My head rose from the folded hands that rested on the side of the broken wooden bed. It was the best the inn had, easy to believe in this small village. The Book lay on the floor, full of notes from this afternoon’s studies...

The door of the inn opened as I stepped out into the fresh spring air, still warmed by the sun up above. The sky was all but cloudless up around the sparse woods that surrounded the village. The trees had just begun to bud, held back only by the long dryspell the farmers talked of. The stable was empty, all except my horse, no doubt the others were off trading or hunting deeper in the woods...

I untied my horse deciding to go bareback through the woodland to enjoy the beauty of the Light.  I rode for an hour easily, just ... thinking about life, Isis,...... Garland. Why couldn’t Isis help me win Garlands heart as he has won mine? How much does he really care for me?... Does he even care for me? If only I could hold him in my arms and make the confusion go away...

The winds picked up and clouds started to roll in. Nudging my mare I picked up the pace a bit to get back.. back to where?... how long have I been riding? Rain started to fall very lightly, but the clouds grew darker and more threatening. Why wasn’t I paying attention to where I was going when I came out here... Garland.

The sun didn’t penetrate any longer and the rain came more heavily... I was lost... Heeling the mare to a trot I guessed which way was back...

The rain soaking through my riding cloak and a shiver jutting up my back proved the cold was returning to retake the spring day. The rain beat down harder as I rode on farther and faster looking for any signs of safety.

Lightning streaked through the sky, thunder boomed in the air. The mare tripped and I felt myself launching forward... I reached for something to grab onto, something to hold, but... there was nothing.

"Coren" I could hear Isis calling me to my final death. The narrow light was becoming brighter as I began to travel through worlds. Each step closer to my death... closer to my god.

"Coren" she called again, summoning me to finish in the aetherplane what I had left unfinished here... All given up because one man made me lose my way on an afternoon ride... Garland. If only I would have told him how I felt about him... found out what he felt about me, if he felt about me..., I could accept this death... if only...

"Coren" a tug came pulling me back away from the light, from Isis ... from death. A warm sense of peacefulness and fulfillment seeped through my inner being making my marrow melt and heart thump harder to pass the rushing blood.

"Coren" I recognized Garland’s voice... he grasped my hand tightly. Rushing back from the light and opening my eyes I see his face hovering over mine, the starry night sky overhead. A tear... no, it must be rain water washed down from his cheek... but it stopped raining... where did the clouds go?... His arms reached around me pulling me up away from the belly of my still horse. Pain shuddered through my every joint... but I hardly noticed as he picked me up into his full embrace. Emotions surged through my mind and my body trembled as I stood there for what felt like centuries in his arms.

"Garland" I managed to get out... this time I would tell him. "Garland, I lo.."

"Shh.. shh.. shh.." He covered up my last words, then whispered, "Save your strength, it’s a long ride home."

My arms grasped around Garland’s waist on his horse as we rode home... tears streamed down from my eye... but not from the rain or the pain...but for this moment in life. I squeezed my arms a little tighter.

I lost track of time after the first couple of hours of travel passing in and out of sleep... my arms around him. We finally arrived home as the sun was just beginning peak over the horizon to illuminate the skies with brilliant streaks of pinkish-red hues.

As we passed through the small village on our way back to the inn, I could faintly hear the farmers talk of the Miracle that happened last night...