A Mischievous Tale of Magical Mayhem

Bonus Interlude- Echoes From the Past

Despite the lateness of the season, the forests of Springwood burst with life. As the wagon rolled along, the three friends took turns at the reins, though Starlight needed little guidance. Through their mental link, Tallon sensed the mare's joy to be at work and on the road again.

Fann, meanwhile, traveled three times the distance as he constantly ran ahead and circled back, sending Ben flashes of the things he'd seen, heard, and sniffed. Ben worried he would wear himself out, but the wolf clearly enjoyed the exercise, and the party couldn't have asked for a more vigilant guardian.

Blue skies streaked with horsetail clouds stretched above them by day, and stars like scattered diamonds lit the night. The sunlight held autumnal warmth, while cool breezes blew down from the mountains to the north. Far off, a dark haze lay upon the cursed waste, and occasionally they heard a sound like distant thunder, but it did not trouble them.

Volaer's grip had lost its strength, and like an old man who rumbled with discontent, he could be safely ignored—for now. Tallon knew better than to underestimate the dark god, but kept his thoughts to himself, and avoided looking east.

A quiet melancholy had settled over Ben. Though Sprout and Scamp made him laugh, and he kept a smile for his friends, his thoughts often turned to Bran, whose loss weighed heavily on his heart.

One afternoon, when they had stopped to let Starlight graze, he gathered the notes and journals Aeslin had given him. Carrying them a short way from camp, he sat with his back against the trunk of a tree beside a brook and examined Bran's writings more closely.

Most of the notebooks were detailed accounts of Bran's travels and studies abroad, with fine drawings of plants, animals, and fungi, though it was often difficult to determine to which category a subject belonged.

It was to the personal journals that Ben turned his attention first, however, and in the earliest of these, he was surprised to find a letter addressed to himself. On the outside of the envelope, in Bran's neat hand, was written, "To Benethane, whom I hope this finds in good spirits and good health."

Opening it, he withdrew the letter, and read it carefully.

My dear young friend,

If you hold this letter in your hands, then you are well on your way out of Springwood by now, and I am no more. I hope you will remember me with fondness, and with little sorrow; for if I have met my end, it is with only one regret, which is that I shall have no more time with you. There is much I had yet to teach you, a lifetime of knowledge I wished to pass on, and while a great deal of it must die with me, not all is lost. That which I have written down, I bequeath to you, and hope that it shall serve you well, in time.

As for these journals and letters... When you read them, you may better understand my initial distrust of your bonded mate. Tallon reminds me strongly of another half-elf I once knew—my own beloved Ithrondel—and the moment I set eyes on him, I felt the breath of doom. This premonition, that his arrival here heralded my end, made me fearful and suspicious, for I did not know in what circumstance this should come to pass. I understand better now, and if I am correct, it shall be my honor to join my love in death that you and yours may live.

I do not know what lesson may be learned from these old correspondences, if any; perhaps I merely wish to pass along my tale. Whatever the case, I hope with all my heart that your love leads you to happiness, and that you never know the sorrow I have endured. May the stars shine upon you kindly and your path lead you always home.

Yours in memory,

Bránoril

Ben set the letter down and wiped his eyes. He missed the old elf. They would have parted ways even if Bran had lived, but knowing they would never meet again hurt his heart. That this was but a shadow of the pain Bran must have experienced when he lost Ithrondel made Ben hesitant to read on, but he picked up the earliest dated journal and opened it.