Ivril and Regal rushed out of the bar. They followed the rapid stream of thudding boots and sure steps to safety. Outside was no different. Everyone abandoned what they were doing as they poured out of shelter.

Regal anxiously looked about. The forest surrounding the village ominously moved as one with the quake, like a marching army headed for war. Then, his eyes caught the blood elf beside him. Ivril was shaking his head then nodding in succession. His dark brow furrowed, only to untangle right after. Regal frowned when he remembered Ivril's previous words. Surely, how can any mortal cause the ground to quake?

Regardless, the two moved with the flow of the crowd, heading south east of the town. Regal was still confused, where was the avalanche?

Ivril patted his shoulder. "I'll talk to you later, see ya!" He took off without waiting for Regal's reply, leaving the latter in stunned silence. As he watched Ivril disappear against the flow of crowd, his eyes finally drifted up where it did not before, catching a sight that made his breath get caught in his throat.

An opaque, white rain was falling over him. It began to cover the sun, casting great shadow down the small settlement. Night descended in this supposedly six months of continuous sunlight. Regal's heart sank in despair. However, he grit his teeth and followed Ivril. He was not going home without completing his mission.

As he took further steps, the rush of figures began to thin out, leaving him alone in a ghost town. The mass of white colored his vision black. Regal walked blindly with forlorn heart in search of Ivril. Why Regal did not ran like the rest and faced doom instead, he did not know himself. Instead, he just ran, because by this time, his life was on the line.

Slowly at first, Regal felt crisp coldness creep on his face, to his neck, reaching down his back as the powdered ice found its way through the crevices of his regal clothes. Weight slowly piled over his head and shoulders. Moments later, he could not even walk through the waist high snow while battling cold futily. With eyes closed and lashes lidded in white powder, his purpling lips quivered to uncharacteristic smirk, a smile he never thought he would ever make, escaped in face of imminent death.

'A gentle death, it is. Who knew it was worse than a sword's?'

-

"Lily? STOP!" Ivril shouted at the top of his lungs. He faced the endless land outside the Yulid forest. The land was still barren, but the previous dunes were gone. It migrated south in an elegant arching swirl, a graceful death bringer towards the nearest settlement. A bridge of swirling snow reached out towards the small village of Yulid. "Stop being unreasonable!"

The great arc quivered slightly, but continued uninterrupted. Vein seemed to pop out of Ivril's forehead in frustration. "Don't you know you're burying the damned supplies?" The statement froze the swirl, then speedily reveresed back. Soon enough, a new mountain was made in less than a minute as desert of snow gathered under a single point.

Ivril sighed with relief. He sprinted to the freshly made mountain's foot. A figure sat with a twig in her hand. Her long dark hair draped contrastingly to the glaring snow. She was drawing a flower on the snow with surprising detail. Her little stick did not sketched lines, but dug out snow. The uneven depth created shadows, made aestistically to outline the flower of her namesake, a lily.

Ivril stood behind her, watching as the young girl expanded her work from a single flower on the ground to a blossoming field on the base of the snow mountain. It was a surreal sight, mere snow becoming a priceless work of art. The image told of her dream. To see what she considered the epitome of life, flowers.

After the last chisel of her fragile twig, she regarded Ivril. She looked so small, surrounded by her fictitious dream with pleading eyes. "Please, take me with you."

Confusion struck Ivril, then he remembered his conversation with Regal. Everything became much clearer to him. The family was sending him down, and he had no say about the matter. The last time anyone of them went down was at least a thousand years ago, yet all of a sudden, Ivril was assigned in a task many of them consider a great fortune. Ivril did not mind the cold north, though not everyone shared his comfort. They wanted to see the world, but an unwritten law had hindered them from doing so. Considering thus, he could not understand why him out of many. Lily was one of these many, and her ability would indisputably be more helpful than he ever could.

Ivril knelt, and tucked a loose stray of her hair behind her pointed ears. "You weren't permitted?"

She shook her head dejectedly.

"My dear sister!" He exclaimed. If Ivril feared anything, it would be their parents. Just the thought of disobeying them sent his knees shaking. Add the fact that this was his sister, Lya Lily, an abnormality that the whole family tirelessly hid, and now she asked to see the world.

"Brother, I beg of you. I am tired of just looking at the flowers inside the canvas! I read enough of their scent, felt them enough in my dreams, had enough of grandmother's stories that she, herself, could no longer remember!" Tears streamed down her pale cheeks, looking miserable with her crumpled dress and bare feet. "Brother, I am tired of relishing from someone else's experiences. I want to understand what they felt! I need to. Because living, I do not understand . . ."

"Lily . . ." If his parents were his greatest fear, then his sister was his fatal weakness. He sighed in surrender. He took her hands, and escorted her to her bare feet. Ivril knew she was not cold. Really, neither was he. Like that, a bear and a young girl walked hand in hand towards a leafless forest.

-

Regal opened his eyes. He saw nothing but a blur, so he closed them again to dream about dragonflies.

"Hey!" Suddenly, a hard jab hit his side. He heard his rib groan, and his throat mimicked the gesture. "If you're awake then get up! You need to eat or you'll really would die soon."

The unfamiliar man kept nudging his aching side, leaving him no choice but to abandon the dragonfly's epic battle. Regal swatted the malignant hand away as he carefully stood up. When he did, he realized how much his body hurt. He felt like a charcoal, thoroughly burnt.

After a couple of laboured breaths, his vision stabilized and saw an unfamiliar scene. He was in a brightly lit room. The crystal walls reflected light, doubling the radiance that hurt his still, hazy head. Beside the bed, a table and chairs were the only furnitures present. He looked to his right and saw an unfamiliar man. His eyes were fiery red and his hair stood peculiarly, reminding Regal of the hedgehog that gave him bitter memories in his childhood. He continued staring at those red eyes, thinking why his memory wass prickling.

With a jolt, he suddenly stood and pointed a finger. "You!" He accused loudly, forgetting the fire in his limbs. "You, you . . ." Regal could not finish. He cannot even think why he felt anger towards the other, let alone shoot his slanders.

The other just stared, then howled in laughter, audaciously slamming the bed, making Regal flush in anger. In his life, he had experienced many treatments such as respect and fear, but never as a laughing stock. He never knew humiliation could stir such rage from within. Before he could holler in agitation, a figure came in carrying a steaming pot.

In Regal's eyes, an angel mistakenly walked on earth. Her dark hair were long and unnaturally silky, eyes were mysterious shade of red, a mix between milk and rose. Her nose tilted perfectly to match her soft cheek bones and pointed chin. Also, her graceful steps-

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

His thoughts continued while his eyes grew wider. Noticing this, the man with red eyes balled a blanket then threw it on Regal's face, diverting his attention. "You look dumb." He remarked malevolently.

Regal blinked, and immediately composed himself. A commander of thousand men cannot lose his calm under any circumstances. He sat down and cooled his head. Recent events flashed by his closed lids, making him shiver from far existent cold. Opening them, he saw two dark haired elves feasting a steaming pot. He knew the man, Ivril, but he could not possibly forget if had ever met the young woman beside him. She was too beautiful to forget. Her long lashes flutters like a butterfly's, and those eyes, he would gladly drown into them-

He shook his head. Again with calm mind, he concluded, that girl would nothing be but trouble, someone he best should ignore. His mission was to bring Ivril Illian Lispien to the capital as willing as could be, and the girl was just a distraction.

Regal stood up and joined the two for meal. His whole body ached, but eating was a must for recuperation. He forced himself to eat meat, an option normal elves would avoid with distaste. With tearing eyes, he swallowed a spoonful and silently said goodbye to his normal days.

-

'Was it that bad?'

Lya's heart shrank. Her brother had always praised her cooking, but then again, he was the only one who ever ate her carefully prepared meals, and that brother spoiled her as much as she was ignored by the family. This was the first time someone else ate her cooking, and that someone looked like he was spending the day in a torture chamber.

She decided to ignore him. If he does not like it, then he can scavenge the forest for all she cared.

"What's the matter?" Ivril gently asked her. She looked up and saw an ever familiar pair of worried eyes. Lya knew she had burdened her brother enough with her request, so she resolved to become more independent and solve her own problems.

"I just remembered, why did you mention your luggage when stopping me back then?" She initially asked to point him on another direction, but as she did, his words actually disturbed her.

"Huh? You didn't stop because of that?"

". . . Why would I?"

"Well, I was late wasn't I? The supplies were delayed, so I figured you were angry because you were hungry?"

Lya reddened almost immediately. She loved her brother, but his mind tend to stay in the clouds leaving her to her own device with embarrassing events. She slammed her hand down the table, making everything on it jump a thumb higher. "So that was why you called me unreasonable! Brother, what were you thinking! Do you see me as some sort of pig? Incapable of waiting, so wailing was all I could think of!?"

Ivril frantically tried to pacify his sister, soothing her with various claims Regal did not bother listening to. He just silently ate, trying to persuade his mind that the clump rolling on his tongue were carrots.

When the pot was empty, Lya finally calmed down. Ivril sighed in relief, while Regal concentrated to keep everything down.

"So what's the plan?" Ivril asked in attempt to change the mood. His sister was still pouting, but did not interrupt.

"You agree to help?" Regal asked hopefully.

"You never explained what you want from me, and why me." Lya eyed her confused brother. Everyone knew. Even she, who was isolated by everyone else, had heard about it.

She looked at Regal who had the same confusion in his eyes. "Let me explain." She did not wait for confirmation and talked ahead.

"They want to break the stalemate with the humans on their border. They asked us for help, but the family was reluctant considering what they did to the previous aid we gave."

"What aid?" Ivril stared hard to his sister, evidently experiencing a hole in her explanation.

Regal was flabbergasted. This matter was not a secret, it was the great shame the elves will carry in their history forever.

"Brother . . . how did you pass to advanced level of studies?" Ivril just grinned sheepishly. Lya sighed, feeling the weight a mother feels when her child was fooling around too much for his own good. "The family granted them their first demon along with the knowledge of how to access the ether. However, just after a few thousand years they lost every single one of their familiars, and with that, the ability to summon."

Regal was silent in shame. He could not deny Lya's words, instead, felt thankful for the lack of malice in it.

Ivril nodded solemnly, then asked Regal, "So you want us to give you another demon?"

"I would not deny, that would be most ideal."

"But the family refused." Lya intervened, not liking the flow of conversation. She felt like her brother was being tricked by a scammer. "They had wasted our trust once, and it would not happen twice."

"And so is where you come in." Regal continued, paying absolutely no attention to Lya, slightly upsetting her. "You were chosen to represent all blood elves. By coming with me to the capital, from then, you are to judge whether we are worth the second chance."

Lya scoffed. "Yet they also fraternize with their so-called enemy. The family is just their supplementary plan in case the former failed, one reason or another."

"Humans are not the real threat, but what is behind them. When they fall, the bloodiest war would fall on these untainted soil, and there are no longer other lands to run away to."

"Yet they war these humans." She retorted.

"For liberty, a chance to fight for our own." He said promptly.

"Yes, because too much peace result in fights between their own. This was proven by a mere couple hundred years of bloodless history."

Regal and Lya were on a heated debate while facing the innocent Ivril. "So, Lily, you don't wanna go down?" He asked out of confusion from her sister's quick-tempered ripostes.

Lya paused, then glared at her clueless brother. She received confused eyes in return, making her stop and realize that she was, indeed, confusing. Sometimes her brother could point unintentionally cutting remarks, making her frustrated more to herself for turning her anger on her perplexed brother. She looked at Regal to condone her words, but what she saw just infuriated her further. Regal was beaming from ear to ear. His face was so bright of glee, Lya seriously thought about freezing him, totally, this time.

She looked away and breathed in calmingly then breathed out the pent up tension in her nerves. "Brother, let us go. Surely, one less company cannot possibly change anything. The two of us will do just fine."

"Ivril, I received orders to escort you, nothing less, and definitely nothing more."

The two silently glowered at the other inside.

"Brother!"

"Ivril!"

". . ." Ivril was tongue-tied. Lya glared as mightily as she could, but she could sense a dogged combativeness beside her. "Um, why can't the three of us just go together?"

". . ."

". . ."

Responding to his question would require Lya to grudgingly acknowledge the blonde elf's existence, and, apparently, this is also true for that man, making her snicker despite her recent rage.

"Okay, I take your silence as a yes. When tomorrow comes we'll set to the journey south."

And so, three elves made preparation to the capital city, carrying mixed feelings of unsaid animosity, uncertainty, and anticipation.