Dragonborn

A Fire In The Snow

The smoke from Emberfall had long since disappeared, the day that had started with hope and sunshine was ending very badly for Ash. He was more confused than ever, he barely dragged his own weight as he followed the elf.

More than once she would disappear through the trees to scout ahead and return to find him cold and lifeless. Ash had never ventured this deep into the forest. The trees here towered, ancient and gnarled, their roots choked with snow and the shadow of the thick leaves.

Snow blanketed the world in white. Ash dragged his legs until he finally stopped. Every time he exhaled puffs of hot air left his lungs, he looked down at his feet then at his hands.

He exhaled his words in a deep sigh.

"I'm not going."

Those were the only words that left his mouth.

The elf girl paused where she stood a few feet away, her skin tight suit covered every inch of her body except her hands. The material like leather but softer and of elven make, he was sure it kept her warm. Her long white hair carried twin braids that swayed behind her, her silver eyes never flicked as she spoke.

"Not this again, listen I know you are going through a lot but I'm doing this for yer own good." She said in a funny accent which she always spoke by, it sounded bold and also melodic. Not the melody of a choir singing praises or songs of joy but the sound of cries and terror.

Ash heaved out puffs of hot air, he raised his hand and pressed it down on his chest, feeling his beating heart. He could feel it pulsing as it should, but somehow he knew it was not fully his. "No you don't. You don't know anything about me." His voice was barely recognizable, it startled him.

The elf groaned inwardly as she turned and faced him. "Listen here human, I don't want to be here anymore than you have to be but let's just keep moving at get somewhere we can camp before night hits. Most preferably somewhere far from here."

She turned around took the first step forward but Ash stayed behind, his sight moved from her to the trees ahead. They looked like a wall, a warning telling him not to cross. A sign that there was nothing for him out there.

"You are not following me, why are you not following me?" She said in disbelief as she came to a stop. She groaned again, this time louder. "Is this how stubborn you lot are or is it just you? I can't really leave you to die anyway."

She paused, taking her time to ponder on her options. The wind picked up slightly causing her ear to twicth. Eventually she gave up and walked back up to him, "Alright, listen up. It's gonna get dark soon so we'll set camp here and get going by first light. Ya hear?"

Ash said nothing. His mind was blank, struggling to process what he had lost. His friends, family, his future. It left him with a void, an emptiness. It felt unnatural and cold.

The elf turned around and left him to himself. "I'll go gather some wood and supper, I don't want to see yer arse leaving this space." Again he kept quiet as she disappeared into the treetops.

She returned a few minutes later just as the sun was going down the horizon, finding him in the same spot only this time sitting on a nearby rock. She nestled a bundle of tinder in her hand, and two rabbits.

Sparks soon exploded and the sound of hard rock smashing on each other filled the air, a few clacks later the a red blossom bloomed and grew from the pile. In return it gave them warmth and safety. She stole a quick glance at him, he looked empty and confused. His hair a huge dark mess, the only thing that looked decent to him was the clothes he wore— which for a matter of fact weren't his to begin with.

Satisfied, she began quick work on the rabbits she had killed as they lay next to the fire, she knelt down, eyes closed and prayed

Her voice grew less stoic and more melodic, almost like she was singing a psalm.

"By the goddess, mother of the moon and eternal calm Selunara. I thank you for the gift of flesh, the gift of the forest..."

Ash simply stared into the fire, her prayers were lost on him. The sight of the red embers dancing before him caused the events of the day to resurface like a nightmare he never had. He could hear Tomas' laughter and those of the villagers as they danced around the fire they built in the village square. As they would have danced if things went as they always did...

"It's my fault isn't it?" His mind echoed to him. "They all burned because of me."

The flame flickered again before his eyes but this time he could feel it pull him in, he could feel it's warmth reaching out to him. The twigs snapped and the fire crackled, the shadows danced in the light and in the wind, and he was entranced by it. He extended his hand out to touch it, to make himself burn just as they did for his sake. With each inch it he could feel the warmth touching his fingertips, then climbing up to his fingers, then his palm, just as he was about to make contact with it the elf spoke.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, human." She said coldly as she carved the rabbit open with her dagger, the sound was sharp and blood gushed out and poured out on the snow. "Just because you have a bit of magic doesn't mean it'll never run out."

Ash snapped out of his trance and looked up at her for the first time in a long while. He watched her face shine in the flames light, her silver hair reflecting back at him. Her face he gazed at for the first time, she looked young, maybe the same age as him.

But that was where the similarities ended because unlike him, she was a fighter. He had seen her kill those things that came after him with ease.

To think just the day before he fantasised over dragons and now he was before a living breathing elf. Elves had not been seen in human territory for a long time, he wondered if she crossed over the divide to find him? But if so, then why? Who he someone who meant something to her?

"Excuse me, what happened to me back then?" He asked, finally gathering the courage to ask.

The elf girl took out the guts of the rabbits and buried it in the snow, she then used the snow to drain all the blood from the rabbits before skewering it and handing it to him on a stick to cook over the fire.

For her portion she took out an even bigger rabbit and started another prayer for the second rabbit, Ash simply watched her in silence. When she was done he spoke.

"I never heard elves prayed before, I was told they were... savages." He paused to think before finishing his words.

She looked up at him, her cold eyes reflected the flame in them. "And I was told your kind were barbarians."

Ash opened his mouth to speak but shut it right afterwards, he had no clear though in his head at the moment. Everything was a mess to him and he wanted answers desperately, before him was the only one with the answers he needed and he would get them else he run mad.

The sound of dry wood crackling under the fire swallowed the silence in their midst, the sound of the munching of flesh soon followed.

Ash tore through the meat with little interest, it tasted cooked but bland. He was more used to having seasoning on his meat or at least salt. Given the conditions he could only be grateful for the meal but he could not bring himself to say anything at the moment.

The elf girl tore through her fill like a ravenous animal, Ash stopped eating and let his eyes settle on her. It was his first time seeing a girl eating without any sense of mannerism. But then again she was an elf, and elves were savages.

She noticed him staring at her and seized from devouring the rabbit and said. "I eat a lot, don't know what you find worth watching about that." He could feel something from the way she spoke, it was cold almost as if she despised his company

"Sorry." Ash apologised as he brought himself to look away and stared back at the meat in his hand. His appetite had long gone after what he had just witnessed, he could only stare at the roasted rabbit in silence. His thoughts started to swirl around in his head again

"Tomas, I'm sorry..."

"Old man, Orric...."

Tears rolled down the sides of his face and cooled by the touch of the cold wind, his grip on the meat softened till it slipped out. It landed on the snow next to the fire, the memory of his life burning up in those flames came up in his mind once more.

The elf gobbled up the last of the meat she could nick from the rabbit and tossed it into the fire, she took out a water bottle and had her fill before handing it over to him.

"Here, even humans have to stay hydrated."

Ash looked at the water bottle, he had once shared a drink with the baker in Emberfall and some of his friends. He wanted to reach out his hand to take it but his muscles froze, "Why are you helping me?" He asked Thirst clawed at his throat for declining her offer.

She took back the water bottle and sat on a small rock nearby. She dropped her chin on her knees and wrapped her arms around them, and stared into the fire and said nothing.

"I want to know what I've become." He said, his voice hollow.

She hesitated for a brief moment before saying. "It's not what you've become it's what you always w—". She drew a long pause before saying. "I am so sorry, for what happened to your village."

Ash felt offended, perhaps because he could sense that her words were empty of emotions, he wondered if she was trying to sympathise with him or making fun of him but he chose not to dwell on it. "I want to know why they had to die, I want to know everything you know about me."

She looked up at him and said. "You are not ready to know everything human."

Ash stared her dead in the eye with burning confidence and said. "I have a name, it's Ash."

She sighed. "I'm not calling you that." She leaned back and threw herself on the ground right next to the fire, bathing in the warmth it offered. "The moon goddess watches over us tonight, it's a good omen."

The light of the moon covered them both but Ash did not feel any sense of greater purpose under the moon.

"I never knew elves were superstitious." He hated how she avoided every of his question. But he trusted that she knew she would have to give him some concrete information if they would be in each other's company.

"Elves, you humans have no clue. Or at least your backwater part of the world doesn't." She said as she looked at the moon with great interest. "Do you even know about the divide, how our kinds became divided? The story about magic?"

Ash nodded gently. "Only a little, the village chief and elders tell stories but even they don't know if it's true or not. In the past humans and elves went into a war that lasted years, the war resulted in the dragons dividing our worlds never to be crossed again. Our world was stripped of magic and the harsh winter came."

The elf looked at him for a while, studying him. Ash avoided her gaze and stared into the fire. "You are not totally wrong. There's some real truth to the lies you've been told. In the past all of the earth lived in utopia blessed by the dragons and gods who created this world and blessed us with magic."

"Every race, elves, dwarves, dragons, fairies, nymphs and even humans lived in harmony. I hear it was beautiful, there were no wars, no discord. Only peace and order."

A cold wind blew by them threatening to give them a chill but the fire kept them warm. "No one ever told me that. I always thought it had always been like this."

The elf heaved a deep sigh. "Of course you humans would forget, it's in yer nature to destroy and forget. Other races still suffer, in the end. Like how humanity destroyed the world and the balance that has held it in place?"

"How does that have to do with me?" Ash asked.

She placed her hand over her stomach and said with a sigh. "Everything."