The Elder Gods Read Online Free Page A

Eleria spent all of their time together in the grotto after that. The dolphins brought fish for Eleria to eat, and the trickling spring provided water, so there was no real need for the child to go out into Mother Sea. Her playmates were a bit sulky at first, but that soon passed.
    Zelana spent many happy hours teaching Eleria how to create poetry and how to sing. Zelana’s poetry was stately and formal, and her songs were complex. Eleria’s poetry was still of a more ancient form, but much more passionate, and her songs were simple and pure. Zelana was painfully aware that the child’s voice, clear and reaching upward without effort, was more beautiful than her own.
    Eleria eventually came to realize that the language she had come to know as the language of poetry had a more colloquial form which they could use for everyday communication. She still insisted on calling Zelana “Beloved,” however.
    It was in the autumn of Eleria’s seventh year when the child went out to play with her pink friends again. Zelana had suggested that Eleria had been neglecting them of late, and it was not really polite to do that.
    Late that day Eleria returned to the grotto with a strange glowing object.
    “What
is
that pretty thing, child?” Zelana asked.
    “It’s called a ‘pearl,’ Beloved,” Eleria replied, “and a very old friend of the dolphins gave it to me—well, she didn’t exactly give it to me. She showed me where it was, though.”
    “I didn’t know that pearls could grow so large,” Zelana marveled. “It must have been an enormous oyster.”
    “It was huge, Beloved.”
    “Who is this friend of the dolphins?”
    “A whale,” Eleria replied. “She’s very old, and she lives near that islet off the south coast. She joined us this morning and told me that she wanted to show me something. Then she led me to the islet and took me down to where this enormous oyster was attached to a reef. The oyster’s shell was almost as wide across as I am tall.”
    “How did you pry it open if it was that big?”
    “I didn’t have to, Beloved. The old whale touched the shell with her fin, and the oyster opened itself for us.”
    “How very peculiar,” Zelana said.
    “The old whale told me that the oyster wanted me to have the pearl, so I took it. I
did
thank the oyster, but I’m not sure it could understand me. It was a little hard to swim and hold my pearl at the same time, but the old whale offered to carry me back home.”
    “Carry?”
    “Well, not exactly. I rode on her back. That is
so
much fun.” Eleria held the pearl up. “See how it glows pink, Beloved? It’s even prettier than the ceiling of our grotto.” She nestled her pearl, which was about the size of an apple, against her cheek. “I
love
it!” she declared.
    “Did you eat today?” Zelana asked.
    “I had plenty earlier today, Beloved. My friends and I found a school of herring and ate our fill.”
    “Did the whale have a name, by any chance?”
    “The dolphins just called her ‘mother.’ She isn’t really their mother, of course. I think it’s more like a way to let her know that they love her.”
    “She speaks the same language as the dolphins?”
    “Sort of. Her voice isn’t as squeaky, though.” Eleria crossed to her bed of moss. “I’m very tired, Beloved,” she said, sinking down onto her bed. “It was a long swim out to the islet, and mother whale swims faster than I do, so even though she slowed down, I had trouble keeping up with her.”
    “Why don’t you go to sleep, then, Eleria? I’m sure you’ll feel much better in the morning.”
    “That sounds like a terribly good idea, Beloved,” Eleria said. “I’m really having trouble keeping my eyes open.” She lay back on her bed of moss with the glowing pink pearl cradled to her heart.
    Zelana was puzzled, and just a trifle concerned. It wasn’t really natural for whales and dolphins to associate with each other in the way Eleria had just described, and Zelana was