The trip with the halfer was an unexpected turn of events.

It was easy to ignore his strange little companion since there was something about him that reminded me of friends I would never see again.

The more time we spent together the more I wanted to say something, but if I was wrong not only would I be ruining the effort they did to hide him, but I'd also be endangering him.

I wasn’t sure about it but I couldn’t stop noticing the similarities.

At first, it was just the little things that I noticed.

With a halfer, they usually had one very distinct feature that revealed their elven heritage aside from their ears.

Usually, I’d be their skin tone, hair color, or eye color. One of them was very specifically from one parent. Ears were the only thing that ever mixed. Size wise half elf ears were mid-way between an elf and whatever their other half was a noticeable difference. That is unless, of course, they were at all related to a pure-blooded high elf.

His hair must have come from his mom though I feel like I can see bits of his father’s mixed in, it'd probably look more like hers if it was longer and if he hadn’t done anything to mess with the color. That was probably done to hide him since it would stand out in a dwarven city.

His eye color matched his dad's, they would have been easier to disguise compared to his hair, but they were less noticeable. Especially with the way his hair almost covered them most of the time. His hair also covered his ears decently well, but even without hiding them he probably wouldn’t have any issues. Now that half-elves are so rare, the youngest generation doesn’t even know what they look like. If they were to see his ears, they’d probably think he was just a full-blooded elf. And with the pale skin he got from his mom, they’d think he was a dark elf.

In the end, there would only be one way to truly test who his parents were. Which is why I couldn't tell him the rest of what happened.

That day hadn’t been filled with the screams of murdered kids but the screams of kids getting their hands cut off.

Elves had stronger self-healing abilities than other species but high elves from the royal family inherited a blessing from the tree of life which gave them complete regeneration…including limbs.

It was something only known by members of the royal family.

But I knew since I traveled with his father for many years.

It had really disturbed me that the guards didn’t’ question their orders and they chopped the hands off of the halfer children and watch them bleed out to test this ability. I doubted they knew what they were actually testing.

Valandrey was horrified, forced to watch who had essentially become her own children bleed to death while their home burned behind her. The guards had held her down as punishment for caring for them. I tried to get her away, but they held a blade to her throat to stop me.

These guards only ever followed orders, and anything outside those orders was ignored. So, I was left alone, and when they died and their bodies were thrown into the fire, I was allowed to take her and leave.

As for his mom, if he’s out on his own I doubt she’s still alive.

His dad… I don’t know how he could possibly be feeling. He couldn’t stop the massacre of half-elves, and he doesn’t even know his kid is alive. I wonder if his older brother hates him.

Would it even be right of me to find a way to tell him his son was alright?

That he's an adventurer just like them.

I can't, if I was wrong, I'd be giving my friend false hope. And if I was right but someone else found out his life would be in danger.

The only thing I was sure of, was he was hiding very important information about his childhood. Just thinking about who raised him makes me want to go visit him, but I doubt he stayed in Naredur.