Chapter 23: Arinella

Arinella watched him sleep. Wrapped in an enchanted robe, the warrior looked harmless despite his long beard and huge torso. The beard made him look older, but he seemed almost unchanged. The muscles were slightly reduced, and more so in the legs, but the power of the north was still felt in him. And the elf-woman felt him with the pain on her lips, dryness and lack of moisture. It was impossible to cast spells endlessly, even elves have a limit on creating food, water and other vital things. Edelmer woke up.

"Have you no way of contacting someone to send us an argiphone?" Edelmer asked. His blue-grey eyes stared at her.

"No," Arinella answered, "it's time to go."

Snunorf was often silent. And she didn't know what to say to him either. "He loves her, not me," she thought, "that's why he keeps quiet, he has nothing to say to me."

Climate change has done its job, and at least rains have become more frequent in this endlessly desert country. The elf-woman and the northerner quickly packed and moved, continuing their journey.

One more day has passed.

Arinella saw that the snunorf was awake.

"Do you remember how Iglara went over the horizon and was left alone Silenta?" the elf-woman asked.

"Yes, it was like yesterday," Edelmer paused, "I slept for so long."

"And now one star falls over the horizon and rises alone... When I was little I dreamed of a wedding, of a beautiful el-tilat and–"

"El-tilat?" Edelmer interrupted her.

Arinella burst into flames.

"Don't you have books in Norvinoria, don't you have schools, and don't you study the customs of your neighbors at all? Oh, wait, maybe in the best library of Ermir in Jöhnstromken, there are no books about arqilunians? And, by the way, how did you marry Lanialis? Probably, you didn't understand anything, and behaved tactlessly at every stage of the ceremony! But I know that you didn't wait about two months before the birth of your daughter and that your daughter was named Laeltilat. El-tilat from ancient arqilunian means majestic beauty. Laeltilat, La – star, el – majestic, tilat – beauty. A star of majestic beauty, that is the name of your daughter!"

"Daughter! I have a daughter! I didn't think about this, what a shame! And our wedding with Lanis now pops up in my head in pieces. I remember that I drank a lot! Sorry, the harsh north, harsh life," Edelmer couldn't think of a better excuse.

"El-tilat is an arqilunian wedding dress. It shimmers in different colors... Anyway, I wanted to be just an arqilunian woman with a family, and not a knight," she looked at the sky. "At least now Illivlis began to shine much brighter–"

"Shhh," Edelmer said, and added in a whisper, "listen."

Arinella pricked up her elven ears, and before the warrior had time to realize, she instantly appeared next to him and whispered in his ears, "Flock of the yadonagrishes, but they won't see us behind this rock."

Silenta threw the last beam and disappeared over the horizon. Sandy landscapes began to give way to stone-brown with greenery, the Belt of Twilight had already disappeared from sight, only dunes and hills remained with some rocks, and in the north were the highest mountains on the planet, with the highest point of Ermir, mount Lyradrilot.

Arinella wanted to kiss him in the ear, but pulled herself back and pulled away when the yadonagrishes flew past.

Edelmer was asleep and he dreamed of a snowy argiphone that called him.

Edelmer woke up, he felt something. He felt… he didn't know what, a strange urge to go to the Belt of Twilight. He couldn't himself explain the reasons for such a desire, but he was sure that it was necessary.

"We're going back!" he said to the elf-woman.

"Back where? Why?" Arinella was completely confused. Had he decided that after all, what hides the Belt of Twilight is more important than his wife and daughter?

"I feel that I must go! But you don't have to come with me. I still don't understand why you're here?"

"I..." Arinella hesitated, she didn't know what to say.

"I don't mind your company, but we must return to the Belt of Twilight and try to cross it," the northerner said before she could think. "Are you coming?"

"Yes!" Arinella decided firmly, although she more wanted to avenge Darfairick, by killing as many yadonagrishes as she can, she wanted to stay close with Edelmer.