The Song of the Stone Weaver

Long ago, when the world was still young and the mountains whispered to the stars, there lived a being known as the Stone Weaver. Neither man nor beast, the Weaver was born from the heart of the first mountain, shaped by wind, rain, and the molten fires of the earth.

With a single swipe of its powerful fingers, the Stone Weaver travelled the globe, creating cliffs, rivers, and valleys. Forests sprouted where it stepped. Deserts bloomed where it sighed. Its spirit was made of patience and wild imagination. However, the Stone Weaver's greatest passion was the creation of enormous, soaring peaks that sang as the winds passed through them. The Weaver began to feel alone one day. It had shaped the land, taught the rivers how to dance, and the winds how to whistle, but there was no one to speak to, no one who could understand the language of stone and sky.

The Weaver therefore decided to form a companion. It formed a figure that was both delicate and strong from a fallen star. It carved veins of gold into her skin, braided her hair with strands of silver, and set emeralds into her eyes. When the work was finished, the Weaver sang the Song of the Stones—a song so ancient it could bend reality itself.

The figure moved around. She opened her brilliant eyes and smiled. Aelira was her name. Aelira learned quickly. She walked among the mountains, whispering to the stones, teaching them new songs. The Weaver and Aelira collaborated to create awe-inspiring creations like hanging gardens perched atop cliffs, upward-flowing rivers, and glowing caves. But not all beings were pleased by their creations.

Deep in the forgotten places of the world, the Hollow King, a spirit of decay and emptiness, stirred. Where the Weaver built, the Hollow King wished to tear down. Where there was song and laughter, he brought silence and sorrow.

Jealous of Aelira's beauty and the creations she and the Weaver shaped, the Hollow King devised a cruel plan. Disguising himself as a traveler, he found Aelira wandering alone among the hills. He spoke sweet lies, telling her she was but a shadow of the Weaver’s greatness, that she would never craft anything truly her own while standing in the Weaver’s light.

Planted with doubt, Aelira began to falter. Her songs grew hesitant. Her hands, once so sure, trembled.

The Weaver noticed the change and grew worried. One evening, beneath a sky ablaze with stars, Aelira confessed her fears. The Weaver listened, sorrow and love mingling in its heart of stone.

The Weaver stated that you are not my shadow. "You are my harmony and echo. Without you, my creations are only half alive."

But doubt is a stubborn thing. Aelira, still believing the Hollow King’s lies, left the Weaver in secret. She sought a place where she could create alone, prove her worth. She journeyed to the world’s edge, where the lands were blank slates untouched by life.

There, she tried to sing new mountains into being. But without the Weaver’s song weaving through hers, the stones would not listen. The things she had made fell to dust. The Hollow King appeared once more, gloating. Aelira wept out of despair, and as her tears fell to the barren ground, they transformed into pearls. Meanwhile, the Weaver searched for her, crossing oceans and forests, feeling the silence where once there had been song. At last, it found her—broken-hearted, surrounded by the ruins of her attempts.

The Hollow King laughed, thinking he had won. However, the Weaver only knelt beside Aelira and began to sing—not the Song of the Stones, but a new song made of love, forgiveness, and sorrow that was softer and more tender. Aelira added her voice after being moved by the song. At first, it's weak, but it gets stronger with each note. Together, they wove a new creation: a valley of endless flowers, fed by rivers of pearl, lit by stars that had fallen just to listen.

Enraged, the Hollow King tried to destroy it. However, the valley was made of hope, sorrow, and reestablished trust, not just stone. His power broke against it like waves against a cliff.

The Weaver and Aelira remained in the valley, singing the world into greater beauty after the Hollow King was defeated and fled into the gloom. And it’s said that if you ever find yourself in a valley where flowers seem to whisper, where the rocks hum softly under your feet, you have found the place where the Weaver and Aelira still create—together, forever.