Convincing (book)

This Book article has been tagged for wikification.

In other words, the format needs a bit of cleaning up

and/or wikicode added to it.

Check book articles for wikification for more book articles needing wikification.

Convincing

By Gale WarWren


Oh, the quest for knowlege! In my younger days, it took me to
 such places as the peaks of the Dragon Spine Mountains, and
 the depths of the ice dragon's cave. However dangerous the
 risks involved in these adventures of mine, many argue that
 the most dangerous of my undertakings was to go out on the sea
that day. But it also had the most profound effect on my life.

It was a stormy day, and the rain poured down so thickly that
 there was more water than air in the sky. The sea leaped and
 danced glorying in its new found power, power such as the
 world had never seen the like. Each raindrop stung as it
 collided with my face.

They all warned me not to go. My mother wept with grief, as
 though I were already gone. One little girl even thought to
 warn me that Drogor was angry. Phaw! "The God of angry seas"
 was no more real than mermaids, or countless other sailors'
 legends.

Their pleas and warnings, not including the one about Drogor,
nearly convinced to stay safe on land, but the prospect of
 seeing the rarely open to visitors island of Jael, with its
renowned libraries, sounded well worth the risk.

The sea tossed me mercilessly in my small boat. Lightning
 flashed and the thunder roared with laughter at my
 foolishness. I leaned to one side to counteract one wave just
in time for a second wave to come pounding in from the
 opposite side, knocking me out.

As I hit the water, I felt it engulf me, like a hungry
 monster devouring its prey. I struggled for the top, gasping
 for one more breath, only to have another wave come crashing
 down on top, pushing me back under.

The sun was bright in my eyes, and they narrowed to thin
 slits. My hair was matted and slightly damp. A heavy smell of
 the sea lingered around me. My cheek was pressed up against
 the warm sand.

I suddenly realized there was something in my hand, so I
 brought it up to my face to see it better. It was a delicate
gold chain strung with sea-worn glass beads of a light blue
color. In the center of the beads was a carefully formed
 white gold dolphin.

I heard a quiet giggle above me and glanced up. Standing
 nearby, looking slightly nervous, was a group of about half a
dozen women. They were all clad identically in flowing blue
robes and strings of seashells were delicately perched atop
their heads.

"Annise, you woke her! Curse you, girl," the oldest one of
 whispered harshly.

"Please, forgive me, Mother Katann. It will never happen
 again, I promise!" one of the women wept, tears running down
her face.

"It's alright, Annise. I'm not mad. Now settle down and be
 off with you." Mother Katann chuckled. "All of you. I'm sure
 the poor girl is rather scared." Scared? Perhaps confused, or
 even intrigued, but scared was certainly the wrong word. In
 any case, the women understood and all but Mother Katann were
 soon gone.

"What is your name, child?" she asked, pulling me to a
 sitting position as she dropped to her knees.

I looked into her eyes. They were a pleasant blue and they
 possessed a depth that proves impossible to explain. Combined
with her delicate smile she was the most beautiful person I
 had ever seen. Yet, it was not the beauty of the gorgeous
 bards back in the city, flaunting everything they thought
they could get away with it, and usually more. I chuckled at
comparing Mother Katann to one of them. No, her beauty was
more unintentional, as though just an unexpected side effect
 of something far grander. Like the touch of a god. I had to
remind myself quickly that there were no such things as gods.

I finally answered her. "Gale. My name is Gale."

"Well, Gale, perhaps we should be heading towards the abbey.
It's quite a ways, and, beautiful as the beach is with the
 moon shining down on it, a storm is expected tonight. You can
tell me how you came to be on this beach, as we walk back.
 Unless, of course, you were planning on going back out with
 the tide?" Mother Katann winked at me.

"No, quite alright, really. I think I shall be going with
 you." So, she helped me stand and we began walking down the
 beach.

As we strolled, I told of my dreadful night at sea and the
reasons behind it. When I was finished, she told a bit of who
she was and some of the things about the abbey. She was head
 of a group of cleric women, it turned out, all firm belivers
in Eluned, the goddess of the sea. They lived at a small
 abbey on the sea shore, and maintained the shrine there.

The sureness in her voice when she spoke of Eluned put me ill
at ease. I wasn't as sure that Eluned didn't exist as Mother
Katann was that she did. It is a very unsettling thing to
 suddenly realize you might be wrong.

We reached the abbey before nightfall, and Mother Katann
 showed me to a room where I could stay. "I will call for a
 boat to take you home in the morning. It will probably be
here a few days after that. As long as you are here, feel
 free to explore," she assured me before leaving.

It was not until then that I noticed that I still had a firm
grip on the necklace. I looked it over again, more carefully
this tim. Hard as I might look, I could find nothing that
 might hint at the reason I had found it in my hand upon
 waking. One of the hardest things for a scholar to do is
 accept that there is no explanation to something. I stared at
it for a few hours, examining it, rubbing at its smooth
 beads, running my  fingers through my long hair, fidgetting
 with the hem of my tattered dress.

Eventually, I was forced to give up, and I gently slipped it
 over my head. As the dolphin hit my chest with a soft
 "clink," I found myself suddenly lost in panic. I was in the
 water, again, struggling to breathe. Suddenly, there was a
 woman, surrounded by light. She stretched her hands out to me,
 smiling. Her beauty was like that of Mother Katann, yet far
more intense. The next moment it was all gone, the water, the
woman. I was back in the room at the abbey, my heart pounding
rapidly. I collapsed into a small heap, crying panic having
won at last.

In the morning, I felt more relaxed, although still slightly
unsettled. I spent the next few days doing as Mother Katann
had said I was free to, exploring. Most of this exploring was
done in the abbey library. I had always been fascinated by
 books, and nearly drowning hadn't changed me in that area. It
was there that Mother Katann found me on the day of my
departure.

"It is easy to see why She chose you, Gale," she whispered to
me.

"Who?"

She walked over to me and tapped the dolphin on my necklace.
"Eluned of the seas, of knowledge." The smile on her face
beamed like the noon sun.

"What does the dolphin have to do with her?"

"The dolphin is Eluned's symbol," Mother Katann explained.
 She stood and walked over to a nearby shelf and picked a
 carefully rolled scroll. She brought it back to where I was
 sitting and unrolled it. When she showed me what was on it, I
 nearly forgot to breathe.

Exquisitely portrayed on the scroll, with superb detail work,
was a painting of the woman from my vision, my necklace
 around her neck.

As I was sailing back home, I leaned over the rail of the
 boat and whispered to the water. "Eluned, thank you, for my
 life, for the truth, and," I hesitated for a moment. "And for
 choosing me to serve you." The sea whispered back
reassuringly, as small waves brushed at the side of the boat.