They sat around it.
Close.
Safe.
For now.
The fire crackled softly, sparks rising into the dark like fading stars. For a moment, no one spoke.
Henry broke the silence. "So… is this what real adventurers do? Sit in scary forests and pretend they're not scared?"
"I'm not pretending," Thalia muttered. "I am scared."
Mauris smirked faintly. "Fear keeps you alive. Overconfidence gets you killed."
Frauner glanced at Leah. "You've been quiet."
Leah stared into the flames. "I was thinking. Today in the arena… everyone looked at me like I'd already failed. Like I wasn't enough."
"You were more than enough," Mauris said firmly. "You held your ground."
"But it didn't feel like victory," she replied softly. "It felt like I still have something to prove."
"To who?" Thalia asked.
Leah hesitated. "To myself."
Silence followed.
Frauner leaned back against the tree root. "Then we're here for the right reason. Not for glory. Not for the kingdom."
Henry lifted the dagger slightly. "Then we prove it together."
Thalia gave him a small smile. "Together."
Mauris nodded once.
And the fire burned brighter.
Frauner looked around the dim circle of firelight.
"We should rest," he said quietly. "I'll take the first watch."
Henry immediately lifted his head. "I can stay awake with you."
Frauner gave him a small smile. "No, no. We need our strength. Tomorrow will demand more from us."
Mauris nodded in agreement. "He's right."
Thalia hesitated for a moment, then finally lay back against her pack. One by one, they settled near the warmth of the fire, closing their eyes as the flames cracked and shifted.
Soon, only Frauner remained awake.
He sat upright near the edge of the light, sword resting across his knees, fingers loosely wrapped around the hilt. To keep himself alert, he occasionally picked up small pebbles and tossed them lightly into the darkness, listening for unnatural movement.
Time passed slowly.
The forest never truly slept.
Insects chirred in uneven rhythms. Somewhere distant, leaves rustled without wind. Strange animal cries echoed faintly between the trees, stretching thin through the mist.
After a long while, Leah stirred.
Her eyes opened quietly.
She looked around; at the sleeping forms of her friends, at the restless shadows beyond the firelight. Something weighed heavily on her chest.
Carefully, she rose without waking the others.
She walked a few steps away from the fire and leaned against a nearby tree, her arms folded loosely, her gaze lost in the darkness.
Frauner noticed.
He watched her silently for a few moments, studying the tension in her shoulders.
Then he stood.
He approached her slowly, so as not to startle her; but when he gently took her hand, she flinched slightly.
Leah turned.
Their eyes met.
She said nothing.
Frauner's voice was low. "You should be sleeping."
"I tried," she replied softly. "Every time I close my eyes… I see everything going wrong."
"The forest?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No. Us. If something happens to them because of me…"
"It won't."
"You can't know that."
"I know you," he said firmly.
"You don't chase danger for glory. You're here because you believe this matters."
Leah looked away. "Believing doesn't protect anyone."
Frauner stepped closer. "No. But standing together does. We trained together. We fight together. We survive together."
She was quiet for a long moment.
"I'm afraid," she admitted.
"So am I," he said. "Only fools aren't."
A faint, tired smile touched her lips. "You? Afraid?"
"Of losing you."
The honesty in his voice stilled the air between them.
Leah's fingers tightened around his. "You won't."
"Promise?"
She nodded slowly. "I promise."
The insects' chorus rose and fell in the distance.
Frauner exhaled softly. "Go back to sleep, Leah. I'll keep watch. I'll keep the dark away."
She hesitated… then rested her forehead briefly against his shoulder before returning to the warmth of the fire.
Frauner resumed his place at the edge of the light, sword in hand.
Beyond the flames, Ashenveil continued to breathe.
Leah lay beside the fading fire, staring up at the faint cracks of light between the branches.
She closed her eyes.
The sounds of Ashenveil pressed in; the insects, the distant rustle of something unseen, the low hum of night breathing through bark and bone.
She turned to one side.
Then the other.
Her chest felt tight.
After a moment, she exhaled sharply and sat up again.
This place felt too heavy.
Too loud.
Too alive.
She rose quietly and walked back toward Frauner. He heard her footsteps before she reached him but said nothing. She lowered herself beside him, close enough that their shoulders nearly touched.
For a while, neither spoke.
"You couldn't sleep," he said softly.
"No."
Frauner kept his gaze on the darkness beyond the firelight. "Night makes thoughts louder."
Leah drew her knees slightly closer. "When we were younger… do you remember the hill behind the training grounds?"
He glanced at her. "The one you used to climb whenever you were angry?"
"I wasn't angry."
"You always said you weren't."
A faint breath of laughter escaped her.
"It was quiet there," she said.
"You could see the whole valley. The world felt… smaller."
"And safer," he added.
She nodded. "I wish we were there."
Frauner shifted slightly closer, lowering his voice. "We will be again."
"You don't know that."
"I don't," he admitted. "But I know this;wherever you are trying to protect the people you love… that place becomes worth standing in."
Leah looked at him. "You always speak like that?"
"Only when I'm exhausted."
She studied his face in the fire's glow. "Why do you stay so calm?"
"I'm not calm," he said quietly. "I just can't afford to let you see when I'm not."
Her expression softened. "You don't have to carry everything alone."
"Neither do you."
The forest stirred faintly in the distance.
Leah leaned slightly into him, her shoulder finally resting against his.
"Just stay awake," she whispered.
Frauner adjusted his grip on his sword. "I will."
And together, they watched the dark.
Leah's eyes lingered on him longer than she intended, her heart beating fast; not from the danger ahead, but from something she did not yet understand.