Ink Sisters

Legend One

The Legend of the Five Relics of Asterlyn

Long ago...

On the copse of the ancient mountains, a child watches the night sky with intrigue. She is lonely in the night but has no fear of any monsters that may lurk in the darkness around her. A foolish notion really, for the night hides many things. Beasts of shadow and smoke crawl around in the dark, the wind whispers of an ancient evil that used to rule the land. They watch the girl curiously, on the very edge of coming out of their hiding places to torment her. Wickedness lurks in the crevices of the land, eager to come out and play in the light. They seek to corrupt the child. Perhaps one day they will. But not on this night.

The girl's deep blue eyes are luminous as she studies the stars. Each one is special in its own right. She wishes that was how the people felt. Special. Unique. Loved. She has not known such a thing in her short life. Her parents were murdered in a raid along the road years before, leaving her orphaned and destitute. It did not matter to the bandits that they had little money. To them, a few coins was worth shedding the blood. After the raid, the girl traveled from city to city seeking sanctuary. People were wary of the dirty, little thing, frightened of diseases she might have had. Naturally, she found no comfort amongst the villagers. So, she left that all behind and sought refuge in the mountains surrounding a vast, mysterious forest.

Here, she found peace, but the solitude began to eat away at her soul bit by bit. Often, the girl wondered if she were going insane. Days would pass in which she would not move from one spot. Desperation tore at her day by day, the wicked beings that huddled just beyond the light were getting closer to taking her as one of their own. Loneliness cast its sticky web over her heart, and she became forlorn, a lost and pitiful shadow. The only comfort she found was from the stars. They offered her light among the darkness. They granted her solace and protection. They were her only companions. She whispered to them and shared her secrets.

Usually, the stars never speak back to her, but on this night they do.

"Dear stars," the girl whispers, "am I destined to be so alone?" She shifts her thin woolen blanket to cover more of her lap. When she looks away, a brilliant stripe of color darts across the blackness above. "I wish for someone to look after me when you're sleeping during the day, someone to spend time with me." She looks up. An answering light flickers through the night sky making the girl blink in confusion. "Stars?"

As if in response to her question a golden streak shoots across the sky nearly blinding the child. Staggering backward, she raises her hand up to shield her gaze. The light does not diminish, in fact, it seems to grow brighter, the flickering more pronounced. It appears to be coming closer. How can that be?

It is a star, plummeting from its residence amongst the blackness. Not just an ordinary star though. No, it is far more important than that. The child did not know it, but she has spoken her words to a wishing star, the star called Asterlyn. Weighed down by too many wishes said to it throughout the years, Asterlyn has grown too heavy. This last one has made it much too heavy for the sky to hold. Now, it plummets.

The girl clamors up excitedly as the falling star vanishes below the side of the mountain. Darting to the edge of her perch, she sees it crash into the ground below in a heap of flickering light and fluttering dust. The shattered pieces continue to glow faintly against the darkness encroaching upon it. The sight makes the girl smile widely. She must reach the star. She must. Snatching up her ratty blanket, the girl begins to climb down the side of the cliff.

The descent takes her the rest of the night. By the time she reaches the bottom of the cliff face, bruises are splattered over her frail arms, and dirt clings to her cheeks. The girl pays it no mind at all. The scrapes and cuts are a small price to pay for reaching the star.