Chapter 40: Flight From Temple Mountain

Notes: Just one big chapter this week, plus a *bonus* White Snake Legend short story that takes place right after this chapter ends. That is posted as a separate story entitled "Sister Serpent". It can be found here: fanfiction dot net s/14247584/1/Sister-Serpent-A-White-Snake-Legend-Story

C/W: trauma/PTSD

(~***~)

February

The day before they were to depart, Angharad joined her cohort for the afternoon practice session one last time. When they had finished their lessons, she thanked them all – teachers and students – for sharing their knowledge and their friendship with her.

"I thank you for sharing your Tradition with me. I don't know who I might have become without your guidance and your friendship. I hope you'll share your wisdom with everyone you meet. Too many people are suffering. I hope they all find freedom from their pain," Angharad told them, adapting a traditional prayer that they had been taught in their ethics classes.

Many of the children she had been studying with for the last year had red eyes. But they tried to keep their faces still, and to feel the steadying rise and fall of their breathing, as they had learned. She felt the same, as they bowed to each other in farewell.

Angharad turned to her teachers, preparing to give them a low bow of gratitude and respect. But the lead trainer approached her before she could.

"You've come far, Anhe. Perhaps your heart really will be as peaceful as a lotus flower one day. We have a parting gift for you," the monk told her with a kind smile.

He presented his student with two steel-ribbed fans covered in pure cream silk. When she unfurled them, she saw that one had been painted with pink water lilies and their leaf pads. On the other the prayer for peace for all beings had been copied in artful Eastron calligraphy.

"Oh, these are too beautiful to be weapons, though! I could never use them and ruin your good work. I will keep them in a place of honor, always," she told the monks in awe. That they had taken the time out of their disciplined schedule to create such a gift for her made her heart tremble.

"We always hope that weapons see no use, as you know. But if they are needed, don't hesitate to use them. Better to lose a fan than a life. As we've taught you, all things will change. Imagine that they are already broken and when one day they are, it will not cause you pain," her teacher told her.

"You've told us that you and your parents are each part of one being. Will you leave us your names, so we might remember you?" one of the teachers asked, approaching the girl with red ink, brush, and paper from the calligraphy school. Angharad sat on her knees before a low writing table kept by the practice grounds.

To her parents, it looked like she did nothing for many long minutes. The girl was doing as she had been taught to prepare to create calligraphy. She put all her attention on her breath flowing in and out of her body, beginning again every time she got distracted until her mind was still and empty. She picked up the brush. In one long, unbroken movement, she wrote down the paper: 'bright snow, peaceful lotus, green leaf.' It was perfectly imperfect.

The Brothers accepted her gift with their thanks and bade their strangest student farewell, wishing her and her family a safe journey. Angharad gave her teachers a solemn bow and left the practice court behind, walking between her parents.

The Brothers of Temple Mountain kept the inscription in the same hall as their most precious teaching scrolls; it hangs there still. It was said by some to be a reminder of the interconnectedness of all beings, by others as a lesson that the toils of Samsara spare no one, and by others still as a worthy reflection on the illusory nature of self. Over time, the story of the elves' time at Temple Mountain faded beyond memory. But Angharad's writing remained, though the paper yellowed and cracked as the centuries wore on. The new Brothers and Sisters would contemplate what it could mean from time to time, taking it as a riddle to be pondered: what connects bright snow, peaceful lotus, and green leaf?

(~***~)

Lossrilleth and Legolas sat down with Ginnar and explained their situation to him. He dearly hoped they would have enough time that he would not be left with another stranger before he saw his home again. It helped that Angharad recognized this woman, Brigid, they spoke of and remembered her fondly. But he wanted his parents to meet the elves, and the prospect of another change made him nervous. The fear on the elves' faces when they spoke about the punishment that awaited them if they failed to return home on time was plain to him, though. He could not wish something that frightened them so much on his friend or her family, so he resolved to accept whatever had to be done.

Lossrilleth had been apologetic, but firm, when she told Ginnar they had decided they should carry him down the mountain. They needed to move quickly. The steps were steep, and he was small. It was hard to swallow, but he made them all promise never to tell his family and then did as he was asked. Master Gongshu's scrolls he would leave to no one else, though. Legolas fashioned a sling the boy could carry them in. Ginnar would hardly take it off between Temple Mountain and the Glittering Caves.

The elves and the young dwarf left the temple grounds early the next morning, with Ginnar tied to Lossrilleth's back so he could look over her shoulders. The company was quiet and somber as they descended the steep stone stairs through the mist. As they walked down the winding trail that followed, Angharad finally broke the silence.

"The others have probably finished running by now. They will be practicing formations," she mused. "I will miss learning with them."

"We can teach you more," Legolas promised her. "When we reach Valinor there are many people who will be delighted to practice with you. There is much skill now in that place that goes unused."

"Still, I will miss them. And all the unarmed fighting – the elves never bother with such things, do they?" she asked her parents.

"Perhaps you will be the first one to bring this practice to our people," Thranduil suggested. He had grown interested in the Tradition's methods for fighting without weapons. He'd taken many mental notes. He'd be more than happy to work on some practices with Angharad that could be used to teach other elves.

"But you may want to choose a primary weapon, it is true. Has anything caught your eye while you have been here?" her grandfather asked her.

"I rather like spear fighting," Angharad told her family. "But I know elves fight with swords mostly. Or bows, like ada. I suppose I shall have to give it up."

"Perhaps someone should explain to Gil-Galad and his Aeglos that elves do not fight with spears," Thranduil said dryly. He could remember that glaive and the destruction it wrought perfectly well.

Angharad got excited by this reminder. "Where is Gil-Galad in Valinor? Do you think he might show me how to fight with a Western style spear?"

Thranduil stopped in his tracks. It took him a breath to find words.

"I would not recommend letting my father hear you saying that," he finally told his granddaughter. Legolas nodded with a grimace.

"Oropher? He does not scare me. He is like all the really old elves; all calm and still and quiet," the girl said, making a face of mock serenity.

"Oh, really? Well, if you should like to see what my father was like before he became 'really old', then I invite you to try telling him that his great-granddaughter is seeking private weapons tutoring from Gil-Galad," Thranduil informed her, shaking his head at the scene he could imagine playing out in the common dining room of the Silvan Quarter.

"Well if that is all it would take to breathe some new life into him…," Angharad teased, glad that the atmosphere in their group was warming up. Thranduil was giving her an indulgent look that might turn into a cold glare if she wasn't careful.

"Do not worry, grandfather. You are old but you are in no danger. You had late children and now you have me. We will work together to keep you from turning to stone!" she declared before darting ahead to get away from Thranduil and whatever he might do in response to that jibe.

Lossrilleth laughed "Oh there she is. There is some proof she is a daughter of mine," she crowed.

Thranduil raced after the girl, catching her easily with a few of his long strides. He picked her up and lifted her over his shoulder, holding her by the knees so she hung like a sack of potatoes behind him, head upside down.

"Let me go!" Angharad demanded, laughing.

"Impossible. I have petrified in my old age and cannot release you," Thranduil told her in mock seriousness. "You shall have to figure out how to get down by yourself. Surely it is no trouble for such a nimble youth."

Ginnar was laughing heartily at his friend as she twisted and flailed, trying to get free of Thranduil's iron grip.

"As amusing as this is, I suggest you yield now. I do not think this is a wise way to cross the pass," Legolas told his daughter as the path narrowed before them.

"Too true," Thranduil agreed, carefully setting her down.

When they had successfully crossed over the gap between the mountain peaks, the company stopped for a rest and some food while they waited, hoping Xiaoqing would arrive as she had promised. When she did not they moved on – but two hours later she caught up with them down the trail.

"Hello elves! And young sir. You made better time than I expected," she announced. "I was waiting at the pass for an hour when a little bird told me that you'd already gone by. I think I scared a few folk racing through the undergrowth after you."

Angharad and Ginnar bowed respectfully in the Eastern way to their benefactor. They'd heard she met the adults and weren't sure where things stood.

"Welcome, sister," Lossrilleth offered the serpent woman a friendly greeting. She'd noticed the demon enjoyed that term, so she resolved to keep using it. "We wondered if we would have the pleasure of your company on our march to the sea. We are in a bigger rush than ever: I caught a little attention from our gods that has not helped us. I know my husband is eager to go over our sea charts with any of your people who might be able to confirm our readings of them."

"Oh dear," Xiaoqing said. "It seems your daughter is not the only youngling who still has a few lessons left to learn. It is always better to avoid the attention of gods."

Thranduil snorted. "I can think of a few exceptions to that statement in our peoples' history," he told Xiaoqing.

"Oh, do tell! We spoke so much about the East last time. Come now, I want to hear all your old gossip, too," the snake replied.

"Perhaps we should begin with how that evening star you mentioned appeared in the sky. That story is all about trying to get the gods' attention," Thranduil offered smoothly, like he was talking to a foreign dignitary.

"There's a story! Oh, fun. It's usually something so dramatic if it results in a change that big," the demon replied.

"Oh! Is it ever dramatic!" Angharad added, feeling more confident in the snake's presence with Thranduil clearly so comfortable. "Did you know that there is actually a person up there?"

Xiaoqing raised her eyebrows and simpered, "My, my. What an unfortunate person, up there all alone. It seems they might have done better not to be noticed by the divine." She looked incredibly pleased with herself for that argument. Thranduil snickered. It was more complicated than that, but it wasn't worth correcting her.

"Why are we moving so slowly, by the way?" the demon asked, then noticed Ginnar walking as quickly as his short legs would carry him. "Don't care for being carried on their backs, do you boy? Well, if we are so short on time, how would you feel about riding a snake?"

Ginnar looked very surprised at this offer.

"Don't worry, we'll promise not to tell anyone in your family," Angharad offered.

"You must promise to tell my whole family!" Ginnar cried. "Otherwise no one will believe me when I say I rode a giant serpent to the sea!"

Xiaoqing laughed and twisted herself from one form into the other, allowing Legolas to help Ginnar find a perch behind her head. Once he was secure, she began slithering smoothly along the path and the little dwarf letting out a whoop. She and Ginnar immediately joined forces, mocking the elves for how slowly they walked. The elves gladly picked up the pace, but none of them took the bait and agreed to race Xiaoqing.

They had been walking a few more hours, telling tales and easing into their strange company, when they approached a large clearing. Xiaoqing told them this was probably a good place to stop for the night, unless they intended to go without rest. The company was talking it over, seriously considering continuing on and asking Ginnar to kindly sleep in a sling on someone's back, when the sudden sound of several men crashing through the underbrush startled them.

Fahai and four other monks leapt onto the path before them, brandishing staffs and spirit knives. When the abbot had first heard the elves were going into the woods sometimes, he had become curious, then suspicious. They never went as a group again, but he saw the elf-men come and go from the forest at night regularly. Fahai became convinced they were speaking with demons of the woods.

The children had been a bit skittish when he would ask about the green snake. He desperately wanted to capture that dangerous creature: the violence she and her sister had wrought on his home continued to haunt his dreams. He could not swim or bathe in a pool of water anymore without becoming flooded with shaky fear.

When the elves had begun planning to leave, he had given them a formal farewell several days in advance, then gathered a few of his most experienced demon hunters (notably excluding Neng Ren) and told them of his plan. Together they carefully forded the mountain pass even though the last remnants of ice clung to its stones. Then they camped in the forest within view of the clearing he knew would be the most likely place where the elves would stop the first day or two of their travels. If the green snake was with them, Fahai would finally stop her from causing harm in his lands forever.

He had not decided what he would do with the elves. They appeared serious about returning to their realm, as they should. But it did not sit well with the abbot that they might have conspired with such a vicious creature. So when the strange company appeared, he was angry, and afraid, but not surprised at all.

"Let the boy go, you wicked serpent, and we'll spare you. You can join your sister and keep each other company in Lei Fang Tower while you think about what you've done," the monk cried, raising the staff he used to perform the magic necessary to subdue powerful demons.

"She isn't holding me against my will!" Ginnar called out loudly. "I was only riding on her back so we could travel faster!"

"Get off, then! You don't know this creature, she's too dangerous for a child to ride like a horse!" Fahai told the boy in angry disbelief.

"But we do know her! She's saved our lives more than once since we came to the East. We didn't tell you because we knew you had bad blood. We couldn't betray someone who we owe so much to, could we?" Angharad tried explaining to Fahai.

Thranduil grabbed Angharad and held her behind him, watching the five men approaching them cautiously with the spirit blades. He did not put his hands on his sword hilts, worried it might provoke them, but he was ready to grab his weapons if this continued to go badly.

"Do not fight against those knives," the old king hissed at Legolas and Lossrilleth. "So much as a scratch will maim your soul forever – look at Xiaoqing." The elves were frightened. They knew too little about what was happening and had never faced such evil weapons before.

Fahai was feeling confused. Adrenaline clouded his reason. He knew the green snake was evil. He had seen her that day when the flood had filled the basin of the lower grounds, flattening buildings and drowning helpless people. Why would she help these children? Were they lying?

"I should have known, shouldn't I? You've been conspiring with demons all along. Elves – we've seen how you are in a fight. You're just more dangerous spirits," he said angrily.

"Is it true?" one of Fahai's companions asked Xiaoqing in disbelief. "Did you help these children? Why?"

The serpent demon stood rooted to the spot, oscillating between rage and terror. She considered running, but then she caught sight of Angharad, who kept trying to peek out from behind her grandfather despite his continued attempts to shield her from the spirit blades. She swallowed her bile and turned to address the Brothers.

"They freed me. I admired the courage and cleverness in their escape, and I was curious about them. But I have come to care for them. I wish for them to get home to their realm safely. They need help," Xiaoqing told the monks. She hated justifying herself to them. Despite what they thought, they were not her minders.

Fahai's breathing was uneven. They had advanced so close he could see the light glinting off the demon's hard, black eyes. Sweat stains had begun to bleed through his robes. He felt as though he was right back where he stood when he had faced an ancient snake before, although the false sense of confidence he had then was gone. Wind rustled through the trees and he gasped, for it sounded to him like rushing water.

Lossrilleth was watching the abbot carefully. They had met him several times. He had always been as she'd pictured a Buddhist monk to be: calm, deliberate, friendly. The man before them was none of these things. He was clearly terrified beyond reason. My God, he's having a flashback, she thought. He will kill her without pause.

Lossrilleth had the urge to help him somehow – to de-escalate this situation before it spiraled out of control. If only she could speak with him…

Legolas had been watching his daughter where Thranduil was trying to keep her shielded. He didn't dare make any sudden moves with these twitchy men holding unusually dangerous weapons, or he would go to her. He gritted his teeth and stood his ground, assuring himself that his father was as fierce and experienced a protector as Angharad could wish to have.

The energy coming off Lossrilleth demanded his attention. He'd come to know this particular feeling of hers, especially during the last two years. She had noticed something that piqued both worry and conviction. The urge to do something quickly was building up.

As he turned to look at her, not two steps from where he stood, she took a step towards Fahai and began to reach for the wrist of his hand holding his knife. Legolas was immediately filled with alarm. He risked moving, covering the small space between them swiftly. She was already turning back towards him as he grabbed her by the waist, ready to restrain her if she insisted on putting herself in danger – putting them all in danger. Who knew what those weapons would do to people with spirit bonds?

"No, I see it. I will not go closer," she reassured him quickly. She looked him in the eye for a moment and leaned back into his grip before turning her head to look at the children. Legolas was filled with relief. She'd changed something – she was with him. He could feel the difference. And she'd let the impulse go.

"We must do something, Legolas. He is out of his mind. He will certainly kill the demon and he may well turn on us next," she said urgently.

"Do what?" he said, trying to keep his voice soft and calm.

"Do you think showing them mind pictures would help or make them more frightened?" she asked. Legolas shook his head – he just did not know.

"Amitabha's teaching say that you are supposed to have goodwill for everyone. That you are supposed to protect the life of all beings! We're all supposed to be able to learn. I don't know what she did to you, but she has been kind to us!" Angharad called out to the monks.

"They won't listen to you, they hate me. Do as your grandfather says and stay behind him," Xiaoqing told the girl sharply. Couldn't these so-called spiritualists see how scared they were making this child? This family?

The snake turned to the old king, switching to Westron, "If you are fastest, get ready to take her and run."

"No!" Angharad screamed, trying to launch herself at her parents. But Thranduil had an iron grip on her. The snake was right. He was the fastest by far and her parents were on the other side of the trail.

"I will if I must," Thranduil reassured them all.

"Let me show them!" Lossrilleth offered, sharing her desperate notion with everyone. "Tell them I can show them what we know, Xiaoqing – I can think thoughts right into their minds. Fahai is beyond reason, but maybe I can steady him."

Xiaoqing surveyed the scene that was descending into chaos before her. The mad abbot. The frightened elves, all tethered to each other like rafts that had been roped together. Not one could be spared without breaking the girl, who Xiaoqing just knew would be worth witnessing someday if she survived. The monk closest to her didn't look as overcome as the abbot. He was watching everything with the cool, still look of a warrior who knew what he was doing.

Xiaoqing took the man by the arm quickly, causing all the Brothers to shout. She pointed his spirit blade and held it to her own throat, then let go of his hand.

"The elf mother can show you her thoughts. Your abbot is insane with fear, look at him sweating. Hold me hostage with your instruments of torture if you must. All I ask is that you keep him from me until he is calm and listen to this woman," the demon told the monks. "The family must be sent home. They are innocent in this. Look – they are terrified of you, oh noble students of non-harm and compassion," she sneered a little for good measure.

The man who'd she'd selected had been at Temple Mountain on the day of the flood, but he'd been on higher ground. He hadn't seen anything until it had already been over. It had been devastating. But the demon before him now was not behaving like an evil, destructive force. She wasn't exactly pleasant, but she wasn't wicked. He glanced at Fahai and saw it was true: their leader was not well.

"Help the abbot – keep him still until he remembers himself," the brave man told his Brothers. "We should listen to the woman. Tell her she can show us," he told Xiaoqing, keeping his blade a careful inch from her throat.

One of the other Brothers went to Fahai. The abbot tried to stop him from taking the spirit knife away, but he was chaotic and belligerent. The other monks were well trained: they could easily disarm a man in such a state of confusion.

"They would let you show them, nana," Angharad told her mother fearfully. "But please, do not go to them!"

"I do not have to go any closer to show them if they cooperate, I promise you both. I am with you," Lossrilleth reassured her family. "You can keep your grip on me if you wish, my love, but let me try this before we all come to harm. Ginnar, I need you to get down and come over to us slowly."

"Then try," Legolas said to her. He kept his arm around her waist. Mind speech could take up a lot of her attention, so her reflexes could be slow. He would watch for them both and pull her out of harm's way if she needed it.

Xiaoqing held still as stone as the boy slid off her back and started walking slowly toward the elves.

"Yes, go to them," Xiaoqing's captor told him, trying to diffuse the terrible fear that had permeated the glade. "We will not stop you."

Lossrilleth breathed and looked for the subtle notes that each of the monks played in the vast, shifting orchestra of this forest. The practice she'd taken up recently was paying off…

Legolas was surprised to see how easily she reached out to them. Something was definitely different: this skill had become hard for her after Angharad was born.

She could show her mind to four of them, for they were curious enough to be receptive. Fahai was a black hole of panic. She sent him as gentle a sense of her sympathy for his fear as she could, asking for his attention. His battered spirit instinctively leaned against this safe presence and he let her in.

We know she's dangerous, Lossrilleth showed them in their thoughts. She had no language – she had to use images and ideas. She showed them Xiaoqing ending the fight against the Emperor's soldiers and the fear that Lossrilleth had felt witnessing it.

But she is changing even as we speak. If you cannot see what is in front of you right now, then hatred has made you blind. She highlighted that astounding moment that Xiaoqing had turned the blade on herself to keep them all safe, sharing her feeling of awe and gratitude. She showed the monks how cruel the wounds made by the blades really were; how the demon was disfigured and yet faced the blades again to help the elves.

The demons are not what you think. Lossrilleth showed the monks what she had noticed several times on days when the Brothers were reciting scripture together in their loud, monotone chants. Outside the temple windows, dozens of small demons would gather, listening to their teachings about the possibilities of gathering merit and finding relief from pain.

We need her to find our way home. The elf mother showed them how lost they were. How Xiaoqing had told them where to go and had all the demons of the forest guide them. The monks saw her fear of not moving quickly enough: that her family would be punished terribly if they failed.

Fahai was stuck and confused. The elf mother's intervention had cut through his reaction, leaving him mired in conflicting thoughts and leftover adrenaline. She was being very gentle with him, but she was strong: he found he could lean on her and let the terror leach out of his mind. He righted himself, bringing his attention to the feeling of his breath as he had countless times before. He got the feeling she was cheering for him as he did. She wanted him to be well. She wanted everyone to be safe. It made his heart tremble.

"Let them go," Xiaoqing's captor said to his fellow monks, carefully retreating. The others followed him, accepting his role as leader for the moment. They had been expecting a violent battle with a wicked demon, not this. No one knew what to think. The elf's images turned their understanding of the world upside down.

"We should leave now, before they have a chance to change their minds," Xiaoqing told the elves and the young dwarf.

Lossrilleth picked Ginnar up. Thranduil kept an unbreakable hold on his granddaughter. The elves and the snake moved carefully past the Brothers until they could no longer see the men who they'd left standing in a huddle behind them. Xiaoqing suggested that they flee with all the speed at their disposal, so the monks could have no hope of catching up with them. None of them could have agreed more. Lossrilleth secured Ginnar to Legolas's back and the company ran all night, putting miles of distance between themselves and the spirit knives.

(~***~)

The company moved swiftly and with little rest for the days it took to reach the ocean. The evening after the confrontation, Xiaoqing needed to hunt, so the elves and Ginnar concealed themselves in a circle of bushy pines to wait. Lossrilleth settled the exhausted little dwarf down on a bed of dry leaves, where he fell fast asleep. Anghard took more convincing, but even she was looking tired after running for the better part of two days, and she finally rested next to her friend.

The adult elves sat, leaning against tree trunks, letting their minds wander.

"You saved us, you know," Legolas told Lossrilleth after they'd been resting awhile. "They really listened to you."

"Do not be ridiculous. Xiaoqing clearly saved us by taking that knife on herself. Our debt to her is so great I cannot begin to count it," Lossrilleth rebuffed him.

"You made a start in paying that down," Thranduil said, only partly paying attention. "She is free, alive, and has no further injuries. I doubt she would have emerged so without your intervention."

Lossrilleth shook her head wearily. Xiaoqing would not have been caught except that she had been with them. But what was there to argue about? There was nothing they could offer the demon to repay all the generosity she'd extended to their family.

Legolas shifted over to be closer to his wife, whispering in her ear. "What have you been doing lately? I noticed that you are with me more, just a hair but all the time. You scared me when you stepped towards Fahai – but you noticed that right away, didn't you?"

"I did. It stopped me, or I might have tried something foolish. It was something Angharad said about her meditation class that started it. It made me realize I never pay as much attention to the fëa sense as you all do. I never had it before I came here, so it has been an afterthought. I usually ignored it unless I needed it for something. But I have been trying to be aware of it more – to be curious about it. Since I have, it has been getting stronger."

"I could always find either of you if I looked. Now I just know, always: if you are close or far, if you are well or not. Everything that lives has a little tune running through it, it is dazzling! I had seen that before when I was pregnant, but it did not last. I did not know I could strengthen it. I know I have scared you both at times. I did not want to forget again, so this is what I have been trying," Lossrilleth replied.

"Thank you, thank you," Legolas told her. This effort made him feel so grateful. Finally.

"This is a very good thing. It feels safer and steadier to me, you should know. I have known if you are close and well always since we were married, but I could tell it was not the same for you. I have not wanted to impose on you if it did not come naturally. But did you feel the difference today?" he asked her. She nodded, then rested her forehead against his.

"Yes, like we were a team," she said.

"That is how it is meant to be," he told her. "I think it has made mind speech easier for you as well – you found those men so easily."

Yes, She thought to him, startled when he jumped a little.

Too loud, meleth! We are not men: you do not need to shout. He thought with surprise. She let her amusement flow back, trying to keep it quiet.

I am getting tired, so it is harder to control. It takes a lot of concentration for me. I am not Galadriel, she explained apologetically.

This whole shift she was working on made him want to melt with relief. This was what had changed, then. It was the thing that had been making his project of enjoying his own company again much easier, to have her just a tiny bit there, so he could rest easy knowing all was well.

What she had said about ignoring the fëa sense puzzled him. It was the most important sense, surely? He wondered how she hadn't figured that out by now. Sometimes he didn't quite understand how she saw the world. It was puzzling.

Would you ever show me your memories from when you were carrying Angharad? I am terribly curious, since you mentioned it, He asked. She'd told him then that it had made the world seem very different to her. He'd been able to sense her amazement and the increase in her presence, but the sensations… he could not imagine.

I am happy to share that with you, if you wish. Though it might ruin some cherished notions you have. It is not all magic and roses. You are an athletic person, muin nin: your child was not still in the womb. She had a vicious kick long before she took training here, I know it too well, Lossrilleth thought warmly and began sharing some choice memories.

Ooh, you are serious. I had seen you grimace towards the end, but I did not know the extent of it. Ouch, he sympathized. He'd been hit in the ribs in fights and that had hurt enough – he'd never endured such a blow from the inside. (Not that the baby hit like an orc.) My poor mother with my brothers…

Lossrilleth shuddered. Carrying one baby had been quite enough for her.

Angharad crawled over to them quietly after they went silent. "Are you mind speaking? What are you talking about? It started to feel really nice all of a sudden. I like what you have been doing in the fëa sense, too, nana," she whispered, squeezing her way in between her parents and draping herself on her mother. "You feel stronger."

"Then I regret that it has taken so long for me to understand. Truly, my loves, I am sorry to have let you down. I never knew what to do with the fëa sense, until now, perhaps. If something else is ever missing, please tell me. I just did not know." Lossrilleth told them, feeling guilty that she'd left her family feeling deprived and insecure. She rubbed Angharad's back, resting her cheek happily against her daughter's hair. She tried to focus her energy on how tickled she felt at their girl's sudden cuddliness.

She may try but she cannot climb back inside you, Legolas thought to his wife. The silly smile his comment drew out of her was gratifying. Maybe she was right after all. If they could just get home safely, maybe things really would be alright.

(~***~)

The company continued to press forward urgently, traveling day and night with only short stops to rest when it was truly too dark to see, or they all needed to eat. When they reached the sea, Xiaoqing slithered into the waters of Ghost Bay and dove deep, swimming out until she found a far-traveling sea turtle and asked it the elves' questions.

The turtle confirmed that the canal existed where Legolas had thought it would. The sea animals saw many ships pass over them near its entrance, but none dared go in. They referred to it as 'the dead place.' Xiaoqing returned to the beach, shared her report and wished them well, pinching the cheeks of both children until they protested.

"Sister serpent, you have our undying gratitude. I have nothing to offer for your generosity and valor but a blessing of hope for your safety and happiness. May you find good sun to sleep in and never be discovered by those who wish you harm," Lossrilleth told Xiaoqing. Legolas bowed in agreement.

"The poet has spoken," the demon simpered. But she nodded her head in acknowledgement to her 'sister' who she would never see again.

"Yes, thank you," Angharad agreed. "It would have been so much worse without your help."

"You would have figured something out," Xiaoqing told the girl warmly. She would miss this child. "You are exceptional, Anhe. Both of you in fact – you are the quieter one but I snuck a look at your work in that shrine during a dark moon. That is the payment I ask for. Reach for all your potential and be amazing."

"I'll do my very best, then," Anghard told her seriously. She'd find something to do with her life to honor her champion's gifts, she felt determined.

"So will I," Ginnar promised, stroking his scroll journals absentmindedly. He had so many ideas now. He only wondered if he could fit them all into the length of his life.

"Farewell, Ancient of the East, queen among demons," Thranduil said with a bow and flourish. "It's been interesting to know you. If we'd had more time, we might have had so many stories to share."

"You old goat with your flattery. Don't let my people hear you calling me their queen, they'll harass me without end," Xiaoqing snickered. (She'd clearly enjoyed it.) "I'll send them to your heaven with directions to trouble the king of elves instead."

"They would never find me," Thranduil shot back. "I'm disguised as a grandfather these days."

Xiaoqing laughed, turned away from the elves, and fled south, going far, far from Temple Mountain.

With this and a few other questions about tides clarified for them, the elves were ready to go. Their ship, fishing nets, and other supplies remained untouched: having the goodwill of the local nature spirits was apparently quite useful.

As the adults were busy maneuvering the sails, looking at maps, and assessing the state of things, Angharad and Ginnar stood on the deck, looking East and watching the Middle Kingdom disappear behind them.

(~***~)

Footnote: I tried to figure out the translations for the elves' names: I think they might be Xuebai (bright snow) and Luye (green leaf), but I could be wrong.