A Brief Respite

by the Crisses

As for Xaron's part, the trail to Dreal remained cold, however, he was still unable to find Dreal in Kerri in spite of the Unmaking. He assumed that she had gone to Faerie, so he passed to the world of the Sidhe for a time, trying to locate her. Thus there were some years of peace in Kerri after the Unmaking, time used to rebuild the world, heal the people. Time in Faerie was so much faster than that of Kerri; Xaron was away for a long time.

Kerri healed, Celeglas grew, Lupei returned to Kerri and Drendel took counsel with him in private, away from the young brash boy who liked to play with the Sidhe guardsmen and play pranks on the court. Of the doings of the world she learned somewhat, and Sidhe magicians did what they could to reinforce the magics protecting Kerri, which was not only a vacation spot for Sidhe any longer, as the Sidhe were all homeless. Elves farmed and hunted, Sidhe animals hid and stared out of the woodland margins with shaking knees, more timid and anxious than ever.

Dreal, now an unnamed wolf bitch, went about her wolfish business in the wilds of Kerri, evading the Sidhe and native wolves who disdained her, and unable to join any packs, hunting rabbits and mice and hunkering down when it was cold or the weather was foul in a small niche in the great cliffs that were the shared borders between elves and dwarves. It would not be obvious that she was not aging as wolves should, or that she was as intelligent as the Sidhe wolves were, for she was not of the Sidhe wolves.

Nightwind

Brenhani