I hesitated right on the threshold. Kishirra stopped, turning back to look at me with a quizzical gleam in her eyes. She had her weapon of black glass with her, but other than that she had shed her brigandine and wore a pair of trousers and her blouse. She might had looked like any other traveller, save for the way the morning’s light caught in her golden hair.

Perhaps I could just stretch this moment a little longer and stand there to look at her, without the need to take another step.

“Is everything alright?” She asked, tilting her head. “Did you perhaps forget to take anything with you?”

“No, no.” I looked at the invisible line: the one that set the inside world from the outside one. I had been out of Bùrian before, but the last time had been more than ten years ago, when I was still very young and memories of my previous life were little more than fluttering dreams.

This would be the first time I left the city on my own.

Of course, I wasn’t alone – I was with a wondrous Knight who would protect me – and yet for a moment I was once again the same girl who screamed under the blanket because she couldn’t look people in the eye.

Speaking of which… I lifted my gaze and focused on Kishirra’s eyes. They shone brighter than the silver ring above.

“It’s just that I had never been out of here without my parents,” I replied taking a step. I entered the brick arc of the town’s entrance and right past it, once again into the sun. “There. This felt like the longest step I had ever taken. I am ready now… please lead the way.”

Kishirra nodded. We followed the winding road to the hills. Brick houses led to wooden shacks and then to ruined towers. Farmers were out already tilling the fields, and the echoes of dogs barking after sheep filled the air.

It would have been such a perfect morning, but I was out of steam after a hundred steps.

Kishirra waited for me just a couple feet ahead as I panted and sweated under the weight of my backpack. Stupid nerd body with stupid nerd legs.

Walking about in town did not get me ready to some real hiking – we were already above the line of Bùrian’s windmills. I had never climbed so high in my entire life… this one or the one before.

“Sorry… ah. I need… to catch my breath.”

“It gets easier,” Kishirra said with an amused smile. “Just like you said. Take your time, but try not to drink too much.”

“Uh?” I froze right as my hands reached for the bottle.

“Sweat would make you lose energy faster. You would do better trying to take short rests here and there.”

“Can’t I… just… lay here until the first snow falls…”

“Not if you want to pick those flowers of yours, I am afraid.”

Why did she have to be right?

“I should have stayed home. Laid on the bed, opened a good book and forget all about this. Reincarnation was supposed to be an easy affair! A slow life, no troubles, no nothing! Just cosy days one after another.”

Kishirra chuckled.

“That might happen to luckier people than us.”

I fastened my backpack a little faster on my shoulders and climbed uphill after her.

We took frequent stops.

When we met someone it was usually a few women carrying water, or field workers busy with olive harvest. It was that time of the year after all, and we would all celebrate together in a few days.

We reached a wide curve in the road and I stopped to take a rest on a large rock, panting like I wanted to replace Dad’s bellow.

Kishirra stood next to me, not a hair out of place on her golden head. She did not even break a sweat, and we had been climbing for at least one hour.

Seriously. Next thing you knew, she would sprout a pair of wings.

“Elves are on a tier all to themselves…” I panted, catching my breath and my thoughts.

“Is that a saying from your original world?” She asked, sitting next to me on the rock. She was quite close.

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

“Not a saying, more like something I had realised on my own.”

And yet, even with all the aching I had to sit through, the view from here was incredible. The verdant hills descended like two vast shoulders around the red roofs and brick houses of Bùrian, the lines of windmills like a crown upon a round head, and the fields of crimson reeds like a mane losing itself into the blue waters of the Mar da Candèa.

At another time, I would have felt like taking a picture. Now all I could was put it to memory.

+++

We finally reached the spot where the right flowers grew. I could take off the backpack and take a long breath.

“We’re finally here… this was the worst hiking trip… ah… in the history of… hiking trips.”

Kishirra chuckled. She tried to hide it, but even if she turned her head, I spotted the smile on her face.

“What?! It was hard enough for me.”

“I was not undermining your efforts. But you once told me I was cute – let me tell you that I found your hyperbole most endearing.”

“Oh. Well, you have the least-efficient way of giving someone a compliment. Elves and their manner of speaking…” I shook my head, mostly to try and hide my own embarrassment.

Then I set myself to actual work. I wanted to make a strong concoction to present at the festival and I had my work cut out for me. As I started to pick up the right flowers and fill the containers inside my backpack, Kishirra walked about, taking a few steps in each direction, and gazing at the surrounding hills.

I stole more than one glance. Especially when she was turned.

Exercise might not be the best for me, but for Kishirra… it certainly did work wonders on her body.

Then she sat down, opened her hands and began to pray.

I decided to leave her alone… it sounded like a private moment.

Yet, as I gathered the flowers and herbs I needed, fragments of words did reach my ears: parts of hymns and prayers, but also something about the Unreturned.

She was praying for the souls of the Elves who had managed to pass on.

I stopped working, looking at myself. Kneeling in a field of flowers, on the hills behind a peaceful city, with the blue cordon of the Mar da Candèa stretching all the way to the horizon.

The wind played with my hair and it carried a rich scent of resin and earth, and the sweet tinge of flowers.

I could hear the rumbling of my heart and each breath rattling through my chest.

I had never felt so alive.

I reached for my cheek and blinked a few times to hold back tears. Kishirra had finished her prayers and laid on the grass in silence, holding her weapon up against the sky. Sunlight glistened on the surface.

“I think I have enough,” I said laying next to her. “I like it here. I like the wind, I like the sweet scent of flowers. I had missed all this.”

“Are there no fields in your world? It must be a sorry place, then.”

“No, not like that. There are, but I never had the time to go there. Or to stop… stopping in any way. There was always something else to do. Some other anxiety to run away from.”

“Dismaying,” Kishirra replied. Her other hand brushed against my own. “Perhaps it was a good thing you left.”

“I did not leave,” I replied with a hitch in my breath. “I died before my time, and I took over this new… body. My parents from here said they could not have children.”

“Yes,” she nodded. “I spoke about it with your father. He asked me if they could do something to repay the kindness of the Heavens.”

Ah, yes. Dad had mentioned they had wanted to go on a pilgrimage.

“The best thing would be embracing the faith, but they did not seem to want going that far,” Kishirra said with a half-smile. “I suppose appreciating the gift they received would be thanks enough.”

“Oh. Well, they… did. I couldn’t ask for better parents. The ones in my old world were also good. I haven’t seen them in such a long time. Wonder if they still think about me.”

“They certainly do,” Kishirra assured with a sharp nod. “It is in the nature of things.”

“What about you? Do you remember your parents?”

She sighed, putting her weapon down.

“If I did have parents, they were the arts of the Kiengiri and mayhap a Hearthwomb. I was born out of whimsy, maybe lust, certainly not love. Once again, it is a weight my kind has to bear. Perhaps, if I ever manage to win Ansàrra’s favour once again, I might inspire more Elves to go the same route.”

“Who said you lost your goddess’ favour?”

Kishirra opened her lips to reply, but I was faster.

“No, listen to me. If she truly was angered with you, do you think she would allow you to lay like this with me? If your Lady is merciful, she will accept a mistake or two.”

Kishirra licked her lips, nervous.

“My Lady is merciful. I just wonder if I am worth of her mercy.”

“I believe you are. And I haven’t even met Ansàrra!” I replied, holding her hand. “You will complete your Quest, I’m sure. After all, what are you going to do? Not try?”

Kishirra looked up at the sun.

“This is my Test,” she said in a faint whisper.

“And I see no reason for you to face it alone,” I reminded her.

She did not reply. But that had to count for something.

“Perhaps,” she agreed in the end. “Here, allow me to show you something. I do remember this one from the previous times.” She sat behind me and began to sift her hands through my tresses, knitting my hair into a single braid. “We used to this to each other, when worries clouded out minds. Everyone in our colony knew how to make ropes out of hair, and everyone had their own technique. Perhaps I can remember enough.”

“Oh.” I had never had my hair braided like that. I let her work, trying to relax, even though she was just so close.

“By sunrise, we wake up with bright thoughts,” she muttered under her breath.

“Hm?”

“By midday, we share bright words with each other.”

She finished her work, giving my hair a light tug to make sure they stayed in place.

“And by eventide, we have done bright deeds.”

“It’s beautiful,” I said looking at the beautiful knots. They were so precise they made my hair look like the finest embroidery. “But were you reciting a prayer?”

She nodded.

“The most important one.” She set her hands over my shoulders and leaned forward, until her head touched the nape of my neck. “I am not eager for my final death. But I do prefer it to the alternative, and when it comes, I want it to be on my terms. Do you think that to be selfish?”

“I think it is,” I replied shrugging. “And I fail to see the problem.”

“Then you are wiser than I am,” she replied, standing up. “The sun is going down. It is time for us to return.” She picked up her weapon and began to leave. Feeling a pang in my heart, I quickly put my backpack on and hurried after her.