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Landsbyen -Into the North- An Epic Poem 24

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Remains the pain within the dark
A song so soft of love and heart
Yet, holes this deep leave their mark
Like life's sorrowed canvas art

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     “Elf King,” said DynDoeth, “Erlenkönig means Elf King.”
Joulupukki listened carefully as DynDoeth told the tale of his father. His emotions overwhelmed him.  He could feel the tears dripping from his eyes and he let them flow, unashamed.  DynDoeth was the quiet one now, assessing the state of the half human, half elf that sat across from him.  Ceridfen guided the morning diners, including the adults, to the children's table as the her husband spoke with Joulupukki.  The meal had been served and mostly eaten and many of the diners had already left before DynDoeth's tale had finished.
     “You leave me with more questions,” Joulupukki finally offered, brushing a napkin across his rosy cheeks, a slight smile spread across his face as his mind wandered deep in thought.
     “Joulupukki?” Ceridfen spoke his name.
     “I'm fine,”  he looked at her and smiled.  “So if my father and you and the others defeated Rian, Reginn, why is he in charge of the Village now?”
     “Other forces were at play during this time and I'm sorry to say that we were unaware of them.  If Erlenkönig had known at the time he would have 
destroyed Rian for sure rather than saving his kingdom.”  He shook his head and added, “I should have done it for him.”  Joulupukki saw the anger in his eyes.  Ceridfen reached out to him and squeezed his hand.  “Your father was not well after the battle.  It took everything out of him.  He was delusional for several weeks.  During his lucid moments he directed the Village to be moved as far north along the coast as possible.  When he finally recovered he had each of the conspirators banished from the Village, and all of those who helped him were given citations of merit with a three day celebration to thank them and show his appreciation.”  DynDoeth hesitated for a moment before continuing.  “He only told a few of those closest to him, but when Bréagán joined magics with him, it changed him, his magic was never the same.  What was left was used mostly for Aisling, she was human and would have
died quite young if not for his magic, and Bréagán...,” he shook his head again, “poor Bréagán lost almost all of his magic.  When joining his energy with other elves he knew their magic would express itself as toys, which embarrassed him greatly, but he had never felt power like Erlenkönig's.  It was so pure that his turned into uncontrollable joy.  The whole Village smiled for days afterward.  He said he didn't regret the loss of his magic and he would not hesitate to do it again just to be able to feel the beauty that was Erlenkönig, but before Erlenkönig recovered he left the village and headed into the northern wasteland.  I tried to stop him but he said he had nothing left to give to the Village or to his King.”
     “We were all sad to see him leave,”  Ceridfen added.
DynDoeth continued, 
     “Your father was a great king.  The following two hundred
or so years were the most peaceful and prosperous that our little kingdom 
has ever seen.  In the early years he did his best to keep the six clans together and to communicate with the humans, but the Ibero Clan did everything they could to foster hate for the humans, even to the extent of going to war with them.  Your father was right about the humans.  They have the greatest capacity for caring and kindness, but when wronged their anger is incalculable and their hate can last for generations.  Eventually after many years of being harassed by the Ibero Elves, the humans found a way to find and destroy there kingdom.  Their small number of refugees split into two groups, the larger of which joined the Erin Clan which had close ties to the Ibero and the rest made their way to the village where your forgiving father gave them refuge.  He went so far as to set aside part of the island for their
elders to gather and keep their Clan alive.  No one knew what became of Rian.  Many speculated that he had been killed by the humans; although, there were any number of rumored sightings of the elf.  Erlenkönig pushed forward with many of his progressive ideas, but the humans wanted nothing more to do with the elves to the point of becoming openly hostile and fearful of us.”  Joulupukki's expression became very thoughtful at the words that
DynDoeth uttered.

Copyright © James Inman | Year Posted 2021

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