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.Are you truly willing to accept theidea that you will have to rely on each other, and at times you may actuallybe a burden on each other?""With all my heart and soul, Eddas Ayar.Sasha reached out to me when Iwas dying.She touched me, and took away the pain.She loved me, even aftershe learned what I truly was.She humbled me, and showed me that creatures Ionce thought of as mere ants could be more noble, more wonderful, and morebeautiful than even the most radiant Cubus in my world.She took the anger Ihad from two millennia of pain, and turned it into joy that it ended withbeing in her arms.I would accept anything, Eddas Ayar.Anything in theuniverse, just to repay her for the moments of laughter, and the gentle relieffrom pain she gave me.I love her.She is my sister.""I love you, too, Marilith," I sad, hugging her, my eyes misting.I heard footsteps on the stairs, and looked up.Joy was returning to thePage 301 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmltop floor, and she was shaking her head as she looked us over."Old Man, areyou quite through, here?"Eddas nodded, pushing herself to her feet."Yes, Joy.I'm quite tired,I'll have to begin the serious work tomorrow, after I've had some rest.""Good.I've the guest room prepared downstairs.You go and get changed,I'll put these two girls to bed," she said, and stepped over to me, easilylifting Marilith into her arms."Come, Sasha.The guest room is on the bottomfloor."I nodded, picking up my lance and rising."Alright.Can Marilith sleep inthe same bed with me? I really don't feel comfortable letting her sleepalone.""Certainly," Joy replied, smiling."I don't sleep to begin with, however," Marilith said, and grinned at me."You will," Eddas replied, her gaze calm, but her voice ominous.The Ocean - Thirty-Nine.I snuggled behind Marilith, spoon-fashion, holding her close beneath theblankets.The little room we were in was quite dark, but I had seen when wecame through earlier that it had several bunk-beds.Why Eddas Ayar would needbunk-beds in their tower I did not know.Did they receive many guests at once,perhaps? I had no idea.The room smelled dusty, and disused.Yet the bed waswarm and comfortable, and simply being able to hold Marilith at last feltwonderful.I closed my eyes and snuggled into the long hair of her mane,breathing her furry scent, and smiled.Marilith trembled."Do you think I will really sleep?""Maybe - I don't know," I replied, and hugged her again.Page 302 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"That frightens me.What if I don't wake up?"I giggled."I was worried about that when I was a little girl.My fathersaid not to worry.He said that I would always wake up, every morning, timeand time again, until I was very old.Then, one morning I would wake up in theAfterlife, and be very happy."Marilith shuddered again."What's the matter?""The notion that I might wake up on an alien plane hostile to my veryexistence and dedicated to the tertiary fulfillment of the Divine Compact andwould also be separated from you and everything I know for the rest ofeternity is not a comforting one.Your father was a horribly cruel man if hesaid that to you as a child."I giggled."Really, Marilith.It's alright.I'm right here with you.Nothing bad is going to happen to you," I said, and hugged her again.Marilith sighed."You have no idea how comforting that is, Sasha.Truly."We lay there in silence after that, the darkness of Eddas Ayar's toweraround us.I did not know if Marilith would sleep - but I knew I could, anddid.The Ocean - Forty."No, no.Focus your will.Reach around you, and feel your surroundingswith your mind," Eddas said, watching Marilith.We sat beneath a lovely tree at the base of Eddas's tower, Eddas andMarilith kneeling on a little carpet Joy had laid out earlier, while Joy and Isat nearby, watching.Little Kyrie gazed on, as well, sitting in Joy's lap.Joy had changed out of her armor, and now wore a pretty chartreuse dress thatPage 303 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlfit her large frame quite nicely.She had poured herself and I some lovelyblack tea she called bayallar, and said it was made from the beans of thetrees which grew around us, standing in the neat rows.Eddas explained thatlands were, in truth, an ancient plantation - and much of what they neededeach year they obtained through trading the beans, the local village of giantshelping with the harvest and taking a share of the crop for their work.Thetrees were in full bloom, now, and when morning had come, the little flowershad opened to the warmth of the sun.Birds twittered among the branches of theancient trees, and bees buzzed from flower to flower.Fifty paces away, deepwithin the rows of trees, I saw a doe peering at us in curiosity.Even thoughwe were nowhere near the ocean, I still found it incredibly beautiful, here.Eddas Ayar had been so tremendously generous, I didn't know if I wouldever be able to repay her.Or him, as Joy constantly reminded me.Though herbody was that of a half-elf woman, it appeared her soul was that of an ancientman, a male from an ancient human civilization, now long gone.Shortly after we'd gotten ourselves settled in, Eddas began the slowprocess of working to heal Marilith, and teaching her to use her senses andher powers again.She said she had not wanted to constantly maintain atranslation spell for me so I could understand Kyrie's words and she mine, soinstead, she simply made a small silver band for me to wear about my rightwrist, invulnerable and sizable as the little chain I wore about my leftwrist.It was done so casually, she made it seem trivial - but Marilith toldme later it was hardly that, and the truth was that Eddas Ayar was a GreatMage, a master of the Deep Magic.As such, her powers easily rivaled those ofa dragon.Now, we sat in the cool shade of the tree at the base of Eddas'tower, watching as Eddas carefully worked with Marilith, trying to get her toperceive the world properly again.Marilith opened her glowing-red eyes, then shook her head."I am trying,Eddas Ayar, but." Marilith replied, and sighed."Close your eyes again, that's only adding to your confusion.If we canget you oriented, the rest will follow," Eddas said, and Marilith nodded,closing her eyes again."Feel the force pulling at you.Feel the pressure onyour legs and head.Orient yourself to it - it's gravity, pulling you down.""It feels kata, to me.""It isn't
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