"Dear Danaan, please help us sinful children of Temuair..."
Thunder crackled off in the distance, and lightning flashed brilliantly against the gray skies above Astrid. Before the Pentagram Grimoire I stood. I reached the Astrid
fields in the late evening. I was dressed in my black leathers, with an ebony cape wrapped tightly around me to protect from the cold.
I had little or no trouble dealing with the weak Kobolds of these fields. My only goal was to reach the Pentagram. And I had. Before this pentagram I had slayn my wicked
father. Before this pentagram I had held the lifeless body of my dear mother. And before this pentagram I was reborn. Reborn with a higher purpose in life; to be an Aisling.
It was here that I held beheld a vision of Danaan by the blessing of Deoch. He had shown me my grand purpose in life. I saw the selfless sacrifice that she gave to every and
single person, so that they might know life to it's truest form.
With my head bowed, I had whispered my prayer; a prayer to both Danaan and Deoch,- lovers intwined for eternity, even through life and death. I prayed
for a sign, for some kind of answer to my troubles. Was my mission a fraud? Was I just a nobody in the grand scheme of things? I prayed with all of my heart, mind, and soul
for that answer. I wanted so much to serve them. I remembered life without them, life without purpose. They had given it to me. But now, I felt as if I was ignored, as if
they had lied to me. Tonight I would find my answer. And it came to me..
My vision was blinded by a radiant reddish-yellow light. Fire? It must of been
the flames of Deoch. A warmth begin to grow within my heart, one unlike I have never felt
before. It was bathing me in it's comfort. By now I had fallen to my knees, my gloved
hands graspsing at the mud ridden ground. I felt the flame if inspiration flicker in my
soul, like a raging untamed fire. And within my mind the words I had been longing for were
spoken.
"Always remember we are watching you. Keep steady your faith in us and everything that you believe," those words wafted through my mind as if spoken with a voice.
In the background I could hear the sounds of wailing. It was the utter disdain of the Kobolds I had heard. My beloved, my wife, she was protecting me while I looked for my
sign. I could smell the blood of death touch the air: Kobolds dying. All too quickly those sounds had vanished. The light had vanished after those words. My vision returned to normal,
and I could see the Pentagram once again. The arms of my beloved held to me tight about the waist, her loving support neverending. I could smell rapsberries,-- raspberries dusted with
cinnamon with the faintest hint of clove. Another smile touched my warily painted lips knowing she was there by my side every step of the way through my journey.
That scent - not truly a scent at all, but rather some essential radiance that bypassed nose and tongue all together and plunged straight into my heart - that essence filled me
now, heart, mind, and soul. it was indisputable evidence that she was truly, impossibly alive and in my arms, and not some guilt-driven memory come to torment my dreams. And as if she
knew I had returned to reality, her soft, angelic voice broke the silence...
"Darling? Have you come for what you were looking for?"
"Yes, my love.. I have," I had said with a gentlness in my voice, "we may go now."
In some ways, Vireyda reminded me of Bertil the Fae, back home in Suomi. Deoch had given me my answer, my sign. So we rode off into the night, with my sign in hand. I knew now
that I had not been lied to that night. I will forever love Danaan, and serve my lord Deoch with all the ferver of my soul.
Finid