I trot forwards steadily, maneuvering my way through the snow. I wish we could have left Fortris sooner because this is a mission which really should be put to bed as soon as possible. God only knows what havoc could be engineered if I delayed. Jasper could probably tell what might happen- my gut is downright sure it has the word "apocalypse" somewhere in that list.

"Drevial, we have been traveling for 3 hours and you barely even said ANYTHING. LITERALLY. Could you please say something to prove that you're still- I don't know- alive?"

I brush off some snow from my shoulders and draw up my hood. I feel tempted to push Kane off his horse. I'm not really in the mood to be mean to him but there is a limit to a person listening to a 3 hour lecture on how can one suicide. I can't keep telling Kane that he wasn't at fault. In fact, I know it was my mistake in the first place. They fought because of me. I never felt more guilty since leaving my grandma to become a demon dog's chew toy. If I can turn back time I would. I wonder if there's a tethered who could do that.

I slow my horse down to a walk. The path begins to branch off. I suddenly halt. Kane nearly rides into a tree. Serves the prick for complaining about the capacity of hostility I possess.

"Okay." I say dismounting, "I need to figure out which path to take."

"So- which path do we take?"

"Didn't I tell you that I need to figure it out?"

" Well yes, but I wasn't listening. I mean it's not like I have other things to worry about."

I want to kill myself. Who knew Kane was such an emotional blackmailer?

I close my eyes. Jasper once said that Forsaken don't necessarily have specific places where they take their hunted. Yet, why am I so sure where Faerliss was taken? Ugh. Life manages to give us so many questions and we're supposed to find the solution. I guess that can't be helped. Most of the questions are created by ourselves because we choose to question life. We choose to question what is presented to us. Worst of all, sometimes we can never seem to find the right solution. I wonder why...

Winter's path. The path of the cold. The path where all is hushed in snow. Where secrets greater and older than time itself can be frozen and locked away forever. The path which stood in front of me.

"This way." I say leaping onto my horse.

Kane follows me promptly. I'm amazed at the way he readily follows me. He believes that I can find Faerliss and probably more confident than myself. I only can pray that I'm right. Time is of the essence.

"We'll camp here for the night. It's safer."

I stare into the sky now doused in the colors of the winter sunset. The bare trees stretch into the sky faintly glowing with the last golden rays of the sun. Kane already finished building a fire. The spot we picked is great considering the dry bush right beside me- a perfect source of firewood.

I slump down onto the ground and cocoon myself inside the warm depths of my cloak. The fire crackles sending the shadows of the woods leaping around us in frenzy. I silently eat a ration of bread trying to find some way to break the silence.

"Drevial?"

"Yes?"

"What's wrong with me?"

I immediately look up. Kane sits there majestically in the firelight. The flames meld into his eyes making them display the pure torment he must be feeling inside. His hair glistens and drips with melted snow.

"Why would you ask me that?"

"Because you would know. Drevial, you lost your grandmother to a Forsaken and you never thought that she was still alive. You accepted the fact that she is dead then. You left and made a life for yourself. And now- you're happy. But me? I saw my sister get snatched from me by a Forsaken. Why can't I admit that she's dead-"

"Hold on a second. You think I'm happy after my grandma died? Is that how people become happy?- by making a new life for themselves? Every night I live with the fact that I survived an attack which my grandma couldn't. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU. Faerliss isn't dead and that's why you can't think about accepting that she's dead. I SAW my grandma being ripped apart and that's how I know she's dead."

Kane goes silent. I'm vaguely aware of a hundred things I have left to say. I don't know if he even understood me. Jasper and the others never did. Sure they did sympathize but did they really understand? It's easy to tell a person how sorry you are for their loss without really understanding the gravity of their loss. I understand Kane's loss. His father's dying. He's soon going to be King and have an entire kingdom to run. His only sister has been kidnapped. And he's stuck with a sarcastic, idiotic girl to help him find her.

I wipe my eyes before I can cry. Crying isn't something I can afford to do right now.

  "I don't know anymore Drevial. My father will soon die and thrust the crown to me. I'll be King and then I won't have time anymore. I used to think that being King was everything; then you showed up in the woods. You showed me that there were more important things. You were just so- never mind."

I really want him to continue. I don't mean to be invasive but what was I to Kane?

"Drevial, everything is going to be alright, isn't it?"

Taking a deep breath, I lace my fingers through his own.

"I promise that I will get Faerliss back. No matter what Kane- We will find her and rescue her."

Kane takes a deep breath and leans back against a tree. His eyes close and his strained breaths become more relaxed. He clutches my hand tighter. I allow it.

I feel sad again. He looks so peaceful like this. I can't imagine that this was the boy I battled a year ago. So much had happened since then. We weren't the same kids we were back then. I wish I could see Kane for who he really is. Every time I'm close to knowing his true thoughts he diverts them.

Another familiar pang. It hurts. What if we do survive after rescuing Faerliss? What then? He'd become King and would forget me. I become a phantom of his past. A memory he'd bury and never recall. I'd go back to my home in the mountain. Continue living as a tethered. Kane would surely  push me away if he knew I was a tethered. I feel guilty that he doesn't know; I don't have a choice though. I'll tell him after Faerliss is rescued. Then it won't matter so much. I can't lead him to the other tethereds. I can't let him push me away yet. Besides I'm so far his only hope of finding his sister. After that I'll tell him- yes I'll tell him.

I glance once more in his direction. He has already drifted off into sleep.

"I promise Faerliss will be found. You or sister will survive this- even if it means I must die instead. I give you my word Kane- Eternally..." I whisper before letting myself sink into sleep.