Amira

I looked up at the stars above. I could see them much more clearly now that we were out of the capital without the light pollution dulling them. The night was calm with a crisp gentle breeze as I used my whetstone to sharpen my knives as I took first watch.

Elias, my partner and the only person I viewed as family slept close to the fire and I could see the rise and fall of his chest from under his thick fur blanket. He always slept with such ease regardless if we were on a mission or not and it was a trait I was always jealous of.

When it was his watch, I woke him before taking to my own bedroll in hopes of falling asleep peacefully so I was alert in the saddle tomorrow. I tossed and turned for what seemed forever. I glanced over at the fire to see him brewing something in the kettle.

"Come," he said sternly with a hint of weariness still in his voice.

I got up and joined him on the other side of the fire where he handed me a wooden cup that he had just poured a warm liquid into.

���That should help you rest," he said. "Drink it all."

Elias was three years older than I and always was looking out for my well-being. I took a tentative sip feeling the hot liquid slip down my throat before drinking the rest slowly. It was a lavender tea with other herbs that were probably for sleeping. I was glad he was blessed with the knowledge of herbs or I would probably never be able to sleep. Even after thirteen years, I still had nightmares of my life before being trained as an assassin.

I wrapped both hands around the cup and drank the mixture enjoying its warmth.

"You must learn to move beyond your past, Amira," he scolded. "What would happen if I wasn't here to brew your tea?"

My throat clenched involuntarily. The thought of not having Elias by my side hurt my heart. I inwardly scolded myself for the emotion. We were taught to not let death bother us for we were already dead.

"Teach me then," I said genuinely.

He nodded. "Tomorrow. It's a useful skill for you to have since the past torments you."

"Thank you."

"Aye."

The fire crackled warming me from the chill of the winter air. I could feel my eyes begin to droop as his tea began to relax me.

"Goodnight, Elias."

*****

Early morning rays blinded me when I first opened my eyes until I adjusted and saw Elias already saddling the horses. I got up rubbing the last bit of sleep from my eyes.

"Sleep well?" he asked a slim smile playing on his lips.

Elias is a tall lanky ice demon with the snow white hair of all our kind. His face was sharp and angular with large pointy ears. He has the most bright quick silver eyes that were full of deep rooted knowledge. His power was reading minds.

"Aye. Thank you."

His tea had a way of keeping my past away and allowing me to sleep and it was much needed for our mission today. We would be striking against the northern most monastery that had once held most of the king's power back in the older times when they followed the religion of one god more closely and hated our race. The monk that ran it now was kin to the one who was responsible for starting the war. Our warlord was a very tactical strategist. When he had heard news of a child taking the throne the smile that played on his face was the biggest I'd seen in years.

I got up and began breaking apart the fire pit dowsing it in water thoroughly before burying it in loose soil. I then saddled my eager pony. My war mount had been left back at the fortress because we needed speed, not power, but I missed my gentle beast over this small creature already.

"I'm sure he's being well taken care of," he said gently.

My hair prickled a little. His ability to so easily read my thoughts sometimes made me uncomfortable.

"Thank you."

We began making our way towards the monastery in silence as I tried to quiet my thoughts to nothingness. Out of the two of us, I didn't agree with our declaration of war. The monks no longer held the kings power and were just simple men that aligned their wills with the gods, but to speak this would mean I was a threat to our warlord and Elias would not hesitate to kill me if it meant keeping our country safe. My hand closed involuntarily around my throat. I had to trust him blindly. Why couldn't I be more like Elias?

"You are a quiet one today, Amira."

"Preparing for tonight is all."

He nodded. "It's alright to be nervous. This is your first real mission."

I had trained with Elias my whole life ever since I had been taken from the temple of Talon as a priestess. Talon was the goddess of magic in our country and I had been training in rune stone magic- one of the hardest to master because it took concentration and understanding the complexity. That, and it was also hard to acquire the stones used to carve the runes into. Each were unique to their wielder and unfortunately the stones that worked best for me were obsidian which were hard to come by in our northern lands. The closest volcano lay in the islands to the West of us. The warlord that had stole me away because of my ability with the runes. I was the only one in the whole temple, but I wasn't too skilled at it even now after eight years of vigorous training. It wasn't until the last year that I could do the basic rune casts without fault and that is why he had allowed me to go with Elias on this mission.