By the morning Nate and Ava left the rest in the basement. He did not like to work without his brother. They made a good team but bringing Aaron with him was too great of a risk. Nate glanced behind him at the blond girl and sighed, 'She will have to do' he thought.

Once outside Ava looked behind mumbling "I hope it will be alright..." Her words were lost on the chilly morning wind. Nate picked them up but did not respond. He did not like lying. If he had a choice he would prefer to hide the truth rather than give false hope.

Nate walked up to Trutan and patted his head while he whistled. Trutan looked depressed without his rider, he was the only one. Nate ruffled his fur with a small grimace, then walked towards the saddle and took out a leather collar. Soon Lashaka emerged from the darkness. Her ears flattered when she saw the girl.

Ava ignored her and walked up to Al-shai. She mounted it and looked towards Nate asking with a slight annoyance in her voice "So, do you know where we are going at least?"

"I do," Nate responded as he approached Lashaka. He glanced at the girl saying "North."

Ava grimaced, clearly displeased with the direction. The Midlands had a pretty stable climate, it was generally warm. Up north was where the cold winds blew. The freezing climate there is a thriving place for any kind of monsters. A little number of humans meant little guarding - so free food.

Nate patted Lashaka then wrapped the collar around her. Trutan had saddle while Lashaka would go crazy with it. Hence why whenever Nate knew there was a long trip which needs to be done quickly he would put a collar on her to hold onto. Otherwise, her fur was good enough to keep Nate on. However, he liked to provide at least some comfort for his companion every now and then.

He then grabbed his cloak which was lying around and threw it over the wolf. He sat on it and checked the little pouch which was attached to his belt. Nate usually kept all sorts of potions there, mostly poisons. Then he felt out his broken arm to check how well it works and gripped the collar. Being as ready as he possibly could be he turned to the girl which sat on the black panther saying "Let's go. No breaks until night."

She nodded, and leant down getting hold of the saddle which was on Al-shai "I know," she responded and they left.

The sun was rising too quickly. Nate was growling every time they would run through an opening and he would get blinded by the sun rays. The faster the sun was going the less time they had. Like a ticking bomb. They only stopped once during the run to let the animals have a drink. Otherwise, they were in a full speed running around the trees. Lashaka was agile which meant she was quick, Al-shai was less so but at least he was more flexible than Trutan which made their travelling quite fast.

By the evening they got to the opening. Empty fields surrounded them. The winds picked up and the air got colder. Every now and then there would be a patch of bushes and trees, but otherwise, everything was empty. This meant more risks of being spotted but monsters and bandits. However, Nate knew how to sneak around, due to that their run was uninterrupted. It would not have been much of a problem for him to get attacked, but every stop meant less time to save Aaron, hence it was better to avoid any unnecessary fights.

As the sun started to go down Nate slowed Lashaka down to a trot. He looked around and spotting a small patch of trees and bushes nearby he led the wolf in that direction. Without turning around he said “We should rest for now. There is no point of getting there tonight."

Ava led Al-shai behind nodding. She didn't argue. She seemed completely trusting of the assassin in front of her.

Once there Nate jumped off Lashaka and patted her. She rolled her tongue out panting and sat down lowering her head. After all day of running, she had the right to be tired. Meanwhile, Nate took off her collar and grabbed his cloak putting it on. It was not just a good disguise but also a pretty warm coat.

Ava jumped off her own mount and released it from its own wraps while asking "So, tomorrow afternoon we should get there?"

Nate started to kick the rocks he found around to make a fireplace "No, the witch only comes out at night. So, we will travel slowly and get there tomorrow evening. Once we deal with her and garme we will leave and run all night long back. To get to Aaron as soon as possible."

Ava nodded "Seems reasonable if we survive."

"We have no choice." Nate stopped what he was doing and sent her a glare to which she shook. She looked away and started to break the branches from the tree in silence. She decided to drop her worries for now.

Meanwhile, Lashaka finally regained her energy and left quietly. She preferred her alone time. Nate didn’t mind that, he knew Lashaka inside and out, the more he would press the less she would listen. Ava looked at the disappearing wolf asking "You must trust her, huh?"

The stone circle for the fire already made; Nate smiled stretching out his leg. The magic in there was already growing weak, and the pain has returned. "We have been together for years now. We help each other when the need arises."

Ava hummed “I see. She is quite a unique creature.”

Nate chuckled “She sure is.” He knew that Lashaka might have been considered too unique in some parts. Which was not a good thing.

After Ava placed the branches in the fireplace she set them on fire and sat down. Al-shai quickly joined her and lied down next to her to what seemed like keeping the girl warm. She turned to the beast and patted its head. Her expression softened from the hard mask she wore normally.

Nate then sat down on the opposite side of the fire but a small grimace appeared on his face as he stretched his leg out. Ava noticed it saying "I will reapply the magic."

She stood up and sat next to him within a second, to which Nate shook his head stopping her hands from reaching to her staff "Save it for tomorrow before the fight."

She swatted his hand away glaring at him "I am powerful enough to manage that now and before the fight. Now shut up and sit still."

Nate's mouth closed straight away as his eyes widened. She was the hardest person to figure out. He did not argue anymore as she started to reapply the medical spells. Nate watched her trying to figure out if she was helping him because they were on the mission together or was it more the fact that deep down she cared in some twisted way.

Once she was done she sighed. Medical spells drained a lot of energy from priests. It was as if they were giving the patients a part of their own life force. Hence why generally there were two types of priests, fighting and medical. Medical ones focused heavily on healing magic, and they could not defend themselves in a fight. They were doing the job of a doctor with some extra abilities. Fighting priests were skilled in a first aid healing spells, but it drained them out. They had to focus on their defence and attack magic equally to the healing magic.

Nate moved his arm around mumbling "Thanks, you seem to be quite good with that."

Ava shrugged going back to cuddle her mount "Those kinds of spells, I had some practice in the past."

"Let me guess, Leah?"

Ava sighed "Quite obvious, isn't it?" Her pretty face turned into a scowl as she remembered something.

Nate chuckled "You and Aaron have something in common then. He always kept an eye on my injuries."

Ava looked up at him and after a moment of silence she asked: "Tell me, why are you two... alone?"

"You're too curious," Nate responded taking his dagger out. The reflection of the pale fire light reminded him of all the blood he spilt. The light danced around in a gentle flow, like fresh blood dripping down from the blade.

Ava then snapped him out "Probably. Call me crazy but if I have to work with you I have to trust you to some extent."

He looked back at her and their eyes locked. She was not backing down at all. Her bright eyes were cold and calculating. There was no emotion behind, just pure logic.

Nate then smiled slightly "Well, you can trust that I am going to finish this." She frowned turning away. "What about you? You know things about me, while you haven't said a word. Your eyes are cold. That tells me of many things you're hiding."

"How do you know?" She asked sarcastically.

"Because I am the same," Nate answered grinning. A silence fell between them. Neither of them wanted to let anything on.

It was only after a long moment Ava said: "I can tell you one thing since I know your class which is a secret, I guess that will only be fair." She nodded to herself and straightened. Nate at first was surprised. He did not expect her to give in. She then asked, "What do you want to know?"

There was a trick to that. He couldn't ask her many things as he didn't know anything. Her way of revealing something would be linking to something he already knew. Nate smirked at her "You are not stupid." He stated as he hid his dagger away, "Alright, answer this then, what happened for you to become emotionless?"

Ava shrugged "Many things."

Nate leant his head into his palm "You know what I mean. Something happened for you not to get attached to people."

Ava eyed his smug face for a while. Then with a resigned sigh, she said "I lost someone. He was killed by an assassin."

Nate's grin disappeared "A rouge?"

Ava nodded "He was outside, going to get some food, then a rogue attacked him. I saw it from my hiding. The rouge barely lost his family, so he was still somewhat conscious." Nate went quiet. While Ava continued "The bloodlust in those eyes... I will never forget this fury, hatred and fear."

Ava leant back on Al-shai, but her eyes got some light back in them. She was not crying yet they gleamed like she was. "Rouges kill for nothing. They are like animals."

"Then why did you decided to go with me?" The logic behind her actions was not clear to Nate.

Meanwhile, she shrugged once more "In honesty, I am not fully sure. But you are no rogue. I feel like you are trustworthy enough for me to be safe."

Nate's eyes widened. No one ever told him he was trustworthy other than his brother. He then laughed "You are a daredevil."

Ava looked up at him slightly surprised herself. Most likely since the way Nate laugh was genuine and not some game he was playing. "Well, it will be on me if I die." She responded curtly.

While Nate still chuckling asked, "Is this why you are curious about me and Aaron being alone? To make sure I am not crazy yet?" She nodded and Nate after giving it a moment responded "Alright then. I can tell you a little thing." His lips were pulled back in an amused smirk "We lost our parents due to my father being killed. He was murdered in a cold blood. While Aaron and I left my mother."

"Not many details I see." She shifted saying "I'm sorry."

Nate eyed her, his cheerful tone gone. His eyes were not remorseful. They were filled with hatred. "Why?"

"Because you lost your father. From what you say I'm assuming you saw it happen." Ava dropped her eyes not daring to look back at Nate.

"Lost?" He asked after a cold chuckle escaped from his throat "He was murdered, not lost."

Ava looked up and what she saw froze her blood. Then Nate finished calmly, his bloodthirsty smirk on his lips "I did see it. From a very close distance." His grin widened as if remembering that time brought him joy. The most twisted, cold and merciless joy.

"I was the one doing it." He finished.