Cymrian is a character in The Dark Legacy of Shannara trilogy. He was an outcast Elven warrior who served as the bodyguard of the Druid Aphenglow Elessedil and later, her sister Arlingfant Elessedil, a member of the Chosen.
Biography[]
Cymrian is a very skilled and proficient fighter. Through training and sheer determination, he has learned to take a lot of physical punishment. While he doesn't speak often, his actions speak to the strength he possesses.
After Aphen is attacked in Arborlon, she and the Ard Rhys determine that it is best to find her a protector while she continues her work in the city. At her sister's bidding, Arling helps find Cymrian. He has a little bit of history with Aphen from their childhood training. He is very resourceful and manages to save Aphen even when she misleads him as to where she will be. Over time, he gains her trust and respect.
He and Arling accompany an injured Aphen back to Paranor after she uses the Elfstones. After the majority of the Druids leave on a quest to find the missing Elfstones, they are left with Aphen at Paranor. This is the time that Drust Chazuul and the Federation decide to attack Paranor. Cymrian is pivotal in the defense of the castle, once treachery allows the walls to be breached. He mans one of the airships used in the plan to successfully evacuate the defenders from the lost castle.
As Aphen is about to return to Paranor, Arling finds out that she is to become the successor to the Ellcrys. In a panicked state she runs to Aphen for help. Cymrian then promises to be Arling's Protector as well. He helps the two sisters research about the rebirth of the Ellcrys and it is determined that they will return to Paranor and search there about the rebirth of the Ellcrys. Cymrian was at Paranor, waiting outside on the airship as Aphen and Wooostra enter the "dead" Paranor and go read the Druid histories.
After returning from a released Paranor it is decided that they must go after the other Druids who left to go search for the missing Elfstones because of the danger posed by the weakening of the Ellcrys. Arling is left in Arborlon to try and talk with the Ellcrys, but Cymrian accompanies Aphen as her protector during this mission. When the get to the Fangs he helps her fight off Demons. They find the members of the Druid party who didn't get trapped in the Forbidding.
Cornered by Goblins while searching the wreckage of the airship Walker Boh, Aphenglow Elessedil calls up an illusory torrent of flames to blanket herself and Cymrian, confusing the Goblins and allowing them to flee back to their airship, the Wend-A-Way. Illustration by Todd Lockwood for an insert in the original edition of Bloodfire Quest.
When they return from this mission, Arling reveals that she has been given the seed of the Ellcrys. The three of them, with an airship and a crew head out on the Bloodfire quest. During this time Arling prods and teases her older sister about Cymrian, because she knows why he's so willing to risk his life for Aphen. But she still doesn't see/refuses to see. He flies the airship and tries to avoid a Federation war ship that was dispatched to hunt them. Unluckily they are forced to engage in an air battle and are taken out of the sky. Once they are down they are hunted by a Federation assassin and Prime Minister Edinja Orle's monsters. Cymrian, although injured from the crash, cleverly dispatches the monsters and, with Aphen's help, kills the assassin. He is very critically injured from the fighting, so Aphen uses magic healing on him, and they both succumb to sleep. When they awake the find Arling gone.
Together they find Arling in the Federation capital of Arishaig. When they get in they have to wait/find an opportunity to rescue Arling, who manages to "escape" Edinja. Then they are trapped in the city as the Demon army breaks out of the Forbidding and attacks the southland capital. They manage to get free of the city, with suspiciously uncharacteristic help from Edinja Orle.
Aphen comes to accept that she really loves Cymrian and to understand his unshakable feelings for her. She appreciates how solid and reliable he is.
Cyrmrian then helps the sisters track down and retrieve the seed of the Ellcrys. The three fly to the Bloodfire and submerge the seed. Afterwards they run into the treacherous Edinja and her deadly moor cat, Cinla. Though it seems impossible the Elven warrior kills Cinla, but he ends dangerously injured in many places. He persists and chases down Edinja before she can fly away. Before succumbing to his wounds, he chokes the sorceress to death.
Aphen can barely handle his death, seeing it as another of many terrible things in her life that will leave her painfully alone.