The Star of Lost Love

A warm summer breeze flowed through the leaves of Kaelnosti.

Torchs flickered among the wooden ledges and bridges of the treetop city. Elves moved in and out of the huts that blended into the tree trunks. On a platform outside of one of the buildings and older elf sat down in front of a group of small elf children. He straightened his robe with his hands and looked up at the starry sky. The children’s eyes all focused on him intently.

            “Hello young ones,” his eyes seemed to sparkle with starlight as he started the story. “Today we shall talk about Gilandras, but not about his slaying of the last great wyrm or his long protection of the elven races. Instead we shall speak of his last encounter in this world, with a force even he could not withstand. Now as you all know Gilandras often went out into the wild forests searching for the evil beasts of Unhamil , and sometimes would spend years alone on the hunt. One hunt on a summer night such as this, under the same stars you see above he was resting in a clearing when he heard a song unlike anything he had heard before. It came from the trees and flowed out across the clearing, the sound sweet as a summer rain. He stayed still as to not stop whatever was producing this great song. To him, he heard the praise of all that grew, of the creeks and rivers which fed the roots of the forest. To the sun and moonlight that gave the lands its warmth. And as he stay there, lost in the melody, the source of the song appeared. She looked to him as the most beautiful elf he had ever seen. Her raiment was that of simple green cloth, though it sparkled as if silver was sewn into it. She danced into the clearing, her graceful movements matching the song. And where she stepped flowers and plants grew up as if they wanted to caress and hold her. It was then that Gilandras stood and began his own song. For a brief moment their songs combined and became one, but when she became aware of this second melody she stopped, and ran fast as a deer back into the woods and was gone.”

            “He chased after but could find no tracks, nor did he hear her footsteps anywhere around. He searched for weeks after, but to no avail. Years passed and he was set about many tasks by his elven lords, but he never forgot her and each night, in the wilderness he would sing out to her and of his love of the world. On one night, at the beginning of Fall, he was singing when he noticed a second melody had joined his. He rose and walked in the direction of the second voice, while not stopping his own song. Through a dense patch of trees he passed, and then into a clearing which contained a small waterfall at the far end. There the elf maiden sang, though this time she looked directly at him and smiled. She held out her hand and Gilandras took it. They went through the forest singing and dancing for the rest of the night and then lay down in the fields to watch the stars. Then Gilandras fell fast asleep, and in the morning, found his companion was gone. Through the day he searched for her with no luck, until dusk and night came and then she returned again, singing and dancing with him under the stars and silvery moonlight. Countless were the nights they spent like this, until Gilandras found a want to return home, and spoke for the first time of a feeling that was his own and not shared. He professed his love for her and asked that she return with him and be his wife. At this, she turned from him, her eyes filled with tears. She then turned to him and held him close. While held close she whispered in his ear, revealing that she was not an elf, but Lunare, goddess of nature. And even though the elves during this time lived for very long times, he was still mortal and she could not love him back in the same way. Gilandras then walked back to his bow and quiver, and gathering them up, walked into the forest to the West after the bright red star that appears there during the fall. He followed this star into the winter and was never seen again by the elves.”

            The older elf pointed up at the red star now in the sky. “That is why we call that the Star of Ellos Amal, or the star of lost love. And when that star rises higher in the sky, you can see three stars rise up after it, for that is the Bow of the Hunter, forever chasing unattainable love. Now children, the lesson here is that though one may be great, everyone has flaws. Gilandras meant much to his people, he was their hero and protector, but when his heart was broken, he left the world instead of accepting his love for what it was. In this world, it is the wise who know their own flaws and accept them, instead of fleeing from them.”