Justice and happiness are like two shooting stars: They are almost never seen. And when someone sees them, it is not at the same time.

Small Thoughts – Armenvald of Fibo

*

The human and the elf had been sinking for several seconds and the air in his lungs was about to end at any moment.

Although it seemed like a useless effort, he kept holding onto her arm. Despite not knowing how to swim and having no hope of bringing her to the surface, he felt responsible for Rinlia’s collapse and was unable to let her disappear into the depths of the lake, even though it meant sinking faster.

Below the surface he saw seaweed and fish that, unable to resist the underwater movements of the monstrous creature that had risen to the surface, floated wildly in all directions.

Fish, humans, elves and other creatures sank further, all unconscious. Their bodies sailed slowly towards the bottom of the lake, finding rest in the darkness of the depths of those waters.

The giant eel retreated quickly in the opposite direction, seeking shelter in the distance from those who harmed her.

With the adrenaline speeding up his heartbeat, Arthur looked around, looking for a way out of this situation. Although he did not know how to swim, he felt calm. The energy that had been transferred to him by the monster had imbued him with a strange feeling of invincibility and vigor.

The air in his lungs, however, was not infinite and he would not be able to hold his breath much longer. That is the moment when he sees a figure moving in the distance. It was a red-haired creature. He was sure she would help him – even more now that he holds Rinlia in his arm.

Without worrying about his body moving, he uses his free arm to wave from a distance. Although it is a small movement within the large lake, it is enough for the vampire to locate them in the slightly dirty waters.

Yvanna uses all her strength and agility to speed up towards the boy. She notices that he is not moving and senses the reason. She catches up to them and have difficulties pulling he up, noticing that the weight of Rinlia’s body is pulling them down. Resolved to not let go, she swims with all her strength and feels the beginning of a cramp in her thigh. Rinlia’s battle clothes, naturally heavy, become a serious problem for the vampire who, although strong, feels the weight of recent movements in her joints and limbs.

-Uhm! – She grunts after felling a touch on her shoulder, turning quickly, fearing some other enraged creature that might attack them. Her guard had dropped completely because of the problem at hand.

Despite her concern, the only creature there is Thiago, calling her. He followed her all the way after getting out of the ship. Although slower, the soldier had enough strength to reach the same spot and grab Arthur’s body, swimming beside her, leaving the commander in the vampire’s arms.

They had to do their best to take Arthur and Rinlia to a loose part of the ship and, then, guide them to the coast. During that part of the journey they had enough time to look for companions nearby – without success.

They were alone with a passed-out commander and a former prisoner who, strangely, did not look tired after a deadly battle with a beast of epic proportions.

Arthur, in fact, was the only one who seemed comfortable with the current situation.

-She passed out right after I managed to weaken… That thing. – He points to Rinlia and then to a point in the middle of the lake. – Let me check her pulse.

The boy approaches the elf and checks the commander’s heartbeat. Then, he brings his hand close to her nostrils and notices her – slow, but steady – breath.

-She seems ok. We should get out of here. If that thing comes back, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do the same thing twice. – He is agitated.

-Hey. – Yvanna calls after realizing that he is looking for a path between the rocks towards the trees of the forest. – What happened?

-What are you talking about?

-How are you ok? Didn’t the monster of the lake hurt you?

-No. – He shakes his head. There is no reason to hide information from them. Not after they saw everything. – I was the one to hurt the monster.

*

After explaining what he did during the attack on the monster, Arthur did not immediately get what he wanted. Yvanna and Thiago refused to move even a step while Rinlia was unconscious. Keeping his distance, Arthur watched as the other two tried to wake her up.

It was at that moment that he realized that, for the first time in a long time, nobody was watching over him or trying to restrain his actions. He felt relief. Freedom. As if a weight came off his back.

In a way, he feels excited and cheerful.

And that joy is not motivated only by freedom. It takes a while before he understands why his mood is so good, despite the fact that the whole plan that had been put together for his safety has just gone down the drain.

It is only when he notices that he is standing up and there is almost no feeling of pain in his body that he understands that his well-being is also brought by a sudden improvement in his health.

Not only does his arm appears to have recovered almost all of its movements, his back also does not hurt. The wounds in his face had largely recovered and his fractured leg, the biggest wound he had since the battle at the edge of the Great Forest, was almost entirely recovered. Only when paying attention to the limb did the boy felt that his foot had not set firmly on the ground and that he was limping. The pain, however, seemed close to disappear. When he touched the bandages with his hand, for the first time, he felt no pain.

Testing his legs, he realized that he could walk alone and, in an emergency, he would be able to hobble without leaning on someone. Although he was still limping and both – arms and legs – did not seem capable of supporting any kind of weight load, it was enough to bring an involuntary smile to Arthur’s face.

-It looks like you are recovered.

The voice sounds nearby, by the mouth of a pearly-blond-haired elf, which has protruding cheekbones. She gets up with Thiago’s help, however, refuses any support when moving to Arthur. Her eyes analyze his body.

-Yes, it seems so. – He answers.

-Magic?

-Yes.

-Of course. – She smiles, looking quickly at Thiago. – Magic is capable of much more than traditional techniques, isn’t it?

Arthur does not answer, mainly because the elf did not expect any answer, passing by him and stopping in front of the forest that imposed itself before them.

-Commander, what should we do? – Yvanna gets to the elf’s side.

-We have no choice, do we? – She points to the trees ahead. – So much effort to avoid crossing this path and, now, our best chance is to go through it.

-You can’t be thinking about-

-Do you want to get back to the lake? The coast won’t provide protection for long and, if I’m not mistaken, if we go to the village now, the capital’s guards will have reached any village with the news about him. – She indicates Arthur with a distracted gesture. – We cannot go back and if we try to go down the slope without a boat, someone can get to us.

Yvanna lowers her tone, approaching the elf, careful to not be listen by the other two:

-We could leave him here and go back alone. It is better than dying. If he is not with us, we don’t have to worry about the guards from the Capital. We may be attacked by some animals, but the three of us know how to defend ourselves.

-Are you suggesting…?

The vampire shrugs.

-It’s an option. There is no honor in this option, but it may be better than dying.

The elf puts her hand on her chin for a few seconds. She reflects on the possibilities and cannot immediately reach a conclusion. The number of problems she is able to deal is approaching the limit and, perhaps, it is time to make some sacrifices.

-Let’s set up camp. – She indicates the trees, speaking in a tone that the others can hear. – I need time to think of an action plan. Let’s get away from the lake a little bit. Thiago! You will set some traps around camp and you will also take the first shift in patrol. We will rest for a bit during the night. Tomorrow we will get going.

-Commander, please don’t forget where we are. – Says Yvanna. – This is no longer Vivre’s territory. We are lost in the middle of the Great Forest.

-I know that. Even only one night in here can be dangerous. But I didn’t feel the presence of any creature in the proximities and, honestly, I won’t be able to fight if we wander around now. I need to rest and recover some of my energy. We will talk later. Now you just need to go and help Thiago.

*

The night fell over them as quickly as rain falls from the clouds in a storm. At the sound of wild animals and the night wind, Rinlia orders Thiago to retreat to the small shelter that was set up, where Arthur sleeps.

Yvanna had been looking for plants and small animals to keep a food stash for the next days and get closer after realizing that the lookout had been altered. She sat beside the place where the commander stands.

-Do you want to say something to me? – Rinlia asks, feeling uncomfortable.

-Not at all. – Yvanna ate small blackberries that she had found in bushes near the lake.

-Because I am the one who make the calls. You will be my superior soon, but, for now, you are still my subordinate.

-I know that.

-So why did you suggest that? You know I don’t like that kind of plan. Besides, he may have listened.

-I don’t like it either, but we don’t have a lot of options right now. And he could not hear us. Human hearing is very bad.

-We can’t leave him behind.

-We can’t or we don’t want to?

-Is there a difference?

-A huge one. If it’s a matter of will, then we’re making a sacrifice for the boy. A boy who should be an aid to our kingdom and nothing more. He is not our relative or a brother in arms. So… Why are we doing this for him?

-Because we don’t have an option. – The elf’s tone strengthens and she seems to have come to a decision.

-We don’t?

-No. We cannot leave him behind. Not after we helped him escape prison.

-And why is that?

-Even though the chances are small, there is a possibility that he will survive this forest. We cannot take that risk. If he stays behind and survives, he can reveal our involvement. From my point of view, that leaves us with two options.

-What would they be?

-The first would be to guide the boy through the forest. We can go on, hopping to survive the trip to Fiandel. If we find one of the eight races of the forest on the way, we may be safe if they accept a diplomatic reunion. They wouldn’t kill us.

-That is if we find one of the eight races. There are irrational creatures here-

-Yes. They are the reason why these lands could never be conquered by neighboring kingdoms. Still, it is an option. If we manage to get out of here and arrive in Fiandel, we will be close to the capital. From there, the path is easy.

-What would be the other option?

-The other option is to follow your plan. We set off down the slope without him and there is a good chance we can make it to Vivre alive. With some luck, we may even find some survivors from the wreckage. From there, we would regroup and continue our journey as if nothing had happened.

-And the boy?

-We’d have to kill him. We cannot take the risk of him surviving and telling someone about our involvement.

-Well…

-Yes. We’d have to kill the boy. Can you do that? Because I considered the possibility. For me, that is the only other option and I am not capable of executing it. Not when it involves someone who did me no harm. Not when it involves someone who could have left me in the lake to drown and chose to save me.

-What?

-I remembered while we were setting up camp. Before I passed out, I felt his power absorbing my magic. At first, I thought it was on purpose. I thought he was taking advantage of the moment to get rid of me. I tried to react and use my sword to strike him, but I wasn’t fast enough. My strength ran out and we both fell off the monster’s back.

-I… I saw you two falling together. Thiago and I must have been the only ones who saw it.

-Then you also know how much we traveled. I don’t know if he clung to me because he wanted to protect me or because he thought I could help him when we hit the water. Although I was awake, I was about to faint and was trying to understand the situation to do something, but I couldn’t move. At some point, he must have realized that I was unconscious. He could have left me to die.

-We did find him holding you by the arm. At the time I didn’t think about it, but…

-He didn’t have to do that. Despite knowing that I could help him, his life was at risk. The benefits I could bring to him were not worth risking his life. He could have thought the same way we did. He had to choose between holding on to me, therefore he would sink faster; or he could let me go in order to have a better chance of getting back to the surface. He chose to hold on to me. As much as there was some future benefits that must have influenced his decision, it doesn’t change the fact that you wouldn’t find me at the lake if it weren’t for him.

Yvanna does not talk. Rinlia continues.

-If it were yesterday, this morning of even the moment the ship was attacked, I would have left Arthur behind. But now he has saved my life.

-So, the entire situation has changed.

-Yes. The situation has changed and the option that involves killing the boy to get some benefit no longer exists. Even if it means taking the risk of sacrificing the mission.

-I-

-Yvanna, you said something interesting just now. About he not being a brother in arms. – The elf turns to face the vampire. – This is not true. Listen to what I am going to say, because I will not repeat myself: The boy saved my life. From now on, he is one of us. A brother. Understood?

The vampire is not shaken by the threatening tone. Instead of stepping back, she takes a deep breath and puts another berry in her mouth. When she opens her lips, her voice is tired, as if the two of them had argued for hours and, at last, came to a conclusion.

-Well, I had to try. It seems that you are sure.

-I am.

-That means that we have a very unpleasant challenge ahead. – She looks at the sky. – Oh, by the entities! Why these recent missions never go as planned? Just once, things could behave as we wish. Is it too much to ask?

The elf also looks up. Her green eyes face a star that shines close to the moon, stronger than the others.

-Ashna. – She mutters. The vampire listens and does not interrupt. – The star of destiny. Some people say that we were destined to follow this path from the beginning.

The elf reaches out and points to the star. Then, she moves her hand to the right and indicates another star, one with a dim glow, almost impossible to see next to the other.

-Anhsa. The star of chance and choices. Almost forgotten by urban legends. Still, some would use it to say that the path we take is part of our choices. Part of who we are and who we want to be.

-Is that some kind of hint?

-It’s a path to reach a conclusion. The conclusion is that it doesn’t matter if it’s destiny or choice. I will not follow the path that’s paved by the blood of those who helped me. I will not stain my hands with the blood of an innocent and I will not allow others to do so if I can do anything to avoid it.

The elf stares at the stars. The vampire agrees, with a slow nod.

-Then, the choice is made. Tomorrow we will cross this damned forest.

*

*