Ar Thúannan Rheine (part 3 last)

Here is the finish line!

 

At the dawn of the seventh day, two sisters came to Lonnduyan, and all the High Ones met them.

“Look at the lake, how silent and deep it is,” said Ilidas. Look at the sun, how bright and far away it is. And the dew on the grass shines like bright pearls. Gather the water of the lake, the dew of herbs and the sun's rays, and make a potion from them, after drinking which, the soul will forget all its worries - and rest in peace.

Guataerim collected sweet-smelling dew from the herbs and went to the lake, intending to scoop up water - but no matter how hard she tried, the lake became shallow and ran away from her hands, and then filled with water again. Then she took her thread and threw it from one bank to another, and she herself went along it to the very middle of the water surface and scooped up water from there, and this time she did not escape from her.

She looked at the sky and threw the thread all the way to the sun, and she herself stood on it and went up. So she walked, collecting the sun's rays, and suddenly, as if a burst of fire was born in front of her, and she saw Afadar, who came out of the flame.

“You are doing well, my daughter,” he said to her. “But tell me, why didn’t your sister come to us today?”

Alva shook her head in displeasure, but fear wrapped around her heart.

“Am I my sister's keeper?^[1]you see it too, right? TOO similar for a mere coincidence, and even the second time in a row. Very strange;she asked.

Afadar did not answer anything and simply disappeared, but the thread of the sun touched for too long and flared from its heat, and Guataerim would have crashed to the ground, but the boat picked it up and gently lowered it to the ground.

Leidahann collected light pearly dew from the grasses and stretched out her hand up, intending to grab the sunbeam, but every time the sun was covered by clouds and slipped out of her hands. Then she got up in her boat and flew up, over the clouds, and took the light of the sun into her hands, and this time it did not escape her.

She looked at the lake, got into the boat and swam along the dark blue surface. So she swam and drew water from the lake, and suddenly white water flowers blossomed before her, and she saw Igrenna emerging from them.

“You are doing well, my daughter,” she said to her. “But tell me, why didn’t your sister come to us today?”

Alva winced displeasedly, but fear wrapped around her thoughts.

“Am I my sister's keeper?^[2]you see it too, right? TOO similar for a mere coincidence, and even the second time in a row. Very strange;she asked.

Igrenna did not answer and simply disappeared, but the boat let it flow and began to take on water, and Leidahann would have drowned, but she caught a thread on the shore and climbed out along it.

The sisters made a potion, but did not boast before the Higher Ones, but simply silently handed it to them. They tried everything by the throat, and then gave it back to the sisters.

“Try for yourself what you have prepared,” said Ilidas, and although she was calm, the sisters did not argue with her.

I tried my Gwataerim potion, and I tried my Leydahann potion, but it was unbearably bitter, and neither one nor the other could take a sip, but simply spat on the ground.

“The blood of your sister is on your hands,” said Agarad, and the sky was covered with clouds, and a thunderclap was heard.

"That's why it is bitter - it is the taste of evil," said Ilidas, and the heavens seemed to open, and the first drops of rain fell to the ground.

“Murderers,” said Avetu, and the wind blew like a wild storm right in their faces.

“The voice of your sister calls to us from the earth, she groans, having absorbed the bitter brew, so you will be cursed by this earth and driven out! You will wander far from your people, and you will not be able to complete a single creation that you have begun, for you will lose your clarity of mind and forget who you were. And your people will be cursed all along with you for their vanity and pride, and your years will stretch endlessly, they will fall like autumn leaves, and you will fully feel that there is death and that there are changes, until you fade, do not fade away buried under the weight of years^[3]this is the same piece that you will not find anywhere in modern versions;. Get away!”

And Guataerim and Leydahann fled, disgraced and weeping, away from the lands of the Alfs, and never appeared there again.

And the Highest came to Karnah Afras^[4]forgot to indicate in the previous part: Carnach Aphras, "Light Gray Hill"., and touched the lips of Avetu to the weeping earth, and Seangorakh rose from her ashes, beautiful as before, but her eyes were sad, and she did not utter a word. The High Ones dressed her in a white dress, and Agarad was the first to approach her.

“You weaved, you wove a thread from fog and wind, but why do you need it, since your eyes shine like the brightest light?” And he fell on his knees before her, and kissed the ground at her feet.

The second Ilidas approached her.

“From the breath of the mountains and the radiance of the moon you built a boat, but why do you need it, since your hands are snow-white wings?” - and she fell on her knees before her, and kissed the ground at her feet.

The last Avetu approached her.

“You could not prepare a potion from dew, water and the rays of the sun, but why do you need it, since your tears are the pearls of the sea?” And he fell prostrate before her, and lay for a long time, not daring to get up.

Since then, Seangorah began to accompany the dead on their last journey, and many leaves have fallen since that day. More than once she wept over how brothers kill brothers, how an untimely death overtakes the living, and her grief made her old, and she lost all her beauty. Her hair was covered with gray, wrinkles furrowed her face, and she herself was bent from the weight of her burden. Only her hands, stained with her blood, did not age, and remained as snow-white and fragile as many centuries ago.