Bedarin and Meuari and the Cursing of the Madarikes
The tale of Bedarin Lehemendua, the first of the Madarikes, and his great love Meuari Aibstenhula, the Songweaver of Nila.
Summary
In these times, though his mind was occupied in thought by the suffering of his children, Weda grew impassioned at the suffering of nature at the hands of the Eutunaz. And so a thought began in his mind, of a new race to attend to these things and attend to the suffering around. There in the east, where once burst forth the first of the Kunkal, Weda set his creation to awaken clad in tough hide and sturdy bark. There the first of Weda's new people stood and he poured water atop its head and it awoke. And Weda named him Bedarin, and called him Lehemendua, that which means Blessed one of thought, and Weda loved this race well.
As guardians of the tranquil groves and rangers of the placid forests in the vast world, they were to be. Yet Bedarin awoke in a frenzy, unaccustomed to the vibrancy of the world. Seeing the panicked state of him, Weda sent a messenger to him, a woman named Meuari who came to soothe him in his ravings. In his madness, he bashed his head against the tree, against stone, and against the ground, for he did not yet understand noise or his own hearing. Yet Bedarin's madness passed with the wind when he heard a great melody coming upon him. Singing of calm, like the gentle falling of water in the stream, Meuari came upon him in song, and from a gap in the trees, the song echoed throughout the forest. In her tongue of majesty and power, there sang Meuari, song weaver of the Aleuai, and her voice rang out for the first time in those dark places, dispelling the fog of shadow and bringing light to Bedarin's heart. The forest came to peace, for Meuari's voice could bring ease to all the world's creatures, for she was fair, and all the animals and plants loved her. Her song was powerful, like the moving of the sun in the sky, like the rushing winds of a gale. All the world fell under her spell, as did Bedarin who came to calm and stopped and stood still after madness passed over him.
When Meuari's song at last ended, Bedarin was peaceable and she told him of the world he dwelled in and of his duty, ordained from on high by Weda his father. Seeing the madness pass, the animals of the forest emerged from burrows and nests to greet Bedarin. The sparrow brought Bedarin seed and acorn, the fox brought its fresh prey and Bedarin came to understand the nature of nature itself.
In a state of peace now, Weda called out from high, and his brightness came to him, light flashed from his hand, and Bedarin understood the power of his father, Weda the lord.
"Cast down your fear, oh Lehemendua, for those who are fearful shall bring fear to others. For I do so love you, that I wish you to know no longer the fear that would consume you, for you are to do my bidding, and you are to accomplish many great works through me."
And Bedarin bowed his head in reverence to Weda, feeling thankful for this gift he swore an oath on the very pillars of wood from which he was born, and upon all the shapes of the world.
"I so swear to you oh father, for care of the places shall fall to me, those which you ordain for me. The forest, the trees, the leaves, and the green, the old rivers, the rolling hills, and the mountains shall all be mine to tend and mine to keep, for it is by your will this is my doing. I shall do naught else, and shall never take up the fire-forged rock, nor pluck the bow, nor bring harm to any of the creations so beloved by you, without knowledge of this by thee." And he pledged this to Weda his father, and Weda was well pleased to hear it.
For a time, the first of Weda's last children made a home in the old forest beneath Buranden's wake, striding among the forest and caring for its young trees and animals alike. All of nature saw a caretaker in Bedarin, for he strove among the groves and the dells, nursing and tending to the beloved and innocent animals of the wide world. Bedarin and Meuari walked the groves and the grace of Weda followed them into the creeks and the writhing rivers in those days. Lockstepping the pair sang songs and brought peace everywhere they went.
Yet one day, when Meuari's music ceased, the pair became lost from one another and Bedarin became lost in the expansive old forest. There, a demoness of malice, power, and shapeshifting spied on the vulnerable Bedarin. She had come upon Men who threw her out for she had no softness, no caressing touch, only sharp and pointed fingers, grasping and clutching at all goodness and seeking it for herself. She then was spurred by the giants, for their gaze was far, and they had seen her trickery and her malice, and her attempted courting of Men, and they dismissed her sternly. Hopeless and in rising panic Bedarin came closer and closer to this temptress and evildoer.
She came to take the fair form of Meuari, yet she did not sing her beautiful songs, for she had no beautiful voice of her own and Bedarin did not understand. Instead, she bade him come closer, come to her, and walk with her once more. Bedarin, innocent and easily swayed did so and came to her thinking nothing of it. However, Bedarin and his demoness in disguise came upon a faint glow of singing and the pair came upon the true Meuari singing to let her Bedarin know where she was. Now Bedarin came to a state of confusion as he had a pair of his beloved Meuari before him. The two then debated with him over which of them was true and Bedarin listened. The true Meuari sang for him once more and she sang a song like that of old, bringing the sun and all the world's rivers to a standstill once more. The false Meuari rose, knowing she could not do likewise, she tempted Bedarin with her figure and her lustful appearance. She danced, lightfooted and elegant still, Bedarin knew in his heart what he saw was false, and yet, his heart pounded greatly and he saw himself entranced by the dancing of the false Meuari.
Not knowing wrong, Bedarin accused Meuari of deceiving him, and with her prey ensnared, the demoness whispered into Bedarin's ear, the punishment for deception. The false Meuari formed for Bedarin Lehemendua, a great spear, taken from the soil and sand of the river and hardened by the fire of the sun. The demoness compelled Bedarin to run the deceiver through. With a strike of wrath, Bedarin struck Meuari with his earthly spear, and by the wrath of Lehemendua, Meuari's blood spilled into the rivers and seeped deep into the earth. With a deathly scream, Meuari brought panic and anxiety to the world with a final song of death.
With her final breath, Meuari called out to Weda and his presence returned to the forest and he came to see a sight before him that burst rage from him. The sight of Bedarin before his beloved and an earthen spear in hand erupted a paternal rage in him, and he rebuked his once beloved creation, cursing him. Weda's curse came upon Bedarin, and all his kin, for they would be a wanderer and a fugitive, unbound to the earth from which he had defiled with the blood of the sweet and innocent. All who saw the Bedarinil would know of this shame, all would know of his foul deed, and the kin of Bedarin would be cast away from society and fearful of their unstable wrath. They would never again hear the pleasance of song and know only the madness and fear that they knew before blessed music came to their ear.
The final act of Weda's curse was the most powerful, that of all the races, the kin of Bedarin would remain away from the blessing of Weda, they would be imperishable and never leave the abode of the world and be reunited with him. Weda marked the kin of Bedarin with a name from above, and so they came to be known as the Madarikes, the cursed children.
(Bedarin Lehemendua and Meuari Aibstenhula)
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