"Oh. I remember you." Lorthrendel lowered his hand. The blue flame went out as if it had never been. "I had briefly wondered what had happened to you, but I didn't ponder on it very long."

Aerysdren slowly shook his head, his ice blue eyes still wide. "Um...." He rubbed his nape. "What does 'ponder' mean, sir? I-I am still learning Common-" He quickly stopped talking when he noticed Lorthrendel's scarlett eyes rolling in annoyance. Aerysdren flushed a deep red.

The fae switched to Sylvanaar for the sake of convenience. "Might I ask what exactly you're doing back, and how you found us?"

"I didn't find you, sir," explained the elf. "I...I was waiting here."

"For us?"

"Well-um...." Aerysdren averted his gaze to the ground. "Not exactly-"

In the pale light of the moon Lorthrendel thought he could see an ebony chain hanging around the boy's neck. It looked like a necklace, but whatever was hanging on to the chain was hidden by the loose fitting shirt. He felt...drawn to it, somehow.

"What is this?" Lorthrendel reached for it but Aerysdren nimbly jumped back.

He clutched at it. "I'm sorry! B-but it's nothing, sir. Just something...that was given to me. You mustn't take it, please!"

Lorthrendel's eyes narrowed. "What's going on? You're hiding something, elf. And yet...." When the mage searched into Aerysdren's heart, he saw only clouded, hazy memories that he could make nothing out of. Something - someone- was blocking his spell.

Varenyl suddenly stalked over to the two.

"What's going on?" The Sylvari looked at Lorthrendel, somewhat agitated. The wind played with his blond hair as he stood there. "You're making enough noise to wake even the dwarf up."

"It would appear that we have a visitor of the night." Lorthrendel gestured with a grim hand towards the boy that stood in front of the two men.

Varenyl squinted his eyes. "Aerysdren?"

The Sylvanaar shyly raised his hand and waved at him. "Hi."

"Where did you go?" Varenyl demanded, shocked. "And how did you find us?"

"I-"

"He won't give me a straight answer," Lorthrendel gently interjected in Sylvari. "He claims that he was 'waiting' here."

Varenyl glanced at the mage, his brows furrowed. "What? You think he's hiding something?"

"I know he's hiding something, elf," Lorthrendel corrected with a sly grin. "It's painfully obvious. Though what exactly it is, I cannot tell."

"He's a boy, Lorthrendel. If you're suggesting that he has sinister intentions-"

"I'm standing right here, you know," Aerysdren suddenly spoke up, twisting the ends of his leather belt. He let out a soft sigh and looked down at the dancing grass below him, knowing that they were going to ignore him.

"I never said he had sinister intentions, Varenyl." Lorthrendel rolled his eyes at the mere notion of someone like Aerysdren being capable of killing a man. "I am simply saying that he should not be trusted for the time being. Even a fool can see that something about this isn't quite right."

After a slight hesitation, Varenyl turned back to Aerysdren. "Do you plan on staying this time?"

"If...I am welcome to, yes," Aerysdren slowly replied. He did his best to avoid Lorthrendel's scrutiny.

"Well, it doesn't matter to me if you do or not." Varenyl abruptly turned back around and began walking back to where he had been sitting. "I suppose it's up to Isendir. He seems to be the self appointed leader of our little group. If you can even call it that."

Lorthrendel crossed his arms once the Sylvari was gone. The moon's silver light temptatiously glinted off of that mysterious ebony chain around Aerysdren's neck. "You're welcome to if such is your wish," he said. "Although, I am still unclear as to how you knew we were coming...."

"I didn't!" Aerysdren quickly responded. "I-I didn't know where I should go next, so I was just hanging out around here."

"Right...." Lorthrendel ran a hand through his long hair and pushed a strand out of his face. He gestured towards the rest of the camp. "Go ahead then. There's a spare sleeping mat by the horse if you want it."

"Um, thank you, sir." Aerysdren lingered behind a moment before walking ever so slowly past the fae, still rubbing his nape as he did. He swallowed.

With a grim face, Lorthrendel sat back down. He watched as Aerysdren lay down against a rock, hiding his face and turning his back to the camp.

But what Lorthrendel did not know was that elf never once shut his eyes that night.

After that, the dark passed swiftly and silently. The stars slowly began to fade away with dawn's coming, and the moon gradually hastened to its celestial hiding spot beyond the horizon. The group grudgingly awoke, and ate something small to hold them over.

"We had a late night visitor last night," Lorthrendel announced as he readied the horse.

Isendir cast him a sharp glance. "A coyote or a wolf?" The Highlander finished rolling his sleeping mat up and tied it. He lifted it over his shoulder and carried it over to the horse. "I hate those damn things."

"Now that's not polite at all, calling a handsome young boy like Aerysdren a dirty wolf." Lorthrendel cast Isendir a sideways glance. "Wolves are not at all very pleasant," he added, and finished adjusting the straps that tied down the supplies to the horse. The strong, muscular beast eyed him with a calm black eye and gently stomped her hoof on the ground, impatient to be gone.

"What?" Isendir froze and looked around with wide eyes. When he didn't see anything but trees, he sighed and turned back to Lorthrendel with a shake of his head. "That wasn't very amusing, fae." He fastened his sleeping mat onto the horse.

"I am not one for games, Isendir."

At that moment, Aerysdren and Ragnus appeared, shouting at each other. The dwarf stomped along the ground, his beard and clothes dripping with water.

"I didn't mean to scare you!" Aerysdren pleaded, trailing closely behind the furious dwarf. "I just meant so say 'hello'! I did not know that you were so jumpy!"

"Bah!" The dwarf flushed a bright red as he approached Isendir. Water still dripped from his soaked hair. He jabbed a finger at the elf standing close behind him. "I'm going to murder him, Shatterstorm, I swear to all the true gods-"

"Aerysdren?" Isendir's mouth went slack at the sight of the boy. "Y- how did you find us?"

The Sylvanaar ran a hand through his messy black tresses. He smiled awkwardly and avoided eye contact with Lorthrendel, who was staring intently at him.

"I didn't really find you, sir. I was hanging out around this area when you four made camp," he returned slowly. "I'm sorry I left so suddenly, Isendir, and without an explanation. I just...needed to get away. But I-I'd like to stay this time, if you will let me. I promise I won't leave!" He clasped his hands together. "And you needn't worry about me getting hurt. I thought a lot while I was gone...I know that I am ready for an adventure. This one seems most exciting and life changing."

"I'm just...happy to see that you're alright, kid." Isendir's lips split into a warm smile. He patted Aerysdren on his shoulder, resisting the urge to clasp him into a bone crushing embrace.

"So we're just going to forget that he made me fall into that damned creek, then?" Ragnus huffed. He shivered as a puff of wind suddenly blew through the trees. "Bah! And damn this godforsaken weather!"

"I think you will be fine, dwarf." Varenyl tied his cloak back around him and walked up to the others. "Are we ready then? I do not think that it would be wise to stand idle by." He looked at Isendir, then to Aerysdren, then back to Isendir. "I see that you are allowing him to stay. He came during the night. Him and Lorthrendel made enough noise to awake the yetis all the way up in Sheeth Dorei."

"Perhaps you just have a heightened sense of hearing, Varenyl. A side effect of your kin's rather long ears." Lorthrendel cast the Sylvari a charming smile and did not give him enough time to respond. "Let's be off. You will dry off along the way, Ragnus. But if you want, I do have a spell for it...."

It was not until the sun had reached its zenith in the sky that Isendir wondered how Aerysdren had known that they were going on an "adventure".

***🐉***

hi y'all! Thank you so much for reading! Please vote if you enjoyed, and tell me any suggestions and criticism you may have.

This chapter is dedicated to a friend of mine on here, Matt_Fantasy, who has helped me out a lot. Please go check out his book, Dawn of the Forgotten 😊

Also, if any of you have noticed, I removed the prologue from this story after some thought and advice from someone.

Thank you so much again, and until next time~