"Keep up slow poke," Caleb teased, his lean body snaking through the forest easily. Wind brushed through trees, ruffling the leaves and rocking the branches. Pine needles crunched underneath my feet, the sound melting into the noises of the forest. I could hear the elf children laughing a mile away; I could hear them scrambling after one another, the soft clang of their wooden swords and war cries echoing after them.

"Keep up the teasing and see where it gets you," I called back, my feet hurrying after his shadow of a figure.

"Oh yeah?" Caleb waggled his eyebrows. I danced towards him, my graceful motions holding his attention as if he was a cobra and piper trying to sooth him. When I neared him, I saw a flicker of desire in his eyes and I know he saw the same flash in mine. His arms snagged me around the waist, pulling me to his body. Heat, he was so warm, the curves of his body melted into mine. I felt his stare and I looked up to meet it; his lips came crashing down on mine. Passionate, savory, sweet, I craved Caleb, everything about him. I snagged his lower lip giving it a slight tug, beckoning him closer. Wind whipped through our hair, tangling mine into a blond ball of sunlight. Caleb's breath slid down my throat, the hot, heavy air resting between my breasts.

"Let's go," he encouraged, kissing my forehead before leaping out of my reach. A meadow stood just beyond the trees, the sunlit grass lay underneath a mass of multi colored flowers, the faint sight of the pollen spun through the faint breeze. Caleb ducked underneath a low hanging branch before dashing out into the meadow. The grass brushed against my ankles and the dirt sank underneath my weight. I watched Caleb turn away from me gesturing towards the north corner of the meadow. My feet remained planted, a flash of silver catching my eye. I looked towards Caleb, his sweet eyes catching mine. The flash of sliver slowed, it was hair, it draped down the back of the woman that stepped into the field. The atmosphere changed, it grew cold, a thick breeze of cold wind blew through me, knocking me to my knees. I coughed, my lungs tried to expand, but it was though they were frozen in time.

"I knew you were more than you said," the woman hissed, her naked body glowing against the sun.

"No matter what you do, and I mean no matter what," Caleb boomed, his face growing angry. "The equitem will return!" I felt the oxygen enter my system and I collapsed, my shaking arms fought to push me to a standing position. Darkness swam above us, the clouds turning black, their thick pillow like forms filling the sky. An earth cracking sound erupted, and then a single bolt of electricity flew from the clouds. Caleb arched in pain as the lightning bolt struck him in the center of his chest. The woman with the silver hair cackled, her silver hair raging behind her as angry as the darkness she created in the sky. She was a witch and she was killing Caleb. I forced myself to stand, as I planted my feet to run at the witch, I caught Caleb's hand waving at me. I looked towards him as his body quivered underneath the bolts power. Smaller bits of the bolt broke off, acting as spider webs as they slithered across Caleb's body, draining him, everywhere. He mouthed "I love you" before his body dropped, crooked and broken, to the ground.

"Caleb no!" I screeched. The witch dove into the sky, disappearing from sight. I raced towards Caleb, my feet stumbling over one or another. Dropping beside his body, my hair fell around our faces, a blond curtain of hair guarding us from the world. I pulled his head into my lap, brushing his thick brown hair away from his face. Hot, salty tears ran down my face, dropping onto his nose. I kissed him, over and over again, his lips remained still, cold, unlike the warm passion I enjoyed from his lips two minutes before.

"I love you, Caleb," I whispered against his forehead. "I love you, always. Pinky promise."

I woke up, my face mangled with tears and sweat. My shirt clung to my body, and my sheets seemed to be glued to every curve and contour of my body. I had been having dreams about Caleb ever since he died. That was two years and three weeks ago, 751 days of repeating dreams, well they were more like nightmares. Some people in the village claim that it was my hearts way of healing itself, that a broken heart heals in many ways. I told everyone they stopped after the first year, my parents wanted to bring in a witch and have her erase my memory of Caleb. I refused, and told them that they would get better with time. Having these memories of Caleb, no matter how painful, was better than having no trace of him. I walked over to the wall on the far side of the bedroom, grabbing the thin wooden stake from the floor; I carved a tally into the wood. Pushing myself back onto my butt, I wrapped my arms around my knees and stared at all the tallies. There was one for every flashback I had of Caleb. I didn't do this to my own wall of course; my parents would know immediately if I carved anything into our tree home. I did it to Caleb's wall; I often stayed at his house at night, breathing in the faint scent of him that still lingered in the bark.

Walking around the empty house was still hard, Caleb and I had been together since we were seven, and we both turned sixteen the year he passed. I was eighteen now and I still loved Caleb, the real kind of love, not the teenage hormonal kind; sure we were hormonal, but we cared, deeply, about one another. My fingers brushed across the top of the pictures that sat on his coffee table, each one holding a picture of us on one of our adventures. Moving towards the balcony, I felt my breath catch, the night air caused the paper on the wall to flutter slightly, the noise almost a low hum. I rushed to the paper and pinned it securely against the wall. The words splayed across the page in Caleb's messy handwriting, the thick black ink forever glued to this page. It was a letter to me, Caleb's last letter to me to be precise. I read the scrambled handwriting; its words bringing a pocket full of fresh tears:

Dear Aria,

Please meet me by the pasture; I have something to show you today. Don't tell your parents that we're going out, you know how they get. Also, don't eat lunch; I have food where I'm taking you. Oh and Aria, I love you baby doll. You're my whole world, and then some.

Love, Caleb

P.S: Don't you even think about sneaking one of my cookies you made me. I counted.

Brushing the salty drops off my face, I made my way down the stairs. Crossing between houses in my village was simple, just stay in the shadows and no one will see you. Elves don't have very good vision; I always found it peculiar that I seemed to have heightened senses while theirs were dulled. Shrugging off the thought I climbed up the side of my home, this tree was thick, full of the magic that ran through its roots. I threw myself over my own balcony and slipped quietly through the doors. As I climbed into bed, I could feel myself drifting off, the soft pillows acting as a comfort to my worn out body. Darkness began erupting in my mind, shutting down my system, pulling me closer towards the world of the unconscious.

"WEREWOLVES!" The alarms suddenly screamed, dragging me from my peaceful drifting off. I launched from bed and dashed towards my closest. Pulling off my damp nightgown, I trudged on the thin leafy material all elves own. Knives strapped themselves around my thighs, my waist, and a strong silver sword attached to my back. Yanking the tangled blond mess of my hair into a ponytail and I ran to my balcony, no thinking a second about the forty foot drop before I jumped over the balcony's edge. I landed lightly on my feet, the earth acting as a foam mat to ease the stress of my jump. I could see other elves scrambling, mothers slamming windows and doors shut, men dashing towards darkness. I closed my eyes and listened, I could pick up the sound of twelve maybe thirteen werewolves, they were a pack.

Taking to the trees I passed the horde of elves racing towards the threat. The leaves acted as a barrier blocking me from the pack's sight, I examined them, their bristled fur quivering as they awaited the fight that they knew was about to come. I picked out the alpha; he was hanging back, looking over his pack with monstrous yellow eyes. I heard the elves approach, their cries of furry rattling my bones. The wolves lowered themselves as the elves came into view, the moonlit bounced off their swords and arrows illuminating the battlefield.

"Enough!" A voice cried dropping a thick silver barrier between the two enemies. I gripped the branch startled, the barrier rippled, as though it was a liquid. Each side could see the other, but neither made a move towards the other. A witch perched herself on top of the barrier, her green eyes meeting the eyes of the alpha.

"Remove the barrier and let us pass hag," the alpha barked, his voice muffled and thick.

"You know this village is off limit to you," she responded, dropping her body to a sitting position on the barrier.

"You can no longer hide the girl," he hollered back. "She will end us all!"

"She knows nothing of what she is!" The witched screeched, shaking the trees and earth with her high pitched tone. "Who knows what will happen if you kill her!"

"Those beings we fear will not reach us!" He growled. "That is all that will occur."

"You do not know that," she cackled. "The portal separating us could break, she is the reason it remains closed, if the power she contains is release then the portal might open. Will you want to deal with that equitem's angered beast? You know it will seek revenge." I sat there quite, the elves seemed to have gained more confidence by this witches words, they put their swords away and stood defiantly behind the rippling barrier. The wolves began to retreat, the alpha's eyes meeting the witches for the last time before they disappeared into the darkness. The witch lifted the barrier and flew into the sky, and then the elves headed back to the village. I sat there for what seemed like forever. That witches words, stopped the wolves from attacking, the elves didn't even fear the witch. I was so confused, pushing my hands through my hair I felt a fresh sting of tears.

"Equitem," I whispered. I had to find out what that word meant, why it seemed to bring fear to the alpha. Caleb spoke of the return of the equitem; maybe he had some information on it back at his house. With my new goal in mind I began working my way back through the trees. The distant howl of the wolf back sending shivers down my spine.