Lightheart took in every leaf on every tree as he strode through the woods. He sniffed the air and his ears perked at every sound. He knew this would be his final journey and labored to etch the beauty surrounding him into his heart and mind. All too soon Lonely Mountain rose out of the west and before he knew it, Lightheart had climbed to it's peak.

By the light of the full moon he emptied his pack on the ground. The fey bottle was near empty as he pulled the cork and raised the bottle to his lips. Slowly he drank that last sip and savored the liquid as if it were the elixir of life. The flavor lingered on his tongue and he closed his eyes and etched that too into his memory. He removed his sword and bow and placed them next to him on the lonely mountain top. And, then, he spied his most prized possession. The ancient elven harp came to his hands as a puppy may come to its master. He held it quietly for a moment and then being able to resist no longer he set the strings in motion. Bittersweet chords intertwined with the understated melody as he sang beneath the moon and stars a song not his, but one he loved:

My heart has rooms that sigh with dust
And ashes in the hearth.
They must be cleaned and blown away
By daylight's breath.
But I cannot essay the task,
For even dust to me is dear;
For dust and ashes still recall,
My love was here.

I know not how to say Farewell,
When Farewell is the word
That stays alone for me to say
Or will be heard.
But I cannot speak out that word
Or ever let my loved one go:
How can I bear it that these rooms
Are empty so?

I sit among the dust and hope
That dust will cover me.
I stir the ashes in the hearth,
Though cold they be,
I cannot bear to close the door,
To seal my loneliness away
While dust and ashes yet remain
Of my love's day.

An owl perched in a nearby tree bore sole witness as the song ended and Lightheart removed from his waist the sash emblazoned with the coat of arms of The Grey Company. He raised the sash to his lips and placed a kiss upon the emblem thereon. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he gently placed the harp into his pack and tied the sash around it and lay it on the ground at the highest rampart of Lonely Mountain. The owl blinked and then stared in wonder, for the elf who had stood there an instant before, was no more.

As the soaring eagle watched the first rays of sunlight touch the top of Lonely Mountain, a gleam caught his eye and he swooped lower to investigate. There, inside a heart traced on the mountain top, lay Lightheart's pack with the sun glaring from the emblem of the Grey Company.