Eletheria woke up in the middle of the night shivering in the cold. The fire had died low, and the little warmth coming from the fire pit was not enough to keep them warm. The chill had been around long enough to seep into her. Another shiver shook her as she sat there looking at the fire. She wondered if there were some still burning coals that could be persuaded into starting.

The sky was clear, so the stars and the Lehman glow gave enough light for people to see around. Ele wasn’t sure if one of them should have taken watch and maintained the fire. She crawled over to the pile of extra sticks and used the longest one to poke about in the ashes. The fire was completely dead and she didn’t see any glowing coals. She wondered if they should have had one of them stay up to keep it lit. A noise in the woods toward the sea reminded her that a lit fire may not be a good idea either. She shivered and she sat down and hugged her knees close to her body. If it got any colder they may not make it through the night. Their clothing was mostly dry at least the parts that were facing the fire when they fell asleep but the other side was still a little damp. Picking up the bow and smooth stick, Ele repeated what she could remember to get a fire going.

An unknown amount of time passed, marked by the occasional shiver when she decided she would wake up Thio. Not sure how he would react to being woken up, she poked him with a stick. Just a gentle poke to his shoulder that resulted in a small shift of his position. A second and stronger poke to his shoulder woke him up. Thio sat up, still partially asleep, with his knife in hand. Once he had sat up, Ele backed up a step so she wouldn’t accidentally cut with the knife as Thio woke up.

“The fire is out, and I cannot get it started,” Ele told him as soon as he looked at her. “I tried using the bow but cannot start it.”

“I do not know if a fire would be safe,” Thio countered, looking around and ending his gaze on the sea.

“If we freeze to death, then it won’t matter,” Ele said, and they both shivered almost on cue.

“Ok then, let’s make a small fire. Parts of me are still a little wet,” Thio said as he reached for the bow. Once he had it in hand he wrapped the leather strap around the stick and started pulling the bow back and forth to spin the stick. A short amount of time later and a small fire was going. Both of them sat almost in the fire pit to try and get as much warmth as possible. The sound of waves, wind, and their teeth chattering filled the night. Ele noticed the chattering quickly and clenched her jaw to stop it, as soon as she stopped Thio did the same. The promise of heat appeared to make them both feel the chill a little more as the shivering of them now occurred at a more frequent basis. Soon, the fire got as big as they wanted it to, and the warmth spread into whichever side of them faced the flame. Ele laid down on the ground in a half-circle shape while Thio just sat with his back to the fire.

“I don’t know if I can go to sleep,” Ele told Thio while warming up. Now that I am not exhausted, I worry we will be seen.” Thio turned around to face Ele. Though she was lying down, he only looked in her direction, more towards the way they came.

“Me neither. Perhaps one of us should keep watch,” Thio said, still looking in the direction of the sea. Though there were a good number of trees between them and the beach, they could see the occasional glimpse of waves between the trees.

“I’ll watch first, don’t think I can sleep.” Ele said but Thio immediately shook his head.

“No, you try to sleep. If we encounter another glider, we will need you at full strength,” Thio told her.

“I do not know if I can sleep. I am too worried about everything.”

“Just look towards your morning star, and it will calm you.”

“My morning star?” Ele asked.

“Do you not have a morning star?” Thio asked, looking at Ele with wide eyes.

“No, I have never heard of it,” Ele informed Thio. She briefly reviewed her memories to see if there was anything she could remember. Nothing in her past suggested or mentioned a morning star. She heard Thio muttering something but could only catch, “Is this another thing they lost during the purge?” This interested her greatly, so she quickly asked, “What happened in the purge?”

“It was a long time ago, and the G’Aeris were still slaves to the people,” Thio replied. But that’s history; you’d best ask someone who knows more of it than I.”

“I’ll ask my aunt, she knows everything, but what’s a Morning Star?” Ele asked, still interested in some mystical object to help calm and guide her.

“When a child is born, either the father or the mother searches the first night to locate the star for the child. Legend says a new star appears in the sky for everyone born. This is the hole from the heavens that our spirit came through to the world. From this hole is a tether that our spirit will use to guide us in life and guide us back to the heavens.” This said and, while looking into Ele’s eyes, asked a question, “Are you sure you have never heard of this?” Ele shook her head, and he continued. “Over time, our morning star guides us through our lives and provides comfort and direction. While we may not see the correct path here on Ferra, the correct path in the spirit world is easily seen.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Ferra?” Ele interrupted, as that was another term she did not know.

“The word my people give to the land.”

“Oh, we just call it the land.”

“What about… never mind what you call it so the morning star.”

“How do you know if your morning star is trying to guide you?” Ele asked while looking up at the sky.

“Last night, before I went to bed, I gazed upon my morning star for a while and saw that it had increased immensely compared to the past few years. I knew then something would happen or be decided today. That is, in part, why I leaped off the ship after you.”

“And the other part?” Ele absently asked while still looking at the sky. She did not see or realize that Thio had moved closer to her. When he was next to her, he briefly touched her hand. When she did not move away, he lifted her hand and pointed her index finger into the night at his morning star.

“The other part was you are beautiful and I was hoping to build up the courage to say ‘good morning’ to you that day.” Thio saw Ele blush even in the dim light and quickly moved away some. Ele never thought of herself as beautiful as she wasn’t as skinny as her sister, mother, or aunt. Brief memories of other children calling her names in school and taunting her about how she would need more power in quan if she were ever to lift an airship with her on it. She closed her eyes and shook her head then she felt Thio reassuringly touch her hand. This brought her out of a pit of bad memories and back to their current situation. She reviewed the morning before and couldn’t remember seeing or interacting with Thio.

“You didn’t say good morning to me, or at least I do not remember you doing so,” Ele replied while looking at the morning star. Thio’s star was within the Windmaster constellation, a hand span over the Lehman glow. The star was bigger than she remembered it being in the past. Usually, in that star formation, the brightest star was the one representing the finger of the Windmaster. The name escaped her memory.

“I did not. My courage failed me in the morning. It did not fail me in the afternoon,” Thio said, and Ele turned to look at him only to catch him blushing a little. The light from the fire lit up both of their faces. She leaned in towards his lips, but a sudden yawn by both of them interrupted the moment.

“Perhaps you should get some sleep, Ele. I will wake you up when dawn arrives and let you watch for a bit while I rest up.” Thio said, turning his gaze back towards the sea. Ele realized the moment was lost and laid down on the ground, trying to position herself to maximize exposure to the fire. She fell asleep looking at the star, mentally noting that it had increased in size from what she could remember. It was currently brighter than most stars in the general area. Does that mean Thio has more to do?

Ele woke up in the morning as light stared filling the sky. Her neck hurt a little from the position she slept in but overall, she felt refreshed. The fire had again long since gone out, and somehow, she had rolled over, so she was on her back looking at the sky. She sat up and looked to where Thio was and didn’t see anyone there. She had to suppress a brief moment of panic as she looked around. Off in the trees, she saw Thio walking back towards her.

“Where did you go?” Ele asked as soon as he got within hearing range.

“Um, I, uh, had to go,” Thio awkwardly explained, and Ele instantly felt ackward.

“Sorry, I woke up…” Ele tried explaining, but Thio shook his head and smiled.

“It is my fault, I should have waited for you to wake. I did not want to wake you and couldn’t wait any longer,” Thio explained. “There are some bushes over there if you need and I will see if we can find some sticks to use while walking.”

A few minutes passed and they were on their way to Ascalon. Thio had provided some walking sticks to help navigate and Ele had located some berries for a breakfast. Ele had eaten some of the berries already and still had a good handful for Thio when she got back to their camp.

“I found some berries,” Ele said, holding them out triumphantly.

“Um, that’s great, but are we sure they are good to eat?” Thio asked, looking very questionably at the berries.

“I think so,” Ele replied and gulped as she had not considered that yet. “I hope so. I ate some already.”

“Oh! I will wait and see, just in case,” Thio commented, a little worry in his voice. “Perhaps we should walk along the coast and see if any supplies have washed ashore.”

“That’s a great idea, at least the walking along the shore, I hope these are safe.” Ele looked at the berries she carried and dropped them to the ground. A shiver overtook her as a sudden revulsion overcame all other feelings. Her stomach started feeling queasy, but she wasn’t sure if that was her mind or if she really wasn’t feeling well. She looked down at the berries, wondering if she should pick them up. “If I get sick, then we will know to avoid them.” She tried to present a confident smile to Thio when she looked back up but wasn’t sure if she was successful.

“I am sure you will be okay, but we should at least be careful as we do not know what plants are poisonous in this area.” Thio looked at her and took a step forward. The concerned look on his face worried Ele even more; if Thio was worried, then how badly did she screw up?

“I’m not sure; I was just hungry and grabbed the berries,” Ele replied. “Too late to do anything now; we will just have to wait and see.” She picked up what berries she could and wrapped them in some cloth. She didn’t know how long it would take for something poisonous to work its way, hopefully within the next day so they could tell if these were safe to eat. Without any food, this was going to be a very short venture. She watched as Thio kicked dirt over what remained of their fire; he was also carrying the wooden bow and the stick they used to start the fire. Ele looked at her walking stick, which was smooth along the length and blunt at both ends.

“Could we sharpen the walking sticks, at least at one end, so they can be used as spears?” Ele suggested while examining Thio’s walking stick. Thio’s was the same as hers and that little addition would allow them to be used for more activities.

“Great idea!” Thio said, pulling out his little knife to start working on the end of his staff. A few minutes later, he started upon Ele’s staff. Once both sticks had one end sharpened into a point, they were ready to go. They walked towards the sea the same way they came to their camp. Soon Ele and Thio were walking along the beach looking for salvage. Some broken bits of wood had washed ashore. The further they walked, the more Ele worried it was the Vol Mortem was defeated. Occasionally, they picked up some rope, never anything longer than 20 feet, or it was so twisted up in some wreckage they left it there. A few bits of rope was all they were able to collect as they walked that morning along the beach.

As the morning went by, Ele felt a little queasier with each step she took. At one point, her stomach and insides rumbled loud enough that even Thio stopped and looked at her. She doubted she had ever blushed so hard before and quickly excused herself. A trip into the trees was cut short by a sudden urge to empty her stomach contents onto the ground. A little dizzy and aware she was not going to make it into the trees she bent over and started throwing up. A minute later and still feeling queasy and ill, she stood up and saw Thio next to her. She was also amazed her long and dark auburn hair had stayed out of it. She remembered something pulling on her hair and she realized with a shock that Thio had held her hair back. She looked at him, waiting for a comment or remark on how the berries were a poor idea, but a minute passed, and he was silent. He broke the gaze and looked up at the beach a little.

“Perhaps we can find some clean water up ahead,” Thio said, pointing his stick towards some hills. “Some clean water will help settle your stomach.” He paused momentarily, looked at her, smiled, then started walking towards the hills.