of course we can,” Gin said. She pushed Sath away and knelt in front of her goddess. “How may we serve you?”
“You and your mother before you are unique in your line, my girl. You bear the bloodline of both of the elves of the Great Forest. Your great grandmother was Neia, daughter of Draoch, yes?” Gin nodded, a puzzled look on her face. “Neia’s child, your grandmother, was the daughter of the High King of the Elves, Taegen. We allowed Neia to keep the child, but it was never known that Taegen was her father.”
“Mama always said that her mother was teased for her height and slight build,” Gin said. She looked up at Sephine, wide-eyed. “Is that why Mama was never formally known as the Nature Walker?”
“Yes. Your grandmother knew who her father was, and she felt that her own mother’s actions had tainted the Nature Walker line, so she would not accept the mantle when Neia died. The Nature Walker line ended there until your mother was born.” Again, she cupped Gin’s cheek with her hand. “You are so strong, my little one, and you are exactly what I envisioned when I created the Nature Walkers so long ago. You are a blend of the elves of your ancestry. It makes you particularly powerful and a target for those in our world that seek power to do harm. Tell me, do you know your history?”
“Sath does better than I do,” Gin replied, flushing in embarrassment. All that Sephine was telling her of her own ancestry was almost too much to comprehend. Better to let Sath answer questions for a few moments. “Mother, I fear that I was more interested in other things than in my history lessons when I was a young one.”
