[Estelyn Telcontar]

“What of you, my child?” Yawanna asked the Reunited Ent, who was standing nearby in unaccustomed silence. “Now that you have been restored to life and health, what is your desire – to accompany your friends back to Muddled-Mirth or to remain in these lands, undying and immortal, or at least as close to that as you can get?”

“Hoom, hrum!” the Ent answered, typically but not particularly informatively. “Long have I pondered this question, but my answer depends on your response to my deepest wish.”

“Name it,” the goddess replied. “If it is within my power and within reason, it shall be granted.”

“Though I am now whole, I still feel that part of me is missing,” the Ent continued, “for I lost my Entwife long ago. I wish to see her again, and perhaps we shall at last find somewhere a land where we can live together and both be content. Whether that be here or in Muddled-Mirth, I do not know, but can you tell me where to search?”

Yawanna pondered for a moment before replying. “This is a difficult matter,” she said slowly, “and will require thought and time. Remain here for awhile, and I shall take counsel with my breth/sistren to do what we can. Whether we succeed or fail, I cannot yet say, but when we have attempted, you may still go back to the Eastern Lands if you wish.”

° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °

And so it came that Merisuwyniel, Gravlox, Windsor, Halfemption, and Gateskeeper, along with their various accoutrements and equine companions, boarded a vessel that looked foul yet felt fairly seaworthy for their return journey. Painted on its side were the letters “Sethamir’s Stable Boats and Shipping Services”, which might or might not have referred to the vessel’s stability but seemed reassuring at any rate.

None witnessed the last meeting between Merisuwyniel and the Ent, for they went apart and spoke long together, but hopeful was their parting, and they looked to the future with the expectation of meeting again.

Thus they sailed into the sunrise, and as they departed, the names of their now absent comrades, the friends they had made in the course of their adventures, and the foes they had vanquished passed before their minds’ eyes. From afar they heard Yawanna’s voice singing across the water, and for a time they could see her, beckoning to them from the white shore: her emerald hair was flying loose, and as it caught the sun it shone and shimmered. A light like the glint of water on dewy grass flashed from under her feet as she danced.

With a wave of her hand she bade them look round, and they gazed down from the ship’s deck over lands under the morning. Those were now as clear and far-seen as they had been veiled and misty when they had stood on the shore of Valleyum. The Blessed Lands were soon no more than a guess of blue and a remote white glimmer blending with the hem of the sky which spoke to them, out of memory and old tales, of its high and distant mountains. They took a deep draught of the sea air, and felt that a very short journey would bear them to their destination.

“Speed now, fair guests!” Yawanna’s voice called out to them. “And hold to your purpose! East with the wind in your sails and a blessing upon the waves! Make haste while the breeze blows! Farewell, Elves and Elf-friends, it was a merry meeting!” One last time they saw her, small and slender as a green reed against the shores, then she vanished and only her song accompanied them on their way back home.


Raise up
Your fair and noble head;
Day is dawning,
No time to stay in bed.
Wake now
And see what lies before;
Life is calling,
It’s knocking at your door.

Now you can laugh,
I see a smile upon your face.
Perils are past;
Wonderful future’s on its way.
Safe in his arms,
You’re dreaming.

What can you see
On the horizon?
Why does adventure call?
Across the sea
The bright sun rises;
The ship has come to carry you home.

And all is seen
As through a glass,
An image yet fleeting
Comes to pass.

Hope blooms
In the bright light of day;
The shadow’s fading
And only memories stay.
Say now: “Our quest has just begun.”
Green shores are waiting;
You sail into the sun.

And you’ll be there in his arms,
Just ruling.

What can you see
On the horizon?
Why does adventure call?
Across the sea
The bright sun rises;
The ship has come to carry you home.

And all is written,
Finished at last;
A story so lengthy -
Finally past:
This is

THE END