"Oh, the forest. You finally got here. Dia, good for you. Dean, once again, you're quite fast. Nice. Jerry, please lead the entranced pair to the kitchen. I'm hungry. The food's ready. Getting cold. And that makes me cranky."
None of us had noticed Pratt until he spoke. And so, we weren't sure how long he'd been with us. Why was that embarrassing though? I blamed Pharaohs'.
It was a short and tasty meal. I was enjoying the food, when I was surprised by Jerry's question.
"Why aren't you wondering about how and why we're here? In the kitchen at a heritage site. Strange enough that there is one. But, we're actually allowed in."
I didn't have to think long for the answer.
"Because of Dia?" I asked, more sure than tentative.
"Bingo," Jerry and Pratt screamed together.
And all of us erupted into laughter.
"Of course because of me," Dia said proudly. "I'm the grand elder. I can do pretty much anything. And no one can do anything. Not even Eowyn."
"So, I'm pretty sure that's not what makes an elder," Pratt said slowly.
"But of course," Jerry continued. "An elder is one with respect. Honour. Deserving praise. Sure, inducing fear, but for righteous reasons. None of which makes you."
"So, you'd be a tyrant."
"You would make an unquestionably mighty tyrant. The kind that would command kings and knock emperors to their knees."
"That is certainly something to celebrate. As long as we're on the right side."
"Wrong side, more accurately."
"Yeah, whatever. So, good that we are there. The emperor was surely frightened off his mighty throne."
"Eowyn?"
"Of course."
They fell into giggles that were almost grotesque.
Dia and I looked at each other, saw the same intention in our eyes, and left.
"Come," Dia said when we were back in the study. "Let me show you the reason for the climb."
We were back at the first table. Dia scrolled through the notebooks expertly. The one she was looking for was somewhere in the middle.
**
A folk tale of the tail we left behind.
We were heirs of a higher dream. Maybe, that was literal.
We followed the vague idea. Leaving the central lowlands. Heading east. To wherefrom the sun called us everyday. We walked until we saw the mountains in our way.
The only way ahead was up. We climbed. Through forests. Stepped over clouds. To the peak. And stopped only when the sun stepped off from the heavens, so near we could touch it.
The heavens weren't home to gods. The sun wasn't the vanguard of the might of the heavens. It was the gateway. To the flatlands on a higher world that were the heavens. We had walked until where we could. We had found where we were meant to be. We had found home.
The sun welcomed us with a shout of freedom. Shined a bright new day upon us.
**
"Why do you climb?"
Dia looked startled and blanked by my question.
She was staring at me as her hands pulled open another notebook.
**
The mention of the dark day is the most curious. Proves hard to decipher owing to the nature of the Nashi to steer away from literal. Makes it almost impossible to separate veracity from the free form expression. They weren't up yet, and that makes it difficult to separate the dark day from the folk tale.
The forest turned blind. There was only the dark of the heavens and the darker shadows of the below. They couldn't move. And they certainly couldn't remain. In that period of hanging, they saw the brilliance.
The gold splitting the dark heavens and shining down. Serving no purpose but to dazzle. And they were bedazzled. It was a voice that tore through the blinding darkness, calling for them.
How could they not answer?
A new day called them onward, up through the clouds.
**
"I just had to, I guess," Dia answered.
"I don't understand," I replied.
And I didn't. Compulsion was never something I could understand.
"Pratt told you about the turbulent flight, remember? The one that left me afraid. It was an unforgettable holiday. Looking back, it does look fated. I wasn't well after returning. Deciding that I needed a distraction, mother brought me to visit here. Pharaohs'. I fell in love immediately. I didn't know what runes were. I didn't have an inkling of an idea about the Nashi. It was my first time hearing the name Dinah Pharaohs. Still, I fell in love by the end of the first day. It's this indescribable feeling. I had to."
I heard her. Recognised the words. But couldn't understand what she was saying. It was much too foreign.
I thought of Denise. Saw her smile. Heard her whisper in my ears.
"If it's too foreign, just let it be. We don't all have to understand everything. Whatever all you don't, leave it for me."
That was what I would do. Leave it be.
"Does she say anywhere, why she had to climb?"
Dia was better prepared for the second coming of the question.
"Not in one place. We would have to flip through several notebooks and a few papers studying the work of Dinah Pharaohs. Or, I could tell you."
I would love to flip through the notebooks and read the papers. But I could see that Dia wanted to tell me. I shrugged. She beamed.
"She felt a connection with Ryirawra. Dinah was a very spiritual person. And she felt a resonance between her spirit and Ryirawra's."
It took time for the words to sink in. When they did, I understood Dinah Pharaohs better.
"We should go," I said.
Dia smiled, and nodded.
"We should," she agreed.
We were both thinking the same. If we didn't, we never would. We felt a resonance with Pharaohs'.