Liýranda

She surely had no problem levitating my Munchie now! I just had to move it into position (in front of the hideout), then she gently lifted it telekinetically, pulled it backwards through the illusion of a boulder and carefully lowered it onto the forward platform of the iceboat.

I was still a bit resentful that she didn't at least help a little bit with the climb upward to the caldera rim, but afterward immediately wanted to set off. Well, at least she helped now. Would’ve been more logical to start earlier, but it couldn't be helped. Better late than never!

Both she and Lily were fascinated by the process of unfolding the solar panels, which again seemed to them like a technical marvel beyond any comprehension. Especially now, as they knew it wasn’t any magic! It made me a little bit proud seeing their stunned faces when the little motors slowly unfolded all parts automatically bit by bit, like a bird spreading its wings in slow motion.

At Al’Reezas request I didn’t tilt it, since her enhanced light could come from any direction. As soon as the roof was fully unfolded, it was as if somebody had flipped a switch and an incredibly bright shine appeared suddenly from above that obscured entirely the whole sky. I squinted my eyes and Lily too let out an equally surprised and painful grunt.

“And that really shouldn’t be visible from the outside?” I whispered to the beast girl.

She just shrugged her mighty shoulders.

“If she says so. I learned to trust her words.”

Well, who was I to question her experience?

I looked at the power output and was baffled. It showed more than seven kilowatts in electric energy!

“You are doing great! Keep it up and we’d need less than an hour for a full charge!”

Al’Reeza smiled nearly as brightly as her summoned light. Her posture was relaxed and her face showed no signs of any strain.

“It’s getting hot.” Lily huffed. “If you need anything, I’m outside.”

I felt the same and asked the daimon girl a little bit more polite if I could be excused. Sure, she had no problem with that.

On the outside the familiar coolness of the rim greeted us. I started to search for the slope with the melted and refrozen snow we would use for our escape attempt, and Lily pointed me helpfully towards it. It looked like a natural bobsleigh track, this small, very shallow frozen ravine with its gentle downward slope. I followed its mild curve ‘till I lost track in the distance, where a new, unexpected, but magnificent phenomenon suddenly made its appearance.

Lazily the rim of an enormous, bluish orb pushed itself above the horizon, considerably larger than the earth moon and approximately three quarters full. White cloud bands swirled above its surface, where some landmasses were visible with deep blue indications of seas and oceans.

I stood, transfixed, not prepared for the sight of a terrestrial twin as a trabant to this world, where I’d gotten stranded. I stood, motionless, I don’t know how long, soaking in every detail, as more and more of the moon got visible from behind the horizon and called to my soul in a powerful, eerie and alien voice.

Tears welled up in my eyes, facing the gradual unveiling of this incredible beauty, whose calling strengthened with every passing second.

Lily got me out of my meditative musings again by gently squeezing my shoulder with her paw.

“That is Liýranda, Liyúra’s youngest and greatest daughter.” she said with audible emotion in her deep, rough, raspy voice.

I was too moved to utter even a single word. Call me a hopeless romantic, who is brought to tears by even a simple moonrise, but to me the sight of the moon (and the sun) is always something primordial, archetypic. Every time I see the rise of these celestial bodies I feel a deep spiritual calling, a greeting, a welcome that transcends every conventional meaning.

And here I was, stranded in another world, without knowing if I ever would, or even could return to my homeworld. I didn’t know what path’d lay before me, how to live here or even how to survive independently. I didn’t know what would await me tomorrow, in the next few days or even in the next hour. To be fair: I didn’t know shit!

Yes, I have met three (kind of) kind souls that seemed willing to help, accompany or even guide me for some time, but everything else looked to me like some kind of chaotic, incomprehensible blur. And in all this ocean of uncertainty there was this powerful, unexpected spiritual calling through this unfamiliar, yet incredibly beautiful blue moon, that shook me to my very core (in a good way!).

For the first time I felt truly welcome in this world, and Lily’s unexpected, outright unfamiliar tenderness and sensibility only contributed to that.

Long we stood, her mighty paw stabilizing me as I fought hard not to break down bawling because of all the conflicting emotions coursing through my being. We stood in silence for quite some time, until the blue moon had risen mostly over the horizon. Only then let Lily hear her voice again.

“It is being said that in the beginning of time there was just Yurá, the big, warm, shining grandmother with all her children, she deeply cared for. She gave them light and warmth, and they gave her company, life, laughter and joy. They lived long and very happily this way, but not forever.” she began her tale, her deep voice not more than a soothing rumble.

“One day they discovered a young girl, stripped bare, nearly starved, only skin and bone, yet still clinging to life. She looked different, alien to them, but despite her wild, neglected appearance, beautiful in her own, unique way. So they took her in, cared for her and nurtured her back to life. And they gave her a name: Liyúra.”

The beastess paused and I listened, captivated.

“Time passed and Liyúra grew into a statuesque, beautiful young woman. Her strange, alien appearance was a thing of the past. On the outside she didn’t look any different from any other child of Yurá, except maybe for her tall, strong stature. And as any grown up child of Yurá she adopted smaller children, who were younger or didn’t grow as tall as her, and she tended to them as if they were her own. Their names were Ginanda, Kathanda, Oruanda and Ahruanda. And for a short time they lived very happily together.”

Another pause which I didn’t dare to interrupt.

“But then came a man, Theandros, handsome and with an impressive build on his own, who had taken a liking to Liyúra. He courted her and she agreed to live together with him and his two daughters, Æleandra and Ðeveandra. Unfortunately he had a fierce and impetuous spirit that often clashed with Liyúra’s gentle and tender nature. After a particularly violent argument she finally saw that they didn't fit together, and she told him she wanted to go separate ways.”

“I suppose he didn’t take it well?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“No, he didn’t. He ambushed and raped her.”

I was silent.

“But she fought back fiercely.” the beast girl continued. “Liyúra was tall and strong and didn’t let Theandros easily have his way with her, and a brutal battle ensued. But despite her defiance he succeeded to plant his seed in her, although in the end she still managed to kill him for his disgusting deed. Sadly, their children were also caught up in the battle, and Ginanda, Oruanda, Æleandra and Ðeveandra also ended up dead. Kathanda and Ahruanda barely managed to stay alive, alongside their defiled mother, who later came down with a child she named Liýandra.”

Another pause, before she continued.

“To this day Liýandra, Ahruanda and Kathanda are faithful companions to Liyúra, bound together by their tragic fate. And the dead children Ginanda, Oruanda, Æleandra and Ðeveandra are commonly known as ‘the lost ones’. But all sentient races on Liyúra remember them still today and mourn their loss.”

Lily fell silent and I felt her tale had come to an end.

I cleared my throat.

“I don’t know what to say,” I began, “but may I be so bold to offer an interpretation of your tale? Because there exists an interesting analogy on my homeworld.”

A spark of amusement appeared in the beast girl's yellow eyes.

“Don’t hold back.” she rumbled, now sounding much less soothing.

“You see, my homeworld, earth, also has a moon.” I began. “Scientists all over the world always wondered how it had formed. In the end they discovered that long ago another slightly smaller planet had crashed into earth and merged with it. This impact expelled huge quantities of material into space that slowly clumped together and formed a sphere that orbits the earth to this day.”

Lily laughed, a deep, throaty sound that startled me, and shook her head.

“You are a strange one, Vilém.” she said. “I tell you a tragic tale from the beginning of time, and you respond with an absolute austere, prosaic statement. And appear deeply moved nonetheless!”

I didn’t know if I should feel criticized or not.

“I’m sorry,” I answered, “but your story told me something very important about the background of your world.”

She shot me a gaze where amusement and curiosity equally balanced themselves.

“Go on,” she encouraged me.

“You see, mythological tales always reflect the ‘prosaic’ reality to some degree, and in your tale, it seems that in the beginning Liyúra was a rogue planet without a sun, tumbling alone and frozen through the cosmos. It was then captured by a sun, Yurá, with an already developed planetary system. Liyúra warmed, collected dust and material through impacts with comets and asteroids and grew considerably. It may have also captured four smaller celestial bodies in the process, the original ‘daughters’ as you called them.”

Lily nodded.

“Ginanda, Kathanda, Oruanda and Ahruanda.” she remembered.

“Yes. And then came a collision with a quite big planet, which already had two moons on its own.”

“Theandros.” Lily guessed.

I nodded.

“The collision with Theandros must’ve been catastrophic. It destroyed half of Liyúra’s and all of Theandros’s moons. Theandros itself merged with Liyúra and ejected in this process huge amounts of material out into space that later formed Liýranda, the last moon.”

Again the beastess laughed heartily and shook her head.

“You really are a strange one, Vilém.” she finally managed to say. “I don’t understand half of what you said, but in a strange way maybe it could even make some sense.”

Still she laughed.

“What would Reeza and Yára have to say?”

As if on cue the horned head of the daimon girl poked through the stone illusion, a mildly shocked look of disbelief on her face and asked:

“What did I miss?”