They helped Elke clean up the dishes, and spent a little while just visiting. Eron and Elke took turns holding the twins and Eron, getting to know their energetic grandson, and Eron only broke two chairs and a pair of dishes as he zoomed around the room frenetically. Jenna told them all about Arren becoming king and her hand in that, then told them about those they left behind. "Kerri went back home to Wikuna, and Allia should be in the desert by now. Dar should be in Arkis, and those that didn't stay at the Tower should be in Abrodar by now. Everyone's going home," he sighed. "I'm going to miss them."
"My mate, if we want to get home, we should think of heading out," Jesmind warned.
"It is getting late," he agreed, standing up. "So, what do you say, mother, father? Want to come see the future home of your son?"
"I'd love to!" Elke said happily.
"I think I know which meadow you're talking about, son," Eron smiled. "Let me get my winter cloak and my boots."
They let Tarrin's parents get ready, and then they stepped outside. It was midafternoon now, still briskly cold, and still brightly sunny. Jula stepped down into the snow and looked around, then she laughed and started around the house.
"Jula? Where are you going?" Tarrin called.
"I think it's around the back. I don't know, I didn't come through it," she called.
"What are you talking about?"
"Just follow me!" she called.
They started out after her, and when they came around the house, he started sensing something magical. And it was strong. Jenna looked a little surprised, looking at Tarrin speculatively. "That wasn't here the last time I visited."
"I think we just found out what Mother didn't do," Tarrin chuckled.
What the Goddess didn't do was create a strange stone arch behind the house, just inside the treeline. It was surrounded by a simple split rail fence that had a gate in it facing the house. The arch screamed of great power. The rather plain stone arch was one solid piece of white granite, some twenty spans high and eight spans wide at its base.
"Here it is," Jula said.
"What is this, Jula?" Triana asked.
"Mother knew you'd want an easy way to get back and forth from your parents' farm. So she made you one. Step through this, and it takes you to the meadow."
"Well, that was nice of her," Elke said, a little uncomfortably. "It's going to be a little hard to explain for anyone who comes to visit."
"They can't see it," she said mildly. "Only we can."
"Oh. I'll take your word for it."
Jula smiled broadly. "Come on, father. There's something on the other side you need to see. It's mother's gift to you."
"Now I'm worried," Tarrin said with a nervous laugh. He picked up Jasana and took Jesmind's hand as Jula opened the gate, and then he stepped up to it. He had no real fear of the magical device or using it, but he was sincerely worried about what he might find on the other side of that arch. There was no telling what could be there.
But the only way to find out was to see.
With a sigh, he stepped foward, and then walked into the arch.
There was a strange tingling inside him, and then the view of the woods that he saw through the arch blurred, and then he was standing at the edge of a small meadow surrounded by dormant trees. There was a little stream on the south side of that meadow, but the meadow was covered in lush, green grass. Tarrin stepped forward, mindful that people were going to come after him, but his steps slowed to a stop as he got a good look at the little present that Jula had talked about.
It was a house.
Not just a house. It was the perfect house.
It was two stories high, and just large enough. It was made of simple gray stone, with large windows in its face. The front door, made of mahogany, was built up from the ground, that door framed by a large deck that spanned the whole front of the house, complete with redwood chairs and a table sitting under a slate roof that extended over the deck. The rails of the deck were painted white, rails that ringed the deck and flanked a short staircase that led up to the deck and the front door. The house looked to be a good ten or twelve rooms large, and it was obviously built on top of a cellar.
The house wasn't the only thing amazing about the meadow. It was warm there, just like in the garden back in Suld, a gentle warmth that was magical in nature, a dome of comfort that spread over the entire meadow. It made the meadow grass green and lush, and it ensured that no matter how hot or cold it got in the forest beyond, this little meadow and the house it contained would always be comfortable.
One by one, his friends, children, sister, and parents stopped around him, staring at the house in surprise. They were all absolutely quiet, shocked that they would find it there. And then, Eron laughed.
"I guess you don't have to build it after all!" he proclaimed.
"Now this is a gift!" Jesmind said happily, taking Jasana from him and rushing towards the house. "Come on, let's go see it!"
They all rushed off to the house, to look inside and see what wonders were within. All except Tarrin. He stood there for a long moment, marvelling at the house, and then he laughed ruefully. Jula came up beside him and looked up at it with him, then she patted him on the shoulder and smiled. "You didn't think she was going to let you sleep on the ground, did you?" she asked lightly.
Tarrin laughed.
"Tarrin! You have to see this!" Jesmind shouted from the door. Everyone else was inside. "There's running water, Tarrin! Just like what you described to me they have in Wikuna! It comes right out of a faucet in the kitchen!"
"Well, father?" Jula asked seriously, patting his shoulder again.
Tarrin could only look at the beautiful house in wonder, and then he silently thanked the Goddess. She had given everything he had ever wanted. All he had wanted when all this was said and done was peace. To live in a house out in the forest where nobody would bother him and raise his children, spend time with his mate, and just live. His Goddess had demanded so much of him, but now, he saw, she was willing, even happy, to give back to him in return. She had given him everything he had ever wanted everything he had ever needed. She had brought him back, so he could be with Jesmind and Kimmie and Mist and watch his children grow up. She had brought him here, so he could start his new life. And she had made him this, a beautiful house, where he could live in complete comfort and want for nothing. Where he could watch his children grow up healthy and happy, where he could teach them all he knew and send them out into the world to make their own marks. Where he could spend endless night after night in domestic bliss with Jesmind, or Kimmie, or Mist, always with a loving paw and a good companion with him to share his days and enrich his life. A place he could bring his sisters and friends, a place they would always feel was theirs as well as his own.
A place where he could live. A place where he would be happy.
A tear coming to his eye, he patted Jula's paw, and then started forward. Yes, he wanted to see this wonderful house, this beautiful and perfect gift from his beloved Goddess. He wanted to see it and thank her for every room he saw, every piece of furniture, every little nail in every board. He wanted to see it.
First at a step, then at a jog, and then at a run, Tarrin ran across the meadow, up the stairs, and through the door of this, his house, his land, his place, his territory. His home.
At long last, he had come full circle, and the long journey was finally at an end.
He was home.
To: Title EoF
And so, my children, the tale of
Tarrin Kael and the Firestaff has ended, but this is not the end of Tarrin's adventures.
But as in all things, one end is naught but the beginning of another story.
And there will be other stories to tell.
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