A puppy, maybe? Zelana asked eagerly. Ive never owned a puppy, but Ive heard that theyre very affectionate.
Not exactly a puppy, no.
Oh, Zelana sounded disappointed. A kitten then? she said, her eyes brightening once more. Ive heard that the purring sound kittens make is very relaxing.
Well, not quite a kitten either.
What is it, Dahlaine? Zelana demanded impatiently. Show me.
Of course, Dahlaine replied, concealing his sly smile. He reached both hands into the unseen emptiness he always carried along behind him and took a fur-wrapped bundle out of the air. With my compliments, my beloved sister, he said extravagantly, handing her the bundle.
Zelana eagerly took the bundle and turned back the edge of the fur robe to see what her brother had given her. She gaped in obvious disbelief at the newborn pet drowsing in the warm fur robe. What am I supposed to do with this thing? she demanded in a shrill voice.
He shrugged. Take care of it, Zelana. It shouldnt be much more difficult to care for than a young dolphin.
But its one of those man-creatures! she protested.
Why, so it is, Dahlaine replied in mock astonishment. How strange that I didnt notice that myself. Youre very perceptive, Zelana. He paused. Its not an ordinary man-creature, dear sister, he added gravely. Its very special. There are only a few of them, but theyll change the world. Care for it and protect it, Zelana. I think youll have to feed it, because I dont think it can live on light alone, as we do. You might have to experiment a bit to find something it can digest, but Im sure that youre clever enough to solve that problem. Youll need to keep it clean as well. Infant man-creatures tend to be messy. Then, after a few years, you might want to teach it to talk. There are things its going to need to tell us, and if it cant talk, it wont be able to pass them on to us.
What could one of these creatures tell us that we dont already know?
Dreams, Zelana, dreams. We dont sleep, so we dont dream. That baby in your arms is a Dreamer. Thats why I brought her to you.
Its a girl, then? Zelanas voice softened.
Naturally. I didnt think youd get along very well with a boy. Care for her, Zelana, and Ill drop by in a few years to see how shes coming along.
The baby in Zelanas arms made a cooing sound and reached out one tiny hand to touch Zelanas face.
Oh, Zelana said in a trembling, almost stricken voice, clasping the infant more closely to her.
Dahlaine smiled. It had turned out rather well, he congratulated himself. All it had taken to totally enslave his brother and both of his sisters had been a few peeps and coos and one soft touch from an infant hand. He might have gloated a bit more, but his own baby Dreamer was home alone, and it was almost feeding time, so he really should get on back.
He swam out of Zelanas grotto and remounted his well-trained lightning bolt. Lightning bolts are noisy steeds, theres no question about that, but they can cover vast distances in the blink of an eye.
Zelanas first problem with her new charge was finding something to feed it. She rather hoped that Dahlaine had been mistaken. If the infant could live on light alone, as Zelana herself did, feeding it would be no problem. The vein of pink quartz in the ceiling of the grotto concentrated the sunlight into a glowing pink pool which was presently centered on the bed of moss where Zelana occasionally rested. Hopefully, she laid the fur-robed bundle on that moss bed and turned the robe back to allow the sunlight to touch the child.
The infant began to fuss a bit. Maybe the little creature didnt like the color. Zelana had discovered that a steady diet of pink light took a bit of getting used to. Pink, it appeared, was an acquired taste.
Zelana snapped her fingers, and the quartz obediently turned blue. The baby didnt stop fussing, though, and her discontent was growing louder.
Zelana tried green, but that didnt work either. Then she tried plain white. It was a little bland, but perhaps the baby wasnt ready for advanced colors yet.
The sounds the infant was making grew louder and more insistent.
Zelana quickly gathered the squalling infant in her arms and hurried down to the edge of the shallow pool at the mouth of the grotto. Meeleamee! she called in the piping language of the dolphins, I need your help! Soon! Please!
Now Meeleamee had mothered many, many young, so she had great wisdom and much experience in such matters. Milk, she advised.
What is milk? Zelana asked. And where can I find some?
Meeleamee explained in some detail, and for the very first time in her endless life, Zelana blushed. What a strange sort of thing, she said, blushing even harder. She looked down at herself. Do you think I might be able toShe left it hanging.
Probably not, Meeleamee replied. There are some things involved that are just a little complicated. Can the young one swim?
I dont really know, Zelana admitted.
Unwrap her and put her down in the shallow water here. I should be able to nurse her without too much trouble.
It was a bit awkward at first, but between them Zelana and Meeleamee managed to feed the infant. Zelana felt a real sense of accomplishment which lasted for nearly four hours.
Then they had to feed the child again. It seemed that there was great deal of inconvenience involved in caring for infants.
The seasons turned, as seasons always do, and summer drifted on into autumn, and winter followed shortly after. Zelana had never really paid much attention to the seasons. Heat or cold had little meaning for her, and she could create light whenever she grew hungry.
The female dolphins were taking turns feeding the infant, and Zelana noticed that the child seemed to be very affectionate. The dolphins were a bit startled by kisses at first, but after a while they enjoyed being kissed by the grateful child, and sometimes there were even arguments about whose turn it was to nurse. The arguments broke off abruptly when the child sprouted teeth and began chewing on whatever was handy, though. Her diet changed at that point, and the dolphins offered her fish instead of milk. She still kissed them by way of thanks, so everything seemed all right again.
Since the child had always been fed in the shallow pool at the grottos mouth, she was swimming even before she began to grow teeth, but she started walking and running not long after her diet changed, and she was soon toddling about the grotto, squeaking dolphin words as she went. She returned to the water whenever she grew hungry, however. The dolphins were careful to keep her more or less confined to the water at the mouth of the grotto, but they took to chasing fish in from the deeper waters of Mother Sea to give the child some experience in the business of catching her own food.
When the summer of the childs third year arrived, she ventured out of the grotto to join the younger dolphins in their forays along the coast of the Isle of Thurn. She spent her days now frolicking with the young dolphins and eating the bounty of Mother Sea.
Zelana approved of that. The childs independence freed her mistress at last so that she could return to poetry and music.
The young dolphins called the child Beeweeabee, but Zelana didnt really think that was appropriate, since it approximately translated into Short-Fin-With-No-Tail. Despite her habits and her companions, the little girl was still a land animal, so Zelana unleashed her poetic talents and ultimately arrived at Eleria. It had a nice musical sound to it, and it rhymed with several very pleasant words.