"No."

Aiden gazed up at her with pain in his eyes. His face one of horror and fear.

"You can't. He'll kill you."

Selene walked to the edge of the river and picked up the sword's cloth that Aiden had dropped. She didn't say a word as she wrapped the blade and turned to walk back into the trees.

He stumbled to his feet and reached for her arm, stopping her from going any further.

"Selene," he said softly as if talking to a wounded animal, "You do not know what you're walking into."

She took a deep breath to control her rising temper and said back, "I will not listen to the words of a coward," and yanked her hand away from him.

"Just listen to me. He has wanted you and the power you possess ever since you woke it. He's been aware of every move you've made since then. You will never be able to defeat him because he's been slowly preparing for you to come. He has an army of those demons and just the other day you could not even defeat one of his lowly Akiri's. You won't even make it to his throne room."

Selene could no longer contain her anger. She was too distraught to weigh his words or think clearly. The only thought that filled her head was all of the dead people she had left in her wake.

She spun on him, her fury turning her smile into a snarl and even lighting up her tattoo. To her side, the river even began to grow cold, frost collecting on its churning surface.

"You don't think I know that! You don't think I've already figured out that he wants something from me? Do not tell me what I should and should not do. You are the one who does not understand. You don't know what it's like to have someone you loved ripped away from you because of your own mistakes! To watch as so many die in front of you because you did not have the power to do anything. You do not understand the things that haunt me as I lay awake at night with nothing to do but sharper the dragon dagger given to me by a woman who told me things I still don't understand. Don't try and tell me what is best. I know this is a suicide mission, but I won't die. I'm the only one who can avenge the people whose blood waters this ground."

Then she marched into the woods, not giving him the opportunity to respond.

Some part of her knew he was right. But the rest of her was bleeding out for all of the people that suffered. She would go mad if she stayed still for another moment, waiting for the king to send another monster her way.

Cyan had almost died last time, and if Selene had lost her that would have been it. She would have disappeared in that dark part of herself, that stalked and prowled, waiting for her guard to drop to pounce.

She knew that if that happened, this world would be lost to Icarus.

As that realization dawned on her, that she was the only being who could stand against him, her shoulders became very, very heavy. This was no longer revenge. This was more than that.

Suddenly she felt very, very alone.

When she returned to the cottage, Cyan was awake and sitting up in her cot. Meredith was unnecessarily close to the elf as she checked at her wounds and reapplied her salve. The woman welcomed Selene back with a kind voice, and Selene gave her a small smile.

"How are you feeling?" Selene asked Cyan.

The elf winked at her, "I told you it would take more than that to kill me." She stretched her arms above her head and flinched, "But I'm not fully healed just yet."

Selene snorted, "The fact that you aren't dead says a lot."

Cyan opened her mouth to respond, but she noticed the sword in her hands and her face changed.

"Apparently," Selene started, "This was meant for me."

"From Aiden?" she asked.

"From an old friend. All Aiden did was deliver it."

Cyan did not say anything else as Selene gathered all of her things. She would have to hunt for food, she was running low on her rations, but that shouldn't be too difficult as the forest was already alive with life.

Selene raised her eyes to the walls, searching for some way to carry her new sword besides with her hands. Unsurprisingly, she found a scabbard large enough to fit the sword and tied it to her belt.

She could feel Cyan's eyes on her as she finished gathering her few things. Selene did not know what to tell the elf. If she agreed with Aiden, it would make this process much harder. But there was no other choice.

"Where are you off to?" she asked.

Meredith kept working on Cyan silently, staying out of their conversation.

Selene stood and turned to her friend and said, "Can you walk?"

The elf raised an eyebrow.

"Just to outside the door."

Meredith chirped in, "She will not be walking anywhere. If you wish to speak alone, I will leave. I could use some fresh air anyhow."

With that, she wiped her hands on her apron and hurried out the door, closing it behind her.

The silence in the room was deafening. A tension stood in between them so thick, it clung to their skin like syrup.

"You've clearly got something on your mind, so spit it out. The last thing I need is a brooding travel companion."

Selene knew that Cyan was trying to erase that feeling between them, the feeling that something was about to happen. Something that neither of them could change.

"Back in Sev Atamnër, the leader told me things that I did not understand and showed me things I did not want to see. At the time, I was a coward and foolish and did not take time to think about what she had so blatantly told me."

"What did she tell you?" Cyan asked.

"She showed me images of battlefields, of everyone dead, my brother alive and hunting me down to kill me, of a black dragon in a throne room, a woman with white hair fighting off a demon army with nothing but Moonfire, and most importantly, she gave me a prophecy."

"A prophecy?"

Selene nodded and recited it. As she spoke Cyan became very tense as if something had struck a chord.

"I haven't told anyone else of it. I didn't think I had to, but things have changed and there's something I have to do."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, "What's changed?"

Selene took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she had to tell the elf.

"While we were gone, Icarus attacked Sev Atamnër. No one survived."

Cyan's face went pale. Her body utterly still.

"Wait," Cyan said and held up a hand. The other went to her stomach as if her wound was about to split open again. She stared at the ground, composing herself. Selene knew what she was feeling, but Cyan had traveled through that village for much longer than Selene had. She'd probably seen some of them be born, grow, and die. Her feelings were most likely much deeper.

"And now you've decided to go to the king," Cyan finished.

"Yes."

"I can't let you do that."

Selene looked down at the bandages that Cyan had her hand pressed against and said, "You can't stop me, Cyan."

She was deadly silent, her mouth parted slightly as she stared at Selene. She looked sad and angry, as if Selene had betrayed her.

"If you go, you will die. And we will have nothing. Are you really willing to be that selfish?" the elf hissed.

"We both know that this Moonfire was given to me for a purpose. This is the purpose."

Spot flew from Cyan's mouth as she leaned forward and said, "Your purpose is to fight in the war, Selene. There's no stopping it. If you go there now, the king will not just kill you. He will torture you and tear you apart until you are begging for his mercy. And then we will be defenseless against his power. It's not time for you to fight him."

"If I don't end him now, he will just continue to get stronger, and then there will be nothing any of us can do. I'm going to kill him, no matter If I have to destroy the entire Rein mountains to do it."

"You plan on killing yourself," Cyan said as she leaned back in realization, 'You're making a mistake. You couldn't even defeat the Akiri. Compared to the king, that thing was a rodent. It was nothing! He has the power of Orvyre, a dragon, for Uriel's sake! You aren't strong enough, not yet."

"You've never seen what Moonfire can do. You don't know how much power I hold, you're even said that yourself. Well, I have."

"How?"

"In those visions the willow gave me, a woman, maybe Lysandria or even me, destroyed an entire army in seconds with just fire. That power is right here, isn't it?" she said and placed a hand on her chest, "I made a promise to protect people, and it's time I finally started doing that."

Then she turned and walked from the cabin. She could hear Cyan from behind her calling out her name and trying to stand to come after her, but she couldn't even support herself. All the elf could do was watch as Selene closed the door behind her.

I'm sorry, Cyan.

Outside, Selene saw Meredith watching the birds in the trees, just as Selene had done a before.

"Looks like they're finally returning," she said, "Just when you're about to leave."

Selene looked at the woman, "How did you know I'm leaving."

She smiled, "I've helped enough travelers to know what they look like when they're preparing to travel. You also have your pack on," she laughed. "Your friend is not ready to leave."

"I'm not bringing her with me."

Merideth's eyes left the treetops, "You're leaving her behind?"

Selen adjusted the strap on her thigh that held one of her hunting daggers to keep it from hitting the new sword and said, "Sadly, my departure cannot wait for her to heal. But I leave her in your capable hands."

"Very well. Tell Aiden I said goodbye then and that he should visit more often," She said as she put her hands on her hips.

"I'll be alone on this journey, unfortunately. You'll be able to see him next time he returns."

Merideth smiled, "I'm not so sure about that."

Selene's head coked to the side, "What do you mean?"

The healer knelt down to touch the small stalks of green that had begun to string up through the melting snow. Her hands were beautiful, delicate. The hands of a woman who only helped people. "Do you not see the way he looks at you?"

Selene still didn't understand, and one look at her face had Merideth shaking her head, "Nevermind. But I'm sure he'll be following you to wherever your journey takes you. So give him my message."

"I will."

Selene walked from the kind woman as well as the friend who sat in the cottage with her face in her hands. As she continued her walking south, she tried to recall the layout of the continent as Cyan had described ti to her. She would mostly be passing through forests until she got on one of the larger roads taken by merchants. She could follow that down until the Rein mountains came into view, but she'd have to break off before the road curved to head into a city. From there it would be flat plains before the mountains' trees took over.

If she had to guess, she'd say the trip would take around three to four weeks. That was one month until she faced the king and his demons. If she was lucky, he wouldn't expect her so soon and the path to his throne would be easy to get through. But she wasn't hopeful.

She was only a mile from where she started when she heard footsteps behind her, she didn't even have to turn to know who's feet they were.

Aiden pulled to a stop beside her, out of breath, "I'm coming with you."

"I figured," she said as she continued to walk.

He placed a hand on his forehead to keep his hair from his eyes and he stared at her back in confusion.

"Like you'd let me walk away from you again. You're too clingy for that," she smiled.

"At least I'm not the one who pissed off an elf who could bite your head off."

She hooked her fingers through the straps of her pack, "She'll understand soon."

Aiden didn't respond, merely followed behind her as they made their way south to the castle that held Selene's deathbed.