Maruss's Song: A Remembrance
                A Song Of The Land Elwens
(Fragment from the Song of Maruss by Kerlyon Deerfriend)
    And so at last the fire that in him blazed,
    Of hope's and determination's birth,
    Left his eyes with sorrow hazed,
    Left his soul bereft of mirth.

    He tried to recapture his lost joy,
    But he had wandered too far down
    The path that leads from man to boy
    And in seas of sorrow drowns.

    He walked his soul-paths all alone,
    Even as he fought battles here on earth.
    The guilt for which he had to atone
    Lay beyond the stars' guarding girth.

    Was there ever one of peace more deserving,
    To whom peace was denied until the very end?
    Was there one of whom more people sing,
    And whom less knew as a real friend?

    There was something in him that walked by itself,
    Something distant, a child of gentle regret,
    Unreachable by either Elwen or elf.
    And no one had figured it out yet

    When he laid himself down to die
    And his spirit fled beyond
    The cool depths of the starlit sky,
    A splash of water in a silver pond.

    He could have known joy unbounded,
    But he chose instead the peace of sleep,
    The one place where he would not be hounded,
    Dreamless rest in darkness deep.

    But those who heard his laughter bright
    And knew the gaze of a violet eye
    Say his spirit shall never fade from light,
    Say that first the stars themselves shall die.

    Maruss, child of shadows born into light,
    Know that the words of this song ring true.
    You take with you into the endless night
    The hopes and love of all who knew

    The gentleness, wisdom, patient love,
    Curiosity, cleverness, and a spirit young.
    Maruss, we face your example shining above
    As once you faced the rising sun...

    And laughed, and so proclaimed you were the one.