Chapter 18. A New Dawn
As the first signs of dawn filtered into the treehouse, Tefyn kissed Pefryn, then took his leave. Instead of heading for the portal, he followed the path downhill towards Annwn, past the twin stones and through the pine wood. When he reached the wide paved road he walked away from the town until he noted the familiar landmarks which told him he’d reached the path to his secret place. It was barely noticeable, just a narrow way between the rocks and scrub. He followed it, climbing uphill, until it led him through trees into a little meadow, crossed by a tiny stream. He’d found this place as a boy. No-one else seemed to know about it – but then elves seldom left Annwn and didn’t like getting dirty, and fairies explored on the wing, so were unlikely to notice what he’d found. He’d kept it to himself until now, not even sharing it with Pefryn.
He followed the water upstream, across the meadow and up a rocky slope until he reached its source; a narrow cleft in the cliff face. The stream gushed out of the tiny cave, over a ledge and into a shallow pool just big enough to bathe in. There were no nixies in this pool – the stream came from a hot source deep within the mountain, which would have scorched them. Here, though, it was a perfect temperature. And filled with scented herbs. A nice touch, thought Tefyn. You got here before me, so where are you?
There was no sign of anyone else, so Tefyn sat on the ledge, his shoes beside him and his feet in the warm water. It was quiet on the mountainside, apart from distant birdsong, followed by the rustling of leaves as Blackbird emerged from the trees beyond the stream and sat on the other side of the ledge. His feet dangled a few inches above the water. The sun was about to rise over the mountains across the valley, and neither quite knew what to say.