“What? An elf? There are elves?” she asked excitedly, “I’ve only ever heard of them in stories. In my book! My book!” She stood up.

“Do you have the ears, then?” she asked, “Why are you so tall?” Bo turned a deep red.

“Oh, no, no. I…My ears…” he stuttered, putting his hands to his ears. She sensed a hesitation.

“I cut the tips off myself,” he explained, averting his gaze. Leena looked back at the ball of ice.

“Oh. I…see,” she said, casting about to find another thing to talk about, “Are…are there other kinds of elves, too?”

“Not too many about nowadays,” he replied, putting his shirt back on. She avoided staring at him.

“Where do they live? I’ve not been outside of Icherrun.”

“They live here and there. Mostly over the ocean.”

“Ocean?”

“Yeah, big lake of salt water.”

“You’ve been across the ocean?” she asked.

“Well…” he hesitated, “That’s where we’re going.” She blinked.

“We have to cross an ocean?”

“Yeah. It’ll be okay though.”

“My mother went across an ocean?”

“Yes, yes, yes…look, are you hungry?” he asked, sifting through his satchel.

“Ah, yes. I’m hungry. I…don’t know what I’ve really been eating the past…few months?”

“Here.” Bo handed her some bread. She took it, biting into it, and smiled at the taste.

“Wow. This is good.” He shrugged, eating his own portion.

Leena devoured the bread and looked at Bo, hoping for more. He handed her some of his, and she ate it.

“Water?” she asked. He took back the ice ball, laying on the ground and wiped it off. Moving his hands, he took a piece off, handing it to her.

“Isn’t it dirty?” she asked, taking it from him.

“It’s the cleanest you can get,” he replied, taking a small piece into his mouth, too.

Leena popped it into her mouth. It was very cold, so she stuffed it into her cheek, avoiding her teeth. It expanded a bit, and the melted water seemed to flow from it, and she almost choked. It tasted good, too, like winter water. Bo was grinning at her, his own mouth shifting with the flow of water.

“Wow. That’s great!” Leena exclaimed, “That’s really great, Bo!”

Bo seemed to puff up for a bit before rummaging through his satchel.

“I was hoping…Well. I was hoping for some extra things for you, but here.” He offered her one of his shirts and one of his pants.

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“That’s about what I have for a blanket and a pillow.” She took them gently and looked at him closely as he pounded out his satchel into a makeshift pillow.

“How long have you lived like this?” she asked.

“Not long. It was difficult though, at first. I missed my bed. Now it just…feels normal.”

“What’s your home like?” He lay down on his back, head resting on the satchel with his jacket over his stomach.

“Well…” he started, “I live in a…school…actually. I went there when I was younger to live with my…uncle. It’s all right. It was better than where I was before.”

“Where were you before?”

He paused.

“It was…a small place. Nowhere near as big as my uncle’s school.”

“What does your uncle teach? He owns the school?”

“Yeah, yeah. Um. He teaches…I suppose you can call it magic.”

“It’s a magic school?”

“Sorta…Not really. Honestly, you’d have to ask him. He’d be able to explain it better.”

“Is what you do magic?” Bo looked her in the eye suddenly serious, his face drooped in a weary look.

“No.” He rolled over then, facing the wall.

“Let’s not…ask anymore questions. I’m really tired,” he said, his voice muted.

“Oh, okay. I’m sorry,” Leena apologized, feeling like she had touched a nerve. The light orb winked out, dropping to the floor with a thud, and rolled to the edge of the hut.

It was dark, and fear crept into Leena’s stomach, threatening mutiny. She held Bo’s shirt to her mouth, unintentionally smelling the smell of grass, wind, and rain. Leena closed her eyes for a moment, resting with her back against the hut. Her body felt heavy and ached as if she was contorted strangely. She felt the insistence of sleep poke at her eyeballs, and she whipped them open.

“Um. I’m…I’ll be right back,” she said, forcing her body to move out of the hut.

The sun had fallen past the edge of the world, leaving the forest dark. And it was darker than dark. There were no stars, no moon, no sense of light. There was no wind and the rain had stopped, leaving a squelchy mud and wet, battered down grass.

Leena only stood, looking, out and felt very exposed. The only thing she felt was her heartbeat, beating out of time. Everything was nothing. Why did she come back out here?

She turned to go back in the hut but stopped suddenly.

Squelch.

Squish.

“Hurr…”

Squelch.

She started trembling and crawled quickly back into the hut.

Squelch.

Squish.

She peered through the door, looking for signs of someone, but it was too dark to make out any shapes. Leena shut her eyes tightly, clutching the shirt in her hands, over her face.

Squelch, squish, squelch.

Squish, squelch, squish.

“Hurr…Burr.”

Squelch.

She wanted to scream, to wake Bo up, to do anything. Leena felt for her knife. Where was it? Where was it?

The sounds were louder. She heard voices.

“Hurr…Whurr…”

“Burr…Hurr…” She couldn’t find her knife. It was so loud in her ears, the sound of her blood and rushing thoughts.

“B-bo?” she whispered, crawling over to him, ignoring the dirt scraping against her knees. She felt for him across the hut, and then hit the wall.

Her insides froze.

“Bo?” she said, feeling along the wall.

It was just her. The light orb wasn’t even in the hut.

“B-bo…” she whispered, holding back a scream. Tears flooded her eyes. Where did he go? Why would he leave her?

She cowered in the back of the hut, facing what she thought was the empty opening. It was so dark. Was she even in a hut?

The squelching stopped.

She heard something different.

Water? Did she hear water flowing?

She felt something wet on the floor of the hut. It moved over her fingers. She pulled her hand away, feeling the strange viscous water between her fingers.

No.

She stood up, feeling the water splash, pooling around her ankles.

No!

She felt along the walls, looking for the exit. Where was the exit? The water splashed around her knees.

No, no no…

She started tearing at the walls, feeling the dirt underneath her fingernails. She stepped backwards.

And fell.

Leena screamed as she felt things grab at her feet, her legs. Her waist. They pulled her down, down, down…

“Leena!”

She felt something hit her cheek.

Opening her eyes, she saw Bo, holding her shoulders down and straddling her.

She started to scream again.

“No, shhh. I’m sorry,” Bo scrambled off of her, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t do anything.” Leena shoved her fists in her mouth, muffling the sound of her sobs.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Bo murmured, crawling slowly towards her, “I…Are you okay?”

Leena’s breath started to come back to her.

“I had a nightmare,” she hiccupped.

“Yeah, I can see that,” he replied, giving her a small bit of the ice. She let it rest in her mouth for a bit.

“Are you okay now?” he asked. She shook her head.

“I…I forgot that…I forgot about it.”

“Forgot what?"

“I forgot to tell you that…I have nightmares every night.”