Role

Chapter 6

Taenya looked up to see her old friend, Lyria. Taenya had not seen Lyria for
many years now. She had assumed the woman dead, for she was not young even
when they first met and Taenya was just a girl. But here she stood, looking
not a day older than that first meeting. But Lyria was different. Gone was the
humble clothing of an herbalist, the unkempt and dull hair. She stood in a
light green dress, shimmering with an inner light even though it appeared to
be crafted from the very leaves and grasses on this foreign forest. Her hair
was interwoven with flowers, falling in a graceful braid in front of one
shoulder.

"Stand," Lyria repeated. Taenya obeyed, getting shakily to her feet. "You have
come a long way, child. I knew you would."

"Who... are you?" Taenya asked.

"Do you not know?" Lyria responded. "I think you do."

"Thar-Eris," Taeya whispered.

Lyria, or who Taenya had always known as Lyria, smiled. "You are the Sunwarden
now. You have always heard my voice, Taenya, but now you must grow to be more.
It is not enough to hear my voice; you must become my voice. You have longed
your whole life to hear the poetry more clearly. To hear the words. But there
are no words, not in what you hear. The words are in here." Suddenly Lyria was
right in front of her, touching the side of Taenya's head gently. "In there
they must not remain.

I have guided many to where you are now, Taenya. Most do not know they have
been guided. Most are not like you, as sensitive to the music of the land. But
as much as I love you and am proud of you, you are not enough. You must be
more than you have been. It is not enough even to lead your branch, to teach
from within The Refuge. You must take those words, and spread them like a seed
across this land. Be my voice."

With a kind smile, Lyria began to change before Taenya's eyes. Her hair became
a hundred butterflies, her face a pair of doves, her body millions of insects,
her clothing a tangle of garter snakes. The creatures flew and scurried,
scattering in all directions, leaving Taenya standing alone in the fragrant
forest. Taenya did not feel alone. The voices, as always, whispered beneath
the birdsong, the wind, the chirping of frogs and crickets. And Taenya knew
the words to that song.