In Light Of Dreams by Anérea

In Light Of Dreams

Since the Men of the House of Marach learned Sindarin yet kept their own ancient tongue, I imagine that they spoke it at home, hence my use of their Taliska names.

   Adanel is the wise-woman whose tales Andreth shared with Finrod. She was born in FA339, so she’s a precocious seven-and-a-half at the time of this tale. (Her younger brother is five.)
   Marach is Zimrahin’s father-in-law, head of the House of Marach (later the House of Hador)
Tolkien apparently based Taliska on Gothic, but until the Taliska treasures are shared with us I’m following suit as best I can for the names of my original characters:
   Awo and Awa is Gothic for grandmother and grandfather, respectively
   Amei is from the Gothic aiþei for mother. ('m' resonates more for me as a mamma-sound!)
   Atta is father in Gothic
   Fraiwen (Seed of Hope): from fraihwa meaning seed and wens meaning hope

After a night of soft rain, Zimrahin sat enjoying the quiet early morning sunshine while her daughter crouched in the grasses, captivated by the coloured light held in every glistening droplet of water.

Their peace was broken when her boisterous son burst from the cottage with his father in tow.

“Me and Atta are going mushroom hunting, Amie!”

Laughing, Malach bent down to give his wife a brief kiss before hoisting Magor onto his shoulders and loping off towards the wood. The diffuse sunlight slanting through the trees made Magor’s curls glow like a golden halo, reminding her of the silver-gold light she’d perceived around both her children at their births. He was the first son in her line in seven generations and she had recognised it as a portent of great change to come. Perhaps, just as the last seven generations had seen their people safely away from the darkness behind them, the next seven would bring about the end of the darkness they found now lay before them?

Lifting a grass flower to her mother, Adanel interrupted her musing: “Amie, I wish I could gather all the sparkles in these flowers, so when people are sad I can give the colours to them and make them happy again. But when I touch them the light goes out and turns to water and trickles down my finger and all that’s left is the flower.”

She was such a bright little thing, always observing, questioning, eager to learn anything new. Her line’s ancestral affinity for water and green growing things flowed strongly in her, and she was clearly going to carry on the wisdom and healing traditions that had been passed down from mother to daughter for centuries.

Smiling at her kind-hearted delight mingled with disappointment, Zimrahin went and sat in the grass next to Adanel, tickling her arm with one of the long damp stalks. “You know, you already have a light like that inside you that brings joy to those around you. It’s just a light that can be felt rather than seen.”

Adanel considered this for a moment. “The light inside me, is it where I keep the memories of all the things I see and hear and feel?”

“In a way, yes. The Elves call it gûr." Pressing her hand lightly over her daughter's chest, she explained, "It’s your inner wisdom that speaks from here.”

“But I thought the Elves called wisdom sael?”

“My! But you are quick to pick things up!” Zimrahin marvelled. “Sael is indeed wisdom, but of the mind, more than of the heart. Like your Awa Marach, he has a clever head for strategy, but still takes counsel from my Awo, whose wisdom is more that of the heart. A tribe needs both in order to thrive.”

Picturing her grandfather and great grandmother in their deep discussions, Adanel giggled and nodded in understanding. Zimrahin’s thoughts turned to the major decision the two leaders of the House were needing to make: to stay in Estolad, where they had their own lands but little support against marauding orcs, or to move to Hithlim and join forces with the Elven high king against the Black Foe.

Half to herself, she spoke again, “Being guided by the lessons of our past served us well on our journey away from the darkness that beset our people all those generations ago. And now that that darkness lies ahead of us once again, I perceive we will need new wisdom to meld with the old in order to overcome it.”

In Adanel's graphic imagination she saw a deep shadow creeping over the fields and woods while people threw buckets of light over it like water over a fire. She shivered slightly as the image faded, then pondered aloud, “Where does new wisdom come from, Amei?”

“Hmm, sometimes it comes from our own experiences and sometimes we learn from the tales of others. Sometimes it even comes to us in dreams.”

This brought to mind an old family legend and Zimrahin decided it was a good time to share it with her daughter.

“My Amei told me that one of our foremothers was half-fey. Fraiwen was her name. Her father was a water-spirit, sent in disguise to bring our people under the dominion of the one they called the Lord of the Dark. The tale goes that when she was a young woman, yet unwed, she learned of her father’s true nature and his hidden intent. Horrified, believing herself irredeemably tainted and terrified that she would unwittingly inflict evil on her people, she fled the village, resolved to live out her days alone in the wilderness, thus ensuring that that evil ended with her.

“It is said that she ran, sobbing, far into the night, and it was only as the half-moon sank in the West and the night was plunged into pitch darkness that she finally collapsed in an exhausted sleep.

"A dream came to her then, in which she was offered a choice of many paths. In her dream she peered down each in an effort to discern where they might lead, before she decided. Each path differed from the next—one travelled through deep green forests, one across dry lands of shifting sands, another led over mountains spewing burning rock—and many other paths, each of their own diverse nature. Many different peoples travelled those paths too, some familiar, some stranger than any she’d ever known. But as much as the paths and people differed, she saw that each passed through light and shadow alike.

“Save one path alone. Along this path there was no light to cast shadow, no shadow to show up the light; it was blacker than the spaces between the stars. And emptier.

“Looking closer at the other paths she saw that people carried shadows too—some as small loads, others as great burdens, and yet others appeared to wield the shadows as weapons—yet at the same time they also emitted light, reflecting it back and forth to each other, thus lightening the shadows.

“Suddenly, with that particular certainty that comes in dreams, she knew that the instant she chose one path, all others would cease to ever have existed. And in that moment she realised her choice would be not only for her, but for her children, and her children’s children, and all the people with whom they would share paths.

“Save only for the dark path, for that would be the one she would travel should she choose not to bring a child into the world. And although some shadows emanated from the people, without their light she perceived there would be only void—a horror far greater than any mere shadow.”

Zimrahin paused, her eyes gazing at a distance great in time as well as space.

Wide-eyed in rapt attention, Adanel pressed her, “So which path did she choose, Amie?”

Smiling, Zimrahin looked down and stroked her daughter’s cheek, “You and I are here, aren’t we?”

Chapter End Notes

I have adapted the ancient Iroquois concept that all your words and actions must take into account the seventh generation coming after you, and you must remember the seventh generation who came before you. Only, I've added a bit of foresight into the mix here: Elwing and Earendil are seven generations from Zimrahin and Malach, and the silver-gold light Zimrahin perceives in them at their births is a foreshadowing of future generations running around with those pesky Silmarils. Seven generations back, Fraiwen... well, no more spoilers here! And of course, all the generations in between, before and after, made their own major contributions to the whole. More adventures to come!
 
And because this is my first ever fic I'm sharing, I'm most eager for and appreciative of any constructive feedback you'd care to give!