The Sentinels deliver us

deirdre had prayed to the stars and to the trees in the desecrated bed of flowers that her sister would return to her. her heart could not bear this. she had thought she knew of loss with tachyon's absence, but with her soul gone, deirdre was lost herself! she sang to the wind, asking that of the north, the south, the east, and the west to carry her heart home. she prayed to the ocean; begged that if it met her dearest emaleth, that it would kiss her feet and soften them as the lush grasses of donnelaith would to tempt her home again. she asked the earth, what of it lived, to call with all of its might to her so that emaleth might hear its song and know of deirdre's longing. she asked the flames of the sun to warm her sister, and to light the path to her.

on this day, the wind carried with it a boon; in moments, deirdre was away from her ruined flowers, quietly running through the forest. the nymph knew its paths intimately, and took the surest and swiftest one to her sister, singing to the spirits and the trees and each of the elements her thanks! for it had worked, and her sister, emaleth, had come home to her! deirdre emerged from the shadows of the redwoods, her emerald eyes catching and holding her sister. with a quiet, overjoyed sob, deirdre moved to embrace emaleth, desperate for the feel of her again.