The Four Wishes

At dawn four souls descend on a storm, riding steeds spun of golden silk. Two men, one of ice and one of fire; two maidens, one of light and one of shade. Delivering the answers of prayers for love and luck from the weary of the mortal lands. United across the eons, trials birthed the Four Wishes, the essence of the human soul and on this day we ask them for blessings in our own trials of love.

Sometimes, through the confusion of life, people are drawn together despite the chances. Very rarely indeed they might meet in every life, their souls drawn naturally across time and space. The Tale of Four Wishes tells of four who did not have such luck. Mortal memory has forgotten when this tale took place, or if it still holds any more than a grain of truth. My father told it to me like this.

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Pirsh of the winter, Ladurth of the spring, Sut’tir of the summer and Shasawh of the autumn. Four lovers who were never divided in life. They achieved things the tales have forgotten, things my father said were great and grand. He said Ladurth was blessed with speed, Sut'tir with magic, Shasawh with love, Pirsh with strength, and they were raised in a small village in a lost place and time.
Childhood was kind to each of them, their youth was filled with adventure, yet it was when they were still young that Shasawh was taken from them. An ungracious death, a simple slip on an icy bridge and a short fall into rushing water.
The unfairness struck each of them deeply, and so Sut'tir used her magic to call down the gods, demanding they return their lost companion. With her two companions, she spoke first to the Maiden of Golden Hair, who said that she was only the bearer of the dead. So Sut'tir summoned the Lord of the Dark Sword, who said he only freed the soul from the body. She spoke then to a hag bearing apples, a beautiful man, and many other spirits, all who said they could not help. Sut'tir spent days speaking to all the things of the otherworld, her companions bringing her food and water as she poured through books of old spells and performed arcane rituals.
In time gods older than human memory noticed the way she scoured their realms. They heard the complaints of the spirits grown weary of her questions. One of these ancient gods watched Sut'tir for a time, and he grew confused why any creature would care so much for another.
The Star Eyed God met the three on a misty morning as she stood by ancient standing stones, reciting another spell. From the fog he emerged as a simple old man, and spoke with them about their troubles. In time, he found himself not understanding why any more than when he began, but the story filled him with a deep sorrow for their loss, deeper than any he had known before.
The ancient god took pity on the three, and returned their fourth partner. He asked them to teach him more of the things they had told him, and when they agreed, they left with him for his own realm.
Since then it is said that on the third day of the first month of the year, the Four Wishes will return to Macalgra to answer the prayers of the loveless and weary, before they return to their place among the gods.