You feel lost... forsaken by friends... breaking the bonds of fellowship... darkness covering the sky... shadows filling your heart... your tears blinding the light...

Know that there are still friends, that there is still light, that a candle burns in the blackness, and though hope seems to be a fairy tale, the reality of it never truly dies into legend.

Feel its spark in your heart, feel the warmth of it in your soul - that it will not be so in the Mended Wood!

There is sadness in this world; darkness, like light, is real, and some loose hope and breath, crushed under the weight of it all. They forget the hidden strength that lies within them, and surrender to the darkness, thinking that in doing so, they will be on the winning side, for darkness always seems to have the upper hand. The shadows seem safer. Sorrow can be hardened into hate. Secrets can be kept hidden. Until the light pierces though... and it always does.

I know, dear friends, that those of you who are noble and true - who hold to the memory of King Jupiter - who know that those stories are true - will stand. Remember that light outshines darkness. Never surrender to the enemy. Find the steel inside you. Keep up hope and breath. Yes, you will fall. Tears will come. You will be wounded. But you will, you must, rise back up - reaching above the weight of it all to the light that shines above, to the brave little stars heartbeating in the night sky that hint at a greater light. Hold to the words of the Oath:

My place beside you,

My blood for yours,

Till the Green Ember rises,

Or the end of the world.

Fight for the light. Work for the Mending. And bear the Flame.

~ Heather Longtreader, Scribe of the Cause

I wrote this one day when I was supposed to be doing my school (a sudden spark of inspiration came and I just had to quickly write this), while listening to Lord of the Rings music. I imagined Heather to be writing it to a citadel who were going through a particularly hard time. This is dedicated to Cassie @Jo4life (welcome back!!!!)!!!!