Author's Note: This is book 2 of the Arywan Series. Do a search for Children of Naaram, if you haven't read it yet. You won't understand this novel if you don't read the first one. End of Note.

Night surrounded Rundalfelt, and those that remained alive felt the pain of those that had not. For some it was the worst ordeal they had ever lived through, while others found it to be among their lists of battles. The paladins that had arrived the day before promised to stay while the city tried to rebuild, at least to protect against any attacks from the duke’s loyalists. The night had been spent trying to locate the injured survivors, and take them to where they could receive medical attention.

Jabin found himself in Eryalith’s arms in their room in the thieves guild, fighting the sleep that tried to claim his eyes. Her gentle strokes applied from his eyebrow to his hairline forced the slumber even further upon him. Somehow, he couldn’t allow himself to sleep, not when his childhood friend was gone. It felt like he was betraying her, trying to forget her, by allowing himself rest. He hated himself for the way he had behaved the last week, they hadn’t spoken the way they used to. He had also kept Eryalith from her, why he did such a thing was beyond him. She had always shared everything with him, and he didn’t trust her with a little secret such as this. Their lives had begun to separate, and instead of fighting for it the way he should have, he let it go.

Popping his eyes open, he stood up, and began pacing back and forth at the end of the bed. Trying to figure out what he could do now. His heart felt like it weighed a hundred pounds, and each beat was a betrayal to her.
Sadness turned to anger towards himself, running his hand over the dresser he knocked all the knickknacks to the ground. Crashing to the ground, some broke, making a most satisfying sound to his ears. Looking over to Eryalith she said nothing, her large round eyes a little frightened by his sudden outburst.

“Jabin?” Her words were whispered.

Running his hand over his face, he looked at her again.

“Why don’t we just leave at sun up? You and I could travel around and do work, we will be free of all this. Then maybe in time…”

“I’m not leaving, Eryalith. She deserves to have her body found and escorted back to Moonglow, so she can be buried next to her father.” He spoke angrily through his teeth with a grimace upon his face, then turned to lean against the dresser and stare upon the wall.

Pulling the blanket closer to her throat, she scooted closer to the end of the bed. She had never understood the humans’ fascination with caring for a corpse. Her own people burned bodies once a month, and no one but those hired attended. “Well, then I’ll come with you. Mitsos, you, and I can go to Moonglow, and bury her, then…”

“You wouldn’t be welcomed in Moonglow, Eryalith.”

She frowned, “By the locals or the people I would be arriving with?”

“I have more important things to do, then argue with you about this insignificant subject.”

“Our being together after tomorrow is insignificant?”

He shifted his eyes from the cleared dresser’s top to Eryalith, she stared at him waiting for his answers. Her eyes looked as if she were about to burst into tears, reminding him of just a few hours ago when she had watched the manor fall. He thought then that she felt the loss he had then, but now hearing how she just wanted to leave, it fueled his anger.

“There is only one thing that is important to me, and we made it clear to each other that there would be nothing between us. Wasn’t that your decision, and your words, Eryalith? She’s gone, and now there is no bond that we have to keep. Do whatever you will, I don’t want any part in it.”

Biting down on her tongue, she tried to hide the pain she felt. She had to convince herself that he was just hurt and didn’t mean what he had said. However, there was truth in his words, she had told them there would be nothing more between them once it was over. That was before she felt the strange feeling, she had never had before. He was right though, there could be nothing between them. It was time for her to act like a maturing elf, and not some love sighted human.

Laying her head back down on the pillow, she closed her eyes trying to find the sleep that had been coming so naturally to her. Jabin continued to beat up the furniture in the room, and she continued to ignore it. To be respectful, she would wait around a couple days, she decided, and then head out back to Yodgonosh. She had wanted to stay there to begin with, and should have said so before they left. Her heart had been crushed with the fall of the manor, and with Jabin’s words. It felt like in that one day, she had lost two people that she cared for very much. However, she was an elf, she wasn’t suppose to have such emotions, platonic or romantic.

---

The dining hall was eerily quiet as the thieves and their guests sat at their chosen tables, eating what little they had. It was a dark shadow that had fallen over the entire city, buildings burning into ash, and thousands dead from such a short battle. Most were still unsure why the duke had released his men onto the city, but it seemed no one was surprised he had either. The darkness was not only seen within the guildhall, but felt around the city. Many didn’t understand the capacity of the violence that had been unfolded onto the Rundalfelt, a great city in complete ruins.

Even the night of the after battle, some buildings still burned barely being controlled by the wizards council that appeared after the fall of the manor. More troops had appeared, and the clean up of Rundalfelt started almost immediately. They had decided to work day and night, so that the great city could begin rebuilding food stocks for the surrounding cities. Most wanted to be part of the rebuilding, even the group that had most recently lost their companion.

Somewhere in that rubble of the manor was her body and they were all set on finding it. In the small amount of conversation shared between them, they had all decided they would not leave the city without her. Both Eryalith and Jabin had disappeared shortly after, while Theron had gone upstairs with Mikal leaving soon after him. Wiralyn had placed himself in a corner far from the others. He seemed to be thinking on much in the past few hours, though he didn’t seem pained, but confused.

Mitsos sat slurping the broth from his stew, he hadn’t found any words to comfort the ones around him. It made him feel somehow inadequate, but he felt more anger towards himself that he had even allowed her to continue on this path. Both he and Decimus knew that someday it would present itself, but he wasn’t ready for it to happen so soon after her father’s death. He never expected to lose her so soon after her father, and now he felt alone. Watching that manor fall brought up the feelings of not doing all he could for his friends, and that was what she had become, his friend.

“May I sit here?” The voice asked from across the table.

Mitsos looked up into Wiralyn’s eyes, and gave a soft nod.

“Misery is not a look I am accustom to seeing you wear.” He said as he took his seat, setting his glass of wine down between them.

“Spare me the clichés, I don’t want to hear any of it.”

Wiralyn raised his eyebrow as he took a sip of his wine and then set it down in the same spot, “I offer no clichés, friend, only that I did not see you as the kind to wallow in your sufferings, but instead to do something about them.”

“You can do nothing but suffer in the death of another, Wiralyn.”

“It seemed to me that she did something other then suffer, when she lost someone she cared for.” He took another sip of his wine.

“What she did was forced upon her, had it not been throw upon her to carry, she too would of endured the harsh reality of the death of a loved one.”

“In my culture when someone dies, we believe that if they lived a good life they can be with those they loved in the afterlife.”

Mitsos sipped some of the broth from his spoon, “And why are you telling me this?”

He gave a light shrug, “I believe that she is with her father, and others she loved. Perhaps, she is happier then when she had to carry the burden of life.”

“She was meant to stop the destruction of Arywan, Wiralyn. How could she possibly he happy that the world will crumble without her?”

“In the afterlife, people are not burdened with the troubles of life in the Great Beyond.”

He shook his head, “No, I don’t believe that those who die stop caring for the ones they left behind.”

Wiralyn stared at him for a moment, and then sighed, “I will not try to waiver your beliefs, I only meant to bring you comfort in your time of loss.”

“I never asked for your pathetic, unemotional attempt at reassurance.” Mitsos threw his spoon into the stew, causing some of it to spill onto the table. “More importantly, I never wanted you to be part of our group to begin with, elf. I hope that once this is over with, that I never set my eyes upon your face again.”

Mitsos threw himself up and storm out of the dinning hall to his room on the second floor. Wiralyn took a deep breath as he looked at the empty doorway, as he took another sip of wine. He didn’t understand humans causing themselves such grief after the death of someone they knew, of course his people didn’t share bonds with each other. The only people that they cared for were their own children, and that ended when they reached adulthood. Shaking his head, he decided it wasn’t even worth trying to decipher such things, the way of human culture confused him.

---

The cold, fiery night broke way to a smoky morning, the smell of burning wood scented the air. It seemed to fill every orifice of the city, most people used clothes to cover their mouth and nose. Some buildings still burned, though the wizards had settled down the most dangerous fires. One of the greatest cities ablaze for reasons that most didn’t understand, and never would know. It brought a somberness to the city, and even to those who sat in the guildhall eating their breakfast to prepare for a long day’s work.

Mitsos walked down the stairs into the dinning hall, stepping in felt like walking into a cold tomb, there were no voices, no laughs, only the gloom of the night before. He surveyed the room to find Jabin and the two elves slowly eating their way through a bowl of porage. He knew the two elves only kept their silence because of the uneasiness of the room, but Jabin looked like he had had the worst nights sleep. His hair was a mess, and dark circles formed around his eyes, even his clothes were worn saggy.

He grabbed himself a bowl of porage, and walked over to join the others. They spoke nothing to him as he sat down next to Wiralyn, Jabin and Eryalith across from him. All eyes remained on their food, and the silence overtook the room once more. Occasionally someone would stand from their seat, and the chair legs would make a screeching sound as they slide across the wooden floor. He wondered what these thieves were doing now, they couldn’t possibly be stealing from the very people that had come to rescue the city. Perhaps, it was best to not know anything about their dealings, and focus at the task at hand for them.

His eyes shifted to Jabin, who seemed to be shoveling food into his mouth slowly. After his mouth was completely full he would swallow, and continue on. Both Wiralyn and Eryalith took small delicate bites, and when Mitsos’ eyes fell on Eryalith, she gave him a grin. He returned the gesture with a cold glare and frown, and then continued to eat his breakfast.

“Is Theron still asleep?” Mitsos finally broke the silence.

Jabin shook his head, “No, he left a while ago to start cleaning up the manor.”

“Did he eat?” Eryalith asked, a little surprised that Jabin knew anything about Theron’s whereabouts.

He nodded, “Half a bowl, and then he mumbled something about getting to work and left.”

The group returned to their silence, and when Jabin put the last of his food in his mouth, he stood up. “I’m going to see what use I can be around the city.” He said and before Eryalith could say anything, he walked away to drop his bowl off in the kitchen.

“He’s not taking this well.” Eryalith said, and looked at the two men across from her.

Wiralyn was the only one to respond by looking up and giving a nod, “It is their way, they feel continuing on without proper mourning disrespects the dead.”

Slamming his spoon into his bowl, Mitsos stood up and walked out of the dining hall. Eryalith watched him leave and then turned her head back to the high elf.

“What was that about?”

He shook his head slowly, “We have different beliefs about the afterlife, and I think he believes me to be unsympathetic in their loss.”

She gave a slow nod, and then brushed some of her white hair from her face. “I’m confused, Wiralyn, this all seems so strange to me. I am not custom to being around such despair in my companions, I don’t know how to act.”

“I can not help you, as I do not know what should be done either. They are unwilling to accept that our people view death differently. I suggest we continue the silence, until it is fitting to speak.”

She gave a half grin, “My people believe that we are in hell now, and that when we die we are judged. We can continue on into heaven or be sent back here to relive a new life until we get it correct.” She didn’t understand why she told him that, but she needed someone to talk to, and it seemed to be part of the topic on hand.

Wiralyn nodded, “Though it is an interesting theory, I find it difficult to believe, as the population of Arywan grows. How do they explain such?”

“More souls are born and sent into the abyss to suffer, it is why we do not show emotions of happiness. We are being punished and we shouldn’t enjoy it.”

“Punished merely cause you exist?”

She nodded, “We must prove ourselves, I think that’s why my people do not get along with the other races. We believe we are here to suffer our way into a better life, but they believe they are here to prove themselves.”

He stared at her for a moment, and decided he would not question her beliefs further, “What are you going to do today?”

“I was thinking about helping to clean up some of the temples. A lot of their libraries are in disarray, I don’t think I could help with the fallen buildings, just the messy ones.” She smiled and then realized it wasn’t polite for the moment.

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea indeed. Would you mind if I accompanied you in these tasks?”

She nodded. “Wiralyn, may I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Well, when we first met you weren’t like the person you are now. You were rather libidinous…”

“Libidinous?” His eyes widened, and he swallowed deeply, “I hardly think I was being libidinous, perhaps a little overly flirtatious.”

“I’m sorry, perhaps I do not understand the entirety of the word, but I thought it suited how you were acting well enough.” She looked down seeming embarrassed of herself.

“It’s alright, Eryalith, I suppose it could somewhat sum up my behavior. But, yes I was purposely doing such, so that I could seem lesser and become trusted. I saw that the women seemed to be the leaders, and thought perhaps it would be best if I seemed friendly, I suppose.” He stroked his thin brown hair back.

She gave a smile and then nodded, “You thought I was one of the leaders?”

“In my society, women normally take the role of leader, though males do arise occasionally. It was my own ignorance that compelled me to think such.”

“I see. Why did you join us?”

His thin lips parted in a smile, “Perhaps another time, Eryalith. I think that we should begin our tasks, before the others find any more reasons to dislike us for emotional detachments.”

“Alright, I was thinking the Vere temple, first. They need to be able to help heal properly, and can’t with their temple in disorder from the battle.”

He nodded, “Temple of Vere then.” Standing up, he took his and Mitsos’ bowl to the kitchen, and Eryalith followed close behind him.