The Last Map
最後の地図
Through the long night, Finn drew the entire kingdom of Eldermere.
His pen moved across the page while his memories quietly slipped away.
He drew the rivers, the forests, and every village he had visited.
With each , a piece of his own past disappeared forever.
Outside, the grey emptiness began to and pull slowly back.
Green hills and bright towns returned exactly where his ink had touched.
By dawn, the kingdom of Eldermere had been upon the land.
But Finn lay still and silent, the empty book beside him.
If he had refused to draw, the kingdom would have vanished completely.
If he had never used the ink, he would still know his friends.
It was his memory that saved them, and nothing less would do.
It was not the ink but his that brought the land back.
Cade and Mira knelt beside him, waiting with fear and hope.
Slowly, the young mapmaker opened his tired and empty eyes.
He looked at the two people who were weeping quietly above him.
"Who are you?" he asked, and their hearts nearly broke apart.
If he had known this ending, would he still have made the choice?
Then Finn's eyes moved to the worn map that Orin had left.
Upon its edge, the single word "" waited quietly for him.
Something deep and stirred inside his newly emptied heart.
"Cade," he said slowly, "and Mira." Their names had somehow survived.
It was love, not ink, that had saved these two names.
The kingdom was again, and its mapmaker had come home.
And though much was lost, Finn smiled, for his friends remained.