Mira took a pause, edging me on my seat.

She was doing it on purpose, of course, so that I would focus more, but come on, just say it already!

Finally, she spoke, but her voice a was lower, with a subtle hint of sadness:

“On that day, contrary to what you might expect, there was no fight. Instead, every elf of the city, young and old, gathered high at the city’s wall so that everyone, from in front and below could see them, each and every one holding hands. When the opposing forces saw them, they immediately prepared themselves for war, but war never came. With the drums of war in their face, only one choice was left, and the silent city broke into a mournful song.”

She took a small pause.

“You are familiar with this one, albeit not its entirety.” She said, pushing the book closer to me, and pointing to the small verse:

Farewell, sorrowful world,

farewell, sweet life,

Farewell, you springs

And you, unfortunate souls.

Reading it made my hair stand on and sent a chill down my spin, but before I could think of anything, Mira continued.

“The sound of their voices reverberated through the land, a chorus so haunting that, as legend tells, even the dead rose to sing alongside them. The few testimonies that have survived to this day speak of it as an indescribable moment—each witness recounting it differently, but all agreeing on one thing: it was the most unforgettable day of their lives.”

“As the final note of the first verse faded into the air, the first elf leapt from the walls. Then came the second verse, and when it came to an end, two more elves followed. For three days and two nights, the verse echoed through the city, and the elves continued to fall like leaves in the autumn wind. On the final night, the song ended, and the world fell into a chilling silence.”

“Given only two choices, they created a third. They chose death, but not one born of defeat or surrender. Their death became the soil in which seeds of passion, love, and fury bloomed in the heart of every elf. A death that would never be forgotten. For it was a waking call: Never again.”

Mira concluded, turning away from the book to me, her brows furrowing slightly in worry. “Lyon,” I turned to her voice, “I know you asked for it, but, are you okay? Talk to me.”

Her voice had returned back to its normal gentle sweetness, but I was still stunned. Reading the small verse was shocking enough, but then came the elves choice and... it was just too much.

How could they have done that? To be forced too take their own lives? Just how much must the had suffered? And the willpower to do something like that? Despite how bad their situation was, they still managed to go on their own terms, and more than that, influence every elf—no the entire world. It was scary. It was amazing. It was scarily amazing.

I was afraid. I was inspired. I didn’t know how to feel about it.

Gulping the lamp in my throat I found back my voice. “That’s... yeah. I’m okay, Its just...um, can I have a hug?”

“Of course, dear, as many as you like.” She said, and immediately too me in her embrace.

Her hug was warm. It was nice.

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“I think that’s enough history for today.” She said as she pulled away.

My hands almost moved behind her to grab her. Almost.

“Yeah, um...” I began speaking, but found myself not knowing what to say.

From overwhelmed to a familiar warmth and now this awkwardness, I entered panic mode, my eyes darting left and right to finally finished this sentence. In the end, what attracted them the most was something colorful behind Mira on the counter, so I quickly added:

“What’s that behind you?”

Jumping out of the chair dragging it closer to the counter and jumping back on top of it, that something revealed itself to be colorful yarns, knitted into a complex pigtail. For each knot a different color, ranging from blue, to yellow, to orange, to pink and back to blue. It was so beautiful, I hadn’t seen anything so well made before, as if the different colors were meant to blend together in such way, but it looked like it was missing something. It was put in a circle, but the two ends weren’t meeting as if it was incomplete.

“What’s that?” I asked again, my voice regaining its missing liveliness.

“Oh, that?”

For a second, I thought Mira’s voice cracked, but that couldn’t be true. Mira was always composed, and her voice was always like a beautiful melody. No way it cracked, it was simply my imagination. And I was proven right when she spoke again with her usual calm and melodic tone.

“It’s nothing much. I’ve just been practicing knitting lately and these are the left overs. I didn’t want to throw them away, so I made this... bracelet.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“But that’s way bigger than a bracelet, more like a pendant, I would know. Are you sure?”

Her eyes fluttered like a butterfly and more than that, this time I was certain, her voice did sound funny!

“Ah... really? I guess there was too many yarn left then. Ah, don’t think too much of it.”

“Okay...” I dragged the word in a questioning tone.

She cleared her throat.

“Right, Lyon, before you go, don’t forget next week is the meteor fall.”

The moment I heard of the meteor fall, I forgot her weirdness immediately. I had completely forgotten about it! …no pun intended.

She had been teasing it for one weeks now, saying stuff like the stars are going to zoom across the sky, and they will be lighting everything up, and, and they will have flashing tails and everything! Like a party in the sky! It sounded so cool!

I gasped and immediately ran for the door, too excited to stop myself. “Yes, yes! I remember now! I’ll be back before the sun falls down!” I called over my shoulder, waving at her.

“Be careful!” she yelled after me.

“I will!” I shouted back, slamming the door a bit too hard in my rush. “Sorry!” I called out one last time, already running at full speed toward the Heart Lake, as I now called it, which by the way, was such a cool name.

‘I have to find Horny quickly!’

The past few days, I’d been slacking in my training, but I had a good reason. Ever since Mira mentioned watching the meteor fall from a high place, it had been on my mind constantly, so I was trying to find the highest place in the forest.

Of course, that would be a Scarlet Sentinel—easy enough to figure out—but it wasn’t that simple. Sure, it’s tall, towering above all the other trees, but there were several problems with it.

First of all, how were we supposed to climb it? We could probably figure something out: a rope, climbing the trunk, or maybe jumping from branch to branch. Surely, we’d find a solution. But that still left a couple of issues.

What if, while we were up there, beasts surrounded the tree? We’d have no way to escape and would be trapped. Sure, we could probably figure something out for that too. Maybe I could fend them off, or Mira could do something like she did when she saved me from the Deerhorn. But the biggest problem remained, and I couldn’t think of any solution.

How were we supposed to see the meteor fall when we’d be surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands, of leaves? We wouldn’t be able to see a thing! What’s the point of climbing to the highest spot in the forest if we can’t see the show? Not to mention how uncomfortable it would be clinging to branches—we’re not monkeys!

No, we needed a better plan. Something safe, high enough, and open enough to actually watch the sky.

Training could wait, but the meteor fall? Who knew when we’d have the chance to see that again? Mira said it happens every six or seven years! Who has time to wait that long?

Reaching close to lake, I could already see Horny in the distance.

“Horny!” I called out, waving to him.

He lifted his head and when he saw me, run toward me.

Giving him an apple, I patted his horns.

“Come on, we don’t have many days left. Let’s go.” I said, already turning for the western side of the forest, the one closest to the mountains.

Didn’t it make sense? The rougher terrain, the fewer trees would surround it. We’d be able to spot any approaching beast much faster, and have a better view of the show. Now, the only thing left for me was to choose which hill we’d set picnic. And perhaps…face my fears.