Visitation

An insistent, scraping knock at the front door awakened Allabva in the wee hours. Blinking sleep away, she arose and pulled her robe about her against the spring air.

Allabva woke her mother on the way, not wanting to face an unknown visitor alone in the dark. Mother lit a lantern, and they both walked down the stairs to the front door.

Allabva tried to look through the front window to one side of the door, but all she saw at this hour was shadow.

Mother set the lantern on the table so it would cast its light in the doorway when they opened the door, then stepped protectively between the door and Allabva. Allabva moved to position herself where she could look out the open door without blocking the lantern light, allowing the light to fall on the visitor to reveal his or her face immediately when the door cracked open.

Mother opened the door wide enough for a beam from the lantern to shine out and illuminate whomever had been knocking. As the door opened, they could see that it was not human.

Hronomon stood there, front hoof raised, ready to knock again.

“Yes?” Mother demanded. “What brings a Nomo-Nomo to our door at this hour?”

Allabva recognized the Nomord, unsure how she knew although his face looked like any other Nomord face to her eyes. “Mother,” she intercepted, “this is Hronomon, the Nomord who visited us in Pine Canyon.”

“I don’t see what that changes at the moment,” Mother gently retorted. “What is he doing here right now?”

“I don’t—”

“Good Madam Roalke,” the beast spoke. “I am here to see your daughter on an urgent matter. The Shrongelin has need of her assistance. The world is in need and only the Shrongelin can provide. He requires Allabva’s help to fulfil his mission.”

“What?” Allabva asked in disbelief, struck at the implausibility of his statement. “How am I supposed—”

“How in the world do you expect her to do whatever it is the Shrongelin needs to do?” Mother interrupted. “She’s just a girl, despite having reached her majority. She’s young, and human at that. What is it you or the Shrongelin would ask of her?”

“There is a great evil awakening to the north, as has happened many times before. The Shrongelin has held it at bay since it was imprisoned long ago. Now it squirms and threatens to break its bonds, as has also happened before, now long forgotten. The Shrongelin has endured ages of evil attacks. Now he grows weary at the same time that that evil comes near to overflowing its bounds. He must imprison the evil once again, but this requires power that no Nomord can wield alone. I know that you see your daughter as a common enough young woman, though special in your eyes. I concede that by most metrics, she appears healthy but unremarkable.”

Allabva wondered whether she was supposed to feel slighted by that comment. Hronomon did not wait for her to object.

“But I am Hronomon. I am the Forerunner. I can see her heart. In her kindness, in her desire for harmony, she is uncommon. The Shrongelin needs one such as her in order to tap the power that can contain the evil known as Sacalai.”

“So, you’re saying it has to be my daughter?” Mother asked. “You can’t go scrape the paint off some other poor soul’s door at dark-thirty in the morning? Why did you come now, when she’s barely an adult? Can you find somebody older? Maybe a big, powerful man.”

Hronomon paused. “No. And no. It didn’t necessarily have to be Allabva Roalke. She was not chosen by any birthright or other arbitrary means of selecting a champion. It could have been somebody else.

“However, I am tasked with finding a Companion for the Shrongelin. I am tasked with finding somebody who is kind and selfless. As it happens, I felt her pulling me here three weeks ago—I mean to impress upon you the rarity of one fitting the need so perfectly—and I came to investigate. I found her almost as qualified as I had hoped.

“As Hronomon, I have a connection with the Shrongelin. It is clear to him at this time that we can delay no longer. Allabva, you are ready. I believe that you needed the arrival at your majority in order to complete your preparedness. You had some experiences in the last two days that rounded out your character to be the ideal companion to assist the Shrongelin to stand against Sacalai.”

“What do I need to do?” Allabva spoke at the same time that Mother said, “Will this be dangerous to her?”

“You must come with me at once, Allabva. We must journey to meet the Shrongelin, then you will travel with him. Yes, madam, there will surely be danger.”

“Why doesn’t this Shrongelin come to find my daughter himself?” Mother still appeared to be more concerned with Allabva’s safety than anything else. “If you were anyone or anything else, I’d have closed this door on you as soon as I’d opened it. The only reason I’ve spoken to you this long is because I’ve never known a Nomord to have a shred of maliciousness. Frankly, I’ve never seen a male Nomord, either, but your race does you credit either way. Why doesn’t the Shrongelin come here himself?”

Allabva’s mouth hung open at her mother’s manner, the ease with which she spoke out against the Shrongelin, no matter how slightly. Their traditions held him to be a great, benevolent being.

“Please pardon my lack of complete explanation,” Hronomon replied. “I will not take the time to explain fully now. I do not know what you know, or think you know, about the Shrongelin. Many human lifetimes have passed since any of you knew him. A story is changed in the retelling, as it surely has been through your generations. Whatever you think about him, this is what you must know now: that he has been protecting the world for thousands of years, that he needs Allabva’s help to overcome this challenge, and that because of Sacalai’s influence already permeating the world, he cannot approach Allabva until the appropriate time and place, or all would be lost. Were he to approach her prematurely, they would both be soft targets to Sacalai, easily enough disposed of. Now, we truly must depart now, before the sun is up. The fewer eyes to see me here, the better.”

He turned, evidently expecting Allabva to follow.

Allabva opened her mouth “But—”

“Wait just a minute,” Mother said flatly to Hronomon. “This is absolutely preposterous. You show up here with no advance notice, expecting her to traipse all over the continent just because you and your friend think she’s special? You show up, telling a mother that she has to sacrifice her daughter to some perilous mission, intimating that she may never return to the bosom and embrace she knew first of all?” Tears welled up in her eyes as she gave the unicorn her mind. “That this mother is to simply stoically carry on as if her only daughter weren’t about to disappear into the night with some silly Nomo-Nomo on a word and a prayer because the Shrongelin supposedly needs her? Her, and only her?” Mother’s face changed from mourning to indignation.

“No! I will go! It matters not if I return. I place full confidence in my Allabva to do what’s right with the orchard, and probably do a better job than I could myself at raising her brother in my absence. I will give myself to the Shrongelin and we will destroy this, this ‘Sock-eye’ that you say threatens the world! My daughter will stay here, stay sa—” Mother’s voice cracked with emotion. “My sweetheart will stay safe! You can go let this Sacalai eat you alive, for all I care, but Allabva will live a good life! She will raise apples, cherries, peaches…she will raise her brother…she has a beau! Might become a proper suitor. He’s a very nice young man. He could be her husband one day and they could raise their own children!” Mother shouted angrily at the intelligent beast in the doorway. “Can’t you let her live her own life? Take me instead. Please.”

Mother Roalke’s shouts gave way to pitiful sobs as she accepted the inevitable.

Allabva swallowed, struck by the emotion of her mother’s delivery. Then she spoke, reaching out to and embracing her mother.

“Mother, I have to go. Hronomon says he can see me for who I am. I don’t know if he’s aware, but the glance goes both ways, though perhaps far weaker in my direction. I can see him. I know we can trust his honesty. I can see that he intrinsically desires the good and well-being of all.”

“But why you?” Mother asked rhetorically. “My baby. We already lost your father, as far as we know. And now you?”

The Nomord stood silently by as the heartfelt exchange took place in front of him.

“Mother, I know how selfless you are. You have worked so hard to care for Mellier and me. You have knitted blankets for others’ babies. Just this week, you gave your time to coordinate the best roast pheasant Greenstone Observance ever saw. Now you offer yourself in my place. You love and you sacrifice; it’s who you are. All that Hronomon is asking is that you let me go and…be your daughter. I wish I could shout from the rooftops to let the world know how great you are. Instead, I will do the only thing I can: I will go, and be the woman you raised me to be, Mother. And I may not have the power to keep this, but I promise I’ll return. I will come back, and if anyone tells me they think I did anything special, I will tell them they owe it to you. You have given me all that I am. Now…I must go and do what I can.”

Hronomon spoke up. “Dear, kind madam. Your firstborn is grown. I congratulate you. Please accept my apologies for what I must ask. Your daughter’s youth is another aspect of her qualification for the task. The road will not be easy. We cannot allow ourselves the risk of injury that comes as your kind ages.” He turned his head slightly, not needing to turn around completely to look over his shoulder because of the side-set eyes on his equine face. “We need to go. There is no telling where Sacalai may have influence. This valley has good people, but we must depart unobserved, regardless.”

Mother protested the hastiness. “This is impossible. She needs to get dressed. She needs provisions for the road. Can you give her half an hour?”

The Nomord looked at Mistress Roalke gravely. “Very well. Half an hour.”

Allabva and her mother began a mad scramble about the house, gathering clothing, food, and personal tools they thought would be useful. Despite Hronomon’s indication that first he, and then the Shrongelin, would protect Allabva personally, Mother insisted she carry a knife. Most of the time they spent packing was used to determine which items would be the most useful and weigh the least.
In the end, Allabva carried a bag over her shoulder that included two changes of socks and inner clothing, one set of outer clothes and other sundry supplies. Her food included some cheese, dried meats, hard bread, and a waterskin. She covered herself with a cloak that would be wearisome during the day, but which she certainly needed at this hour, as much as she would during the nights to come on her journey.

All kitted out, Allabva stood, prepared to depart. “Mother, go back to bed and get some sleep. Mellier will be awake before you know it, and you will need all your strength.”

“Look at you. That’s why Hronomon came for you instead of anyone else. Always looking out for others. Don’t worry about me, my girl. The hard part will be telling Mellier where you’ve gone. Of course, I can’t tell him what’s really going on, but I don’t want to lie to him, either. Take care of yourself.”

A realization hit Allabva. “Mother. I won’t be showing up for dinner with the Dlorovins. I can’t even tell him I’m not showing up.”

“I see. Well, I’ll tell Delgan something for you. We can’t have him waiting for you if you’re not going to show up.”

“Thank you. Can you be sure to tell him that I really did want to come? That I was looking forward to it and I was very excited? And maybe I’ll take a rain check next…sometime?”

“Oh, deary. I’ll tell him something. I’ll make sure he knows you really care. Now go, or this here unicorn is liable to blow a blood vessel.”

Mother and Allabva looked to Hronomon to gauge his reaction to her use of the slang term for his species. He simply stared back.

“Come, young one,” he spoke at last. “Now we must hurry. Madam, I bid you leave. I depart in peace, and I hope to come in peace again. Farewell, and best fortune for you during the days to come. May this calamity miss your village.”

“Come, Allabva,” Hronomon prompted. “You must give your quickest sustainable pace. I cannot carry you there; you must travel on your own feet.” Hronomon turned around and led Allabva away from the only home she had ever known, not knowing when she may ever return. Allabva followed, her heart in turmoil.
The sudden turn of events tore her up inside, crashing into her in a moment when she had been a newly minted young woman looking forward to life. Hopefully that would be a life with somebody as nice as Delgan Dlorovin to spend it with. Now, she unexpectedly became a wayfarer, not knowing where she was going or what she was supposed to do when she arrived.

And Delgan. She didn’t want Delgan to be sad. She didn’t want him to be upset. But she wanted him to need her, so then, because she was going to be absent, that required her to want him to be sad and upset that she wasn’t there. Hopefully, she could return soon.

The girl and the unicorn walked briskly into the night, slowly giving way to dawn.