Quest for the Lyre of Orphaeo

[Breaker]

Breaker warmed to the goddess' presence like a weary traveler sitting close to a campfire. Love and power emanated from the forest guardian, like the light from her eyes and the sweet smells from the crown of flowers she wore. His hazel gaze met her emerald stare evenly, yet with reverence.

"Thank you for your patronage, mother of trees." He said. "My lady Suravani bid me entreat you, and so I am at your service. What more would you have of me? Shall I slay every maul in the forest, or chase the wicked magic from the very roots of these?" He indicated a red-trunked oak nearby.

Her laugh was a fresh summer breeze playing in the loftiest, lightest branches of the trees. She kissed her fingertips and outstretched her hand to touch the scars on his cheeks, first one, and then the other. Her skin was softer than satin, warm and luxurious but fleeting as she retracted her arm.

"Your quest is at an end now, great warrior. I do not doubt there will be more to come... but for the moment, all I require is that you escort my priestess to safety. She is the lyre-bearer, as you call her, and she can bear the burden of Orphaeo's great instrument. Return now, to the place where the Fealotë bare their souls to the sky. Take her there, Heartbreaker, and I will speak with your goddess. An alliance with the mistress of the moon is not outside my interests... and she has sparked my curiosity with a contribution such as you."

She reached out with both hands, caressing Breaker's face with one and lighting beneath Philomel's chin with the other.

"Rise now," she said, "and return whence you came. I will use what influence I can in this place to keep you safe." There was a subtle shift in the breeze, and as the trees changed the angle of their sway, Drys vanished like grass on the wind.

"My goddess," Philomel breathed as she climbed to her cloven feet, "my sweet Drys. She has blessed us with her presence. No evil will touch us from here on. It cannot, for both of us carry her blessing."

"Even so," Breaker said, "we should make haste. This section of the forest will not seem so friendly after dark." The shadows had begun to stretch lazily, reaching a point where they stood longer than the trees that cast them. "Let us find your ter'ak, and return, as Drys said, to the garden of soul blossoms where first we met."

They found Philomel's beast of burden where they had left him, lowing softly between a stone outcropping and a ghoulish yew, munching crossly at some deadened grass. The faun climbed aboard his back, and after a moment Breaker joined her.

The ride felt too smooth and soundless to come from a great crashing beast. Breaker was reminded of soaring over the dunes of Fallien on the back of a griffin, for he was still beset with wonder from Drys' touch. No matter how many deities he spoke with, championed, or loved, the magic of their presence never wore thin. Wrapped in the security of the forest goddess' promise, they rode back through the crimson forest until the sun kissed the horizon, until the moon embraced the earth, until darkness shrouded them and the stars became their guide. Breaker felt nearly lulled to sleep, and yet he could not help but notice the familiar surroundings as the ter'ak trundled onward.

"Here, lyre-bearer," he said to Philomel, who still clutched the instrument with both hands. She guided her beast to a halt with her knees. Breaker climbed down first, his eyes seeing more in the darkness than an ordinary man could in full light. He recognized the shape of the trees, recognized the way the moonlight crept through the branches, and felt the seeping warmth of the soul blossoms he had repaired not so very long ago. "We have arrived," he said simply, and sat amongst the Fealotë.

Philomel came and sat at his side, still stroking the lyre like a newborn babe's downy hair. Her fingers lit close to the strings, but to actually pluck them, she did not dare.

"You have seen much of me," she said after a time, her head falling to rest on Breaker's broad shoulder. "And you have met my goddess. Guard me now while I gather a few moments sleep, and our kinship shall be cemented.

Breaker breathed deeply, feeling the weight of her horned head, and smiled up at the moon.

"Rest as much as you need, Philomel." He said. "So long as this forest surrounds us, I am your guardian."

The moon smiled back at him, and the trees chattered their appreciation. Soon steady breathing swelled the faun's breast, but her hands remained tightly clasped around the Lyre of Orphaeo.