The Legacy of Silkleaf and Yareth

The Legacy of Silkleaf and Yareth

It was as with all the great legends my friends - not the stories told to delight children before their bedtime, where the conquering heroes vanquish their foes with their wits and their swords, but the stories of real heroes, of ordinary people who make extraordinary sacrifices for something larger than themselves.

So it was that on the 11th day of June, in the year 2145, that Silkleaf the dryad began another ordinary Thursday, living out her peaceful life under the trees. It was a life of song and joy that could have belonged to any one of the wild and shy dryads that live in the great old trees of the spirit land. One thing marked Silkleaf out for her final destiny - long, long before, she had fallen in love with an elf named Yareth, and they knew each other, but after a time Silkleafs tree had become sick. Unable to bear losing his love, Yareth sacrificed his life essence to make her tree well again. So that she might continue to live, he became a baelnorn. For many long years the spirit of the tree and the spirit of the elf lived happily together, even as their children all grew old and withered, they ever lingered, forever young, their love for one another undimmed.

Until one fateful morning, some strangers approached Silkleaf and asked for her help. She was shy at first, but saw they had no evil in their hearts and allowed them to come to her and speak. They brought her news that a plague was killing people in a city far away, a plague created by those who worshipped evil and despised light and goodness. They told her that the plague had spread and even now, it was drawing nearer to her home, her tree, and her friends. Silkleaf paled to hear that she had lived to see such terrible times. With heavy hearts, the strangers told her an angel of Cha'reth had told the wise men of the city that to stop the plague from killing even more people, a baelnorn would have to give freely of his essence, that he would have to make the ultimate sacrifice once more so that others might live. Silkleaf put her face in her hands and wept at the cruelty in the world. Hopelessly, she asked if there was no other way to stop the plague, but knew in her heart that only Yareth could help the strangers. She lamented for a minstrel to soothe her troubled mind but alas, the strangers knew no songs worthy of a dryads tree for such a sad time. Laughing and crying at the same time at the kindness of the strangers and the news they had brought, she knew what she had to do.

She called for her love, and he came, as he had always come when she called, for an age of the world. Yareth was angered at the strangers that they had made Silkleaf cry, but at a word from her he understood they were there as friends of the forest. Silkleaf told Yareth of the plague, and sombrely the strangers told him of the sacrifice that would be needed to lift its curse from the lands. Anguished, Yareth refused their request, saying that he would gladly give of himself to help the people of his land, but that it was only his magic that kept Silkleafs tree alive, that she would die without it, and that they could not ask him to make such a sacrifice.

With their arms around each other, Silkleaf spoke simply to Yareth of their long passed children, asked him to think on if they still lived, and on the children who lived then in the plague stricken city. She spoke kindly of how they could not refuse such an opportunity to bring so much happiness and life to others. She said they had lingered too long, and asked Yareth that they leave this gift to the world as their legacy. When she finished speaking, Yareth knelt before her, took her hands in his, and seeing that in her simple bravery and nobility she truly wished to make such a sacrifice, agreed to help.

The strangers gave the spirit of the tree and the spirit of the elf some time to prepare themselves, and they spent their last moments in a loving embrace. When they were ready, Yareth spoke his last words on this world - "Until soon, my love", and then it was done. Silkleaf fell by his side.

When he was gone, the power of Yareth passed with him, leaving only an essence of his goodness in a plain locket inscribed with Silkleafs name. With his passing, a horde of undead he had long fought against and contained burst forth from the ground to destroy the strangers. The strangers were capable warriors and priests of good, and after a long struggle, they stood victorious amid a scene of destruction on the spot where Silkleaf and Yareth passed. The strangers picked up the locket and returned it to the wise men of the city, where it would be used to save the peoples of the world from the plague. Humbled by the sacrifice they had seen, they walked there in silence.

- Tallan T'Sorek