Role

Chapter 3

Taenya, now a young adolescent, walked with her empty hand cart along the
outskirts of Galadon. She had just finished delivering some milk and cheese,
and had decided to take the long way home as she often did. The trees of the
Feanwyyn Weald waved in the gentle afternoon breeze. The birds called. The
sound of the river could be heard in the distance. Taenya closed her eyes,
letting the sounds wash over her. She had always been drawn to the wild
places, for as long as she could remember. It was peaceful and beautiful...
but there was something more than that. It was as if she could-

"You hear it, don't you?"

Taenya was startled by the voice of a woman, very close to her though she had
not heard anyone approach. She jumped and opened her eyes to see an unassuming
middle-aged human woman standing a short distance away. She held a bundle of
herbs in one hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said the woman. "I did not mean to startle you. My name is
Lyria. I was just out gathering herbs." The woman smiled, nodding at the
plants in her hands. "You do hear it though, don't you?"

"It?" Taenya asked, knowing but not knowing what the stranger asked.

"The song of the wind. The poetry of the water. The music of the mountains,"
Lyria said, smiling. "It is the voice of Her. I hear it, too."

Taenya looked at the woman in wonder, for she had never known anyone else who
heard the voices, the song. "The voice of... Her? The voice of who?"

Lyria laughed, a beautiful and carefree sound. "You have much to learn. We
have much to speak of! But not right now, I am late as it is." And in a blink,
the woman was gone, as if she had faded away into the very foliage of the
forest before Taenya's eyes, leaving behind her only a whisper that said
"Taenya." She was certain she had not told the stranger her name.