I looked at Beau, wrapped my arms round his neck and kissed him passionately. The idea of him being torn away from me was too painful to comprehend, I felt my sick in my stomach at the idea of it; I needed his arms around me, holding me tightly. He seemed to respond to my very thoughts and his arms enveloped me strongly and held me to his side like vices as we kissed. It was only when Beau stopped kissing me and lifted his finger to my face that I realised there were soft, silver tears sliding down my cheek.

“Ilea, what happened?”

“I saw them.”

“Who?”

“Orion and the army from Elmira; they’re coming to get me.”

“Now?”

“I do not know. I do not know if they are just planning it in Elmira or whether they have already left. There were parts that could already have transpired and other parts that have not yet, and if I can help it, will never happen.” I felt the warmth leave my body as I looked into his eyes again; he cannot die, was the only thought running through my head.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my head into his shoulder. His skin felt like fire against my arms but after a few moments I realised that it was not his skin that was fire, but my own that was ice. I was trying to sort the thoughts streaming through my head when Beau asked the all-important question. “What do we do?” My initial reply sparked an idea through my mind but I kept it to myself, knowing that if he knew, I would never be able to complete it. I thought again carefully.

“We need to speak to someone wiser. We need to go and see your grandmother.” I said, trying to buy time to fine tune the plan that had already started to form in my mind.

He nodded, and softly pulled me onto my feet. I could not believe how weak I felt, it was like I had used up all of my strength, with a slow realisation I realised that was exactly what had happened; the vision must have been a subconscious use of magic and by the feel of things it had used a huge amount. I had never felt this tired after magic before, even after my explosion in the forest when I had left Elmira; the largest release of magic I had ever used, was nothing compared to this.

My mind wandered as we walked down the path through the trees; I was trying to think as fast as I could about what I should do, but my brain felt fuzzy and the thoughts I wanted to have seemed to stay just beyond the edge of my understanding and refused to come any closer. It was extremely frustrating, and I felt myself getting angry. Beau looked back at me with a worried expression on his face and I realised I needed to calm down; getting angry would not solve any problems, it could only create more.

Eventually we walked out into the small village. Everything seemed more valuable; the people walking through the passageways between houses seemed to smile more brightly, the birds in the trees seemed to be singing happier songs and the man whose hand I was holding seemed like my very own diamond in the roughage around me.

We made our way to his grandmother and, as per usual, she was sitting in her chair outside her small house, she took one look at our worried faces and then beckoned us to follow her inside. “What has happened?”

Beau let go of my hand and took hers, “There is a lot you have only guessed, but do not know about Ilea.” She looked at me and nodded, and then her eyes flicked back to Beau’s. “We need your advice grandmother, we don’t know enough to work out the solution on our own,” her eyes flicked to my eyes again, but she didn’t say a word, “Ilea is in danger, there are people coming to get her, and we do not know what they will do to her. However, if she runs we don’t know if they will give up.”

She nodded and then walked to me and took both of my hands, staring deeply into my eyes. Suddenly a mind connected with my own. ‘I know you Ilea, better than you realise.’

‘How?’ I asked, completely dumbfounded.

‘Your mother came through here child, nearly twenty years ago. She stopped outside my door and greeted me like an old friend, though I had never met her before. She explained who she was and that she had the power of fore-sight; she knew things about me, showed me things that convinced me she was telling the truth. Eventually she spoke about you and said when you were a very young woman, you would come to me, asking for help and that I was to tell you this…’ She spoke out loud, “The plan you have is your best option; it is the only way to save him.”

Beau’s eyes darted to my own, “What plan?” I ignored him and stared at the woman’s face.

“Do you remember what my mother looked like?”

“Yes, I do.”

“May I?” she nodded and I gently slipped my consciousness into hers. I saw a stunning woman with long, straight, raven coloured hair which as the sunlight hit it shone with a blue sheen. Her eyes were as electric blue as my own, but filled with pain and sadness which contradicted the smile on her rose coloured lips; my lips. Her body was muscular; her biceps showing through the thin material of her floor length dress, the slit that ran up the front showed a slender, muscular leg. I felt my hand reach out to try and touch her automatically and then felt how it dropped as I realised it was just a memory. I withdrew from her mind and raised my hand to my cheek to wipe away a single tear.

“Ilea, what is the plan you thought of?” Beau asked, I contemplated for a moment and then decided to reveal a part of it.

“I want to travel towards the Plains, to meet them. They will not know I have had the image, will not expect me to be prepared for them, I will have the element of surprise.”

“But why do we need to travel to meet them?”

“The further they travel the more havoc they wreak; they are destroying homes and villages, burning forests and murdering countless people. The closer I go to them the better; I would not want that happening here.”

“Can we win?”

“I…I do not know.” I looked at the floor, unable to meet his gaze. Everything was so uncertain and I did not want him noticing the lie in my eyes; there was no chance I would let him fight. I looked at his grandmother and saw the spark of recognition in her eyes and the small sigh of relief she made. I smiled at her the best as I could and hoped she understood it.

“It seems you both know now what you are going to do.”

“Yes grandmother, thank you.” He hugged her and stepped outside. I went over to her and hugged her, whispering in her ear.

“I think this will most likely be goodbye for us. I will not say I hope to see you soon, as I think hoping for such a thing is futile.” She stroked my hair like a mother would to calm an infant.

“You have the weight of the world on your shoulders child. I hope that one day it will be lifted and you can be free again, that you both can be.” She kissed my forehead and we stepped apart from each other. “Keep him safe for me Ilea.”

“I swear to you that I will.” She nodded and then I turned and left; knowing that I would never see this caring woman again.

Beau joined me outside the house. “What did you say to her?”

“I said goodbye.” I replied, not looking at his eyes but fitting my small frame under his arm so I could escape his searching gaze, but also so that I could be as close to him as possible in the little time we had left together. We walked back up through the forest path until we came to the idyllic area that had become our home. With a pessimistic feeling I realised that it had always been too good to be true. It had always been too perfect.

However, I could bear to lose it if I had to, I could bear to lose almost everything I had here, almost everything; but not Beau, he had to live. That is why I would let him travel with me; I needed him close, he was my strength, my conviction and I could not do it if he was not with me up until the last minute. It was in the last minute that I planned to betray him and put him into a deep protected sleep so that no harm would come to him. I would be the only one fighting; my freedom was not worth risking his life.

That afternoon we did not swim, nor did we train, we simply sat together, holding each other and talking about everything. He held no secrets from me, and I gave all my secrets but one to him. As I sat there with him I slowly came to realise how much I wanted this; it was not just a desire or a dream, it could have been a reality, snatched away from me by Orion. How I loathed him.

One of the clearest memories I had from my first minutes as a full elf were the few seconds I had seen Orion’s bright red eyes staring into my own as he pushed me into unconsciousness when we had first met. The sickening feeling of losing grip on reality that I had felt then was mirrored now as he threatened to take away everything I had, for the second time.

I moved closer to Beau and his arm tightened around my shoulders. I suddenly felt desperate as I stroked my hand against his torso; I needed him to be with me again before I lost him. I wanted him to be part of me one last time. I looked quickly in his eyes and felt my own desires reflected in his. He put his hand under my chin and then his mouth was on my own, strong and passionate as we shared our emotions through a kiss that neither of us wanted to end.

His arms wrapped around my waist and brought my body closer to his, I could feel the heat of his skin through my clothes and it sent shivers of desire down my spine. I pushed them down forcefully; this was not simply about desire, this was about something else as well. Beau slowly traced his hand along my cheekbone and tucked my hair behind my ear, watching my face closely as he did it. His thumb stroked along my lips then his finger traced my nose and my eyelids. “Beau, what are you doing?”

“I’m memorising you. I want to remember every detail.” I smiled sadly and kissed him, prolonging it so I could savour the soft touch of his skin and the way his lips moved as they smiled sadly against my own. “I love you Ilea.” He whispered into my ear and kissed me again. The word sent my heart fluttering with a worried delight; it was not the first time I had been told that, but it might be the first time anyone had ever meant it. I wanted to say it back, but my tongue would not obey me. It was as if my heart and mind were fighting a war with each other and a small voice in the back of my head whispered quietly, does he really?

We carried on kissing with a slow burning passion than lead to something more. The entire time, he held my hand as if he did not want to let go of me, I smiled every time I noticed. Eventually when we were finished we lay on the grass for a while, my head buried against his chest, feeling protected and safe with his strong arms around me, pulling me close to him.

I sat up and pulled his head onto my lap as he drifted off to sleep. The sun was just setting over the horizon of the forest, lighting the sky with a pink and orange glow that made it dreamlike. I looked down at Beau, gently stroking his hair as he slept. His face contained the innocence of a child and I felt my heart break as I watched him, knowing that soon, I would have to give him up.