I drag myself ragged. It's been days? Weeks? Hell if I know… It could be merely hours… Time is nothing but a blur now... Everyone scattered... I don't even know if Ira made it out? Or anyone... The wind stopped but the snow keeps falling. I'm probably walking around in circles... I don't even know if it's night or day... It all looks the same... Not even the trees help lessen the raging blizzard... I trip and fall face down into the fluff... I stand up on all fours. I notice something in the snow. A paw. Oh shi.... I quickly crawl away. It clicks to me. Wait. I know that paw... I crawl back to it. I dust the snow of it. Oh no.

“No no no NO NO NO NOOO PLEASE DON’T!!!!” I dig through the thick layer of snow. That muzzle!!

“ERAAAAAA!!! NOOOOOOO!! PLEASE!!! What have I done!!!” I look for a pulse or a breath... My heart pounds so loud I don't hear anything besides my own panting...

“ANYTHING!!” I dig under her and shove my head into her chest... I can't hear her!!! Horror takes over. I pant, my heart beats faster. I sit down next to her and put her head in my lap. I throw my half-gloves off, take a knife out with my frozen fingertips and cut my palm. I hold my hand next to Era's nose. Come on! Come on! I watch her...

“COME ON!!” A twitch! Her whiskers twitch!!

“Thank the stars...” I rummage for a potion... Last one. Screw it! I open her jaws, pull the cork out of the vial with my teeth and pour the liquid into her throat...

“What have I done! Era…” I hold her to me... I feel her bones... What have I done... “Stay with me! Era!” Pathetic... Miserable fool! How could I have let this happen... Era... I hold her tighter... Please...

I wake up. Huh? What's this? A tent?

“Oh, you're awake.” A voice. I sit up. Pain runs through my body... “Don't rush. You're out of the woods but please, don't try your luck.” A woman?

“Where?”

“Camp. The Temple sent out reinforcements to round up the injured. The back up got caught up in the snow too. Nobody was prepared for the Winter. If it weren't for this.” She points to the necklace on my chest. The army crest? “You would have probably been left there to die. But then again, that's not really my style...”

“Thank you... Wait. Era! Where's!” I try to get up and get smacked on the head.

“I said don't move! Era? If you mean the Saber, she's right over there.” A hand points to my left. I crawl over to her.

“How is she?”

“Stable. For now. A bit more and she would have died... It might take weeks for her to recover... You should be ashamed of yourself. That creature is sacred...”

“I KNOW! I know...” I choke up. “Nobody knows that better than me...” I will never forgive myself... Nobody can hate me more than I hate myself right now... I want to touch her but I can't bring myself to do it... It's all my fault... She lost so much weight... Her fur lost its shine too... “I don't deserve to live...”

“Good.” Huh? I turn my head to where the voice comes from. The woman kneels next to me. “If you hate yourself that much, then use that hate to do right by your friend, here. You owe her that much.” She smiles at me. “You're no good to her dead. So. Get back in there and be a good boy.” She points to my "bed." I do as told.

“Much better. Now, I have others to tend to. We're keeping her on a tight watch. Someone else will be checking in on you two soon enough.” She says and leaves the tent. I wait a moment and crawl back to Era with my blankets. I put them on her. I look around for the rest of my clothes but I don't see them. A fresh set lays next to the metal water pitcher. I slip those on and lay down next to Era again. Gorgeous... I fall asleep next to her...

A gentle kick to my side wakes me up again. That same girl stands over me.

“That's not exactly what I meant.” She sighs at me.

“How is she?” I ask, sitting up.

“Stable. All I can do now is to keep her that way. It's up to her to wake up. Problem is. She clearly has lost too much weight. That is getting in the way for her. She's too weak.”

“What I can do to help?”

“Feed her these.” She hands me a few potions.

“Mana?”

“Yes.” She looks at me rather surprised. “What? You didn't know? She has Mana within her.”

“No, I didn't...” I doubt even Era knew...

The Cleanser shrugs her shoulders. “Well, it's none of my business. As I said. You can give her one of each, every twelve hours. It should help Era regain her consciousness.”

“Emerald. Her name is Emerald. Only I can call her Era.” I stare at the bottles. A moment passes. Another.

“My apologies. I've given Emerald a few potions already. The next one should be at midnight. Here.” She sets a pocket watch down. “Give her one of each. As long as she's breathing, she'll recover.” The Cleanser stands up again. “Your dinner will be here shortly too.” She walks out and stops by the entrance to the tent.

“It's a beautiful name, Emerald.” She leaves us again. My body shivers and I curl up next to Era and a corner of a blanket. Midnight. Got it. I hold on to the watch and the potions. Mana, huh? Interesting... Damn it's cold... I stay awake long enough to have my dinner delivered to me by another Cleanser. The girl carefully lays the tray down by the hole in the fabric and leaves, without much formality. I crawl over and bring it back with me, next to Era. The soup sends warmth across my body. I burn my tongue a few times as my hunger kicks in. I gobble up the bread in two bites. I set the tray outside of the tent and cuddle up with Era again. I hear noise outside but nothing clear enough to understand. So this is a camp? For the injured... Guess it didn't go so well... I hope Ira is ok. Hour after hour I stare at the watch.

“Oh. I didn't think you'd be up.” The same Cleanser comes back.

“I only have an hour left. I can sleep after that.” I tell her. “What about you?”

“Same. I wanted to check on Emerald before calling it a night.” She kneels next to us. “May I?” I move away. She puts her hands on Era. A light blue light emanates from the girl’s palms. She traces her hands around Era for a few minutes.

“She's stable.”

“Thank you... I'm Wykren, by the way.” I extend my hand. The Cleanser hesitates.

“Devona.” She shakes it for a heartbeat only.

“Thank you, Devona. This means a lot to me.”

“I can only imagine.” She stands up again. “Take care, you two, now.”

“Rest well.” I tell her as she leaves the tent again. Vona, huh? I smile. She's pretty. Long, silver hair, pale blue skin, dark blue eyes… I smile and continue to stare into the arrows... Time has never felt so painful before. Midnight rolls around and I give Era the potions. I stick the vial into her mouth, as far as I can, pouring it out. I check to see if it all went down. Doesn't seem like I missed any. I give her the Mana one too. Two more bottles left. So, midday tomorrow. I carefully put the potions further away from us, just in case and try to sleep...

A couple of days go by. I don't leave Era’s side.

“You should really go take a walk. Just to stretch. The snowfall has stopped. It's a nice day out.” Vona tells me.

“I don’t wanna.”

She rolls her eyes to me. “Such a brat. Get out there!” She kicks me a little. “It'll do you some good.” Vona says. I stroke my butt a little and leave the tent... I wander around the camp. This is stupid… I pout… A noise catches my attention. I look for it. I'm getting closer. I step around another tent.

“Ira?” A man turns to me. “Ira!” I jump over and hug my friend!

“Wykren! Finally! You idiot! The hell!” He pushes himself off me.

“That's my line! What's that?” I notice the leg.

“I got hurt and tried to fix it myself. It got worse. The temple Cleansers are punishing me for it and are taking the long way around to heal it...” He mumbles and I roar. He glares at me.

“Sorry, sorry.” I chuckle.

“What happened to you?”

“No clue. I fought as much as I could when the blizzard roared down on it all. I tumbled around the woods till...”

“Till?”

“Till I found myself here.” I tell him. “Which is yours?” I ask, pointing to the tents.

“That one.” He nods to one, little bit further away.

“Got anything of yours?”

“Nope. Lost it all back then. You?”

“Same. Most valuables are on me.” I pat my chest. I made sure to secure the Stones before we left. I replaced the leather string with a metal chain. The chain mail chest piece has done me good too. “Come on. You can move in with me.”

“Oh? The bastard has a private tent?” Ira teases me. I grin and help him stand.

“I can walk by myself.” He struggles to keep his balance and push me away, all at the same time. I give him a moment and hold him up again later. He gives up the next minute. We return to our tent. I hold the tarp for Ira. He steps inside and freezes. Again.

“You can't be serious... Why is SHE HERE!!” He stares at me.

“Probably went out to look for me...”

Ira sways and falls to his knees, the crutch falls with a soft thud too. I crouch down and get shooed off. “She alive?”

“Stable. I'm told...” I confess... Ira turns to me again.

“Idiot.”

“I know...”

“Not you. Her.” Ira sits down. “Both of you...”

“I know...” I sit down too...

“What are you doing here?” Devona steps into the tent.

“Passing time...”

“Keeping watch...” I answer.

“You were proclaimed dead an hour ago.” Vona tells Ira. He shrugs his shoulders.

“Not the first time that mistake happens...”

“What are these?” She takes a card. “These are hand made from the parchment? Serious?” She glares at us.

“Nobody had real ones...” I say.

“We make do with what we have.” Ira answers. “Row.” He shows me his cards.

“Damn it! Again!” I say, taking his cards and mixing them all up again. Shuffling them isn't that easy...

“Why so tiny?” She asks again.

“Didn’t have enough material.” I answer. Devona's sighs tells us she gave up on arguing...

“What's the game then?”

“Four of a kind. You take six cards each. Lay four down in front and try to gather four in a row by replacing the cards in your hands.” Ira explains.

“I don't see any 3s and such.”

“We decided to skip those. The smallest is the 6.” I add. Changing a card and laying out four new ones to choose from. Ira doesn’t need any this turn.

“We tried to make them small enough to fit least that much.” Ira takes over again.

“Hence why numbers and letters only too.” I throw my Diamond Red Queen out and pick up a Spade Black 8 in her place.

“Row.” Ira says, showing me his Queens. I throw my cards into the air.

“How the hell!” I scratch my head. Vona laughs a little.

“Such children.” She says.

“Not like we can do much else...” Ira nods to Era.

“Yes... Good luck with that.” Our pretty Cleanser nods to the pile and leaves us. We take up six cards each again.

“You like her.” Ira says.

“Huh?”

“The Cleanser woman.”

I stare at him. “Hard not to...” I admit... “She did save both of us...”

Ira looks at me. “I'm touched by your concern.” He mocks me. I smile.

“Sorry sorry. Didn't mean it like that...” A growl freezes me. Era's body throws itself to the sides. Her eyes glazed over and darting... I jump her neck and hold her to me.

“ERA! ERA! IT'S OK! IT'S ME! EASY NOW!”

“Ren...” Her voice weak...

“It's ok now...” I whisper, stroking her... She lays back down again... “It's ok now...” I keep petting her...

“Food...” She says. I look around.

“What is it? Do you need a potion?”

I shake my head. “Food. She needs something else...” Ira scrambles to his feet.

“I'll see what I can do.”

“Thanks...”

“Where?”

“It's a camp. They are taking care of the injured here... Why...”

“Hyra...” Mom? “Was worried...” I shut my eyes... I should have known... Idiot...

“I reached for them but there was no answer... I keep letting them know I'm fine...” I touch the scar on my chest, underneath the shirt. I placed their Stone under my skin... I was worried I couldn't control it well, so I hesitated before, but after setting out... I have been waiting for a sound to come through all this time... I even tried writing a letter but...

“This is all I could get.” Ira returns with a bowl of porridge. I sigh. Better than nothing...

“Thank you... Era. Food. You need to eat now...” I nudge her. She turns her head sideways and opens her jaws a little... I pour a spoonful in at a time...

“Disgusting...” She says. I giggle.

“What is it?”

“She doesn't like the taste of it. It has no meat in it.” I answer Ira.

“Can't blame her...” He says. I smile some more.

“I'm so sorry...”