Ash felt a kick on his side, his sleep quickly left him and he opened his eyes to be blinded by the light of day.
Standing over him was a his captive and undecided protector.
She wore a hooded cloak the color of dusk, her leathers layered tight and supple for speed. Twin blades rested across her thighs like wings. She looked down at him with a cold gaze and spoke, "Get off your arse, even the birds are awake."
Ash groaned as he sat up straight, "I am not a bird, what happened to your armour."
She turned around and started to walk a bit further from him, "It's clunky and slow, it served its purpose."
He climbed up to his feet, his bones creaking. "Where are we going now? The ruins of Solspire? Where is it exactly?"
She continued to walk without caring to give him a glance. "Are you humans always this chipper in the morning?"
Ash noticed the forest becoming thicker as the went, the trees bigger. It was still dawn, the birds were chirping in the sky, squirrels digging out acorns from the snow.
"Umm, miss elf. Is where you come from also covered in snow?" He asked after a few minutes of walking.
His elf companion kept quiet.
Ash still continued to ask his heart's questions. "Last night you said something I recall, you said had magic in me. But magic is a myth."
The elf girl's gaze now focused on the tree branches as they walked. She spoke in a cold measured voice. "Have you been living under a rock, magic is very real. Even you humans use it."
"I thought you said humans weren't magical." Ash asked.
"By the goddess Selunara, this boy will be the death of me." She thought to herself.
Ash could hear his stomach growling but he chose not to say anything. "I feel you might be avoiding me."
She snorted. "Oh really, what gave me away?"
"You never gave me your name." He said.
"I don't remember giving any, human." She said coldly.
Ash walked up to catch up to her, "Can I please know your name, if we are going to be together for a while which I believe we are."
She gave a heavy sigh, her eyes flinching slightly. "Here's two things about names human. Its mine so I choose who I share it with, hearing it in a humans mouth sullies it."
They continued to walk, their feet crunching on little bits of snow on the ground.
Ash observed her keenly, her face was unlike any he had ever seen before. Everything about her screamed, perfection. She walked with grace, she spoke and acted in a composed manner, her eyes were strong and willfull. She was not like what people had told him about elves, she was not barbaric in any way he could conceive.
She was heavenly.
"And what's the second thing?" He asked, his voice low.
She hesitated a bit before answering. "I give you my name, you use it. Someone hears it, the use it and the circle grows bigger and bigger. It really throws off the whole privacy that justifies the assassin name."
Ash bit down on his lower lip and whistled loud, he kept silent for a short while. Afterwards he spoke, "You can tell me, I promise I won't tell."
She opened her mouth to speak but slowly shut it afterwards.
A few minutes passed before a loud scream broke the silence, it was a woman's cry. They both froze waiting, the cries continued in the distance. The elf girl continued to walk away from the sound but Ash waited and listened, he could hear the distinct voices of men.
He doubted the elf would care about what happened there since she had made it clear that he was her only priority. He stopped to ask himself if it mattered anyway what happened in the forest.
"I wonder if the girls cried like this when they were burned to de—" he stopped his thoughts and swallowed hard.
The elf girl had gone a few steps before noticing Ash's prolonged delay, she stopped and looked back at him over her shoulders. His face looked frightened, his eyes unsettled.
"This is bad." She thought to herself. "He's having a breakdown."
Ash could hear the woman's cries ringing through the forest and then it stopped. His breath went with it. He looked at the part of the forest where the voice had come from.
"Did they cry like this when they died?" He asked himself. "I couldn't do anything to help."
Ash imagined Tomas, his hands raised in vain, as the smoke filled his lungs.
Just then a flying projectile hit his face, snapping him out of his dilemma. The pain from the impact caused him to wince in pain and look down at the apple that lay on the ground.
"You're hungry, have something to eat and let's keep moving." The elf girl said coldly as she waited for him to make a move but he kept still. "Get out of your head human."
Ash simply looked at the apple, red like the fire that had consumed him. The same fire that consumed his Emberfall. Doubt slowly crept into his mind on what he should do and slowly it turned into guilt and regret.
The elf girl could feel a gentle breeze pick up their way, her ears twitched as the sound of a group of humans were getting closer from the distance.
"I don't have time for this." She thought.
As she looked at him, her face softened for a moment before returning to its cold self. "If you're thinking about your village and how they died not being your fault you're wrong. In a way it's your fault, that's a burden you will have to bear. Best to deal with this at once and move on, no good comes from holding all the guilt in."
It was then Ash reached an enlightment of sorts, he felt the hunger in his stomach growling loudly. He bent down and picked up the apple. Then his voice left his lungs, low, broken and empty.
"You're right, it is my fault and I should move on... But this is where it ends for me."
He stared at the apple in his hand, his grip tightening on it. It was red as the flame that razed Emberfall to the ground. Bitterness welled up in his throat. Without thinking, he shoved it into his mouth, whole. His throat rebelled. He choked, coughed, tears streamed down his face— not from sadness, but from the desperate need to make something, anything, stop hurting.
He had hoped to die burning and screaming as those of Emberfall had done but he fate had dealt him a hard hand.
He had no right to still go on living and he believe that much was true.