Just after Gamba left for the Locks, Phura headed down to the waters' edge with the children trooping after him. Loremaster watched him go, and several elders saw him en route. More than one paused, looking at Loremaster's robe, and wondering.
Phura knelt in front of the pile of pebbles, and studied them. Kesha joined him. "Shall we get more?"
Phura thought, and thought, and dug his hands into the pile, letting them run back through his fingers. And then, "Yes, " he said. "Let's get more. Everyone else, wait here."
He wore the robe into the water. It hampered his movements, but not badly, and there was something about the way it moved through the water, billowing, that affected the way he swam and the way he thought, even as he collected handful after handful of pebbles and stones that had lain silently waiting underwater for so very, very long. The pile of pebbles grew. Many were egg-sized and smooth and polished from being on the riverbottom for so long.
They kept at it til lunchtime, and the pile of stones now took up a third of the water's edge. As they trooped, damply, up the path, Kesha began to whistle softly.
Phura looked down at him and mussed his hair. "Forget the lullabyes, " he said softly. "We've been sleeping too long. Listen. You're going to learn a song about someone called Earendil."
Listening, the children's eyes grew wide as dragons raged, ships flew in the sky, and mountains fell. Phura kept singing, softly, while he waited in line, and those around him studied his dripping robe, and the new light in his eyes, and drew closer to hear him sing.
From within his study, Loremaster heard the tune, faintly, and he knew. And he nodded with satisfaction. The robe was well spent.
Feeling very old, he bent over the page of runes and blinked back his tears.
[ October 09, 2002: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]
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...down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve.
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