Continent of Sylvaris — The Silverleaf Dominion
Where light sang through crystal forests and rivers whispered forgotten languages,
where time moved with grace and memory,
the elves gathered.
And at the center of them all,
beneath the blooming Worldtree of Elarion,
stood Queen Elowen Sylvara.
She wore robes of woven starlight and spiritvine.
Her crown glowed with the essence of ten thousand seasons.
But it was her eyes—
glowing with the pulse of the world—
that commanded silence.
The Spiritcall
Elowen raised her hands.
And from the branches of the Worldtree,
spirit-lights descended.
They whispered.
They danced.
They listened.
"The Star Sovereign has returned," she said.
"Kaelen Aurelius Drayce walks again.
He does not ask for our loyalty.
He does not beg for it.
But I give it freely."
The ground glowed beneath her.
The tree's roots pulsed.
"He is the one the stars whispered of.
The storm the ancestors feared.
The hope we were too proud to name."
The Elven Clans Respond
The Thornweavers of the Deepgroves, who once guarded forbidden runes, knelt.
The Mistblades of the Eastern Mistwood, famed for silence and precision, bowed.
The Stargazers of Lirael Peak, who foresaw broken futures, sang in mourning and triumph.
Each clan —
each ancient house —
offered their Sovereign Seeds in Elowen's name.
And when she cast them into the Heart of the Tree,
the forest flared with red-gold light.
The oath was made.
The Message Sent
In the dream-paths that only spirit-born queens could walk,
Elowen's voice echoed.
To Heartland.
To Kaelen.
To all his bloodline.
"We see you.
We believe in you.
And we stand beside you."
"When the war comes,
the Dominion of Silverleaf will not hide."
"We will fight with the Sovereign Star."
"We will fall, if needed—
but never apart."
Elowen's Private Moment
Later that night,
alone beneath the stars,
Queen Elowen stood with bare feet upon moonlit grass.
And she whispered softly:
"You've become something vast, Kaelen.
Something feared.
But I remember the boy who listened to trees…
who respected silence…
who once asked me if elves still believed in love."
She smiled faintly.
"I did not answer then."
"But I do now."