"I see you have got the girl", Ophelia said in greeting to her guests. "Yes, perhaps now, we can persuade you to solve your riddle", Brian said. "Well then, come on in", Ophelia said as she motioned for them to come into her dark hurt. Then when she saw the apprehension on Aurora's face, she said "Don't be afraid, Ethan's little one, no harm will come to you here". Aurora wondered how the woman knew her father and if truly she was safe here but as she was still bound and gagged; she had no choice but to believe the old woman.

Ophelia started a fire as soon as they got into the hut. Once the fire was kindled, Ophelia turned to Brian and said "untie the little one, that's no way to treat a lady and I thought you would know that". Brian and Acacius quickly worked on the girl's bonds and soon Aurora was standing in a corner rubbing at her bruised wrists and cursing the men inwardly.

"Come into the light, little one, let me see you", Ophelia said while motioning Aurora to come forward. "It's been very long since I saw someone with the same skin you wear". Skin? Aurora asked herself, the woman must be raving mad, why had they brought her to a mad woman's home, she wondered but moved towards the crone. The crone turned her around and mumbled "interesting" to herself each time the light caught Aurora's skin until Acacius grew impatient and said.

"Crone, we didn't bring you the girl for an exhibition, you know why we are here so get on with it", Acacius commented. The crone cackled and said "I see you still didn't learn patience in this life" before she turned to Brian and asked, "are we to continue without your lady. Lord Ambrose?". Stunned into silence by her use of his formal title, Brian nodded before saying "She will join us shortly but you may begin". "Alright then", Ophelia said before starting the tale about how truly their lives were intertwined.

Flashback from chapter eight: Before Isidore knew what was happening, the townspeople were bearing torches and sticks and demanding justice. It had been easier on them to ignore Nymra's pain and ordeal when there was no face to her attacker but now that he had been identified, they could demand justice. Only if justice had been served, then perhaps all of us would have been spared the hurt". "All of us?", Freyja who had been quiet all this time asked.

"Yes, all of us", Ophelia said as a tear rolled down her cheek, "Isidore was my brother".

Present: "Isidore was my brother when I still went by another name and had wings", Ophelia began "When I had lived in the mountains with my family long before the first men had settled below the mountains and made their home. It took us a while to realize that the men who settled below the mountains weren't human but by then it was too late, Nymra had already been hurt and Isidore had been torn apart before a scream left his throat".

"I'm sorry to interrupt, old one but I don't see how any of this concerns me", Aurora said. "Patience, little one, you are the thread that ties us together but you were right to interrupt me, I was getting ahead of myself". Ophelia poked the fire before continuing "When the villagers demanded Justice, the elders put Kane on trial, and when he was found guilty, he was given the punishment he had asked the elders to give Nymra earlier; he was exiled and forced to live the rest of his days as a Fade".

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"It was unheard of for a member of the elder's council to be guilty of such a crime so he was ostracized and no one would come to his aid. To say Kane was angry would be an understatement so he stood in the shadows and vowed to have his revenge one way or the other and an opportunity soon presented itself", Ophelia said and looked up seconds before a knock was heard and the door opened to reveal Freyja.

"Nice of you to finally join us, Lady Ambrose", Ophelia said as Freyja settled beside her mate. Ilium had flown home and informed her of the recent developments and Freyja had immediately left Warrior's peak to come to join her mate, his ward, and the girl at the crone's hut. Freyja herself wasn't convinced that any of this concerned her but she needed to know the rest of the crone's tale, she wanted to see the connection between Acacius and the maid they had taken in.

"To get to Nymra's home from our mountains, one had to go through the new village at the foot of our mountain home. Kane watched Isidore go to Nymra's home every time and he knew Isidore was the one who had realized what was in Nymra's painting and had whispered in the ears of the villagers till they demanded justice".

"Kane knew and he felt offended so he whispered lies in the ears of the wolf men who had settled at the foot of the mountain and they struck Isidore one cold winter morning, Kane's heart was full of joy when he saw Isidore's throat ripped out and the snow around him turn red. He knew he might be suspected so he laid low for a while however he made sure the news got around".

Ophelia paused, stood up, and added more wood to the almost dead fire, then sat down to continue the story. "The wolf men eventually found out the truth when word of Isidore's death got around and cast him out of their midst but by then there was almost nothing left of the broken angel. The only person who had understood her and had kept her company had been killed. She couldn't take the pain anymore and she decided that she would leave, after all, she would start her life all over in some place far away from both towns.

For the first time since she was taken captive, Nymra went out of her home and walked around the town. The people were afraid to meet her; they didn't want her to go in and shut the door once again so they let her be, even the children stayed indoors. They were unaware she was taking a last look around the town. When Nymra was done with her walk, she looked around for the last time before taking to the sky. Since the attack, Nymra hadn't even come out of her home much less to talk of flying as she had always done so when the people saw her take to the skies, they thought; "Finally, our angel had returned" but Nymra didn't come back.

At first, the people thought she was looking around as she had done on her walk but it became apparent when she didn't come back for hours then hours turned into days and days into weeks. One by one, the people started to lose hope that she would ever return. They were right to lose hope, Nymra was lost to the world as far as anyone knew and Kane, the villain thought he had finally won.

"Did he win", Freyja asked. Ophelia chuckled and replied "Patience is a lost virtue in today's world but no, he didn't. The angel with the heart of a warrior had flown for hours till she got tired, she landed in an unoccupied territory and decided to make her home there. Later, when the first neighbors she would have would ask her the name of the territory, she would look to the skies and reply; 'Warrior's Peak'. This is the place you now call home, lord Ambrose; the place Nymra once called home because her strength could take her no further.