Friends are like stars, they come and go, but the ones that stay are the ones that glow.

-unknown

[[]]

We didn't talk for several miles, moving as quickly as we could to get as much distance behind us. The appearance of the atrixes had reminded us that the woods were dangerous, even without the East marching through them. Taurus explained in many a hushed breath that the East Cardinal had promised the Atrixes meat in exchange for alliance in their war.

"I theorize," Taurus mused as we headed down a particularly slopey section of ground. The terrain had morphed into miniature, grassy cliff with small boulders for ledges sticking periodically out of the ground. "That the atrixes aren't affected by their tuning magics."

"Tuning magics?" I asked as I jumped down onto a boulder.

"Yes, you know. The East, they have these two hooded fellows with black flutes that play and make your ears bleed -- "

"Oh, got it," I nodded for him to go on. Aldyth leaped down onto my boulder, ramming her shoulder into my chest. She exclaimed in shock as I started to teeter, and wave my arms wildly as I tried to catch my balance. Her hands wrapped around my arm at the last moment an hauled me back before I could fall head first down the last fifteen feet of hill.

"Careful, Eli!" Aldyth chided. "You almost fell!"

Taurus, who was still at the ledge above us laughed loudly as my face grew warm. "Look at his ears. The tips of them are going red -- he could be an elf, by gods!"

"She jumped at me!" I tried to protest, but they weren't listening. I rolled my eyes at the both of them and leaped down to the next slab, then onto the flat ground before either of them found a reason to almost push me off a cliff.

A few minutes later we were all back on solid ground and walking again. Aldyth and Taurus were still making jokes about the look on my face, but I paid them no attention and instead focused on my water skin, as well as the fact that it was empty. I pointed this out to the others. "There's a stream about a half mile up," Taurus nodded, then added when Aldyth and I sent him looks of confusion. "I can hear it. We can stop for a little rest when we get there."

Neither of us disagreed with him. Above the treetops, the layer of white clouds were getting darker and darker. A sharp breeze cut straight through my cloak, but there was nothing I could do to chase it away short of wrapping my cloak around me tighter. Aldyth's face was starting to turn the color of old paste, with a bland rosen undertone in her cheeks from walking against the wind all day. We shared a look. The three of us were headed north; it would only get colder.

We found the stream not ten minutes later, bubbling under a break in the underbrush. It was a small thing, barely a trickle of the mountains glaciers, but it was water and for that we grateful. Taurus ran around like a idiot rabbit while Aldyth and I refilled the water skins. When he came back there was a large smile on his face that revealed his top row of dagger sharp teeth. "Let us camp here tonight. There is a cliff up ahead, and in its valley, I see a path and a village. If we leave early tomorrow, we'll make it there by the mid afternoon, and we can stay the night in some place warm."

"That would be nice," Aldyth murmured as she sat down on the ground.

"We will get you two somethings warmer to wear under your cloaks. And there are some things I need as well," Taurus paused. "Hopefully they won't be too surprised to let an elf amongst them."

"Humans aren't that bad you know," I stated guiltily. Never before had I regretted a fairytale so much. "We only tell those stories to scare our children. We do know better."

"Ah, well, that remains to be seen," Taurus sighed and went off again. He came back a few minutes later with an armful of wood. I sat down next to Aldyth and helped the elf ignite the flames. Soon a playful fire danced in our midst. It warmed us, but not enough to shed the cloaks.

"You make a lot of noise when you walk," Aldyth noted, not taking eyes from the fire.

I raised my gaze to look at her. "So?"

"I just thought it would benefit us if you tried a little harder to be quiet, that's all," she replied.

"I'm trying."

"Then try harder because you might get us all killed."

"Are you two engaged to be married or something?" Taurus asked suddenly.

"What!?" We chorused then glared at each other.

"Of course not," I added hastily. "Where would you get that ridiculous idea?"

"Oh, nowhere," the corners of his lips raised into a small smile. "It is just the way that you talk to each other, it's as if you know you will be together for the rest of your lives."

"We are not engaged!" Aldyth closed the matter quickly. Taurus seemed amused by us, as if we were in some sort of denial. It was true that my parents were harping at me to find someone to spend the rest of my life with, but listening to my parents was not something that I was known for (hence the abandoning work and spending the entire day with Aldyth experience).

"You two should get engaged," Taurus smiled. "Life is only so short. You should find a good existence before the waters start rising and you suddenly find that you cannot breathe anymore."

"Taurus, do elf years work differently than human years?" I demanded. "Because Aldyth and I are still children in the eyes of our people. And we do not love each other, nor are we, or have ever been arranged to be married. She's my best friend."

Taurus raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine. But you must know. There is a shortness to life that you don't realize exists until the water is twenty feet above your head." He paused. "And yes, elf years work differently than human years."

A/N

I have nothing to say.

Wait,

Rissa: South Cardinal
Angelina: South Cardinal
Tami: East Cardinal
Lilly: North Cardinal

Joe: East Cardinal