Caspian POV 

The final day of our journey dawned bright and cold, as the other early mornings of the trip had. I thought that, usual, I would be the first one awake, but I wasn't.

Aeron was crouched outside the tent. All his night kit was packed away already, and she was heating up the camp stove, a pot of water on it, ready to be boiled. Their long black hair, speckled with blonde like stars in a night sky, was tied up to avoid burning it on the fire. Still, it flew dangerously close to the flickering light.

On one such occasion, she grabbed it, shoving it behind his head and cursing quietly at it. She clearly thought fae were alone. I sat outside the tent, watching him tie it into a bun instead of a ponytail, fingers flying fast to catch any that fell out before it even fell. 

I waited a few minutes before coughing quietly, startling them. "Wha?! Oh!" He chuckled quietly. "Hey, Cas." 

"Hii!" I sat beside him, watching the crackling of the gas fire. "Where did you work to know how to man a gas stove by yourself." 

She smiled, shaking his head. "I worked in a fire department, I know how to start and put out fires within minutes." 

I blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Wow. I worked in the museum, so I got to be a nerd and earn money for it." 

"What sector did you work in?" Aeron asked, pouring a bit of the water into two mugs and stirring in some instant coffee. 

"Ancient archaeology. I often led groups to ancient dig sites for excavation of the ruins there. I  seemed more interested than the." I chuckle, taking the coffee and letting the warmth of the drink flood through my body as I sipped. 

"Tell me about your favourite site." My heart skipped a beat when he said that, and I saw her blushing a bit too. 

"You sure?" He nods. "Ok, so on the outskirts of the capital, there's a little patch of woodland with a clearing in it. A group of researchers and I went out with groups penetrating radar to see if there was anything under the surface. We went there with low hopes but went back to the research facility going insane with the news. 

"We went back with the news and came back the next day with everything we needed to begin the excavation. We spent countless days and nights there, carefully uncovering the remnants of an ancient temple, supposedly used to worship a God by the name of Aeor." I smiled, pushing my fluffy brown locks out of my eyes as I looked at Aeron's interested face.

"Didn't the Legend of Aeor stem from The Land Beyond?" She asked, looking past me at the zipper of the tent. Presumably, Tsuki or Hyperion were coming out. They're the earliest risers the two of them, partially because Tsuki is nocturnal and accidentally wake up at an ungodly hour.

A wider smile broke my face. "You know about the mythology?"

She chuckled, pouring more water into the pot for Hyperion, who had just made an appearance. "Of course I do. I've always been fascinated by mythology."

I opened my mouth to speak again when Gwen's shout cut me off. "ALRIGHT. Pack up, those who are already packed up, come to me and help me get the food cooked for breakfast for everyone."

Aeron stood up, patting the pot of water. "Once this starts whistling, could you decant it into the three cups along with a sachet of the coffee in each? Ta."

They picked up their own mug, walking over to Gwen, the white streaks in her hair twinkling in the early morning sun. I felt my heart flutter a bit, but that emotion was cut short by the high-pitched whistle emanating from the pot of water. Pouring the water into the mugs, I added the sachet and left them there for Hyperion, Tsuki, and Darcy when they came out of the tent.

I flipped the camp stove off, unscrewing it from the gas bottle and folding it up, placing it into its little pouch, placing both it and the gas bottle into the bottom of my bag, before going back into the tent and rolling my mat up, cursing as it regained the air it had just let out.

○•○

We'd been walking for a while, and a river was coming into view, twisting and blue.

"The other side of that river is a small desert, where The Land Beyond lays." Gwen had said when it had just appeared.

Now, we were giggling among ourselves, chatting about what we're gonna name our great empires when we do finally get there.

"Gilded Helianthia." Aeron burst out, ignoring the giggles from Darcy and Hyperion. "Says you, mister Mythland." She raised an eyebrow at Hyperion.

"Well, I haven't decided mine yet because my brain says no to name ideas at the moment, so I'll ask y'all." Darcy smiles, pointing straight at me.

"Uh, I dunno, maybe... Pixandria?"

Aeron smiled calmly. "That's beautiful." A light pink painted over her nose and cheeks.

"S! I! M! P!" Tsuki shouted, clapping after every letter. Aeron's cheeks only flushed more, and I even felt a little bit of heat creep over my cheeks.

"Shush-" Gwen said, pausing and walking forwards slowly, hand outstretched behind her and sword in her other hand.

A roar split the silence, coupled with screams from Rowan and Ari. Some beast, huge black wings outstretched, pounced out the trees.

Gwen slashed at it. Aeron pushed me, Tsuki, Hyperion, and Darcy behind them subtly, standing forwards a bit, hand on their pistol.

But it was too late. Gwen's scream punctuated the air, blood spattering those of us who were closer to the front of the group. It was too late to save Gwen, but not to save us.

Three people shot at the beast at the same time. A gunshot from a numb looking Aeron, an arrow from Rowan's crossbow, and another arrow from Juno's bow.

The beast was dead, and so was our leader. Ari stepped forwards, silently leading the way, fingers intertwined with a tall woman, I think her name was Aalto, walking over the bridge.

Aeron put his arm around me and I put mine around them. We were holding each other up. I picked a daisy up, laying it on the mauled corpse of Gwen. I'd started to get on with her. It's a pity how fast those we love can leave us.

"So, this is The Land Beyond..." Ari said, her voice ringing out over all 13 of us. "Let's get building."

The group departed. "Uh, I'm gonna go south east with the others, where are you settling?" Aeron asked me, hand holding my arm.

"I'm gonna go here, in the desert." I said. "I'll keep in touch."

They smiled. "I know you will."

Then they did the unimaginable, kissing me on the cheek before running to catch up with the others. I heard something like "need to keep you chaos demons in check-" but it was drowned out by the flood of feelings.

My fingers met the point of her kiss, a smile falling on my face.

"I love you-"