The Legend of the Hunter

The radiant dawn brought new hope to those in Zanderon; it revived despondent spirits and offered the glimmer of a kinder future. The survivors had worked tirelessly throughout the early hours of the morning to tend to the wounded, remove the dead to be readied for the pyres, and clean the village of blood and debris. The damaged houses and battle-scarred areas would be left for later. What was of utmost importance was seeing to the building of the funeral pyres for the fallen so that their souls could be sent on to the realm of the Spirits.

The Hollow People who had fled back to the Forsaken Forest had been hunted down to the last one and killed, as Kloneithlin had decreed. Those dreiche that survived scattered and fled deep into the mountains in the south. The Elves had gathered the corpses of their enemies in a huge pile and set it alight on the banks of the Naddi River. They departed with neither a backward glance nor any remorse, for they believed that the Hollow People had brought their own destruction upon themselves.

The Elves had decided that the corpses of the Hollow People and their dreiche in Zanderon would be incinerated on one large pyre, while individual funeral biers would be built for every single Weaver and Elf who had been slain. The Weavers built an especially large pyre for the brave-hearted byrgreme, Kunkuna. Krauwyk tearfully placed small star flowers and rosebuds upon her friend’s pyre, as the brave and undaunted byrgreme had had a surprisingly tender spot for these.

Maniglin’s bier was afforded the place of honour in the arrangement of the funeral pyres: the very centre of the infinity symbol, exactly where the two loops met at the nexus.Along the left-hand loop were arranged the pyres for the fallen Weavers, while the pyres of the Elves composed the right-hand coil. At the middle of the left-hand loop, Zando’s pyre was placed; the Weaver Village Head had been killed at the entrance to Zanderon, where he had taken up his defensive position. Kunkuna’s pyre was placed at the middle of the right-hand curl of the symbol, as the Elves wanted to honour the stalwart byrgreme for his courage and sacrifice.

The Weavers lovingly decorated the pyres for their slain friends, family members and loved ones with specially woven burnt-orange coloured silk sheets that featured the Weaver Clan’s insignia meticulously stitched in a pattern along the edges. The centre of the sheet featured a single image: that of a hand loom.

The Weavers provided the Elves with beautifully designed full-length shawls in various shades of green. Each shawl was unique in design; the Elves surprised the Weavers by asking for needles and threads, and then stitching the infinity symbol in the bottom right-hand corner of each shawl before they covered the pyres with these. They used a different colour thread for each Elf who had sacrificed his or her life. The Elves revered all life and whenever one of them died not of longevity but in battle or from a disease, it was as if all of them died a little. The atmosphere was thus emotionally charged, gravely solemn, reverential, and filled with a nearly tangible sense of infinite loss.

Zenia had weathered her ordeal at the hands of Zounith remarkably well. The little Ripple was devastated by her mother’s death, but Zidayt offered her all the solace she could. Zaherain also ensured that the girl was made to feel even more loved and protected than ever before by being attentive to her and ensuring that she was never left alone for too long. Zaghrah had provided Zidayt with a variety of medicinal remedies to heal the Ripple both emotionally as well as physically. The girl had lived through a ghastly trauma and she would need all kinds of help to heal the psychological and physiological wounds. There was no longer any sign of the Ancient Ripple who had inhabited her body when they were facing the threat of the Drakheen. However, Zenia still possessed her Ripple powers; the young girl would never be an innocent again.

It was also fortunate that Lathlin was able to redress the imbalance in Zenia’s energy flows; the Elfling examined her as soon as he could upon their sorrowful return to Zanderon. He succeeded in restoring the little girl to such an extent that her natural resilience reasserted itself in short order.

At twilight, Lathlin held Qarethlin’s hand as they walked towards the front of the assembled mourners. All the pyres had been readied; each bier resembling a beautiful work of art in honour of the fallen fighters. Kloneithlin would light the pyres of the Elves, while Krauwyk had been asked by the Weavers to set alight the funeral biers of their dead. The byrgreme had been stunned by the unexpected request, but she was also deeply moved by the honour afforded her.

The setting sun painted the evening sky a glorious palette of golden yellow, pinkish red and light mauve. Puffy clouds reflecting the colours appeared to be angelic forms hovering above the pyres in heavenly reverence. Not a few of the mourners remarked quietly that the Spirits were in attendance and blessing the occasion. Many of those attending were weeping openly, for they had gained their Pyrrhic victory over the Drakheen at a terrible cost.

Lathlin stopped at the nexus point of the infinity symbol and after a moment of silence, the Elf started to sing a haunting dirge in honour of the departed souls.

Gently we take our leave of you, and mourn your death in this our life,

No longer shall you face daunting hardships, nor tormenting strife.

The Spirits have called for your return, and await your arrival anon,

For you have been prepared mansions, castles and couches to rest upon.

Bravely you faced your foul enemies,

Valiantly sacrificed all for your beliefs;

Songs we shall sing about your legendary valour,

And thus grant you glorious immortality and honour.

An hour after the funerals had been held, Zanderon received a most unexpected group of visitors. It was the Queen of the Hollow People with about three hundred of her subjects, but they looked nothing like the proud and soulless Hollow People of old. They seemed like humble supplicants who had come to plead for pardon. Kloneithlin had to hastily prevent the Weavers and Elves from slaughtering the Hollow People, for he discerned an evident change in them. He authoritatively charged the crowd to give the visitors a hearing, and they obeyed.