Wonders of Sage

It had been a year since Elrin first visited the small village of Aharin. He had a spring in his step, even after the long four days' journey he had gone through to get to the area. He let his horse, Nyla, trot beside him while he held the reins. She'd worked hard to get to Aharin, as she usually did, and she deserved a small break from the weight she'd been carrying for four days.

The villagers waved and greeted him as they closed their shops and finished sweeping their porches to turn in for the night, and Elrin smiled and returned every greeting. The people were always eager to see him when he visited, bringing various gifts and asking for tales of his journey. They adored their visitor as much as the Matriarch and her daughter did, and Elrin was fond of the people in return. Imryll always joked that the people were starting to care more for him than they did her. He always denied it and followed it with a compliment of some kind towards her character. It never failed to make her smile and blush. He loved seeing it.

As if his thoughts had summoned her, Imryll exited the blacksmith's home with a small smile on her face. It was late in the evening, far past the time for a social visit. He grew curious and called her name softly, respectful of the late hour and others' wish to sleep.

Imryll turned to the voice and perked up. "Oh, Elrin. I was not aware you were coming at this time, good evening." She looked tired, and his curiosity turned to worry.

"Good evening, Imryll. I thought to surprise you for your Name Day. 20 years of age tomorrow, yes? It is quite the milestone." Fondness briefly replaced the worry in his eyes. Imryll had been excited for her Name Day celebration. The whole village would celebrate with her. She would finally be named an adult and begin her official training to take over as Matriarch the next year. Elrin was excited for her. He knew she would make a fine Matriarch with Siora to guide her. If she were ill, however... The uneasy feeling returned.

If Imryll noticed his worry, she ignored it. "You are too kind, Elrin. Thank you. If I were not looking forward to my Name Day before, I certainly would be now." She smiled at him, and he felt his face grow hot for a moment.

However, he was not about to allow her to distract him. She did look tired. "Are you well? You look tired. If you'd like, Nyla can take you the rest of the way home. I'd hate to have you too exhausted to enjoy the celebration tomorrow. The people will be worried as well."

For a moment, Imryll looked as if she would disagree. Her face scrunched as she pondered. Elrin grew fond again, taken by surprise as he somehow always was by how beautiful she could look when doing anything at all. He held his breath but released it with a sigh and a smile when she agreed. He knew mentioning the people would get her. He offered her his hand to help her onto the horse, and she simply smiled and pulled herself up and onto the horse's back.

"I'm not unwell, merely tired. I used a good bit of energy earlier, but I can pull myself onto a horse, dear Elrin."

The small sentiment added to his name stopped him a moment, and he blushed once again. Then her words before processed in his brain, and he frowned automatically. What she was doing at the smithy using so much energy, he didn't want to think about. The blacksmith's son was around their age, though closer to Imryll's than Elrin's.

It was dark, but Imryll noticed the almost gloomy aura that surrounded her companion as he looked back at the blacksmith's house. She laughed a little, assuming the aura had something to do with her leaving the blacksmith's house. "I'll explain when we get to the house. Mother should have leftover supper for you that you may eat while we prepare your bath."

Elrin wasn't sure he wanted an explanation. They were only friends, but Elrin was planning on telling Imryll his intentions to court her formally at her Name Day celebration. If she had fallen for the blacksmith's son instead, then his plans would have to change. He could be happy for his closest friend as long as she was happy herself, but he did not particularly want any details of their relationship.

Imryll's silence as they made their way back to the Sage house did little to lessen his worries. He had two gifts prepared for her, depending on what her reaction was when he told her his intentions, and they were both well thought out, but he would prefer to give her one gift over the other one. If she accepted him, he had his mother's necklace for her. It was silver, the pendant in the shape of a crystal dragon. His father gifted it to his mother when he declared his intentions to court her. It was a family tradition. If she did not accept him, he still had a pendant for her. He found one at the marketplace in Whiteridge. This pendant was the shape of a lily. He would give her both if she allowed him to court her, but he could not bring himself to break tradition and give her the dragon pendant if she refused him. He knew she would do it gently, politely, but he did not wish to be rejected.

He let the silence hold as he thought. She could have been thinking of something too. What she could be thinking of, he could not say, but he would let her think in peace nonetheless. His own thoughts were taking over his willingness to speak. It was only a short ride to the Sage household from the blacksmith's home; he could wait.

The problem was that his curiosity still grew, and he had underestimated that. By the time they were at the stables to let Nyla rest, Elrin was all but vibrating with the need to say something. He wanted to ask, but Imryll had said she would explain when they got to the house. Technically, they were at the house, though. He shook his head. He would not be impatient. The questions could wait a little longer.

They felt no need to tie Nyla anywhere. She could be trusted to stay put, so they let her walk around the stables as she pleased after Imryll slipped her a sugar cube. Elrin scoffed, though he had to dial back the adoring smile he originally looked at the sight with when she turned to him. He made sure his smile was merely fond and kind. "You spoil her. It is almost certain you are her favorite rather than me."

Imryll waved the statement off, a laugh on her lips. Elrin allowed himself a moment to focus on the sound before catching up with her following words. "You do not spoil her nearly enough. She does good work, bringing you to me so often. She deserves to have a few extra treats, I think."

If he was not sure that he was madly in love with the women before, that would have done it right then. He took a deep breath and did his best to hide the emotion in his eyes. The darkness helped some. "We should get inside. Siora will worry if you are not inside soon."

Imryll made a noise akin to agreement, or perhaps it was indulgence. Elrin could not tell. She did start moving to the back door to the house, however, so he followed behind her and greeted the Matriarch when he saw her sitting in the living area. "Siora, Matriarch of the Sage household," he said with a grin and a dramatically low bow. She hated when he greeted her so formally.

As expected, she rolled her eyes. "Elrin, second son of the Elanan household, who is about to go to bed hungry if he does not greet me properly."

A laugh escaped his lips before he had given his mouth permission, but he did not mind that. "Hello, Siora. You look well."

Siora smiled and gathered Elrin into her arms. Elrin returned the hug with a soft sigh, his worries fading as they usually did in her presence. It was almost uncanny how he seemed to lose every negative emotion when at the house, but he felt safe and welcomed whenever he was there. He gave the explanation to that and did not think about it much otherwise. There was no need to.

As if she had sensed his earlier mood, she pulled away to look at him. "What troubles you, child?" She glanced at Imryll, who had been watching the exchange with her own look of admiration, two plates of food in her hand. Siora saw the tiredness in her daughter's eyes and opened her arms to her. Imryll set the plates down and went without complaint, sighing just as Elrin had as soon as Siora wrapped her arms around the both of them. "Both of you, sit. Something troubles you, Elrin, and Imryll, you are... Far more tired than you should be."

Elrin winced, the reminder of his earlier worries returning as he sat on the sofa, Imryll next to him. He watched Siora sit on the chair across from them, the picture of peace. With a small smile, he let the picture soothe him. After a beat, he started to eat. It was delicious as always, and he said as much. Imryll blushed and preened at the praise. It seemed she had cooked tonight. Elrin found himself enjoying the food even more because of it. After a few bites, he turned to Siora. "I was merely worried about how tired Imryll looked. She mentioned something... Anyway, I was just worried, that is all."

Imryll's smile grew. "How sweet of you to worry. The blacksmith's son... It was a rough one tonight. I used a little more energy than I normally have to. He's sleeping like a babe now, however. My job was done," she said proudly.

Siora noticed the darkening aura Elrin was unknowingly producing and smiled, letting her own aura of calm wash over the man. She knew what Imryll's words sounded like to an obviously smitten Elrin. Once she saw Elrin relax, she let up on her aura. "Daughter, I believe you may need to explain what you mean by that."

Elrin's eyes darted to Siora. She could not have figured his feelings so quickly, could she? Granted, he had had them for a while, but he was always careful not to let them show past platonic levels. The spark of amusement in the Matriarch's eyes dashed his hopes of having been subtle. She knew.

Imryll, on the other hand, was only mortified once she replayed her words without context. It did not sound good. She glanced at her mother. It was evidently time to tell Elrin the truth. "Zev gets night terrors. They are normally manageable, but he needed extra help tonight. The blacksmith came to the house so I could help him.

"I have... An ability. Dream manipulation. The village knows, and if they cannot wake a loved from from such night terrors, they come to me. I help manipulate the dream into something more pleasant. This one... This one was one of the worst I'd seen. It took a lot of energy to manipulate this one and have it stay pleasant. It kept wanting to go back. My magic can only do so much, but I was able to steer his mind somewhere else. I could not shift the dream to a better one immediately, so I changed the ending. A better ending to the dream made sure he could start a new dream on a better level. It was easier to manipulate that way. I learned something new." Her face again showed pride.

Siora looked just as proud. "Well done, Daughter. That will come in handy so that you do not have to waste so much energy next time. Have some food and rest soon, will you? We cannot have you so tired for your Name Day celebration."

For a moment, Elrin smiled. Siora used his exact reasoning. It did him good to see Imryll eating without complaint. It was also the only thing keeping him from focusing on the absurdity of what Imryll had just told him. Once he got back to it, because he needed to say something about it, he pursed his lips in confusion and slight disbelief. "Magic, Imryll?" It was all he could get out.

Imryll nodded. "Yes, Elrin. Magic. My ability is the manipulation of dreams. Mother's is the manipulation of emotions. She can sense emotional auras, as I can, but she can take those auras and change them. I can only sense vaguely, enough to know whether they will have a pleasant dream or not. I can essentially only sense positive or negative. Negative emotional auras mean negative dreams if they last until one falls asleep. If someone has a negative enough aura, I can catch it and stay with them to help steer the dream somewhere nice before it starts and has the chance to get too bad."

Siora nodded and smiled, calming Elrin again once she sensed his panic. "Have you ever wondered why you relax so easily when I am around? Any time I sense your nerves, your confusion, your anger, I manipulate it into something calm, something more peaceful as I just did when you started to panic. It works well for settling disagreements in the village. It helps people to think more clearly when they are calm versus angry."

Against Elrin's better judgement, he found himself relaxing. He wanted to panic at the very real... Witches? Sorceresses? Enchantresses? Regardless of what they were called, he could not find it in himself to be as alarmed as he felt he should be. It lined up with what Siora said she could do, but he simply could not fully believe it. He took a few more bites of his food, determined to finish it so he would not waste. It was only after he finished the food that he dared speak again. "I think... I should go to bed, think on it. Goodnight, both of you." He flushed a little at Imryll's amused call of "Pleasant dreams, dear Elrin" and all but fled to the guest room that was essentially dubbed his room. He closed the door and felt the panic come back up. If magic was real, then what other myths that he had been told real? It took a while to calm enough to sleep after he climbed into his bed, but he eventually succumbed.

When he woke up the next morning, the oddest feeling in his stomach at the dream he had had, it took a moment for the events of the previous night to come to him. There was simply no way the two Sage women had magic. It was a dream, along with the one he had of a blue dragon named Cael. He shook it off and looked at his clothes, scrunching his nose at the fact that he had not bothered to change. A bath was in order.

The hesitation he felt when opening the door was ridiculous, and he pushed it down aggressively. His dreams would not make him act strangely in front of Imryll on her Name Day. It took a few more seconds for him to move again, but move he did. He got to the kitchen to go out the back door and ended up standing in front of the Sage women. They both had wide smiles on their faces.

Imryll spoke first. "How were your dreams?"

Elrin tensed a moment. Magic was not real. It was a dream. "Fine, thank you. Did you sleep well?"

"I did, thank you. I do wonder though, are you afraid of heights? You seemed hesitant to get on Cael's back when he offered to take you for a ride."

Elrin choked on his saliva. Imryll had not been lying. She manipulated his dreams. She put Cael there. He started to panic again. Perhaps panic was not the right word, but it was something frantic, and panic was the closest word he had. It was not until he felt a wave of calm wash over him that he looked up and saw Siora's smile. Imryll looked so fond and so adoring while she laughed at him, the intensity surprised him.

He had a feeling he would be giving her both pendants before the day was done.