Lyra maintained a steady gaze with Ash, her eyes barely blinked even for a second as she spoke. "You want to know about your mother? I can't promise I know much, after all I was only recently stationed by the border before being sent to come here."

  Ash listened attentively to her words, he could almost hear his own heart beating slowly. His pupils dilated, "I'm listening."

  She drew a short breath of air and let the silence settle there for a moment before she spoke again. When she did her voice was soft and almost tender. "Moonblade assassin's are moonlight elves chosen to be the best of their respective clans. We are chosen to help protect those who cannot protect themselves, I was only recently enlisted. My parents died in the same service, killed by human scum."

  Kip who had been quietly listening to the stories snapped his fingers together, gaining their attention. "I apologise for interrupting but how did you parents die if no human has gone over the wall before?"

  The elf girl's eyes flashed as she turned and glared at him. Her voice sounded like cold venom as she spoke. "They've been finding a way for years, my parents died when the human nation attacked. I was still a child then."

  The downpour of snow stopped for a while, it felt like the world was taking a recluse for the time being. Ash felt his heart grow cold, his pulse dropped and he looked at her in a new light. He opened his mouth to speak, to tell her that she did not have to blame herself for her parents death.

  But she cut him off before he could talk, "Don't try to console me, I've had enough scum in my life doing that already. You've also lost people recently so maybe you should not be giving me advice."

  Ash gulped down and bowed his head in silence for a short while, his mind for the first time since he left his home was not racing. It was not screaming anymore, it was almost quiet. There was only one voice talking there at the moment and it was his, he had forgotten the sound of his own voice under all the noise.

  He raised his head and found her staring into the fire. "Maybe that's why I understand, the feeling is still quite fresh on me. And it looks like you haven't quite gotten over your loss either." She did not look his way but he could see her bitting down on her lower lip. She bit so hard that it broke the skin underneath, causing blood to spill out of it. "Someone wise once told me, that this is a burden you will have to bear. And it's best to deal with it at once and move on. Remember no good comes from holding all the guilt."

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  She heaved a heavy sight and looked up at him, her eyes flashing with a hint of something slightly warmer. "Don't use my own words against me."

  He could not help but smile and say. "It's good you also know, it's terrible advice."

  For a very short moment there was silence, then it broke with the sound of laughter. Her laughter.

  It took Ash by surprise, mostly since he did not know she could even laugh. But the sound that came out of her mouth was melodic and tender, almost angelic. It was not a sound she had ever made or ever hope to make, it made his body warm and bubbly in a weird way. And he simply froze and looked at her face, it seemed happy. Her eyes dilated.

  But this only lasted for a short moment, she seemed to realise that she was laughing and for some reason unexplainable to him, she stopped. And her usual expression came back to her.

  Lyra had only just regain her senses, and it felt awkward. There was a feeling arising from her chest, as her face started to burn from the inside out. It was an emotion she had never once felt before, she had felt exposed and very weak in that moment. It was a feeling she didn't not want to experience ever again.

  Yet looking at his bewildered face she wondered if that was possible. "Why are you making that face?"

  Ash had not realised but he had started to smile a short while back. He sighed and said. "I don't know if what happened in your past made you so bitter but you should smile more."

  Kip whispered to himself. "Way to drop the ball idiot."

  She gave what looked like a nod and continued. "I only met your mother a few times but she was not speaking to me specifically. The sentinels came charging through, they were going through the portal that led here and I was the only who did not have her hands full. The leader of my pack ordered me to stand back but your mother told me I was the only chance you had to live. Then she told me you were her son, and the carrier of the flame. I don't know why she left you, but I know she was terrified that you could die."

  She watched him grow quiet and rose to her feet to leave to the safety of the trees. But he reached out and grabbed her hand. She pulled back almost immediately, it was the first time she was feeling the skin of another one hers.

  His eyes looked lost and empty. "Please, tell me one thing. Was she beautiful?"

  Lyra paused and wondered why he would ask such a question, she chose not to answer but later shrugged and spoke. "No... She was stunning. Heavenly."

  He refrained from asking her any more questions, feeling he had already said too much or crossed a line. In his moment of thought Kip spoke, his voice ominous and cold, betraying his always carefree persona.

  "To put this straight you are both going to the edges of the human world to give birth to the heir of the worlds most powerful creature. Which may or may choose to end the world or follow in its father's steps. I might be overstepping my boundaries here but why might I ask, why go through all this trouble?"

  Lyra gave a bit of a pause before replying. "Because there are worse things who would use it's power to cause havoc."