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Our story starts with the first event of the Crowning Festival (duration: two turns of the Mother Moon) that celebrates the return of Raenafel, the Crown, to her birthplace, the grotto-home of the WaveDancers. Raenafel and Sydor, the High One from the palace, sit in a place of honour within the beautiful grotto shaped into the cliff-face by the first-comers. They are surrounded by the colony of WaveDancers who are either audience members or participants in the dramatic re-enactment of the WaveDancer's history from the arrival of the palace to the journey of the High Ones to the Bay of Solitude. Maron, Paffa, Shoseabee, and Zadori tell the story with mask, movement and dance. It is morning, but Raenafel's face is in shadow, and as the drama unfolds, Barmek circles the future Crown with suspicion in his eyes. The tale finishes with the introduction of Tilaweed representing the mer-elves, and recounts the story of their ritual shape-change as a mark of respect to their mentors, the dolphins, and as an adaptation to their watery environment. After the dramatisation, the elves embark on the Big Swim: a race for all of the WaveDancers, but Barmek is conspicuous by his absence. He watches from the clifftops above the grotto at the height of the mid-day sun, and is joined by Sleia, his best friend, who suspects that he is brooding after his humiliation from the night before. Sleia asks him why he is not participating, and he answers tongue-in-cheek that he wouldn't win against her anyway, and why wasn't she down there herself. She replies that she is concerned about him and would much rather be with him. They decide to swim to the river, and dive from the clifftop into the water below. They swim up the Bay of Solitude to the mouth of the Shoaltail River which appears mysterious and foreboding and heralds an uncertain path that they both unknowingly must travel. Back at the colony, Irralee, Shoresprout and Inkbottom rush in and tell Korillia, who is in a flap over lack of ingredients for the feast she is to prepare for that night, that the victor of the Big Swim had been Hyfus. She is not interested, she is far too busy. She tells them to go and find some gull eggs, and they reluctantly go off to do her bidding. Shoresprout suggests they go via Tentus' cave (which is a lone rocky pillar divided from the headland and the grotto) to check out any new booby-traps he might have come up with to keep them out, but Irralee accuses them of having no responsibility and being nothing but little squirts and goes her separate way to collect the eggs. Inkbottom excited by the suggestion joins Shoresprout in the invasion of Tentus' cave. After negotiating several harmless booby traps, they find him pale and ailing in his bed chamber. He tells them to fetch Rhialdor. Meanwhile, Barmek and Sleia have become a trifle more adventurous and have decided to follow the river a little further inland than they previously have done. All the while Sleia is trying to encourage Barmek to cheer up by swinging on the vines and playing in the water, but Barmek has a serious face and Sleia confronts him about his behaviour. Barmek confides that he was responsible for Raenafel being sent away in the first place. He tells her (in flashback from his P.O.V.) of the time when he was a young squirt and he followed his mother, Kirith, to a secret place and came face-to-face with a young elf who had been kept in hiding from the rest of the colony. She was the daughter of Brom, the Crown at that time. She was a Child of Recognition, her name was Raenafel and it was obvious that she was in grave danger. She was immediately sent away because of his discovery. When we come back to the present, it is late afternoon and the sun is beginning to set. Sleia doesn't understand Barmek's problem: the past was the past and Raenafel was back safely now and he has nothing to worry about. He tells her that that is the real problem: Raenafel wasn't back. Sleia tells him that he's not going to start the same nonsence he did last night. It is time to return, that they have wandered too far from the safety of their home. Barmek tells her that he is not going back: he is going to search for the True Crown. Sleia tells him that he is being stupid. And besides, where was he going to look anyway? He tells her that she needs to trust him. He only has two turns of the Mother Moon before the imposter is Crowned. He knows that Raenafel is out there somewhere: he can feel it. Sleia tells him she is going: he has no more chances left. He will have to do it on his own. He says goodbye and turns to go. She leaves. A few hundred yards downriver, he slips and falls and before he knows it, a welcoming hand is lifting him back to safety. It is Sleia. They look seriously at one another and then a smile crosses their faces and they journey on silently arm in arm. It is evening and considerably colder than they had imagined out there in the wild as they begin to adjust to a different and somewhat frightening environment. That night as they sit huddled and hungry, he thanks her for trusting him. He tells her that from the moment that the colony was introduced to the future Crown (24 hours before), he knew her to be false and besides where was No-Wing? He couldn't believe that No-Wing would stay at the palace and not return to its sea-home.
And he remembers (in flashback) Jormak proclaiming that Raenafel, the True Crown, had returned with Sydor, the High One, from the palace. And then we see, surrounded by cheering WaveDancers, the body and then the face of Winnowill.
We pick up the action in the flashback sequence of the previous issue. On sighting Winnowill, Barmek protests that she is not the True Crown. There is stunned silence from the rest of the colony until one suggests that Raenafel alias Winnowill be taken to the one who knows. Winnowill is brought down to Kirith who with Brom had raised her from birth in the secret place many turns of the seasons before. Kirith's head is inclined and gradually Winnowill raises Kirith's chin. We see the fixed eyes of blindness. Kirith's hand goes up and touches Winnowill's face. Kirith is unsure, but Winnowill tells her of a private incident from their past that only Raenafel and Kirith would know. Kirith accepts her and Barmek's protests are ignored. Barmek closes the flashback with his thoughts and feelings on the matter and huddles closely to Sleia as the sounds of hungry stomachs grumble in the night. Cut to the feast in the grotto that very night. We see close-ups of wonderful food prepared by Korillia. Sydor and Winnowill are surrounded by eager, curious and chattering elves. There is a cacophony of conversation: for example, Korillia's constant need for reassurance about her meal preparation, an enquiry to Sydor about how he and Raenafel met which Sydor suitably deflects, the set-up of Hyfus' and Tilaweed's estrangement over their lost Child of Recognition, the first note of Barmek and Sleia's absence, Rhialdor's jester-like role in the community, and Korillia's refusal to serve octopus as part of the meal even though it is a great delicacy. The scene closes with Rhialdor announcing that he was summoned to Tentus' cave earlier that afternoon, and that Tentus has requested a visit from the two new arrivals. Rhialdor takes Sydor and Winnowill to Tentus' cave and the Chamber of Remembrance which holds an enormous coral sculpture with dioramas set in it depicting the history of the WaveDancers. Tentus is still very sick, but he tells them of a special ability he possesses. From the taking of the first Child of Recognition many generations before, he has felt the sickness of an unknown presence upon him prior to each disappearance of a recognised child. And his whole being is now awash with that feeling; the threat of danger which has incapacitated him is stronger now than it has ever been before. He warns Raenafel alias Winnowill that "the dangers are many!" Cut to Barmek (exit) pursued by a bear. The two travellers have had nothing of substance to eat all morning except for little red berries from bushes along the way. They are no longer travelling by river but have turned northeast through forest terrain in the direction of Barmek's calling. They discuss Barmek's failure to kill the bear for food and are unsure and totally ill-prepared for this new environment which poses danger but also wonder at every turn. As they travel along feeding a little more on the red berries (dreamberries), they begin to feel a little fuzzy in the head and find that they are giggling at the slightest provocation. They encounter and begin to take an unusual interest in many alien creatures like grasshoppers. They also start to hallucinate. At the colony the alarm goes out that Barmek and Sleia have been absent all night. The community congregates in the main chamber of the grotto and comments on the fact that this is not their way. No WaveDancer would stay away without telling others where they were going and what they were doing because of their painful history with the disappearances of the Children of Recognition. They begin to organise a search party for the missing two. Kirith asks Raenafel alias Winnowill to heal her sight, so that she can join the search for her son. Winnowill asks Kirith how and when the blindness came upon her. Kirith tells her the dream she had several nights before their arrival. She was alone in the middle of tiny rocky outcrop in the middle of a huge ocean. Her belly was swollen with child and she had her original legs. Suddenly Jormak appeared from beneath the waves. She tells him he must deliver the two children for her. And before she has a chance to say anything more, she feels the first birth pains, strains and he receives the first child and then the second with outstretched arms. He steps back holding the girl child in one arm and the boy child in the other. Kirith collapses to the rocks in great pain. When she looks up again she sees that Jormak has an arm around the grown woman, Raenafel, and his other arm around a grown man, Sydor. She strains again and falls onto her back. In the final after-birth delivery, two spiders run across her stomach and up to her face. They sit on her eyes and she wakes up, blind. Sydor steps forward and speaks for Raenafel alias Winnowill. He tells Kirith that she has been given the gift of fore-sight, and that is why she understood their coming and why she sent Jormak out to greet and bring them home. But with every gift there is a taking. She must learn to accept her blindness. Hyfus calls the group together and organises them to search for the two missing elves. Hyfus asks Sydor and Raenafel alias Winnowill to wait and that the news will be brought to them. He reaches out and touches them both as a goodbye gesture then leaves with the rest of the WaveDancers. We get a momentary glimpse of Sydor wiping his hand on his garments as if to remove Hyfus' tainted touch from his skin. He also comments as an aside to Winnowill that it is a great pity that Kirith will never receive a dream of fore-sight again. It is late afternoon and Barmek and Sleia are drunk on dreamberries when they spot another bear. Barmek tells Sleia that this one is not going to get away: he has a plan. She is to climb a tree and upon his signal must drop onto the bear thus distracting it while he runs it through with a knife. He will flush the bear out towards the tree. She does as he instructs and somehow makes it onto the lower branches. He starts hollering and dancing wildly for the bear which turns and runs towards him. He holds his ground beneath the tree until the bear is within feet of him, and then he yells to Sleia to drop as the bear looms up on its hind legs to strike him. But Sleia misses the bear and hits the ground instead. He turns to look at her just as the bear begins its downward swipe. He turns back just in time to raise his knife and plunge it into its throat. It is a total fluke and somehow or another they manage to roll the bear off Barmek and cut some meat from it. They ease the emptiness in their stomachs, but comment on the taste differences between red bear meat and white fish meat.
The calling is strong and acts like a homing signal to Barmek. Later that night we see them walking in silhouette against the moonlight. Sleia asks that they stop to rest for the night, but Barmek insists on going a little further. Presently he points her to what looks like a good place to stop, and Sleia says she hopes they will get a good night's sleep after the events of the day. They lay down on a small grassy mound. We see a closeup of an ant coming out of its hole and pull back to see a swarm of ants about to put an end to Sleia's wish.
Sydor and Winnowill are in their private chamber within the grotto. Sydor tells his companion that the two missing elves must be found, so they cannot cause any complication to his plan. If they are present within the community, they can be controlled. Winnowill says that if they are dead then they are silenced and it does not really matter. He tells her it is the not knowing that is an annoyance to him. Jormak enters their chamber. He says the WaveDancers have had no luck with the search and have returned empty handed. The others are asking for them. They are greeted by the colony in the main chamber. Rhialdor asks for their help. Why was it that the happiness of the colony was so fleeting? Just when things were looking better. Barmek and Sleia would not have stayed away without saying anything: it was not the Wave Dancer's way. Hyfus says that the WaveDancers are battling an unknown foe: these two young ones were not even Children of Recognition. Rhialdor says that Brom would have done something, that is why he gave his life for his daughter. They must do something. Sydor responds with "what is it that you would have us do?" There is a deadly pause. Sydor turns Winnowill away, and they walk back to their private chamber. Jormak begins to accompany them, but Sydor barks to him to stay away. Within the privacy of their chamber, we see a momentary crack in Sydor's facade. What is it that he is to do, he asks himself. Winnowill comments that it is interesting how the most insignificant little elf can create such a problem within one's plans. Sydor turns and threatens her. He tells her he has pushed her pain down for her, but he can just as easily make it erupt once again. He sends to her and uncorks an avalanche of torment, despair and old memories that will sear her internally. She keels over and lets out a silent scream as the torment courses through her body, and she is once again forced to confront her past. As the pain subsides and she begins to recover, we see a glimpse of her eyes: pain then confusion. We see a flash of her P.O.V. Sydor is curled up on the floor of the chamber in a foetal position. We see her eyes again: bewilderment then comprehension then realisation and a glint of knowing. A moment later we see Sydor, regal and tall, oblivious to his previous fugue state, telling Winnowill that he knows how to get his plan back on track again. We visit Kirith's and Rhialdor's chamber. Present with them are Hyfus, Shoseabee and Lazik (Sleia's parents) and Kadva. Hyfus is consoling them for their loss. He tells them he knows how they must feel. He still remembers what it was like to lose his child, Illora, many years before and how a loss like this one could bring it all back for him. He wishes that he could be like Tilaweed and be unaffected as she is by such a tragedy. An open ocean, a setting sun: Tilaweed is swimming through the waves. She finds her rock and pulls herself up to face the horizon. We see a closeup of her face: a tear falls from her eye and a fleeting memory of a younger self with a tiny baby daughter now gone passes through her mind. Several days later we catch up with Barmek and Sleia marching along with itchy red welts along their body which strangely resemble ant bites. Barmek is setting the pace: he is very focussed, very driven and doesn't even acknowledge the pain in his webbed feet that have been cut and bruised by the hard terrain. They walk across a great river. Barmek's heart is heavy from the calling. They wander over a ridge. Stretched out before them is a scene of mighty devastation: the remains of a collapsed mountain (Blue Mountain). All is silent. They proceed with caution until they reach a deserted human camp. Having no experience with humans, they cannot identify with it. Scattered around are different weapons: spears, knives, etc. Barmek picks up an arrow head which compensates for the fragility of his own weapons (carved from sharks tooth and coral) in this environment . As they walk over the rubble, they become fascinated with the colours, shapes and curling rock formations. Sleia pockets a small piece and remarks on how it is the first rock they have seen that resembles coral and maybe it was a good-luck omen for them. As they continue along they are overcome with the stench of death and decay. It is not long until they see the carcass of a giant bird with an armoured plate on its breast. Their eyes fix on the creature which is nearly as big as a whale. They are so distracted by the sight, that Sleia steps on a snake. It bites her and slithers away. Barmek spins around and pinions it with his new arrow head. It thrashes around in its death dance, and Barmek and Sleia panic. They may never have seen giant birds before, but sea-snakes are known to them and they mean only one thing: death if bitten. Barmek carries Sleia down to the other side of the mountain rubble to a more forested area and lays her down beneath a tree. Sleia says she doesn't want to die, but she knows it is inevitable. Barmek is at a loss: for the first time the calling is secondary to him. She feels a numbness in her leg. She has seen the effect of a fatal sea-snake bite and knows that the numbness will soon spread through her body until the living breath is choked out of her. Barmek knows that there is nothing he can do for her and holds her close to him. She feels the numbness spreading and at last asks Barmek to perform the ultimate act of friendship: to take her life so she need not suffer. He refuses. He tells her that maybe this land snake is different: that maybe she wouldn't die - all they can do is wait and he will wait with her. He cradles her in his arms in the shade of a giant tree. They are small and insignificant in the cycle of nature. We see an owl and hear gentle forest noises. A doe steps out in front of him then runs away as he moves. It is morning. Sleia lies cold and limp in Barmek's arms. He stayed awake for most of the night, but drifted off just prior to sunrise. He is again awake. The sun is warm and beckoning, but its warmth can do nothing for Sleia. He looks at her resigned and tears form in his eyes. He lays her gently on the ground and kneels back. High in the tree above them, dew drops collect on a single fragile leaf pooling in the middle. A tiny perfect drop hangs delicately on the end of the leaf. A small ladybird lands on the stem of the leaf causing a slight tremor that sends the dew drop on its downward path. It lands on Sleia's temple and Barmek reaches to wipe it away. But Sleia's hand moves and wipes it first. Her eyes open and they embrace. It was terror, not poison that caused her to fall ill. We see them briefly through the course of the day. Barmek fetches and carries water and food for her. He dips leaves in water and soothes her brow. He tends the bite on her leg as best he can with limited knowledge of treatment in this environment until the next day when she has somewhat recovered. He asks her if she is ready to travel because the calling is overwhelming, overpowering within him and he must acknowledge it again. She say yes, together they can do it, and they go on their way. Montage sequence of the travellers passing through different terrain over five days. There is an increased sluggishness in the rhythm of their progress as the land gets colder, but also drier around them. We see that there is no water and that they are affected badly. The Mother Moon has reached the first quarter of her second cycle. We join them again the next day. Barmek is frantic now: the calling seems to ring in his ears. Sleia is exhausted and delusional from her misadventure with the snake. They are badly dehydrated and in need of rest and nourishment and near delirium. Suddenly paranoia sets in and they turn on each other. The fight culiminates in her pushing him over a cliff where he falls over onto jagged rocks and gets knocked unconscious.
Selia runs away in a frenzy until she drops exhausted to the ground. When she wakes up she sees No-Wing, the wingless Preserver spitting wrap stuff in her face. Sleia looks up to where No-Wing came from. In a vertical niche in the rock face, camouflaged with branches from a tree, is a large cocoon made of wrapstuff. It is obvious from the size that it contains an elvin body.
What Happened Many Years Ago: Ailsa gives birth to Raenafel in the sea with Brom her soulmate at her side. Kirith is the midwife. A shadow hangs over the birth: as a Child of Recognition, Raenafel will undoubtedly be stolen from the colony. When the baby emerges, Kirith takes her to the surface for her first breath. When Kirith returns she finds that Ailsa is dead from a loss of birth blood. The WaveDancers have lost their only healer. Brom tells Kirith to go back to the colony and tell them that both mother and child are dead. After Kirith's departure he cuts Ailsa's chest with a shell to release her blood and to attract the sharks which will dispose of the body in the WaveDancer's traditional death ritual. He farewells his soulmate, then casts her body out to sea. He takes the baby girl to a hidden cave where she is kept in solitude for many years. Montage sequence: the baby feeding from a dolphin, little Raenafel playing with No-Wing, and the adolescent Raenafel learning life lessons from Kirith and Brom. Then one day the peace is shattered when young Barmek follows his mother to the cave and stumbles on Raenafel. Raenafel is startled when she is given his soul-name, but he is still too young to receive her's. Raenafel realises that she has half Recognised. Kirith tells Barmek to go. When Brom finds out what has happened, he understands the danger that Raenafel is in. He sends her away with No-Wing to find the Palace of the High Ones, and then tells the colony the truth about his daughter's existence. Barmek is plagued with guilt about his part in the venture. What Is Happening Today: Sleia moves aside the branches that hide the cocoon. She gets excited at the discovery and announces to Barmek that he was indeed right, this must be Raenafel. But he doesn't respond. She retraces her steps and finds him mangled at the bottom of the cliff. She climbs down and carries his unconscious body to where No-Wing is situated. Knowing that Raenafel is a healer, she goes to slash the wrapstuff, but is stopped by No-Wing who tells her that the pretty high webbed thing needs wet-stuff. Sleia hoists Raenafel's cocoon over her shoulder and asks No-Wing to look after Barmek until she returns. She finds a pool of water and emerses the cocoon in it. We see remnants of the wrapstuff scattered over the rocks and see Sleia moving Raenafel through the water rather like one would resuscitate a beached whale. There is movement and bubbling from beneath the water and we get a glimpse of a blurry face as the eyes open. Sleia runs back to Barmek to find him totally cocooned in wrapstuff with No-Wing standing proudly over its work. Sleia drags him back to the water and demonstrates her strength and her endurance throughout all these tasks. Barmek comes to consciousness in the water and Sleia tells him she has found the True Crown exactly as he had predicted. Barmek asks where she is, and Raenafel steps forward and says she is here. We see her from Barmek's P.O.V. as he lifts his head from the shallow basin of water he is lying in. A statuesque young elf with long black hair who bears a striking resemblance to the imposter in the grotto rises from the water. And as eyes meet eyes, soul meets soul. The Recognition is complete. He passes out again. Sleia turns to Raenafel and asks for help healing the young elf. Barmek goes into dreamspeak. Barmek tumbles into a dream scene and he sees himself cradling Sleia in the forest of many days ago when she had just been bitten. He is crying as he holds her cold limp body. He hears a crackling in the bushes beside him and the Raenafel steps out. They look at each other, their eyes meet. He lays Sleia down and goes to the Raenafel and touches her. They are transformed into a doe and a magnificent elk. Her soul name echoes through his being. We follow the journey of the elk and doe to the top of a mountain looking over a beautiful valley as lightning and thunder crashes around them. A clap of thunder rouses Barmek from the dream. He awakens to find himself on dry land. Sleia embraces him saying that she's glad that he's okay. Raenafel has healed both his leg and restored her body to balance after the effect of the snake-bite and the hard journey. As she hugs him, he looks over her shoulder and sees Raenafel staring at him. Raenafel says that it has been a long time since they have last seen each other: he has grown up. Raenafel tells him that she is glad that they received her sending: it is obvious that she has been sending for a long time. Now that everything is okay, she needs to continue on her quest to find the palace. When the land had become dry and she could find no water, she had asked No-Wing to perform its ancient but never-forgotten craft and cocoon her in wrapstuff until a future, safer time. She tells them that she must continue on and find a High One in the palace to bring back to the colony and stop the Curse of Recognition. Barmek and Raenafel exchange looks. Sleia tells her that is precisely why they are here: that another elf claiming to be her has turned up at the grotto with a High One by her side. She will be crowned in Raenafel's place by the end of the current cycle of the Mother Moon, and it is imperative that they go back and stop this from happening. Raenafel asks what Brom is doing about this. Barmek tells her that her father is dead: he died trying to defeat the very thing that he feared would take the life of his recognised child. She asks how he died. Barmek tells her that his father, Rhialdor, found the body of Brom, and that he had drowned. To this day Rhialdor cannot talk about the discovery. Raenafel asks to be left alone and goes off. Sleia and Barmek debate the virtues of consoling her. Barmek wants to go to her and help her, but Sleia says he must leave her alone with her grief.
Raenafel presently returns. There is a change in her demeanour and attitude. She seems stronger and far more in control as if she has seized a vital essence that only one belonging to the true line of the Crown can possess. She tells them she will follow her father's wishes and take responsibility for the Crown. No-Wing says goody-goody yes, time to go back to old flippy-flop thing (Tentus). Raenafel takes command of the return journey to the Bay of Solitude.
It is several weeks since we were last at the colony. Winnowill and Jormak rouse from a bout of lovemaking. They are lying on a rocky platform on the northern headland amidst rock pools and an incoming tide. The Mother Moon is nearly full and rests on the horizon. Jormak comments on how extraordinary he finds Raenafel alias Winnowill: he has never known such depths of passion. She doesn't need to answer: she knows where her strengths lie. Jormak launches into a tirade of complaints about others in the community: how Rhialdor, his father, is weak; how he perceives Hyfus with new eyes; and that she is the first true strong elf that has a right to claim the power that is her's to command. She is the only one of the WaveDancers to venture out from the safety of their shores; the only fearless one. He asks her about the palace, and she responds with a lie. She describes the palace in terms of Blue Mountain and the Egg. Cut to Sydor sitting in the Chamber of Remembrance surrounded by devoted WaveDancers. He tells his version of the palace. Above him Tentus works on his coral sculpture. He appears puzzled, because the description that Sydor has given does not match his own diorama based on Ausra's and No-Wing's description. Jormak and Winnowill are tantalising each other on the rocks. Jormak asks Raenafel alias Winnowill what Sydor means to her. She tells him that he is a necessity at this point of time. Jormak remarks that it is only two days before her crowning. He knows what Sydor's vision is for the colony, after all, he had brought the community back together again. His speech to them several weeks before has left the memory of his brother and Sleia on distant waves. But what was her vision for the WaveDancers? Her words seem to echo from the past during a time when she spoke similar words to another black-haired elf. She tells Jormak that together they will command the palace on its journey amongst the stars, and she points to a constellation in the sky and spins a false story of them returning to their original spiritual home. In the Chamber of Remembrance, Sydor shares his vision with the WaveDancers. They ask him to tell them once again what it would be like when they all returned to the palace. He tells them they will be reunited with Barmek's and Sleia's spirit along with the spirits of Brom and Neama, and all the elves lost to them. One of the WaveDancers asks whether this includes the Children of Recognition. There is a momentary pause, and then he gives his assent. Tilaweed and Hyfus exchange a private look. Sydor describes the palace in very heavenly, spiritual terms, and says he will command the palace on its journey amongst the stars. Suddenly, he looks around the chamber and realises that there are missing faces in the fold. He asks where Raenafel is. He is told that she was last seen with Jormak. His face clouds over and he lock sends to them both. Winnowill and Jormak receive his sending. Winnowill instructs Jormak to go back first, that she will follow a little later. He goes. Winnowill's face hardens. She stands and faces the open sea. She says that if he thinks Sydor can command her, then the tide will turn sooner than he thinks. She raises her hands and the waves crash onto the rocks around her. In their private chamber a short time later, Sydor begins to interrogate Winnowill on her behaviour. She stands with her head bowed. He demands that she stay by his side, and wants to know where she has been and what she has been doing. He tells her that from the time he found her on the island, he could either help her or destroy her. He had given her the disgusting webbed fingers so that she could pull off the charade and fulfil his plan. But he could also cause her more pain than she could ever begin to contemplate. A worm's P.O.V. Her face is hidden to Sydor by her hair, but she bears a knowing smile: she knows his weakness. Elsewhere in the Chamber of Remembrance, Inkbottom is upset because Shoresprout has denied that Sleia is his sister. Kadva patiently explains the parentage of all parties and establishes indeed that Sleia is Inkbottom's half-sister. Feeling happy again, Inkbottom ventures out looking for his friend, but encounters Sydor instead. Sydor asks Inkbottom is he would like to see some magic. Inkbottom says yes and follows him into a dark cavern where Winnowilll is waiting. There is a mysterious flash of light. Rhialdor tracks Jormak to the clifftop where Jormak is throwing stones onto the rocks below. Rhialdor asks whether Jormak could come to the family chamber to console Kirith who is still taking the loss of Barmek very badly. Jormak says he has other priorities at that moment. Rhialdor asks him whether there had been any feelings of remorse for his brother at all, and Jormak says that tears are a sign of weakness and Rhialdor would know that only too well. They should follow Raenafel alias Winnowill's example who did not shed a tear when informed of Brom's death. Jormak's place is at the side of the new crown. Rhialdor departs, and we see that Jormak has been throwing stones at some helpless and hapless crabs. We join the travellers. They have paused on their journey. They have trekked across the mountain rubble and have swum down the river that was adjacent to Blue Mountain to reach the mouth. It is night and before them stretches the Vast Deep Water. Raenafel is silhouetted against the Mother Moon lost in her own thoughts, No-Wing perched in her hair. Sleia says she is exhausted and asks Barmek why he had been so quiet, so sullen for the whole return journey. It had been fairly uneventful, but he had hardly said a word since they started. She asks him to share his thoughts and feelings, but he turns away and lies down to sleep. Sleia goes to Raenafel. Raenafel asks if they are ready to go. Sleia tells her that they are too exhausted. Raenafel says they will rest for a little while only, because the moon tells them they only have two days left. Sleia says that she is concerned about Barmek. It was as if he had been burdened with a great weight: he doesn't talk, his swimming is slow and heavy. They sit down on the cliff-face, their legs dangling over the edge. Raenafel asks Sleia what kind of a relationship the two actually have. Were they lifemates? Sleia tells her that she has special feelings for Barmek, but sometimes she gets the impression that his path lies elsewhere. He seems changed: she hasn't heard him laugh since they've started back. Raenafel says that she is at a loss about what to say or do. She hasn't got the right words inside. Barmek and Sleia are the only two WaveDancers she has ever met outside Kirith and Brom, and she hopes that Sleia will be her friend. Sleia is listening, but at the same time playing with the rock she found in the mountain rubble. As she throws it in the air, Raenafel catches it and her face freezes. She sees fleeting, fractured, and confused images of Blue Mountain with Winnowill featuring strongly. She asks Sleia where she got the rock from; Sleia tells her. Raenafel makes an internal connection that perhaps the same elf with the long black hair that caused the pain in the mountain, may be one-and-the-same as the imposter at the grotto. She gets up quickly and says they have to leave there and then. She goes to Barmek and wakes him. His eyes are pained. She tells him "soon", but they must leave now. Barmek does not want to recognise with her - he knows the repercussions of the union - their child will be stolen like all the other Children of Recognition. Raenafel tells him that Brom believed that the curse was not fated and could be fought. Would Barmek stand by her? He doesn't answer. They all dive into the Vast Deep Water. One day later. The WaveDancers gather in the evening for a group sending. The sending, which is a calling to their brothers and sisters (the dolphins), marks the beginning of the final event in the Crowning Festival: the Sea Hunt. It is traditional for the outgoing Crown to go out and lead the hunt in on the morn. As Brom is dead, the honour falls on Hyfus' shoulders as he has, until this time, been the acting leader of the colony. As Hyfus is about to leave, Raenafel alias Winnowill stops him, and bestows the honour on Jormak. There is silence as Hyfus steps back, and Jormak proudly and smugly steps into the sea.
That night Winnowill is separated from the other WaveDancers. She is bathed and annointed for the coming ceremony. She prowls over the Crown as if she has the world at her feet.
It is the morning of the last day of the Crowning Festival, and the Sea Hunt is about to begin. The WaveDancers are assembled in the shallow water off the beach in the Bay of Solitude. They are looking seawards. On the horizon small black dots appear: the Hunt is coming. We travel across the water, and the dots become bigger and bigger until it is clear that they are dolphins. Jormak holds onto the dorsal fins of the two lead dolphins as they speed through the water. There is an aerial view of the Bay: the WaveDancers on the shoreline, the dolphins herding something in from the north-west and between them a moving dark patch of shadow under the water. All of a sudden fish of all shapes, sizes and colours burst everywhere. The water froths and boils from the huge quantity as the WaveDancers laughingly try to catch the biggest prize. The largest fish caught will take the place of honour at the feast after the Crowning. The elves and the dolphins carouse joyfully: there is activity everywhere. Sydor and Winnowill stand back on the shore. Sydor comments on the impurity in the relationship that the revellers seem to have with the dolphins, but Winnowill can't help smile at the scene before her. Paffa and Maron work together in their serious attempt to get the biggest fish. Korillia scuttles between them all taking lone and helpless octopi from the bubbling mess. She notices one has attached itself to Burdekin's face and peels it away. Irralee runs up to Sydor and presents him with a rather large fish to enter as a possible prize. He accept it with a forced smile then turfs it over his shoulder once she has turned away. Shoresprout goes to Inkbottom's aid when the fish he has speared swims off with him still attached. She shouts to him to let go, but he refuses to lose his first weapon and his catch. She grabs hold of his legs and they go on a merry chase with the wounded struggling, but very strong, fish in their grasp. The spear dislodges itself and the fish leaps out of the water. They think they have lost it, but find that it has accidentally committed suicide on the rocks by beaching itself. The children win by default. And just as quickly as the dolphins had come, they go. Up north, Raenafel, Sleia, Barmek and No-Wing are swimming in the open ocean. Their webbed feet and hands propel them through the water. This environment is their's. The two females are leading. Sleia sends to Raenafel and says that Barmek is dropping behind. Raenafel responds through sending, and tells her to keep going, that she will look after him. She swims back to him, offers her hand in an act of support and identification, but he refuses to take it. Preparations are underway for the Crowning. Zadori and Burdekin gather firestones into a clamshell from a nearby volcanic island. Lazik harvests seaweed for decoration, Korillia cooks the feast and Maron gather the players masks. Inside Tentus' cave, Inkbottom and Shoresprout sit with the old mer-elf. As he delicately shape a hole through the centre of the pearls he takes from a oyster shells the two squirts clean fronds of seaweed and thread the pearls onto them. Tentus tells them stories of the past. How Ausra was the only flesh-shaper and perhaps Raenafel would inherit that took. Inkbottom looks at the coral sculpture and points to a Conehead form saying that he has looked like that. A storm is brewing as Raenafel, Sleia and Barmek continue towards their destination. The sky is dark, the waves are tumultuous, and a lightning bolt strikes the clifftops above them. The three travellers decide to swim in the quiet and relative safety of the undersea. They dive about twenty feet under and proceed to swim ala dolphin style through the water. Occasionally they surface for air, and we see stage by stage how ferocious the storm is becoming. The grotto which has been transformed to reflect the happiness of the occasion. The walls are decorated with garlands of seaweed, strings of pearls festoon the coral formations, and wooden torches with dried seaweed wrapped around the ends have been prepared to be lit. When the torches are dipped into the firestones they burst into flames and are held aloft. The entire grotto is transformed into a heavenly vision of fire, of blazing colour, of sparkling brilliance. The travellers are coming around the northern headland. Raenafel cannot tell if the moon has risen for all the thunder-clouds and lashing rain. She calls to the other to keep up, they are nearly there. They cross the mouth of the Bay, and all of a sudden they take a deep breath and dive down into the depths. They swim until they reach the entrance of the grotto. As they burst into the main chamber, all eyes fall upon them. They find that they are too late: the Crowning has already taken place. Before them stands Winnowill with the elaborate head-dress of the Crown upon her holding the Crown's trident. Raenafel steps forward and says that the elf before them is a false one. The colony is aghast at seeing Barmek and Sleia alive not to mention another long blackhaired elf maiden with a wingless Preserver in her hair. Jormak steps forward and accuses his brother of treachery and demands to know the true identity of his companion. Kirith asks Rhialdor what is happening, and he recounts the circumstances to her. He cannot comprehend how the two young ones were still alive when they had been given up for dead. He mentions also that No-Wing is with this new elf. Kirith asks Rhialdor to take her to the new one. The argument between the two brothers escalates and becomes physical. In the background we see a soft and gentle interchange between Kirith and Raenafel as the latter restores the sight of her surrogate mother. Kirith shouts to her sons to stop fighting. They break and all eyes are upon her. She says that she can now see that she has been deceived. Sydor breaks in by pointing the blame at Winnowill. He says that he too has been manipulated and lied to by her: that she had convinced him that she was who she said she was. Winnowill turns to him and says that the tide has turned and his time is up. She lock-send and he falls to the ground in agony. While all eyes are upon him in the confusion, she slips away unseen by all but Jormak who follows. We see a flash of Sydor's torment: screams echoing behind him, primordial humans surrounding him, a dark cave, mutant Conehead forms. The convulsions subside, and he is left a vacant, staring shell. Winnowill then smashes the crown and the trident, and derides the WaveDancers as being weak and foolish. She blacksends and they fall back. Raenafel hits her, but Winnowill sends her flying onto the rocks. It is clear who the victor is. The WaveDancers are no challenge for Winnowill and not worthy of her time or energy. She swims away. Winnowill climbs up the northern headland with Jormak in hot pursuit. She gets to the summit and Jormak calls out to her. She tells him to stay away. He says he will stay by her no matter what. She tells him she doesn't want him nor need him: that he is pathetic and has served his purpose adequately. She lock-sends and taunts him with his soul-name which he voluntarily gave her after their passionate interlude on the rocks. He reels backwards. The storm howls around her. She thinks out aloud and professes that she will take care of the others if and when it suits her. And with that she dives into the churning water below never to be seen by the WaveDancers again. Jormak climbs to the summit, and falls to his knees alone: a broken elf. In the grotto Raenafel is surrounded by the WaveDancers. She tells them she needs some time alone, that all that has happened has been overwhelming for her. They move aside and let her pass. She goes to Barmek and takes his hand. Cut to the clifftop on the southern headland. Thunder and lightening all around -no longer threatening, but wild and majestic. Raenafel and Barmek stand slightly apart. Raenafel says that she has been the leader up to now, but now it is his turn. They embrace and passionately kiss, and tumble to the ground amidst the upheaval of the heavens.
All story, art, and characters are Copyright © and Trademark ™ Black Mermaid Productions 1994, except the titles "Elfquest" and "WaveDancers", the characters "Winnowill", "Cutter", "Leetah", "Two-Edge" and "Rayek" and the Elfquest ® environment and lore, as depicted herein, are Copyright © and Trademark ™ 1994 Warp Graphics, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Reproduction of any part of the contents of this publication, without the written consent of Black Mermaid Productions and Warp Graphics, Inc. is prohibited.
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