yet it was not that nature had shed o'er the scene
her purest of crystal and brightest of green
He looks different, but Isilya knows him immediately. She had thought him a dream, the colt who had followed her lantern birds to their source - to where they roosted to recharge with her magic. It had been a lovely dream, one that she had revisited throughout the eclipse - of a boy growing a little more each time he returned, following his promise. She had only looked upon him with her gold and green eyes the once, and the rest of his visits were shared with her through the birds. They do not spy on the inhabitants of Tephra for her, but sometimes she can see through them. And close to her tree, her magic was thick in the very air - it permeated everything.
He might as well have been standing within a chamber of her heart when he came. When Sorren visited. And even though she had not been awake for any of his subsequent visits, Isilya enjoyed the company and that joy helped fuel the energy that kept Tephra lit for two years through darkness.
Her attention turns from the girls when he approaches, and there is already a smile growing in greeting. The form he wears is harsh - perhaps even more so for its contrast to the birth of Isilya’s nymph daughters from where she had crafted them from dreams and wishes - but this does not bother her. Fear is not something she knows, this plant magician. Hers is a gentle world - and having slept through much of the eclipse, to her it is just a dark dream. The creatures that had crawled through it were just nightmares to her - without any substance.
And all she can think now is how glad one of the happier dreams has proved to be the true one.
“Sorren.” She says his name without hesitation and without doubt as her hazel eyes take him in, from the pointed horns to the armoured tail. And then in a kind voice filled with that same certainty. “You are always worth knowing.”
Her smile grows then, now that she has shared that truth, and she can tell him her name. “I’m Isilya, and it’s wonderful to finally meet you.”
’twas not her soft magic of streamlet or rill
oh! no, it was something more exquisite still
@[sorren] <3 <3