Note: As the majority of this comes from an online RPG, Elendar, people's posts are in different colours. Dariyan's in black, Avon's in blue, Leth's in red, Tenuch's in purple. Also there are poems, those are in green. Those not in Elendar are in dark red. (I played Tenuch as well as Dariyan and Avon, as his player had left and Tenuch was now a non-player character. Having several online ID's can really be useful. ^_^ Leth is another player. I only took my story out, there was a ton of stuff going on in the foreground, including demon visitations, heirs to Avalon running round everywhere...
Part 1
Chapter 1
Dariyan was on the way back to her ekele after hunting, a small deer and her bow over her shoulder, with her wolf companion Hawkeye trotting at her side and Hrhinno, her bonded Tanhildor,  following behind with a deer and two ducks strapped across her back. They had been to the little lake that Hawkeye had discovered far back in the forest, just under a day's travel away.  Dariyan hunted there occasionally for meat for both her own use and for the Emerald Mug tavern's stock, or any else in Elendar who needed it.
They nearly always hunted alone, most of the other horses being scared of the wolf, or of the dead game to take back. There was plenty of different game there, wild pigs, deer, geese,  ducks, pheasant, grouse, quails, rabbits and goats, very occasionally moose and bear.
Hawkeye, loping at her side and licking his muzzle clean of duck blood and feathers, suddenly put his nose to the ground and trotted away. 
Dariyan looked down and saw spots of blood soaking into the moss and leaves on the forest floor, and cursed. She hastily teleported the deer she was carrying over her shoulder to her ekele,  and signalled Hrhinno to go back to the ekele and drop the game, and ran after the wolf, nocking an arrow to her bow.
She heard a sharp yap from Hawkeye ahead as she pushed through a particularly thick clump of undergrowth, and came into a clearer area.
A man was slumped unconscious against a tree with Hawkeye trying to clean the caked blood and dirt off his face with his tongue. She recognised the face: it was Leth, Tyrsol's brother,  another of the regulars at the tavern - trouble seemed to follow him like a shadow sometimes. He moaned and shivered but didn't wake.
Dariyan grimaced at Leth's wounds - nasty-looking broken cheekbone, numerous cuts tattering his clothing, perhaps a broken shoulder - and looked in puzzlement at the strange hilt his hand  had almost a death-grip on. 
  Sensing that there was nothing else to do, she made a pillow of air form under his body, raising him up about a metre, carefully keeping his limbs immobile in the positions they had  been in on the ground, for fear of opening any wounds further.
She again mentally kicked herself for having no talent or knowledge of Healing as Hawkeye vanished back into the forest towards her ekele.
Remembering that it was very dangerous to try to teleport a person, she set out again to walk to the hospital in Elendar, carefully keeping the air weave carrying Leth behind her.
A minute later he woke.
Leth coughed a couple of times, then his eyes opened. He noticed that he was moving at a fair speed, even though he found it quite impossible to move.
"Whoever you are, thank you for saving me," Leth whispered. He managed to raise his head enough to see Dariyan, although not without some pain. 
"Ah, Dariyan. My thanks to you is eternal." 
Leth smiled, and then slipped into a peaceful sleep.
Chapter 2
Avonderiel tran Amantharel dismounted at the town's border and walked in, looking around. He spoke softly to his horse.
  "Arhanni, do you mind being in a stable? It won't be for that long, just while I see if she's been through here." The horse whickered and moved forward. 
"All right then, let's go."
He asked someone on the streets where to find an inn. They pointed him up the street to a building with several stories. He thanked them and walked up to the building. Seeing a stable  down the alley he unsaddled Arhanni and left him in the care of the stablemaster, asking the price of the stabling and paying a deposit to the cheery man. 
Taking his lute out of his saddlebags and swinging it on his shoulder,  Avon went into the tavern and asked the bartender for a mug of mead. He sat on a stool at the bar, idly chatting  with the bartender. They talked about recent events in the towns he had passed through to the east, and traded prices for various items, etc. Avon finally got round to the question  he'd been meaning to ask. 
"Someone I know might have passed this way, her name is Dariyan. She's tall, has silvery hair, and golden eyes. She would have been with a silver horse - has she passed through this town?"
Tenuch swapped news with the newcomer. He hadn't had a chat like this in a while and it was good to get on top of the gossip of the country farther away than right under his nose. The  bard was obviously trying to build up to something he wanted to say though, so Tenuch fell silent. The bard looked relieved and asked, "Someone I know might have passed through here..."  He described Dariyan quite well. Tenuch is secretly amused and decided to have a bit of a joke on the fellow, so he makes a pretense of thinking hard and replies,"Passed through? No, definitely not."
Avonderiel looked surprised and puzzled. He said,
"I'm sure she came here. That last town, she started off right in this direction, and there aren't that many turns in the road to here... I was hoping... I mean, never mind." He tried  to change the subject quickly. "Um, what do you think of the government of Forduin?" he said, picking a name at random from the towns he'd been through. "Their council is arranged quite  differently from here, for example..."
Tenuch chuckled at Avon's evasion and returned to the question. "She hasn't 'passed through', because she's still here! Been here for ages, right since Elendar was founded." He waited   to see how the bard took this piece of information.
'...She's still here!' Literalism. Avon disliked literalism.  
Too quickly for anyone without amazingly sharp eyesight to follow, emotions flickered across his visage at the answer. Relief, hope, love, anger, and apprehension passed to be replaced  by a sturdy look of calm insouciance. 
  He turned back to Tenuch. Realising he'd better give a reason for asking, he said "I'm one of her father's, Tar Daratiriel's, advisors. She went missing one day, with her steed and weapons  and travelling supplies. We thought she was just going for a hunting trip, but she didn't return. Then we thought she was giving herself a holiday, but she still didn't come back, and after  a while Tar Daratiriel decided to send me to find her, to find out what was happening."
He sighed. "She's come a long way. I wonder why she left, so does her father." 
Avon grinned at Tenuch. "So, can you tell me where to find her?"
Chapter 3
Dariyan turned as she heard Leth coughing. 'Thank the Valar he's not dead' she muttered as he fell asleep again. She continued on the the town and Dariyan took Leth to the hospital, making  her way to the tavern down the road. She cheerily strode in the door, glancing around - and stopped stock still, her face draining of colour and heart thumping. "A-Avonderiel - what are you doing here?"
Totally shocked, Dariyan stood stock still, staring at the bard. She shut her gaping mouth as he turned to face her, his long-fingered hands on his lute. Such beautiful music, she remembered, music that... 
She flushed, then flushed harder as her thoughts turned towards anger. "Well, what are you doing here? Spying on me? I decide to get a life for myself, and someone just walks in to take it over!"  she snapped, taking a step forward with hands clenched into fists.
Avonderiel turned to look at Dariyan, his face a familiar mask of stone. "Well, well, so this is where you're hiding. Quite a nice place you have here." He said in a calm voice, as  she snapped at him - though an inner part of him cringed at her tone. 
She looked even more angry, and he let his face darken as well. "You just upped and left, no word to anyone! Did you think people wouldn't worry?" His lips started to shape 'I..' but he  quickly covered it with "Your father...!!"
"He has other children. As the second daughter, I was largely irrelevant to court duties, not that I much liked court anyway." 
Had he started to say something else? She had nearly missed the twitch of his lips. 
"I left because I didn't want to stay and wasn't needed, and that's an end of it!"
  But it wasn't an end, Dariyan though, not really, not with him here - she just couldn't bear staying at home. One fool she didn't love, one she couldn't - couldn't. Stalling for time,  she tried to snap acerbically again. 
"How did you catch up with me, and why? I presume you were looking for me."
Chapter 4
A Hundred Years (Tracy Chapman)
Sung by Avon, about Dariyan
Baby, sweet baby,
Won't you please come on back home to me
Cause I've been so lonely
Each few months feels like a hundred years
(Chorus)
How you make me worry baby,
How you make me worry about you
Here I am, I'm knowing that I
Can't live without you
Here I am thinking some day we'd make this
A long time thing
Here I am, I'm knowing that I'd
Do most anything to keep you loving me - Baby.
Baby, sweet baby,
I've been waiting seems like waiting is all I do
You say you won't come back to me
Maybe after I go chasing after you
We get in a fight, you stay out late
You have no idea 
How much you make me worry baby
Called everyone in town, I think you know
So come on now come on, come on, back home
Baby, sweet baby,
I'm no fool in love, I've still got my pride too
Wait a little longer, settle up my heart
The I'll go and find someone
Who'll worry about me 
As much as I worry about you.
Chorus: How you make me worry baby... etc.
Baby, sweet baby,
Won't you please come on back home to me
Cause I've been so lonely
Each few months feels like a hundred years
Avonderiel's relatively calm, if slightly angry, mien nearly broke. 
"Tar Daratiriel's orders" he said officiously, "and you had left a trail, you know. You stayed at plenty of settlements. A Tanhildor is pretty distinctive. But where," he paused,  "did you pick up that wolf? People in the later villages had a lot to say about it."
Hawkeye had slunk into the tavern, which was surprising in itself, and had planted himself between the two, gazing stolidly at Avon. Dariyan looked down at him with surprise; she  hadn't heard him come in. She wondered what he was doing. 
"I didn't 'pick him up', he found me. And it's none of your business." 
She nearly yelled, then felt surprised at her temper. She hoped fervently that Hawkeye would keep his nose out of this, she didn't know if Avon had inherited his father's animal  empathic skills or not. She didn't answer the rest of the question because she didn't want to offend or embarrass Hawkeye.
He'd been cast out of the pack for disobeying the alpha female over a matter of cubs. His newly dead brother's young cub had been injured and could not keep up with the pack when  they began their migration.The alpha female decided to leave it behind.
He'd objected, then slipped away from the pack to take it to a human settlement to be healed as he had once been healed. The cub died on the way. 
He ran and ran to rejoin the pack but when he caught up they drove him off, again and again. 
He slunk back to a settlement and set up on its perimeter, howling mournfully every night till the inhabitants thought there was a werewolf about. Dariyan arrived the evening they  had finally decided to hunt and shoot him.
She brought her mind back reluctantly to the present. 
"Here's something you didn't tell me" she said softly. "Why you? Why'd YOU come? Out of all the people my father could have sent," and thank the Valar it wasn't that brat  Yvannaeth, she thought, "you he could least afford to send."
"He- it- was a holiday. Like the holidays he and the family used to take in the mortal lands when you and your siblings were younger." Avonderiel replied quickly. "Since I had always  remained to take care of things at home, he decided I should have a holiday, and see other realms." 
Some of his inner turmoil must have been reflected in his eyes for she looked sceptically at him.
Dariyan looked up as there was a blinding flash of light outside the tavern. A winged woman strode in, wrinkling her nose - she looked oddly familar: was it Tyrsol? Anyway, she had  created a momentary diversion, enough to restore Dariyan's wits, if not her cool composure. 
"I... have a headache," she said. "I'm going to go home and rest." Emphasising the word 'home' slightly.  
She didn't really want to say this next, it could easily be taken the wrong way, but her conscience gave her no choice - "There are rooms upstairs in the inn, if you need a place  to stay..."  Hosting him in my ekele could be very embarrasing, she thought, I hope he doesn't ask... 
Dariyan bowed her head to the Mage, thoughts aspin, and walked out back to her ekele in a daze, Hawkeye following after a long stare at Avonderiel.
In those couple of seconds Hawkeye spoke silently to Avon's animal-sense. **I do not know if I like you. Are you pack with my pack-sister?**
Avonderiel replied to him in kind. *"I am of Dariyan's pack, yes, wolf-brother."*
**Old packs are sometimes better left alone. I feel you will hurt her.**
*"I will take care of her. I swear."* Avon said, sending the wolf a glimpse of his feelings to show the wolf he was telling the truth. 
**I suppose it would be good to have cubs in the pack again... but I feel there is something neither yet sees.**
*"Time will tell all, brother."*
**Keep scent of the wind, brother.**
The wolf followed Dariyan out the door.
Chapter 5 Killing me softly 
(Sung by Dariyan, about Avon)
Chorus:
Strumming my fate with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly - with his song
Telling my whole life - with his words
Killing me - softly
With his song
I'd heard he sang a good song 
And I heard he had a style
And so I went to see him, 
Listen for a while
And there he was, the stranger
There before my eyes
Chorus
I felt all flushed with fever
Embarrassed by the crowd
I felt he found my letters
And read each one aloud
I prayed that he would finish
Oh no, he just kept right on
Choru
He sang as if he knew me 
In all my darkest days
And then he looked right through me
As if I wasn't there (I was right there)
But he just kept on singing
Singing clear and strong
Chorus, repeat 3x, winding down
Dariyan had stayed in and around her ekele for a couple of days now, keeping her distance from the town, partially in anger that the Mage had come to drag her back to her old  life. The tension of the afternoon stayed with her however, and after a few days she decided to go back as normal to the tavern, hoping Avon would be gone, back where his presence  didn't bring the complications of her thoughts.  
So she walked as normal into Elendar town, up the streets slightly empty these days, to the tavern. Pausing a minute outside the door, she stepped in, and scanned the room.  Tenuch drying a mug behind the counter, a few strangers at a side table, a few frequenters - She spotted the winged women, it was Tyrsol after all, at one of the tables with a  battered looking Leth. Getting a mug of mead for herself, she strolled over, looking in some concern at them.
"Leth, are you sure you should be out of the hospital in that condition?"
Avonderiel sat in his room above the inn, holding his lute and gazing out the window. A small songthrush flew to the ledge and trilled.
He listened with a smile, then got up and took a small dish of berries from a cupboard, placing it on the sill for the bird, and sat again with his lute in his lap.
A while later a small mouse ran in under the door and helped itself to some grain in a small pile in a corner. Avon leaned down to give it a crumb from his dinner bread, and  it twitched its whiskers and chittered at him. 
Avon smiled  again and rose, slinging his lute and cloak on his shoulders and quietly stepping down the back stairs to go outside.
Recieving a noncommital excuse from Leth, and a quizzical glance at Tyrsol not managing to prompt a reply, Dariyan wandered over to the bar and ordered a mug of mead. 
Looking round, she saw a new face and walked over. "Welcome to Elendar. This tavern has rooms to let upstairs, there's a hospital, temple, training dojo and market up the road  there. If you need anything, just ask." 
She walked over to an empty table with her mug and stared gloomily out the window at the twilight sky and the moon rising. She looked down at her empty mug and ordered another.
Her thoughts coming back to the present time, staring at the bottom of what could be her sixth mug, Dariyan thought something must be wrong. She got up slowly, laying some  coins on the counter, and walked out into the moonlight.
Though the moon was not full it was not far off. Avonderiel walked softly along the mossy trail, with the clear white light shining through the tall trees. He reached a small  space in the trees with an interesting fallen pillar of stone that made an excellent seat. Avon unslung his lute and plucked a note, feeling the note's tenor through the air. 
He started to play softly, getting caught up in the music as the notes soared along the beams of moonlight.
Chapter 6
Dariyan walked slowly along the forest paths, meandering away from the town. 'My thoughts feel like these moonlight shadows,' she reflected, 'and I'm not even sure why I'm in  such a mood.' She sighed wearily as she walked on.
Slowly, music wound itself into her consciousness. It was a while before she realised that what she was hearing was not just a background to her thoughts. The music somehow  made her heart lift; it was almost magical. Dariyan moved almost involuntarily towards the source of the elusive and strangely familiar music.
Dariyan stealthily stepped along the forest path towards the calling music. It grew clearer as she neared the source, till each note's beauty made her want to weep. Keeping to the  shadows, she stepped forward slowly, coming to the edge of a small clearing, the musician seated on a stone in the bright moonlight: it was Avonderiel! But - he had left, hadn't  he? Or was this all a ruse to trick her into going back to what was once her homeland? She stiffened at the thought. And yet... maybe?
She desperately tried to unweave her thoughts from the music.
Avonderiel caught a slight sound from outside his music. He turned his head slightly, scanning the deep shadows at the edges of the clearing. Dariyan was there! He nearly sighed  with relief. 
He took another glance, his music drawing to a close. She looked like a wary doe standing in the shadows. He turned slowly towards her, the last notes shimmering in the air as he  set his lute on his lap,  holding out one hand toward her,  waiting still as he had waited all the years of his life. 
Dariyan stood motionless - in fact, frozen - in the shadows, looking  at the musician. His face looked so calm and tender; but part of her felt like a rabbit staring at a fox.  The last strands of the music whirled round her. She couldn't think.
  She took one step toward Avon;  two, out of the black shadows of the tree; three, out into the  moonlight, his dark golden hair like a beacon fire in the night. Her  mind  suddenly clear, she took the remaining steps forward all at once. She suddenly remembered a time...
~ back in Eneldor�... in the caverns of Belhabar Brilcaras her father's 'city'... years ago, decades ago, over a century ago she guessed - she had been exploring the tunnels,  and gotten a little misdirected... after a while she began to hear music, followed it,  and came at last to places she recognised. 
The music got louder and she turned a corner to see Avonderiel sitting on a chair at the back of the room, playing his lute... he'd put it down, the music echoing,  and held  out his arms... she'd run away... ~
He stood up and slung his lute over his shoulder with the other hand,  still holding out his hand towards her... his eyes flashed as she put her hand in his...
Avonderiel had watched her intently, trying to keep his face clear of emotion, as she hesitantly stepped forward out of the shadows. He rose and swung his lute to his back,  beckoning her forward with a flaring of his eyes. She took the last few steps quickly, her face unreadable, and placed her hand in his. He felt an almost electric jolt run  up his arm. Her eyes shone gold like a hawk's; her mother's eyes were a dark sky blue, and her father's royal purple; he had always been surprised by the lack of resemblance,  but now he could see the flecks of violet glimmering through stars.
Chapter 7 and continuing
As yet unwritten.
Part 2
Dariyan and Avon's daughter: Elemmir� (star-jewelled)
What do they see in my eyes?
A bitter wind blows across the grassland.
A wind alike blows across my heart.
I stand at a window,
the wind-screen drawn aside,
and flapping desperately in the room
like a trapped bird.
In a zoo once I saw
a lion in a cage;
a mate he had, and cubs too,
yet in his tawny night-flecked eyes
memories
of wide savannahs lingered.
A ship rocks slightly on the tide.
Becalmed amidst the wild sea,
moored in a safe lagoon
on a tiny island
two anchors tied to the rocks,
the ship's sail straining in the wind.
I once saw a bird in a gilded cage,
they thought his sound sweet.
His companion bird, born in that very cage
and eggs in his nest - 
but his eyes were dull,
and his jewelled colours dusty.
Will the cloth break?
Will the mast break?
What would break for the lion,
if bars were gone but his pride tied?
Or for the bird,
if cage gone but his mate jessed to the perch
My heart is chained.
What do they see in my eyes?
Poem "What do they see in my eyes" (c) Rhiannon Daymond-King
Part 3
Song: Nobody does it better. Dariyan 4 Avon, sad tinge.
2 years later Dariyan leaves, both nearly heartbroken.
Dariyan meets Carnimiri� while on the roads.
She comes back after a year, stays for nearly 2 years. Returns mainly to old pattern, then leaves again. Just as bad.
She stays away for two years this time, comes back, but stays only a few months. Falls for Avon for the last time (hopefully) Leaves again.
Part 4
Comes back in 3 years with a toddler.
Someone (Amantharel? Jemadar?) asks whose it is. "He's Avon's!" she replies angrily. She stays away from Avon, fearing to be hurt again. Gwaeronlir, their son,  gets to meet Avon. Gwaeronlir goes with Dariyan again when they leave.
Song: I hope I never have to cry agai
Song: You got the music in you (or, You get what you give)
From Amantharel to Avon
A year later, they meet Carnimiri� again. He travels with them for some time.
Dariyan takes Gwaeronlir to visit Avon twice over the next three years. Carn does not come.
Start of third year - Gwaeronlir is 5, Elemmir� 14. Gwaer sees eagle attacking something on ground, it is fledgeling hawk. He gets Hawk to scare the eagle off and rescues the hawk,  taming and raising her, called Tarra
Gwaer says to her, "I want to go live with Papa."
Dariyan refuses to enter the halls, so they have a last afternoon together with Elemmire, a picnic down by the lake.
At the crossroads in the evening, Gwaer and Elem are saying goodbye.  (Avon is watching from his scrying pool, unavoidably making the wtrer all salty.)
Dariyan knelt to hug Gwaer. "Goodbye, honey. I'll try to come visit soon. You know to send Tarra for me if you need to."
She mounted Hrhinno. Gwaer buried his face in Hawkeye's fur and stepped back to his sister.  Hrhinno trotted away, and Hawk followed. Dariyan waved once, and  resolutely turned to look at the road ahead.
"Does Mother not like Papa?" asked Gwaeronlir. "But I think he's wonderful."
"No, silly." said Elemmir� superciliously.  "Mother loves Father too much. It's because of that she can't stay."
They saw her shoulders shaking as her Tanildor trotted over the rise in the hill.
"Is she all right?" Gwaer asked, turning to look at his sister.
"She's crying, you dolt." answered Elem. There were also tears in both their eyes.
Don't Forget To Remember (The Bee Gees)
Sung by Avon, about Dariyan.
Oh my heart won't believe that you have left me.
I keep telling myself that it's true,
I can get over anything you are, my love,
But I can't get myself over you.
(Chorus) Don't forget to remember me
And the love that used to be.
I still remember you
I love you. In my heart lies a memory
To tell the stars above - 
Don't forget to remember me, my love.
Part 5
Years of travelling, alone with Hawk and Hrhinno sometimes, occasionally joining a company for the odd quest, but most often travelling or staying with Carnimirie (who seems to have a veritable host of treehouses spread across the lands. Occasionally they are occupied by resters so the pair travel on to a new destination.)
He seems to have a spell on his treehouses that a push of the latch will let down the ladder, so travellers can stay there for a short period of time, but that they cannot misuse the privelege by complications in the spell (that find the traveller's stuff dumped on the ground under the tree and the ladder unresponsive to the latch the next time they go out for a walk.) The 'rules' are readily available by touching a particular large knot on the tree-trunk right next to the latch. Apparently they appear in the viewer's language as an image straight out of their mind.
Carn is beginning to gently push his suit. Dariyan has not really noticed yet. 
An example, when they are travelling across some particularly snowy mountains.
He sighed and sat up. "Dariyan! It's snowing. You'll freeze. Come over here and share the warmth."
She didn't move. "I'm not going to bite you!"He turned over and pulled his blanket over his head. The snow was melting away from him.  (an advantage to being  one of the rare Fire mages!
A Hundred Years (Tracy Chapman)
Sung by Dariyan
This Time This time I won't show I'm vulnerable
This time I won't give in first
This time I will hold out with my love 
This time I will not be hurt
This time, this time

Gonna love myself more than anyone else
Gonna treat me right
Gonna make you say that you love me first
You'll be the one with the most to lose tonight
This time

This time I won't let my emotions rule my life
This time gonna keep my heart locked safe inside
This time I'm gonna be my own best friend
This time I'm gonna be the one 

To win your love, your affection
To hide my feelings of rejection
This time, this time

Gonna love myself more than anyone else
Gonna treat me right
Gonna make you say that you love me first
You'll be the one with the most to lose tonight
This time

This time I won't let my emotions rule my life
This time gonna keep my heart locked safe inside
This time I'm gonna be my own best friend
This time I'm gonna be the one
Part 7? 
Mordavia events
The Land's Need
The Broken Circle
The Forsaken
The Coronation of King Silvermoon
The Hollow Kingdom
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