28

The Treachery of Raven

The silence lengthened until Linda brought a blistered hand down in an unintentional knuckle-crunching slam on the table. "Sorry!" she said, “But what is this Bellah you are talking about."

Deilune took his wife’s hand. "No, I'm sorry. We got carried away. We think we know who was chasing Lottica and Nick,” he explained. “The tall man in the cape is most likely named Beilla. He’s my father's cousin. It’s a complicated story. Lots of it wrapped up in legend and lore. I'll do my best, but it may raise many more questions for you."

Taking a deep story-telling breath, Deilune began, "I’ve told you and the kids many tales of Lebreima. Most famous is the story of the Hawk of Lebreima. That’s the tale of Feodeim Breima, the legendary founder of Lebreima. His great adversary was Raven, a power-hungy creature who wished to rule the earth and sky by tricking Feodeim into the underworld.

“To carry out its scheme, Raven stole the Starstone, the Astreima, and hid it. This treachery darkened all the skies of Lebreima, and Raven warned Feodeim that the only way he could bring light back to the land and his people was to descend into the underworld and find the Fareima, the Firestone. Raven promised Feodeim that the Fareima could restore light to his people.

"Raven led Feodeim to a yawning cave below towering cliffs that marked the border between life and death and reminded Feodeim that no human who entered the underworld had ever before escaped it. Feodeim answered Raven that, without the Astreima, there was no difference between heaven and hell. Once in the depths of the underworld, Feodeim battled all manner of terrible nether creatures, and finally at the earth's core defeated the monstrous Ragnoth by snapping off one of its lance-like horns and spearing its throat.

"There, at the center of the earth, in a place burning with the heat of ten thousand furnaces, Feodeim found the Fareima and fought his way back to the underworld entrance. Upon seeing the glowing ember that gave the bearer the power of fire and the forge, Raven snatched it from Feodeim with its mighty claws and thrust Feodeim back into the underworld. It then sealed the cave with mighty stones slapped down from the high cliffs by its powerful wings.

"Trapped and hounded by hell creatures, Feodeim tried to free himself, but his strength, his heart, his love of earth and his people began to fade. He struggled, trying to tunnel out while hellhounds clawed at his feet to drag him back into the dark depths. In a last effort, he plunged his fist through a granite block, opening a small hole to the world of the living. The freshness of the fields and forests entered and stirred his longing to be free, but this last blow expended his strength. Feodeim had not energy remaining to widen the opening to escape.

“Sensing victory, the hellhounds renewed their attack. Feodeim knew they would drag him down for good. Around his neck, he wore a simple medallion, the crest of his family’s symbol: the hawk. He pulled it from his neck and thrust it through the opening shouting what he believed to be his last words: Light for the world. For Lebreima!

"Utterly spent, Feodeim was pulled down by the hellhounds. But his last words echoed upward to the heights of the cliffs where earth and sky become one. There perched was Hawk, the ever vigilant. Its keen eyes spotted the Fareima medallion thrust through the rocks by Feodeim. Hawk heeded Feodeim’s cry and dove to save the Fareima before Raven could steal it.”

Deilune paused, reached for his hot chocolate and took a long drink. “You remember this story?” He asked Nick and Lottica.

“Bits and pieces,” Lottica said. “Did Feodeim die?”

“No, Lottica,” her grandfather reassured her, and told his son, “Go on, trajeime, silly donkey, finish story.”

Unfazed by his father’s jibe, as any zombie-son should be, Deilune set down his cup and resumed the tale. "Hawk flew the Fareima to the hidden boundaries of earth, using its light to guide and then locate the Kareima. He returned with the brilliant gemstones in his claws, bringing a bright dawn to the land for the first time since Raven had stolen the Astreima.

Down, down, down, Hawk flew into the underworld through the cleft Feodim had punched. The pure, brilliant light in his claws blinding the dark denizens of the underworld who fled before Hawk in terrified amazement.

“Close to the center of the earth, near the still steaming corpse of Ragnoth, the hellhounds had dragged Feodeim. They snarled and champed in conquest around his still and lifeless body. No creature would rob them of their feast. No living creature had the heart to fight all the denizens of death and win. They nipped and bit at Feodeim’s flesh to mark their final victory.

"It was at this moment that Hawk soared into the fiery chamber and the hellhounds beheld the gemstones Hawk carried. Its spectral majesty blinded their deadened eyes. They howled and capered. They went mad and fled into the merciless heat at the underworld's core.

Hawk alighted on Feodeim's stilled chest. There he placed the gemstone he’d flown to the ends of the earth to retrieve. The Kareima. The Heartstone. The tap stone of creation. All living things on earth were born of its brilliance and purity.

On Feodeim’s lifeless chest the perfect blue gemstone began to pulse and glow, and slowly sank deep into Feodeim's chest becoming his heart. The heart of one who’d fought for the world to return its light.

"Feodeim, in the depths of the underworld, rose anew. Revived and restored, he and Hawk reemerged into the world of the living, the light of dawn shining from from the Fareima in Hawk’s claws. The Kareima instilled in Feodeim the power to lead and bring the light of hope to Lebreima.

Treacherous Raven, flew to investigate the reappearance of the light. Upon seeing the reborn Feodeim with Hawk at his shoulder, Raven cowardly fled to the Farlands, never to be seen again.

“Hawk winged the Fareima to his unreachable aerie to spread its light over all Lebreima. The sky was again alight, though it was not the pure light of the Astreima, the Starstone, that Raven had hidden. Yet the Fareima was enough to light the world of Feodeim's people for half the day. The other half, the dark night, would always be a reminder of Raven's treachery and greed.

Hawk did return to Feodeim with a small piece of the Fareima to share with his people, to allow them the fire of daylight in their homes at night.

"And, of course, Feodeim Breima lived because of the Kareima. It empowered him against darkness and death. When Feodeim’s eldest son reached manhood, he plucked the magical stone from his chest and bequeathed it to his son. Then Feodeim aged like any normal mortal, and his family held the immortal stone of life. The lineage of Le Breima was to forever guard the Kareima."

Deilune ended his tale by placing his good hand over his chest. Which now held the remarkable power of the Kareima, the Heartstone.

Spellbound, Linda asked, "But that‘s just a story. Are you saying that really happened? That you’re alive because of Feodeim Breima and a hawk."

“I don’t know, honey,” Deilune struggled. "The Kareima is real. The gemstone has been in our family for generation upon generation. It is beautiful beyond belief, but I never believed it to be magical," he tapped his chest lightly, "until now."

"But how am I here? I don’t have a Kareima in my heart." Linda said.

Deilune once again placed his hand on his wife's. "Look closely at our wedding bands."

Linda Breima put her ring next to her husband's and together the blue-white light of the Kareima pulsed faintly. She looked from her husband and then to her in-laws. "Your parents gave us these. Are you saying they’re from the Kareima?"

“Yes, dear,” Deilune said. “That has always been the Breima way. Right, Mom and Dad?”

Deilune’s parents answered by putting their wedding rings on the table. Their wedding rings glowed with the same rhythmic heartbeat as Linda and Deilune’s rings.

Grandmother Breima tried to explain, "Tonight, our rings start winking. We believe in past. In old stories. We believe you come back. We believe Kareima bring you back."

Nick looked at his grandfather, “How did you know we found the Kareima?”

“Didn’t know. We think Kareima lost in fire at your house. We not find it,” Grandfather Breima admitted. “But, Hawk smart. It get you smart children to help.”

Linda smiled at this compliment to Nick and Lottica, "So, I guess we owe this second chance to the Kareima, since nothing else makes sense. But we still haven’t answered Lottica's question? Who were those men chasing them?"