The Keepsake

Princess Elyndria moved through the moonlit glade, her golden hair shimmering like the dawn. Her heart ached as she searched for the jade butterfly, the last gift from her father before he passed into the Veil. He had told her, "This butterfly carries my love, my little star. Keep it close, and I will always be with you."

But now, it was gone.

She knelt by the whispering brook, its surface a silvered mirror reflecting her worried face. The emerald glow of fireflies danced around her, but none held the vibrant green of her butterfly. She sifted through fallen leaves, brushed aside dewdrops clinging to petals, but the keepsake remained lost.

Near the base of an ancient oak, something gold caught her eye. A single feather, radiant as sunlight, rested upon a bed of moss. As she reached for it, warmth spread through her fingertips, a pulse of energy tingling up her arm. It was no ordinary feather; it shimmered with a soft glow, as if spun from light itself. Elyndria recognized it at once: a feather from the Aurelia, the guardian bird of her people, said to appear only in moments of great need.

A soft breeze stirred the air, rustling the branches overhead. As she stood, the world around her seemed to hum; magic pulsing in the air. Then, she felt it.

A delicate weight nestled against her temple. Slowly, hesitantly, she lifted her fingers to her hair. And there, resting as if it had never left, was the jade butterfly.

Tears welled in her eyes as she cradled it in her palm, tracing the fine carvings of its wings. It was warm, as though carrying her father’s love still.

A gentle laugh, like an echo of memory, whispered through the glade. Elyndria smiled.

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