• The fresh crisp breeze tickled Asmara’s face and Ezekiel’s body was warm and heavy leaning against hers as she supported him as she walked him over to the fire. His body didn’t take the movement well and she bit her lip nervously at every jolting movement as she steered them toward the fire she had built. His breath came out in gasps and his teeth clenched against the pain. She eased him down to the ground in a sitting position across the fire and dragged a boulder over to help prop him up.
    She offered him a live rat despite her own discomfort in the matter and he took it up gingerly without a word. She twisted a spruce vine between her fingers, studying his closely from her side of the hissing fire with worry. The fire cast off a red orange light, dancing around his sharp features in the twilight light.
    He seemed distant, in his own world of despair. It took all her effort not to just join him on his side of the fire and wrap her arms around him. She didn’t though. She just sat there and ate in silence, hoping he would speak on his own accord.
    “I’m in no condition to go anywhere tomorrow am I?” He asked in a sad mellow tone.
    Asmara looked up from her half devoured meal into his sad eyes. “No, I don’t think you are.”
    He grunted in response nodding, looking down at his meal with unseeing eyes. She swallowed painfully against the scratchiness of her throat from starting to tear up. Against her own warnings she cleared her throat. “Nathaniel and you sure seem to know a lot about the surrounding areas. Why is that?” He looked up at her, his eyes mirroring a deep sorrow she hadn’t seen in a long time, the same eyes she had once had. But that seemed years from now.
    His voice cracking, he replied. “When I was a small child, my family went on a little trip to take a break from all the responsibilities of ruling a kingdom. The war had taken an intermission, and our people were taking it down low.” He sighed at an unknown thought and continued on. “We traveled all over taking in all the different species in the widespread neighborhood. My father was interested mostly in them to know what we were up against, if need be in the future.”
    He paused as if to compose himself. “My mother merely liked to study them as if they were exhibited just for her.” He said smiling at a ghost of a memory and went silent, giving off the message that he was through with the subject.
    With a sigh he drained the rest of the rodent’s lifeblood and threw it aside. He beat his wings once in a mighty motion snuffing out the fire and moved the boulder with all the strength that he could muster before lying down and wrapping his wings around himself.
    Asmara huffed in disappointment hugging her arms around her body against the chill. Something was not right with him. She slid down to the compacted earth giving in to her exhaustion and closing her eyes off from the world.

    * * *

    Ezekiel lay on his side listening to the nocturnal bugs buzzing around on the riverbed and he let out a contempt sigh. The sorrow that had been caged up inside during the sprite incident bubbled up and over the surface spilling over. He gave a side glance over the fire pit at Asmara. She laid murmuring in her sleep from a frightful dream. He sat up despite the screams in his weakened body and dragged himself over to her body. With a cumulative sigh he eased himself slowly down next to her and edged an arm and wing under her sleeping body. She stirred in her sleep and he froze in the act of putting his other arm and wing around the air exposed side of her body.
    He felt a numbing ease go over him making him relax. His face humped with a grin before sleeping into a peaceful sleep, his muscular arms wrapped securely around her fragile waist.

    * * *

    Asmara woke up with a start, her body firmly held in place by an unknown force. She tried to wiggle free, but was stuck. She looked around in confusion and blushed a vivid red. Taking in Ezekiel’s restful expression she wasn’t sure if she was angry or flattered. He snored softly in his sleep a little color returning to his cheeks. She sighed in relief that he was alright but still had to fight the urge to push him away. She felt uncomfortable even though she felt certain that there was a reason behind his boldness. He wouldn’t normally have does a thing like this would her?
    She thought back to when she had found out about Nathaniel spying on her at the riverbed when she had been bathing. He had claimed that he hadn’t seen her until after she was fully covered, though she thought she had specifically felt someone’s eyes on her. She shivered at the thought of being manipulated in such a way. Ezekiel edged closer in his sleep, resting his chin on her shoulder and letting out a breath before snoring again. Would Nathaniel really do that? She thought of his kind smiling face and decided it not so, though doubt nagged at the back of her mind. These are your enemies. Don’t let your guard down. She sighed and settled down into sleep again.
    When she woke again it was the break of dawn. Birds were singing merrily from the treetops and she itched to join them in the trees. She sat up rubbing at her eyes. She looked next to her where Ezekiel had been. He was no longer there. Fear rose in her throat and she looked around her frantically. She relaxed when she saw him across from her bent over the fire.
    He smiled over at her. “Oh, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”
    He was acting as if she was the one who almost died of a fatal poison coursing through her veins. She smiled though, taking into account that he was worried about her even though he was the one in the worst state. “I’m fine, thank you.”
    His smile was radiant. “Good. I made breakfast.”
    He reached over the fire, the flames licking at his exposed arm, to hand her her small portion of vegetables. Asmara smiled appreciatively taking the food into her hands. There were little sprigs of barley and baby onions. She touched the soft stringy roots with her finger admirably. She sent a silent thanks to Abarne the forest god before biting into the food.
    She paused on her second bite, peering through her curtain of hair toward Ezekiel who was watching intently no food in sight. A leaf floated on her tongue and she swallowed it down nervously. She straightened up her spine and looked him square in the eyes. His eyes wavered in their contact and then he averted his eyes, staring into the fire. He was the sorrowful man again that was present last night. Eager to break the spell she clamored for words.
    “I know what you did last night.” She said finally.
    He glanced up laughing. She felt herself flare with embarrassment under his amused eyes. But the distraction had worked and she was grateful. She smiled weakly back at him wondering if he would stick up for himself.
    “I merely needed body heat is all.” It was a great excuse and she could help being disappointed.
    “Oh.” She said barely at a whisper.
    The amusement left his eyes instantly. He bit into his long since untouched food, the body stiff from air exposure. Asmara's stomach flipped uncomfortably, still not accustomed to her travel companion's eating habits. She had managed to block out the agonized pleas to live but she still felt the nausea whenever an unfortunate animal was brought to the predator's mouth. Ezekiel sensing her discomfort paused mid bite. He sent her a wry smile before, with effort turned his back on her to finish the mealy corpse.
    “Aren't you going somewhere?” He asked without looking at her.
    She stared blankly at his back confused, blood creeping into her cheeks noting the muscles that sculpted his brawny back and his broad shoulders. When Asmara didn't answer he turned his eyes on her making her blush deeper. He smiled amused at her discomfort.
    “You were going to go into town?”
    Asmara felt embarrassed at the thought of having forgotten so soon, but finding herself next to Ezekiel in the night had jumbled her nerves and she couldn't think straight. “Oh yeah, I forgot about that.”
    She got up, checking her dress skirt for any traces of dirt and noted that it was a lost cause considering her current situation and surroundings. She sighed, suddenly missing the comfort of civilization yet again and cursed herself. She was of elf blood, damn it! She should be thrilled to be out of the castle walls in the wilderness, away from the brawl between the two civilizations as if there were the only species in the world and definitely the only species that matters.
    She sent one last glance behind her at Ezekiel and saw him looking after her with envy. He saw her looking at him and turned away, obviously hating to show any sign of weakness. Then a rumbling erupted from his lips and she realized it was a chuckle. In a fit of fury she whirled around and glared at him. It just made him laugh harder.
    “You. Are. Going. The wrong. Way.” He said through little bursts of laughter.
    Asmara looked around confused and she saw him jester weakly to the south with his wing. She pretended that she didn't see his advice and walked proudly into the forest in the right direction

    * * *

    Ezekiel watched her go with earnest. He very much wished that she would stay, that he could insure her safety. He hated himself for it. He knew that she could take care of herself but he felt a need to protect her and she had seen his expression before she left, had seen his vulnerability. He hated it and he wished that he had held the yearning back but he could not. He felt a moan bubble in his chest as the reminder of his failure at home and his dead mother.
    He slid onto his side giving in to his sorrow for the loss of the only kindness that he had known through his childhood. He knew that she had been sick for a very long time and was glad that she no longer had to suffer but that didn't take the pain of her absence away. He was almost tempted to run after Asmara but her footfalls were fading and he knew that he just wanted to accompany her now because he wanted to forget.
    He stared up at the cloudless sky wonder if she was up there now in the place our people yearned to reach for but knew wasn't possible. She was home and the thought sent him into a calm state, a sigh leaving his lips.
    COMMENTS! RATE THIS! . . . please? crying sweatdrop