SeaLight by Anérea

Born on the Great Journey, I never knew Cuiviénen, but ever since we departed the shores of Rhûn I have missed the sensation of silky saltwater against my skin.

Sensing that we drew near the shores of Belegaer, I volunteered to ride in the advance party with Nówë today. As we crested a shoulder I was rewarded with the sight of a deep blue strip glinting under the starlight in the gap between two hills.

~*~

I am seldom shod so on reaching the strand I have only my breeches and tunic to slip out of before running with gleeful abandon into the surf. The temperature shocks me; Rhûnaer was usually refreshing yet warm, while this sea is on the colder side of invigorating.

To my surprise, trepidatious thoughts cling to me while I wade through the shallows, but as soon as I dive deep under the first big billow I feel the ethereal garment of stress gathered along the Journey washing off in the brine: sliding down my face from the crown of my head, right across my body, through my spirit, finally shaking off the tips of my toes.

I open my eyes to see the water darkening as the breaker’s bulk booms above me and then lighten again into playfully frothy under-bubbles. For a brief magic moment the water-fragmented colours of the stars glimmer through a thin film before I resurface into the air.

A single breath and I slip under again, the surrounding support of seawater so tangible I feel safely embraced in this amorphous medium occupying space between earth and air, between the solid and the insubstantial.

Beneath the waves, completely relaxed, all unease dissolved, I sway gently forward and back as the swells roll to shore. I reach my fingertips down to lightly stroke the sand’s soft, smooth ripples in gratitude, before coming up through layers of sealight for my next breath of air.

I dive down again. And again. And again…

I am home..

Chapter End Notes

Nówë was Círdan's name before he took the epessë of shipwright.

On reaching the Sea of Rhûn on the Great Journey from Cuiviénen, some of the Elves tarried a while along the shores.

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