A Starlit Promise

The Kingdom of Elora

The kingdom of Elora was nestled deep within the Lunavell Forest, where the air was thick with ancient magic, and the stars above seemed to hang closer to their world. This was a kingdom forgotten by time. The trees of Lunavell grew impossibly tall, their trunks twisted and knotted, with slivered leaves that glistened even in the darkness of night. According to the mortals, it was said that the forest had a will of its own, bending paths and guiding travelers as it saw fit, and only those with true purpose could ever find their way to its hidden secrets.
Within this enchanted realm lay the City of Luminara, a once-prosperous land blessed by the fae who has long since vanished into the mists of Otherworld. Luminara had faded into legend, its existence only whispered of in distant lands, folklore to comfort the mortals who lived just beyond its reach. The people who remained in Elora lived simple lives, sustained by the magic that still lingered in the air, but were wary of the dangers that came with it. Magic was woven into the very fabric of their world, but all its people knew it was not to be meddled with lightly. The wrong power or step could awaken forces best left undisturbed.

At the edge of Lunavell, where the forest's influence began to wane and give way to the rolling hills and sleepy villages, lived a healer named Rylla in the village of Elderglen. Her cottage, nestled among the wildflowers and the mountains, was small but welcoming, its hearth always burning with a gentle glow and warm touch. The villagers often sought her out in times of need because she possessed a rare gift - the ability to heal using magic. Her touch was soft, her voice soothing, and though she was kind, nobody could ever understand why she was always alone. The people of the village respected Rylla, but they feared her in equal measure. It was no secret that she was not like the rest of them. The blood of the ancient fae flowed in her veins, a lineage that granted her powers beyond their mortal comprehension, though it was also something she herself did not understand. Her eyes, a shade of deep violet rarely seen among humans, held a quiet knowledge, a wisdom that seemed to stretch far beyond her years. Some whispered that she had lived for centuries, hidden away in the forest, untouched by time. Others believed she was cursed, doomed to walk the earth in isolation until the end of days. Rylla herself did little to dispel these rumors. She was quiet and kept to herself, her days spent gathering herbs in the woods or tending to the ill. The forest was her only companion, it whispered a constant presence in her life. The wind carried voices to her, voices from the past and perhaps from the future - voices that spoke of love, loss, and destinies intertwined. Rylla had always listened, though she had long since stopped believing that such tales of grand love or destiny had anything to do with her.

Once, as a child, Rylla had believed in such things. Her grandmother had filled her head with stories of great love that had once existed between the fae and humans, of bonds so powerful that they could bend time and space. She spoke of star-crossed lovers who defied fate and magic to be together, of promises made beneath the light of the twin moons that hung in the sky. Rylla had listened with wide eyes, dreaming of a day when she might find such love. But as she grew older, the stories faded into the background of her memory, replaced by the harsh realities of life. Love, it seemed, was not meant for those like her. The villagers kept their distance, and no one lingered in her presence for long. She was an outsider, bound by magic and fate to a world that had no place for her.

Yet, despite her isolation, Rylla could not shake the feeling that something - or someone - was out there, waiting for her. Every so often, she would catch a glimpse of a figure in her dreams, a shadowy silhouette standing beneath the stars, reaching out to her as though calling her name. The dreams felt so real that, at times, she would wake with her heart racing and her skin tingling as if someone had been beside her. But, in the light of day, those dreams seemed foolish, and she would push them aside, returning to the routine of her life. The stars, she told herself, held no promises for her.