(Bandia considered revealing the events of Mac an Mor’s rise to consumptive power and the subsequent destruction of his daughter, but this was not the time to plant fear within the hearts of her beloved children.  After the infant arrived safely there would be time…meanwhile they would accept the gifts of friendship and knowledge shared by their new neighbors when they ventured into the garden.)

  M’na had grown large with the life forming in her belly and was getting impatient for this child to be born.  How long must she wait to welcome this miracle?  She kept busy by preparing their home and making a special place for it to sleep.

Eolas soon arrived at  the Garden so that he could show its Keepers how to make tools for building and helped to prepare an enclosed place for the family to live. Eolas was very gifted in the task of building and was eager to share his knowledge, but M’na and Fireann were confused. They had always lived and slept under the open sky and wondered why they should be asked to change this way of life now.  How could they know what was to come, for how could anyone know that which was unknowable? Still, it did not prevent the Mothers from planning.  Everything would be prepared for.  Eolas was wise as he sought to ease their concerns, “Your world is a peaceful one, my friends. There is nothing here on Dohman which presents a threat to any living thing.  For now we must appreciate this gift; but it does not stop us from preparing for things which may come to pass.  Just as the winds change and the skies may bend the grasses with their fury, so might come a day when our own strength is tested beneath the fury of that which is beyond our control.”  Fireann understood, even in his innocence, for his subconscious mind saw a flicker of the vision that was his at the moment of his birth. It would be as the Realm desired and M’na wanted only what was best for her world.

  Fireann, always an excellent gatherer, had never before known the desire to hunt any living thing for food.  The first time he saw Eolas hunting with a spear made  from wood, he was both horrified and awestruck.  Knowing that his beloved M’na could easily take form as one of the animals caused him not a small measure of concern now that he saw this new danger. He had so many questions for his friend,  “Eolas, do the Creators know that you eat the other living creatures of our world?”

  Eolas found this truly amusing since killing for food was the first act he performed after rising upon Dohman. The idea that anyone could live on the fruits and growths of the vine alone was amazing to him, although now that he saw the garden, he could understand how it was possible. There was so much more that flourished here, so many trees, vines and plants he had not known until now.  Stifling a chuckle and placing a hand on Fireann’s broad shoulder he replied, “My friend, it was my Creator who gave me this knowledge. Where I live, there is not so much food that grows on the vine or tree that I can find sufficient sustenance from them alone. When I consume another creature it is only for sustaining my life.  I stalk it in its own way, becoming one with its movements and finding its Spirit.  It knows what is to come and many times we have a great dance before I finally succeed in overcoming its own power. I offer prayers for its Spirit to be returned to the All that Is before I accept its Essence into my own.  See how they live in me.”  He lifted a muscled arm upward, flexing it so that the sinewy lines were more distinct.  “I have the strength of many beasts. They are with me always.  I can swim like the water beasts and run with the speed of the yellow-eyed ones that hunt at night and sleep on their lazy haunches in the daytime. These are their gifts to me. ”

 Seeing the wide eyed look of wonder on Fireann’s face, Eolas was again forced to choke back his laughter before he added, on a more serious note,  “It is very important that you choose your prey wisely.  It is not  against the will of spirit to kill a living beast for your own survival, for it is the way within their own world; but, you must use every part of the creature whose life you are taking.  And you must know that its essence becomes a part of you, and so honor that gift .”

  Eolas drew from his side a pouch, long and tanned with brown hair across it.  From inside this pouch he withdrew a long bone, rubbed round at one end. Its surface was smooth and yellowed. The other end was pointed; and he went to where a tree was fallen, striking the hard surface with this tool.  Instantly the hard surface was split.  He then wedged it deeper into the wood and struck it with a large rock until, soon enough, the one piece of wood became two. “This was a gift from my swift friend, the great yellow beast.  We met on the edge of the forest many times, but never shared the need to dance until one gray morning when I was unable to find small beasts for my meal.  I found his leavings as soon as I entered the sparse forest, and he was wasteful.  So many had been killed to appease his thirst for blood.  I could smell his approach and Spirit spoke to me.  It was time to share his energy.  When I looked up, he was standing close enough to fall upon me, but he didn’t.  As soon as our eyes met we both knew what was to be.  He wanted to live so turned and fled; and although he gave me a fair chase, at last he died as greatly as he had lived.  His hide now covers my dwelling, to cool it from the sun.  There are not so many tall trees as here.”  Eolas lifted a finger to the lush, dripping canopy over their heads and shrugged; but seeing the look of sorrow that crossed his new friend’s face, he sought to comfort, “Don’t look so sorrowful.  I am very happy in my home.  And I am your friend.  We must keep counsel for many cycles before the child arrives. There are things which you need to learn.”

  Fireann’s heart was glad of this, for he enjoyed Eolas’s company. Something about having the other male there kept him from feeling so foreign in his own home.  All of M’na’s preparations for the new life which would soon arrive seemed to consume most of her attention,  at the same time pushing him to the fringes of his own life.  With so much to do, worry became a new sensation for the Father of Dohman; and he made sure to express his concerns about the hunting ritual.  “We must explain your hunting ways to our M’na, for if ever she is out again…”  Fireann shuddered to think of his beloved, dropped from the blue skies by an arrow through her tiny beating heart.

  Eolas patted his new friend on the shoulder. “We will tell all, my friend.  But surely you must understand that as the Daughter and Keeper of the Dohman, she possesses a great intuition.  She would never be taken in this way; and, after all, she is immortal..” He smiled a broad grin as they sauntered off and began another project. Eolas continued his visits, staying for many cycles at a time, for the journey to Foirfeachta was a long one. Together the males built a shelter for the Garden Family as well as another for the visitor to use when he came. Eolas never ceased to be amazed by the Garden, with its perfect beauty and perpetual sense of peace, its inhabitants so very innocent yet undeniably strong.

  Laoch spent his own days making tools from stone and finishing his own home, deep within a cave he discovered atop a cavernous hillside among the cliffs-a cave suitable for a dwelling.  He hunted and fished for his food, explored his lands, knew every grain of sand that covered the desert and every manner of rock which lay within it.  He learned which creatures were for eating and which should be avoided if not destroyed, and how to go about that grim task if necessary.  Still he felt inadequate in the shadow of the Keepers of his world.  He was very glad for his life on Dohman, but often the Warrior felt the emptiness of a life yet unrealized, as though something was left undone inside him.  In spite of this emptiness,  he had great faith in the Creators-had faith that their wisdom was beyond his own, and found comfort in knowing he was a part of the All that Is, whatever that part turned out to be.

   He kept his promise and made the journey to Foirfeachta, leaving behind the sands of comfort he had come to know.  As he neared the land of Foirfeachta,  the only world he had known began to change drastically. What was already green and flourishing became lush, wet and more alive somehow than anything he had ever seen in his dry land.  Cool breezes brushed his dark skin; and, although the sun above felt warm on his face, it was not the blazing heat that scorched his own home.  It was like taking a cool drink from the river.  Laoch’s heart became very light as he approached the edge of The Garden where he soon spotted a figure near the tree-lined clearing.  He watched curiously as this figure began tugging at leafy branches from the tree which stood nearest what appeared to be a path. The other looked up, now aware of the Warrior’s approach; and Laoch could now see that this was a tall male, one who quickly flashed a broad, welcoming grin that would become a familiar welcome to his soul.  The Warrior felt an instant sense of connection to this Father of human existence; and Fireann felt the same connection toward the Warrior, in spite of the rough exterior of the massive form approaching him through the clearing.

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