The early morning sun shines through the dense trees to the east and glistens on the elegant buildings of the velstadeä as Elmáriyë sits on the porch of their dwelling, her hands clasped upon her lap. Late in the evening of the previous night Eléndras had shown them to a structure not far from the […]

I. At the beginning of time, before the aeons of aeons, there was the One, who is called Eldáru, the Giver of all. From him all things that exist came to be; and they came to be as gift, born from the bosom of his eternal love, which is ceaseless delight and everlasting play. Thus, […]

Not far beyond the cavern of the statue, they come to the bridge that was depicted upon the cliff face—a shaft of stone arching across the great rift that descends into blackness in the inestimable depths below. Here the ceiling of the cavern ceases, and the open, late afternoon sky is visible above them, mostly […]

Keeping the impassable mountain slope to their left, they continue northeastward, and a wide plain opens out before them, dotted with trees and speckled with shrubs, with rocks littered about as if tossed aside from the mountain peaks above by the hand of some giant in ages past. At this point, as the way opens […]

Golden light, warm and rich, pours in through a window facing east, and the particles in the air, caught by the light, glisten and glow as they dance. Tilliána, awakened by the warmth of this light falling upon her face, opens her eyes and rolls onto her side toward the light, watching as the particles […]

With the coming of dawn, the symbélyia return to their silent repose in the hidden places of the forest, and the star-laden vigil of the night gives way to the light-bathed radiance of the day. And this night, for the first time since their departure from Ristfánd, was one of complete rest and security, and […]

Morning dawns still and quiet, yet drenched in white, as both the earth and the sky are covered in a thick sheet of colorless moisture: the earth in snow and the sky in low-hanging clouds. Were the sun not veiled by the clouds, the morning would be blindingly bright, its light reflecting off the snow […]

A great city overlooks the sea, its massive stone walls built into the very cliffs that rise above the crashing waves, as if seeking to extend them still further in the conjoining of the glories of nature and the feats of man. The streets are paved with stone, a maze of lanes crisscrossing this way […]

Dawn comes with no sign of their companions. But with the coming of light, Cirien and Elmáriyë descend the slope of the mountain and draw near to the castle, though not within a hundred yards. For a while, they debate entering, for both of their hearts are sick with worry and uncertainty, and sitting and […]

Eldárien stands before the narrow bridge of stones, hesitantly looking out across the lake of fire. Even if the pain was not real bodily pain, he still remembers the dream-pain that he had felt when the Lord of Mæres had cast him into the other lake of fire, the one of the mind and spirit. […]