Leyloni

The sadness that my father felt on that day would color all the days of my earliest childhood. He had my cradle moved to his sleep chamber, and in the night when I would call out for comfort, it was always he who tended to my needs. Many of the others who lived in the castle offered to help their widowed king cope with the sadness of his loss as well as the constant attention I needed. A few even offered to take me away to be raised until I was able to take care of myself. But father was resolved to raise me himself and to make sure I knew my mother, even if it brought back painful memories to make her live in my mind.
He was always a loving and very indulgent father, but he had a veil over his heart that made being in his company always feels a bit subdued. We used to sit for hours at a time and simply be, nothing more, just be. Sometimes he would fill my mind with memories of my mother; her laughter, her smile, the way her hair smelled after a day in the sunshine. At those times I could feel the veil lift off his heart and the true man my father is would shine forth in a bright, happy, larger than life glow. Even when those moments would pass and the veil returned, I knew I had his heart and that he would always love me.
As I started to grow, father loved to create illusions for me, of my mother sitting at a tea party with me, or her singing the silly songs she made up to lighten the mood when things were going badly. I always knew that they weren’t real, but I couldn’t help but entertain the notion that she was always a beautiful dream, and that she had not died, she was simply always what she is, a perfect illusion in my heart. With my father’s ability to make dreams live, I could sit and talk with her, ask her questions, and confide my deepest secrets to her. Because my father is an exceptional person, he always made sure that my secrets were kept safe and never let on that he really knew them all.
Father taught me to use my own ability to bend reality as well. As a young child my dreams were simple. Father told me he often walked in to find my room filled with purring ploxen, and me playing with butterflies that would light on my toes. Sometimes he found me floating on a lazy river with my mother asleep on the raft next to me; I never tried to talk to her when I dreamed her for myself, she would simply sleep in a comfortable companionship that brought rest to my mind. These types of dreams and illusions are where most of our young start there journey to mastery over fantasy and mental bending, but the power of illusion is something we have to respect and never abuse, father keeps close tabs on all bending and he is able to interfere with the ability of others to view there own imagery; something he only does in extreme cases.
As my fantasies grew in both variety and strength, he began to join them from time to time to show me how to enhance the experiences. It was always a treat when he joined in, but I would soon find out how lacking I still was in my imagery. I would have a beautiful sunset cloaked in shades of purple and pink that to me was something to be proud of. My father would join in and brag on the effort, cast a bit of orange across the tops of the clouds and the whole scene would take on such depth and beauty that I could only thank him for letting me enjoy such an awesome surprise. Or I would make a party for my friends and create a park full of flowers and the sweet smell of the happy Whimlings who would tend to our needs. I would spread a table with all the delicious treats that make our mouths water, and father would enter my thoughts for only a second to suggest a babbling brook with a short water fall at the source and just a trace of spice to off set the sweet smell of the Whimlings, once again the perfect finish to my almost perfect dream. It was this type of persuasive thought and coaxing that made my young life full, and very enjoyable.
It is difficult to think of the training I did as work, but that is what we call it just the same. Playing with colors and testing the limits of our ability is something all dreamers enjoy, but it is also a craft we take very seriously. I always have tried to hone my skills in private so I can make a perfect first showing of my work, father calls it my vanity but I think of it more as my dedication to precision, father tells me they are the same thing.
I used to ask father if he would one day send me out to find my own world where I would create my personal paradise, as his parents had done with him so many years ago. He only smiles and laughs when I bring it up and tells me that his paradise could never be complete without me in it. So I shall be stuck here with him forever. When he says those types of things I feel such honesty and love from him that I know he is speaking from a full heart and not merely easing away the worries of his only child. Many times he would bring my mother out to comfort me as well and to reassure me that I must take care of her beloved husband for many, many years to come, and that no one will be sent away, although some may choose to chase there dreams elsewhere. I had to stay for another purpose as well; the elementals. It was to be my job to help father as he used his considerable power of creativity to genetically engineer a unique elemental being who would master all the elements and bring civil rest the our sister plant, Zhetascha.

This was a process that had begun long before I was born, and father had volunteered to help make the dream of a peaceful home a reality for the elemental beings he had come to love and respect during his years as a guest on their planet. The genetic codes of the elemental beings are unique to each kind of elemental mastery, so there was no natural way for a blended offspring to ever come about. This is where father was able to help, on Ryzald; with father as king anything is possible. It was in my seventh turn that Daqu and Kiya were brought about, some use the term born, but they were never actually born, they were made.
I remember seeing them for the first time, they were small and perfect and I thought absolutely wonderful. I sat with them for a long time that first day searching their minds to learn their names and to see if they liked me, but with no success. Father entered my thoughts from deep in the woods to ease my mind. He assured me that they were not ignoring me, but they were simply incapable of answering me. The offspring of dreamers are able to communicate with everyone mentally from the moment they are born and with their parents even before birth. So the idea that they were unable to do the same had never entered my mind. I felt father stroke my hair and pat my cheek, he let me see what he was doing in the woods, and then he told me I would have to wait a good while for them to learn to talk. I asked him if he could tell if they liked me or not. The deep chuckle he gave startled the little Whimling he was teaching to fish and I knew right away the smell poor father must suffer through as he told me to make direct eye contact with them and I would be able to know in my heart the answer. I stood next to the cradle I was proud had been mine, and looked first into Kiya’s eyes, the answer was clear to me, she liked me very much. Daqu’s eyes were wondering around the room and it took a bit of mental gymnastics to produce and object I could use to lead his eyes to mine, but as soon as our eyes locked I knew he too liked me. The happiness that flooded my mind alerted father of my triumph, he smiled and said he had no doubt that they would like me and that I would be a wonderful big sister to them. This was a shock to me. Until that moment I had no idea they would live with me and father in the castle and that I, Leyloni, would be a big sister. I skipped around the room and started sing one of the songs my mother had taught me.
Soon a florescent blue butterfly appeared in the room, I knew father had sent it to lead me to him and that he wanted to share my joy in person, so I followed it and found my father still patiently helping the Whimling untangle his fishing string. I put my hands behind my back and produced a perfect untangled string and gave it the Whimling who in return treated us to an extra burst of the sweet berry smell we both love. Father thanked me and looked a bit embarrassed that he hadn’t thought of doing the same thing from the start. I jumped in his arms and filled his mind with the happiness I was feeling. I also began asking questions faster then he could answer about the duties and responsibilities of a big sister. He told me it all comes naturally and to always follow my heart when dealing with them. This way I couldn’t go wrong.
Over the next several turns Kiya and Daqu grew up as the children of King Triphon of Ryzald. They were given the same love and attention as me, and were treated with the same dignity. We spent hours playing in the woods and in every way we were true siblings. I would entertain them with fantastical illusions and sparkling displays of light and sound. I would delight at them as they would dance and tumble around trying to keep up with the ploxen and it never failed to make me laugh when Daqu would tease one of them a bit too much and get flashed with flame by the frustrated little creatures. In those days they had only slight abilities in controlling the elements. They would sometimes do things by accident that would surprise us; such as causing a flower to grow and bloom just by holding a seed I their hand; or lighting a candle on fire by merely reaching for it.
I was so proud of my little brother and sister and wanted them with me all the time. They in turn loved me and never got tired of tagging along. Our parties were always a blend of little children and young adults. Some of the older kids would silently voice their disapproval of the little ones attendance, but I didn’t care; before long Kiya and Daqu were mesmerizing the group with their tricks. My friends had made a game of producing the most outrageous illusions and asking the twins to pick out what was real. If they were successful they were given a gold button, if they failed they had to give a button to the one who tricked them. For a long time it was a pretty even give and take but eventually Kiya began to never fail. She would pick out the reality and tweak the noses of my friends by causing the elements within the dreams to destabilize. I would shield her mind so the others couldn’t read her thoughts and then her eyes would meet mine, looking for my approval just before she would shatter the illusion. It was great fun and she was always generous with her buttons, giving them to others or sneaking some of hers over to Daqu’s pile so he wouldn’t feel bad.
Once the twins had come into their ninth turn elemental masters were sent from Zhetascha to Ryzald. These masters were to help Kiya and Daqu achieve true mastery over the elements. Daqu was intended to be the ultimate master, he was of course the male and the council on Zhetascha had simply assumed he would be a stronger leader.
They focused on Daqu and put him through test after test to realize the extent of his abilities. Lesser masters were sent to begin Kiya’s training; she still had a lot of free time to spend with me, so our bond grew closer. Father had told me to stay out of Daqu’s mind while he was with the masters. They were very edgy and intense in their style of training, so any interference would not go over well. So I tried to stay away, but I had to check in from time to time, and was always sad for Daqu when I would touch his thoughts. He was miserable and lacked the focus the masters were demanding of him.
One morning Daqu had come to find me before the masters came for his training. He sat next to me and the flood of troubling thoughts that he released overwhelmed me with grief, I could only cry as I held his small body in my arms and tried to quiet his mind. After he left I reached out for father, he knew why I was looking for him and told me he shared my sadness but that there was nothing he could do. I asked if I could go and try to help focus Daqu’s mind, but father said absolutely not; Daqu must learn to do this on his own. I couldn’t keep myself from touching his thoughts though and I heard some of the hatful things that the masters were saying to him. Kiya was sitting on my bed playing with the ploxen father gave her last turn; I asked her if she wanted to go check on Daqu. I told her we had to sneak and not make any noise at all, her eyes sparkled and she giggled the same little giggle she would keep her entire life; yes, she was up for the adventure.
The stone building where Daqu was being trained was guarded during his lessons. I didn’t know how we could get passed the guards, I looked at Kiya and told her the problem, and I wished there were a door here, where we could enter without being seen. I had no sooner completed the thought than the stones in the wall in front of us turned to liquid and a crude doorway opened in front of us. The happy expression on Kiya’s face told me she was quite proud of herself and that she thought I should give her a button. We walked inside and heard impatient voices telling Daqu to do it again, use more control, not so clumsy. I touched Daqu’s mind to let him know we were near, he thanked me and I felt some of the tension release from his small shoulders. Kiya and I found a place where we could watch and settled in for while.
A water master was standing face to face with Daqu; he was instructing Daqu to gather all the water from a large pool and hold it up several feet in the air. I was surprised to see Daqu raise his slender hands, focus his mind, and lift the water in a perfect ball out of the copper basin. He continued to raise his hands and the massive water ball seemed to float to the ceiling. I was so impressed I nearly began to clap my hands. The dower master looked completely unmoved by the effort and told him to now begin separating the water ball in half and half again; he would count how many times Daqu could separate the ball before losing control. The tension came back to Daqu’s shoulders and I felt his mind beginning to lose focus. I pushed in to maintain his focus but when I did he could no longer continue the exercise of separating the water. I let Kiya’s mind join the bond I had with Daqu and she instantly began separating the water. She kept going until finally the whole ball of water was a hazy mist in the room. She did it so fast and with such slight effort that she surprised even herself. The water master of course thought Daqu had done the exercise and told him he must now bring the water back to the texture of rain and return every drop to the basin. Kiya began the process of gathering up the water molecules. Daqu and I were laughing silently because she had started storing the raindrops directly over the master’s head. It was impressive to see how easily she did this task, and how effortlessly she could continue the chore while at the same time causing the completed raindrops to perform the elaborate dances that are popular with my friends. The water master was so intent on making sure that the physics were performed correctly that he was totally unaware of the amazing sight going on in the rafters above his head.
As she began returning the raindrops to the basin I got caught up in the silly little parade Kiya was orchestrating with the water. She had a little raindrop circus complete with acrobats, tight ropewalkers, animal tamers and even a group of tiny wet clowns who were tripping and falling over each other as they marched to the basin. As each “performer” would reach the basin they would execute spectacular and very complex dives. The water master was watching the progress of the return of the water, when he suddenly realized what he was seeing. He looked at Daqu who was completely lost in the spectacle his sister was creating, and knew he had nothing to do with the display. We were all so enchanted that we didn’t see the master searching for us. He rounded the corner where Kiya and I were hiding. Fear swept over me, but Kiya looked at him and said she was just helping Daqu, and that it was a fun assignment, did he have any more? For the first time a smile came over his face and he introduced himself as Lars. One of the guards was sent to get father, but I had already called out to him for help. Father stepped in the building and tried to look sternly at us, but he was too proud of Kiya to keep it up. He had been searching the mind of Lars and had been watching his memory of the water parade. Father hugged all three of us and asked Daqu if wanted a break from the training, Daqu was very relieved at the prospect of no more grueling lessons. More interesting though was the fact that Kiya was not surprised at all. I searched her mind to find she had always known she was the one to bring civil rest to Zhetascha.

From that day on Kiya was the focus of attention. It was she who the masters came to see and it was she who would be groomed to lead. She loved the training and looked forward to each master’s visits. The experiences she was having were a true joy to her and the visitors from Zhetascha never failed to marvel at her natural abilities. Daqu was taught in a halfhearted effort to control his abilities, but was never again seriously trained to be anything more than a slight shadow of Kiya.
It was during this time that I concentrated on Daqu. He would come back from his training sessions bored and angry, much as a talented music prodigy would feel at spending days learning basic scales. He hated the under masters who were sent to teach him. I talked to father about this and explained that Daqu is being “taught” by elementals that can’t hold a flicker of a candle to his abilities. It is embarrassing and humiliating for Daqu to be treated as a less than average child when in reality he is more powerful than any of them, save Kiya. Father spoke to the masters and asked if Daqu might take on a bit more challenging lesson plan. The masters didn’t want to waste time on Daqu, they felt anytime given Daqu was time stolen from Kiya and they would not bend. So father asked if he and I might be permitted to teach Daqu, this would free up more masters for Kiya. They agreed and we started teaching the boy I viewed as a brother. Father took him on long walks where he would teach Daqu self-control and patience. He also taught the boy the history of both planets and the universe, as my father knew it.
I was given the privilege of helping him master the elements. I felt silly at first trying to instruct him in a subject I knew nothing about, but I soon found that all he really needed was someone to give him ideas on how he could strengthen his abilities and to watch him as he controlled the earth, air, fire, wind and energy around him. I was an enthusiastic audience and he loved to show off for me and my friends. We had fun together and when Kiya would get a break from her lessons she would join us and show Daqu some of the new things she was learning.
For many turns this was the arrangement and it seemed to suit everyone. Kiya and Daqu were both becoming very powerful and the maturity level that Kiya displayed made me forget sometimes that I am truly the older sister. She still loved to have fun and take part in the silly fantasies Daqu and I invented, but she knew that soon she would have to take on the full responsibility of leading Zhetascha, so she didn’t have the same care-free abandon we enjoyed.
It was becoming more and more obvious to me that Daqu truly resented Kiya’s place. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they had simply started with her from the beginning, but the way they did it made Daqu feel like a failure and that Kiya had taken what was to have been his. He started make cutting remarks to her and about her. When she would try to show him something new he would mess it up, or he would start a storm to prevent her from keeping control. It was an awe-inspiring sight to see some of the war-of-wills they had. Kiya would be in the middle of a delicate procedure to completely engulf a tree in flames without allowing any heat or smoke to escape. It was beautiful as she would control the flames and cause them to dance around on the limbs of the perfectly unharmed tree. From nowhere Daqu would cause a rainstorm to lash against the tree. Kiya would then create a bubble around the tree so firm that the rain could not penetrate it, and the flames would burn brighter inside. Daqu would begin hurling lightening at the bubble trying to break it and finally Kiya would open up the earth to swallow the whole scene and then walk away in a calm reserve that made Daqu furious.
One day Kiya came from her lessons to find me and Daqu making a playground for the Whimlings. She rushed up to us and said, “They are to call me Mistress of Microcosm.”
I could feel the pride she was enjoying and I was very happy for her very impressive title, but I informed her she would always be just plain Kiya to me. She looked a bit embarrassed so I gave her a mental hug and assured her I was very proud of her. Daqu simply continued to play with the Whimlings, so I touched Kiya’s mind to help her deal with his rejection, and soon did something I had never done to either Daqu or Kiya before. I created the illusion that only Kiya could see of Daqu turning to her with a big smile on his face and had him tell her in a very heart felt way how proud he would be to have the Mistress of Microcosm for his twin, and he hugged her. She was so happy it made my heart sing, so I watched with contentment as she spotted the bright orange butterfly father had sent to lead her to him. When I looked back at Daqu, he said simply, “I need to think for a while, alone.”
He walked into the woods and I followed him with my thoughts until he begged me to leave him. He was gone for a long time and I was very worried, but I resisted the temptation to reach out for him. Kiya was readying herself to go to Zhetascha and begin her work of undoing the damage caused by eons of prejudices, and Daqu was to go back with her if he could be found. Father too had reached for Daqu when he first left but respected his desire to be left alone; after all he had become a young man and needed his privacy. The day Kiya was leaving for her new home father threw a party like none I had ever seen. It was a true celebration and all of the elemental masters who had trained Kiya were invited, they seemed a little annoyed be not worried at all when we told them we hadn’t seen Daqu in some time. Finally the transport ship was ready for the quick trip, first to the moon then on the Zhetascha. Everyone was smiling as she gave a short speech about how proud she would always be to call Ryzald her “birth” place, and how much she would miss the fun and fanciful atmosphere of our world. I produced a rainbow that appeared to reach the moon and touch down before ending on our sister planet. Everyone was laughing as the Whimling started trying to climb on it only to fall through to the ground. It wasn’t until father approach Kiya with tears streaming down his face that the mood turned sad. With the sight of mighty King Triphon standing in full view of everyone crying, the whole crowd soon began to cry and Kiya had to board the transport before the Whimlings got too upset.As soon as she left, Daqu appeared as if from nowhere and father called me close to him. Father was trembling as he told me that Daqu had been living on the moon. I touched Daqu’s mind to find he had been living on the moon and that he had become close to Atrilos and his daughter Taliana. I could feel his love for me and father, but I could also feel that his hatred for Kiya had deepened and he had been making plans to ruin her efforts on Zhetascha. A chill ran through the crowd as more of the dreamers touched Daqu, or dared to touch father and I. He came to me and father to thank us for raising him and giving him a family, but he knew he had to go to Zhetascha, as was made evident by the small ship the elemental council had left behind for his use if he ever returned to our world. I hugged him and asked him to stay with us a while longer but the hard resolve in his heart was deep and I knew he was going to make life unpleasant for Kiya. I told him to feel free to come back anytime and that I would be reaching out to him daily to visit and see how he was doing in his new world. Father too hugged him and locked eyes with him in a private exchange that was blocked from my mind. Daqu looked sad and a bit defiant as he stepped away and father told him he would always have a home at the castle. Just like that he was gone and after many years of sharing my father, I was to be an only child once again.