Chapter 22 #3
One by one, Marmariatta showed me her claws, and when she reached her left front paw, she displayed where she lacked one.
“It can, and it will. You are not the only one who can delve into the whisperways, and I have foreseen what you have described, which is why I chewed off my own claw so it might fall into the hands needed to make that future come to pass. You have nothing to fear, little one. That future is as safe as I can make it—and as safe as you can make it. That’s why you are here, is it not?
So that the future you wish to preserve continues on, undisturbed from the meddling of those like us? ”
“Now that I am here, yes. That future has my mate in it.”
“That is something I understand, and I understand it well. You have another question. I can see it in your eyes. Ask.”
“Should your claw remain with her? Or would you prefer if your claw remains partnered with your mate’s?”
For a long time, she regarded me, her head tilted to the side as she contemplated my words. “You are torn because she used the echo of who I once was to spare those she loved from their fate. You worry for the waters that might restore life to that barren landscape.”
I nodded.
“There is no wrong answer, nor is there a right answer, little one. The child who sacrificed all she was and could have been is gone, resting in the eternal symphony. Her body is nothing but a vessel, her spirit long asleep until the whisperways make off with her essence and create a new melody. The same will apply to me as it will apply to my Krikolios. If the symbolism of us being together beyond our final breaths appeals to you, then you have my blessing for it to be so. But once the flames consume me, I will indulge in the forever sleep, my whispering song forever silenced. Any power that might come from my claw is not my spirit, it is but an empty, lifeless echo. I will confess I understand the appeal of lingering with him through the ages, but it is a dream within a dream, something lacking substance and true meaning. But if it brings your spirit peace and soothes your melody within the melody that is all of us, then it should be so. But find comfort in this: you have nothing to worry about. Her remains may give life to the barren lands, but her song ended when her blood became water. Does that help?”
It did. “Thank you, Marmariatta.”
“I was not expecting this final pleasure in my life, and I am grateful for it. I would offer words of wisdom if you would hear it.”
I sat nearby as I’d heard my parents did long ago, listening to the tales of their grandparents many times over. “I would be honored.”
She tilted her head and considered me. “Ah, I see, my little one. I know your father’s mother well, and you are much like her when she was but a youngling discovering the world.
And in your eyes, I believe I see your mother within you.
The way you hold yourself is from her. She was always the first to come sit and listen, as eager as you, her eyes fire bright.
I have seen those two little ones eyeing each other from afar, although I never had them at my feet together.
It explains much of how you came to be here. ”
Torn between horror and amusement over how my parents had been causing trouble from their first breaths, I covered my face with my hands. “Should I apologize for them?”
Marmariatta laughed. “No, do not apologize. They are the opposites that attract and cannot help but love everything about the other. They were taught from the moment they hatched that they could not partner together. The darkness needs the light and the light needs the darkness. It’s not their fault the others are blind to that.
It is much as I was with my Krikolios. We are also the darkness and the light, and we thrive because of who we are and how we differ from one another.
Your song is similar to theirs. I just did not understand what I heard upon your arrival.
You have his depth but her pitch. You are all they could never be alone.
That brings my old heart much joy, seeing that they have found the strength to defy everyone around them to find their own path. ”
For a long time, I would wonder which one of us comforted the other more. “Thank you.”
She reached out and bumped the tip of her nose against me, and her body radiated a soothing warmth.
“Let me teach you a secret, little one. There are many types of sacrifice, but there is one that is the hardest of all. Of all the things I have done, dying is the easiest. All I must do is wait, and my death will arrive with no effort on my part. When you are given the choice, making the choice to endure and live is the greatest of sacrifices you can make. If there is another path, one that does not involve the loss of your life, chase it until you no longer have a choice. That is when your song was truly intended to end—when you no longer have any path left for you to take.”
I took my time thinking about her words, and I nodded. “The girl who gave her life for her city. Was that her final path to take?”
Marmariatta graced me with another toothy grin.
“That is an excellent question, and its answer is buried within the songs of the whisperways. But how will it change things for you if you learn that it was the last path she could have taken? How will things change for you should you learn that it was not the last path she could have taken? Do you truly need the answer to that question? Some of the mysteries of life and death are best left unanswered. This one? It matters not either way. She made her choice, and her truth has already been composed and merely waiting for its moment to be heard. For every soul, there comes a time when no other choice can be made. Those moments echo strongly through the whisperways.”
I blinked, and after a few moments, I realized Marmariatta was right.
It didn’t matter either way.
What had been done was done, and there was no changing the past.
I could live with that.
“Am I really that much like my mother?”
“Your mother is a bright flame who could not abide being just another child of the flame. I have seen her, time and time again, staring at your father and admiring the darkness within him. From the first time she saw him, when they were but a pair of tiny hatchlings told they were destined to be enemies, she adored everything about him. It is not her fault nobody else could see the truth in her eyes. And your father? He would rewrite the whisperways for her if only he could. But that is why you are here. Tell me. Do you know how long they have wandered the whisperways together?”
“From my understanding, not long after Krikolios returned to the ice, although I do not know the precise date. And when they decided to have me, they did so out from beneath the eyes of other dragons, so I would not be spoiled—or pressured.”
Marmariatta nodded. “It is the wish of all good parents to bring their children forth into a time of peace. We wished that for every one of our hatchlings. Sometimes, we succeeded. Sometimes, we did not. While you think on that, I will tell you of when I was young and finding my way in the world, before I met my Krikolios, when ice and flame battled one another and left fertile land in their wake.”