A few moments later, and there was a wondrous marvel to be seen on Mount
Kitesh.
A wide path opened all the way down the Mountain, and on the path grew
turf as soft as silk. On the right-hand side walked little Primrose,
still in his little white shirt, and in his hand he held an ancient wax
taper, burning serenely and crackling softly, as though it were talking
with the sun. On the left walked Lavender, wearing the Golden Girdle and
swinging a silver censer, from which rose a cloud of white smoke.
Between the two children strode Relya, tall and strong. It seemed
strange to him, in his strength and valour, that taper and censer should
thus guide him and not his own good sword. But he smiled gently at the
children. His great sword hung over his shoulder, and as he strode on he
said to the sword:
“Do not fear, my faithful friend. We shall go a-mowing in field and
meadow; we shall clear scrub and forest; we shall hew rafters and build
steadings. The sun will gild thee a thousand times while thou art
winning bread for these two orphan babes.”
So they went across the Mountain as though it were a church. A thin
wraith of smoke rose from the taper, and sacred odours spread from the
censer.
But woe and alas for the Votaresses on Mount Kitesh! wherever the smoke
and the odour of incense spread upon the Mountain, there the Votaresses
perished and died. They made an end, each one as it seemed most
beautiful and fitting to her.
One turned herself into a grey stone, and then hurled herself down the
rocks into a chasm, where the stone broke into a thousand splinters.
The second changed into a crimson flame, and then at once went out,
puff! into the air.
The third dissolved into fine coloured dust, scattering herself over
rock and fern. And so each of them chose what seemed to her the most
beautiful way to die.
But it really didn’t matter in the least. One way or another, they all
had to leave this world, and even the most beautiful ways of dying could
not make up for that!
In this way all the seven Votaress Fairies perished, and that is why
there are no fairies, nor dragons, nor monsters now on Mount Kitesh or
anywhere else in the world.
But Relya and the children reached the valley in safety, and Lavender
took them to their cottage. And only then did Relya remember why he had
gone up Mount Kitesh.