Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, but Melina slept in late, exhausted from the previous day’s emotional roller coaster ride. When Melina awoke, the sun was already high in the sky, high enough to peek into Melina’s top-floor-apartment window.. She lay in bed for a moment, stifling a rush of panic that she was late for work before remembering that it was Saturday and that she was temporarily(?) fired.
Melina sighed quietly. “Misham, what shall I do today?” No reply. No silver arrow came singing through the window, no hint of what she should do.
A tingle of apprehension prickled Melina’s spine. “Misham?” she tried again. Still no reply. Troubled, Melina opened her Bible, hoping for inspiration. But it was only a continuation of yesterday’s chapter - no special guidance there today.
Melina frowned, worried. It wasn’t usual for Misham to be silent for so long. What if…? Melina shook off the dark thought. It wouldn’t be like Misham to do that. He wouldn’t...would He? Melina growled at herself, but couldn’t help wondering...was it because she failed?
“I’ve got to get out of here,” she observed. “I’ve been alone with my thoughts and doubts too long.” Quickly, she decided to visit John, since they hadn’t met in a while. Yes, that would work. He was more likely to be at home than Bluebell.
Melina was so eager to finally get to talk to another Messenger that she almost forgot to eat breakfast, until she saw the inviting bowl of creamy oatmeal sitting on the counter. The steam rose from the red ceramic bowl decorated with swirling glaze patterns. Melina smiled. Misham always managed to provide a unique dish, though He often gave her similar foods.
So Melina put off her visit with John until she had eaten breakfast. The warm oatmeal was drizzled with slightly sweet cream, mixed with raisins, and garnished with blueberries. Melina ate it with relish, since she hadn’t eaten since breakfast the day before - what with missing lunch and falling asleep before supper.
As soon as she was finished, Melina wiped her mouth and teleported to John’s home. “Hello?” she called as she knocked on the back door. “John? You there?”
John’s mother opened the door. “You’re one of John’s friends, aren’t you?” she asked with a hint of desperation.
“Yes, I’ve come to see him,” Melina answered.
Her face fell. “Oh. John isn’t here right now. I don’t know where he is - he said he was going out for a walk with James. They haven’t gotten back yet, and I was beginning to get worried. You’ll have to see them when they come back.”
“I see,” Melina sighed, “Well, I’ll be going then. But I’m sure John and James are both fine. See you later.”
“Yes, see you later,” John’s mother replied and shut the door. Melina could hear anxious humming from within. With another sigh, Melina turned away, disappointed. So much for talking with John. He was probably out doing his job as a Messenger. But what about James? Melina wondered.
With a shrug, Melina dismissed the thought and decided to try Bluebell’s instead. Teleporting to Bluebell’s house was a little harder, since Melina had to get directly inside, but after a few tries she succeeded.
“Bluebell? Are you in here?” Melina called as she appeared in the forest-themed guest bedroom. No reply. After a quick search of the house, it was clear that Bluebell wasn’t in, either. With a dejected sigh, Melina left.
Her other two friends either were not at home or didn’t answer the doorbell. Melina was beginning to wonder if Misham was punishing her for failing with Nieth. Guilt prickled at the back of Melina’s mind, but Misham still did not answer Melina’s queries about seeing her friends.
At last, Melina gave up and went home. It was high noon and high time for lunch, with or without friends. Melina ate her steamed rice with fried egg and vegetables without much enthusiasm, and flopped on the bed shortly after she was finished.
“Look, Misham, what’s up?” she asked the ceiling. “Why don’t You say anything? What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I see my friends?”
After a seemingly endless interval of desperate prayer, the long-awaited silver arrow whizzed through the window. Follow Nieth, but don’t talk to him. He’ll be in the Grand Reception Hall. Melina stared. The Grand Reception Hall? How on earth had scruffy Nieth gotten in there? “Alright, Misham,” she agreed, and teleported out.
Melina opened her eyes to a grand ballroom, full of people. Most were dressed up as 18th century lords and ladies, but speckled throughout were those who did not know or had forgotten the dress code. Apparently there was a historic 18th century-style event of some sort going on.
Melina quietly wound her way around the swirling dancers on the floor, the bustling crowd watching intently, the couples chatting around the tables laden with food, and the various “servants” hustling to and fro. Despite Melina’s obvious lack of dress code, no one seemed to notice her: a blessing.
Melina brushed by a lady with a ridiculously poofy dress and dangerously thin waist, nearly tripping on the extra lace trailing behind. Stumbling, she just managed to miss a table full of delicious smelling pudding that looked absolutely heavenly - so much so that Melina had to restrain herself from sneaking a bite.
Where is Nieth? Melina wondered in frustration after searching the entire ballroom. Misham?
A tinkle caught her attention, and Melina had to laugh when she saw the arrow. It was mounted as the centerpiece in a display of weapons used during the eighteenth century, pointing unfailingly towards… Melina turned around quickly, just in time to see Nieth slip into the reception area. Melina smiled and hurried after him. It wouldn’t do to lose him here - the ballroom was huge.
The reception area was mostly empty, a long hall full of fur cloaks (Melina had no idea why so many people needed to wear them in the city), boots, and purses. Nieth was bending down, putting something in an abandoned purse before moving on. He seemed to have a designated list, as he moved purposefully from one purse to the next.
Another tinkle caught Melina’s attention, and she took another silver arrow out of her pocket. This one’s feather was blue; it was a message to give to someone else. But who? Melina’s eyes fell on the purse Nieth had just left, and her heart gave a jump.
She slipped quietly over and opened the purse. A black ebony marble fell out. Melina’s mind flashed back to the scream that the black marble had given when Nieth had held it to the light, and she shuddered, putting one hand reflexively over her ear. The very sight of the marble emanated wrongness.
Melina glanced up, making sure she didn’t lose Nieth. He was almost out of sight now down the hall, and Melina quickly put the blue-feathered arrow in the purse and stood up. Then she hesitated. Could she…? Quickly, she glanced in Nieth’s direction. He was straightening up, seemingly done with his task. Coming to a decision, Melina grabbed the dark marble between two fingers and crushed it into dust.
Almost immediately, another arrow was in her pocket. Melina started in surprise, then her face lit up in understanding as she saw the blue feather. Whatever Nieth was supposed to be doing, it wouldn’t work. Instead, Melina was going to replace the marbles with messages. She couldn’t help smirking at Misham’s ingenuity.
Her task understood, Melina moved much faster, stopping just long enough at each place to replace the marble with the arrow and crush the marble to dust. After the final one, Melina took a deep breath and peeked around the corner.
Nieth had somehow slipped back into the main ballroom and was halfway across the floor. Growling under her breath, Melina got up and followed, pushing to catch up as fast as she could without drawing attention. Nieth was obviously accustomed to moving through crowds, and Melina was hard pressed to keep in sight of him.
Finally, Nieth slowed down, and turned into the area marked ‘restrooms’. Melina took the time to catch up and looked around as she leaned against the wall, finally able to take in the crowd. Melina’s eyes scanned the puffy dresses and immaculate suits, occasionally snagging on a stumbling butler or an out-of-place costume.
Then Melina caught a glimpse of blond hair with blue tips. She straightened and strained to catch another glance. There it was again, and this time Melina was sure she saw the right thing.
“Bluebell!” Melina called as loudly as she dared. A few people glanced her way, annoyed, but quickly returned their attention to the ballroom floor. Bluebell seemed not to notice. Melina waved, trying to get her attention.
Suddenly Bluebell looked up and saw Melina’s beaming face. She waved, and quickly they made their way towards each other.
“Bluebell!” Melina exclaimed, clapping Bluebell on the back. “It’s been ages since I’ve seen you! How are things going!”
“Good,” Bluebell answered quietly, “John’s brother James is a Protector now.”
“Really?!” Melina gasped, “I never would’ve thought! How’s he doing? Are they busy?”
“A lot busier now, but James is coming to the Meeting tomorrow. You’ll see him then.”
“We need to talk,” Melina said in a hushed tone, “And preferably before the Meeting. There’s a lot going on lately. I had a really bad day yesterday. This boy Nieth I have to deal with,” she groaned theatrically.
A blue sticky note appeared in Bluebell’s hand, and she glanced down. “It’ll have to wait until tomorrow,” Bluebell told Melina apologetically, “I have to go.”
“See you then,” Melina answered with a sigh. Bluebell raised a hand in farewell and disappeared into the crowd.
Melina gave another long sight. I was hoping we could talk longer. Oh, well. Tomorrow then. But James, a Protector! How nice! Melina thought. Now, what was I doing?
With a jolt, Melina remembered that she had been following Nieth. Oh, no! He’ll be out by now! She whipped around and looked at the bathrooms. Walking quickly, she walked up to the hallway and looked around. Nieth was gone.
Frantically, Melina searched the whole ballroom, even stopping a well-dressed man to ask him if he had seen a grumpy black-haired boy in the bathroom. He hadn’t, and Melina could find no trace of Nieth.
Eventually Melina exhausted the ballroom and the hallways leading up and around it. Nieth had disappeared. Finally, she gave up and headed outside. Nieth was probably miles away now, after she had spent all that time searching.
With a groan of failure, Melina slumped on the steps of the Grand Reception Hall. “Misham, I failed! Nieth is gone, and I don’t know where he is! What do I do now?” No replying arrow, no word of encouragement came out of the sky, only compounding Melina’s misery. “Please, Misham, what am I going to do now?” she pleaded.
There was still no silver arrow in sight. Melina breathed out slowly, fighting tears.
“MELINA!” Melina looked up. Cristor stomped towards her. “There you are! I’ve been trying to contact you all morning! Why haven’t you answered your phone?”
Melina instinctively put a hand to her pocket. It was empty. “Sorry, I must’ve forgotten it at home,” she responded.
Cristor huffed. “What’s the point of having a phone if I can’t use it to contact you when I need to? I spent ALL THIS TIME looking for you because I have some VERY IMPORTANT NEWS TO TELL YOU.”
Melina winced. “Again, I’m sorry. I don’t usually carry my phone around on the weekends.” Misham, give me strength! Sometimes Cristor was nearly insufferable.
“Well, then,” he huffed, “I’ll get to the point, but we won’t talk here. Stand up!” his voice hardened, and Melina jumped to her feet. Cristor turned and walked briskly until they reached the corner, out of the way of the main flow of pedestrian traffic.
Cristor seemed to loom over Melina, even though she was a good two inches taller than he was. “I’ve heard you spend a lot of your time at the archery course,” he stated quietly.
Melina tensed. She didn’t like the tone of his voice, or where he was going. “Yes, I do,” she answered carefully.
“I hear you’re very good at shooting,” Cristor continued, beginning to pace around Melina. Melina eyed him warily. “I’ve even heard that you can break the targets. Is this true?”
Is he going to accuse me of murder? Melina wondered, jumping to the apparent conclusion. Well, I can only tell the truth, and I certainly haven’t murdered anyone. “Yes,” she replied shortly, “Usually when I need to release some steam.”
Cristor stopped in front of her, finally looking her in the eyes. A small grin snuck on his face. “Well,” he said slowly, “What would you say to playing the lead in a new movie we’re doing?”
“What?” Melina gasped, completely floored. That was the last thing she had been thinking of.
“We dropped the Siel movie. It was horrible anyway,” Cristor said with a grimace. “This new one is waaay better. It’s being sponsored by some very rich patrons, and the story centers around an elf with a silver bow and arrow. We can’t fake the archery very easily, and the patrons want this movie to be as realistic as possible. Usually I wouldn’t pick you, especially with your recent escapade, but you are the only one who can shoot even remotely decently.”
Melina shivered. Misham had His hand all over this. A silver bow and arrow? “I’ll do it.”
Cristor grinned. “Thatta girl!” he exclaimed, clapping her on the back. Then he grew serious again. “But don’t be late this time, or I’ll fire you! You’re one of the two lead actors now, so you MUST arrive on time, understand?”
“Understood,” Melina agreed.
“Here are the script papers, since somebody doesn’t seem to have a reliable email. Read them tonight, and on Monday we will start to act. The patrons want this movie as organic as possible. You don’t have to get the lines word for word, but accuracy is preferred. See you on Monday,” Cristor called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the crowd after pushing a stack of papers into Melina’s hands.
Melina stared after him, then down at the papers in her hand. What just happened? she shook her head slowly. Only Misham could pull this off. Only Misham. Since there seemed to be nothing else to do, Melina stepped into an alleyway and teleported home.
Melina barely noticed the pot of steaming meat porridge on the kitchen counter as she reappeared, too astonished by this sudden turn of events. But when the wind blew through the window and blew the meat-scented steam into her face, Melina looked up.
Absently, she ladled out a bowl for herself, grabbed a spoon, said a prayer of thanks, and began to eat while staring at the script. Soon, her food was gone and the bowl disappeared, but Melina didn’t notice. The afternoon flew by, and supper passed unnoticed, and still Melina sat at the table, lost in the story.
The current movie was titled Forest of the Forgotten, and it followed the story of a man called Torin and an elf princess named Lushilleth. The elves lived in the Forest of the Forgotten after being driven out of the rest of the land by the humans, a perpetually misty forest whose paths constantly shifted.
Torin longed to learn more about the mysterious and now almost mythical elves, and so joined a group venturing into the Forgotten Forest to find them. But the group did not want to learn about the elves, they wanted to find their camp and bring the army that would destroy them once and for all.
Torin took off in the Forgotten Forest after a fleeting glow, and came upon a fast-moving elf. After a long chase, Torin found her standing in a glen, bow drawn but pointing at the ground. She warned him to leave the forest and disappeared, shooting an arrow just above Torin’s head when he tried to follow her, leaving him lost in the Forgotten Forest.
And thus began the story. Torin eventually managed to befriend Lushilleth by saving her life from the others in his group, and eventually, he became the first human in generations to see the elven home in the Forgotten Forest, Erinvale. But in doing so he unwittingly led the rest of his group to Erinvale as they followed his footsteps, and Erinvale is threatened. War approaches. Could Lushilleth and Torin convince the elves that Torin did not betray them? Can they prevent war? Will the elves survive?
Melina looked up with a start. The light was gone, and she walked over to turn on the lights. She looked at the clock and realized it was way later than she had realized. “Wow,” she said aloud, “I’d better get to bed.” Melina gazed longingly at the remaining sheets, wanting to finish the story. But tomorrow was Sunday, and there was a Meeting to go to. So with a sigh, she headed to bed.
The next morning dawned, but not brightly. The sky was shrouded in clouds, dimming the light and making it seem earlier in the morning. Melina would’ve slept through if not for her alarm, which rang at 7 to remind her to get up for the Meeting.
Melina’s eyes shot open when she heard the alarm, startled. She almost never needed the alarm. Quickly, she grabbed her Bible, rebraided her hair, scarfed down a breakfast of hot buttered toast with fruit jam, grabbed her pot full of porridge for the potluck, and sped towards the door before remembering that there was no door to go out of. Lightly, she slapped herself on the forehead. “You can teleport, silly!”
A silver arrow sped through the window. Melina opened it eagerly, wanting to see if the meeting place had changed, but was surprised with a different message altogether. Remember your words...James 3: 1-12. Read it now.
Melina sighed. “I don’t want to be late though,” she whined just a bit, “We haven’t had a Meeting in ages.” Another silver arrow thunked, embedded in the window frame this time. Obey. There will be enough time, it read.
Melina let out a tense breath and opened her Bible to James. Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body... (James 3:1-2 ESV)
Melina winced. “Ouch. I never realized how much filth comes out with our words.”
“Yes, very much so. World...realizes not what... does.”
Melina’s head shot up in surprise. “Alaqua! I didn’t realize you were in-” Melina broke off when she realized her surroundings. While she had been reading, Misham had apparently transported her to the Meeting. “Actually, I didn’t realize I was here,” Melina amended sheepishly. “It’s been so long!”
“Many suns have passed since we last met,” Alaqua agreed. “Much joy to see you.” Alaqua folded herself neatly on the ground in front of Melina, ending up sitting cross-legged. “What you doing since last time?”
“That’s probably for the Meeting,” Melina sighed, “But did you hear? John’s brother James is a Protector now!”
Alaqua beamed. “Many suns I have known. I met him once, with the волк луны.”
“The what?” Melina asked.
“The... night sky wolves,” Alaqua paused, searching for the right words. “The… moon wolves. Wolf moons?”
“Wolves of the moon? The pack that you’ve run with before?” Melina asked.
“Yes!” Alaqua answered, pleased that Melina had understood.
Then there was a whoosh, and Bluebell appeared in the small wood-paneled room. “Bluebell!” Melina and Alaqua exclaimed in unison.
Bluebell gave a shy smile. “John and James will be over in a moment. We’ll give them a good welcome.”
“Yes, with joy! Many waiting and praying have I done for this day!” Alaqua beamed, brandishing a large blue feather.
“Where’s Timothy?” Melina asked. “He needs to be here too.”
Just then Timothy walked in, sopping wet. “Am I late?”
“Not,” Alaqua answered.
“What happened to you?!” Melina queried at the same time.
“What pool did you jump in?” Bluebell asked a split second later.
Timothy rubbed the back of his neck, looking a bit overwhelmed. “Well, I had a bit of a run-in with a certain group of kids. They like drenching whoever walks by the house. I figured that it would be better if it was me than anyone else.”
“You let them do it on purpose?” Melina asked, chagrined. “Definitely not what I would’ve done. I would’ve rigged the bucket to splash them, and given them a scolding besides. It’s nearly winter, now. You could catch your death of - a bad cold,” Melina hastily amended. Tongue: 0, Melina: 1, she thought with satisfaction.
Alaqua raised her eyebrows at Melina. “Temper much, like me?”
Melina nodded sheepishly. “I’ve still got a long way to go to being a good Messenger.”
“We all are learning,” Bluebell said sternly.
A tinkle sounded from the “doorway” (the spot in the wall where everyone usually tended to appear), and John walked in, James following a moment behind him. James seemed startled when his entrance was greeted with cheers, and rather overwhelmed when everyone crowded around to meet him.
“James, this is Bluebell, the Messenger who technically kidnapped me for three weeks and convinced me to be a Messenger,” John started.
“Excuse me?!” James interrupted. “Technically kidnapped?! That’s where you were all that time?! How come you remember now?!”
Bluebell interposed quietly. “Misham told me to take John and offer him the job of being a Messenger. The three weeks were to see what it was like. And he remembered because he is a Messenger now.”
“What is it like being a Messenger? Did it really take three weeks to discover that?” James asked. Bluebell only deigned to answer that with a shrug.
John cleared his throat. “And this is Alaqua, who-”
James interrupted again. “It’s you?! She saved me from the wolves!”
Melina smiled secretively as John floundered around, trying to absorb the new information amidst constant interruption. Quietly, she sat on the edge of the raised dais and waited for her turn. John introduced Timothy next, the only Healer in the current group, then finally turned to Melina.
“This is Melina. She’s our newest Messenger, and she’s the second newest in our group, after you,” John finished.
“Pleased to meet you,” James smiled. “All this Protector and Messenger and Healer stuff is still so new.”
Melina quirked her mouth. “Wait till you get the really hard ones. Actually, don’t. Learn from my mistakes first and avoid the worst of it. Maybe you’ll have a better time at it.”
“Oh, come on, it wasn’t that bad,” Timothy, “You’ve done well. ‘For we all stumble in many ways’, you know? So what if you sometimes let your temper get the better of you? I’ve seen how far you’ve come since you started.”
Melina smiled. This was why she loved being around Timothy. He always knew how to comfort her, but didn’t hesitate to point out what she needed to work on.
After a time of fellowship, the assorted group gathered together to sing to Misham, then they each took a turn recounting all that had happened in the past weeks since they had last met, and what they had learned.
Finally, it was Melina’s turn, and with a deep breath Melina began recounting her story. Melina told about her assignment to Nieth, the various times he had threatened her, her explosion and subsequent talk with Misham, and the black marbles she had destroyed.
She talked about how Misham had warned her about words, and how He had shown her Nieth’s past. Finally, she told about being late to work and how she had suddenly been given the lead role. She even shared her secret fear that she wasn’t cut out to be a Messenger.
Melina was exhausted, overwhelmed, and nearly in tears when she was done. What would they - her only friends in the world - think now? What would they say of her failures? What did James think, being new to this complete honesty thing?
Timothy stood up, walked over to the dais and put an arm around Melina. “It’s because you are sorry and want to change that you are meant to be a Messenger. It’s because of your weakness that Misham can shine through you. It’s because of your past failures, Melina, that Nieth can see how much you’ve changed.”
That did it. Melina burst into tears. Embarrassed, she tried to pull away, but Timothy only hugged her tighter. “There’s nothing to be afraid of, Melina,” he whispered in her ear, “You’re safe here.” Gently, he let her slide down to the ground.
“No need cry, Melina, we all here,” Alaqua added, patting Melina awkwardly. James stood off to the side with John and Bluebell, unsure of what to say as Melina kept sobbing.
At last, Melina calmed down enough to speak. “I feel like all I’ve done is cry - or try not to - these past few days,” she sniffled, wiping her face with her sleeve. “Thank you all.”
“Shall we eat?” Timothy asked. Melina nodded eagerly. She didn’t particularly like being the center of attention, even if she was an actor. Being in the limelight when she was someone else was okay, but it was weird when she was...herself.
Timothy helped Melina up, and she quickly headed to the bathroom to blow her nose before facing the others again. Tactfully, no one brought up her tears over lunch, but together they chatted comfortably over other things, like James’ recent decision to become a Protector.
The food was an interesting blend of cultures; there was some fragrant and juicy spiced meat from Timothy, Bluebell’s famous family dish of rice, minced meat, veggies, and mango, a whole bunch of interesting and edible forest plants from Alaqua, delicious home-baked bread from James and John, and a large bowl of barley porridge from Melina herself. All of it was delicious.
Eventually, they reluctantly parted ways with various encouragements and words of advice. James and Melina especially got a lot of both. “Stay safe,” Timothy told Melina as he clapped her on the back. “That is, stay safe with Misham.”
“You not done with Nieth yet. See him soon,” Alaqua declared.
“Remember what you saw of his past,” Bluebell reminded.
“I’m sure it will work out eventually,” John added.
“I hope you won’t be at knifepoint again,” James said lightly, though his face was deadly serious. “Otherwise I might have to come by, right?”
“Right,” Melina gulped. That wasn’t a particularly pleasant picture. Melina steeled herself. Wherever Misham leads, she told herself. “I’ll see you all next time,” she said aloud, “Hopefully with better news to report. Bye!”
“Bye!” Bluebell, John, and James answered. Alaqua and Timothy had already left. Then with a blink, Melina teleported away.
As we can't actually get out much - only for necessary trips and short exercise times - and now that we have an excellent camera... we're even more taken with the sky and the endless variety of spectacular scenes we can watch unfold from our balcony. Or while on our permitted evening walk for exercise, as the case may be.
