"Sometimes when I look at you, I feel I'm gazing at a distant star.
It's dazzling, but the light is from tens of thousands of years ago.
Maybe the star doesn't even exist any more. Yet sometimes that light seems more real to me than anything." - Haruki Murakami

When the Black Mountains finally loom up in front if us, their sheer monstrosity place a chill in my heart. The shadows of the sharp cliffs darken the nearby landscape. As my eyes are drawn to the snow covered caps, a cold wind of grey air tugs my cape, forcing me to pull it close.

"We're almost there," Sisse says, white vapour pouring from her mouth. She nervously tugs on her high ponytail and her face darkens. "Unfortunately the last stretch is the most difficult part of the journey."

"No, Sisse of the family Swiftfoot, the most difficult part of the journey is having you on it," Aedan says, his pale blue eyes matching the snow-capped peaks.

The journey here has been pleasant overall, save for some minor tensions between Aedan and Sisse.

She replies with a glare rivalling that of my mother. "Oh little Elderlight, you will be glad I'm here once we make it up that."

Our eyes trail towards the direction she is pointing. The mountain rises up into the clouds almost vertically, revealing a narrow path trailing up the mountain. The contrast of white on black with a fog of grey air seems to suck the life out of us and all our surroundings.

Aedan gulps. "My apologies, Swiftfoot. You are a treat - not like fruit salad, but rather like a special kind of wine - a wine that has been forgotten for two centuries and has gone sour."

She rolls her eyes. "Shouldn't you be insulting your sister rather than me?"

Flicking the silver lock of hair out of his eyes, he replies with a shrug: "I thought I'd give her a break and settle on you."

The icy ground crunches as Tihomir Farforest walks toward us. Placing his hand on Aedan's shoulder, he addresses him with a warm smile: "Give Sisse a break. She is a silver-tongue and the only one that can ensure we arrive there alive and soon you can insult your brother for the first time in years."

Seeing a sly smile cross my twin's face, I don't know why I nick-named him Rabbit. He is actually a sly little fox.

"Two hundred year old wine is also good if you have no taste," he quips.

Sisse's laugh fills the air. "My cousin told me that you have a forked-tongue that is of no good to you."

"I don't need it to be of use to me, but I've had to use it to protect my loved ones against your cousin's treacherous tongue." His hand clenches the hilt of his dagger, making his knuckles turn white.

"You won't make a good king, Aedan Darkwood. Your tongue is too swift and your love too deep."

Tihomir sharply inhales. "Swiftfoot!"

"Ugh, little Farforest! You are so young and your lack of parents clearly shows in you naivety," she says before stomping onwards. "Let's go. The night won't wait and I would rather go insult Strongwind before the Little Tree thinks I whisper treason."

Tihomir crosses his sturdy arms, an uncharacteristic scowl settling on his usually jubilant and care-free face.

That was too low, even for Sisse.

The Farforests passed away when Tihomir was very little, leaving him in his older brother's care. In addition to raising Tihomir, Finnchaem Farforest also inherited his family's seat on Alachna's Elder Council.

"Come Farforest, let's reach the mountains before I strangle that traitor, " Aedan says, placing his hand on Tihomir's shoulder. "Ypu have the one thing that the Swiftfoots and Strongwinds lack - loyalty and honour."

Minutes later, Tihomir's voice booms out, echoing a joke that seems to make the chilly wind a little warmer. Yet as the treacherous path winds and rises, bends and falls, even Tihomir grows quiet as he tries to avoid tumbling to certain death.

Moving in single file, we travel at a turtle's pace. The horses with the wagons they are pulling make the task even more challenging. Every few hundred meters we have to coax them into resuming their task, but Sisse is the only one that can soothe them. Her quick temper disappears as she patiently guides and whisper to them. Only a silver-tongue like her would be able to convince the horses to continue forwards.

After hours of slow but steady progress, the path arrives at the mountain's mouth and we disappear into the beast's innards. As all the daylight vanishes from existence, lone candles appear in sequence to light our way, disappearing in our wake as the last of the party passes.

I'm not sure whether the narrow icy path or the hollow and dark path is more terrifying.

After ages, we finally arrive at an iron gate - its shiny metal newly forged. Four humans in red and brown, with harsh eyes and tired backs suspiciously eye us as we enter through the open gate after muttering a greeting. The metal screeches behind us as they lock the gate.

The tunnel continues but grows wider and more lights light our way, ending abruptly at a platform overlooking the remains of a city. The dark ceiling arches up, allowing thousands of ligtglobes to bathe the black city in a golden hue. The skeletons of what once were roads and houses scatter below us, with only a few buildings toward the middle in an acceptable condition.

We descend down, only to be met by a party of elves in blue and men in brown and red. Recognising Elorhim Strongwind as the leader, I try my best not to groan out loud.

He scans the party, showing no hint of surprise when he sees us. "I greet you with great joy, my family and friends," Elorhim says with an audible strain in his voice.

Sisse mutters a greeting followed by a hesitant bow towards Strongwind.

"Aedan and Laelia Elderlight, we were not expecting you," he replies after acknowledging Sisse greeting.

"The King, our father, granted us permission to come," Aedan says diplomatically, but with a ring of authority warning Elorhim to not question the validity of our presence.

Elorhim nods. "Of course. Prince Faolan Elderlight is currently not here, but I will speak to him and see if he can temporarily break free from his preoccupations. I assume you are here to visit your brother?"

Well, we definitely did not come to see you.

Aedan nods and gives me a glare. "Yes, it has been too long since we last saw him. We have never been apart this long."

He leads us toward the middle of the forgotten city, the rubble clearing up towards the middle. "The quarters prepared for your party are at the end of this street. I will see to it that some of the Order take care of the horses and start the tedious process of unpacking and taking stock. Sisse Swiftfoot, I assume you will hand the responsibility off?"

"Who else, dear cousin? Obviously not Elderlight or Darkwood."

"We have already settled in throughout various locations in the city. We are divided into different companies according to our different tasks and shifts. I hope you do not take offense in not being accommodated with the Order," he explains.

Of course we understand. We know that we are not part of the Second Order. We would not dream of being equalled to you, Elorhim Strongwond.

The quarters that have been prepared for us are on the top floor of the building.

"You are two more than we prepared for. We will need some time to prepare other quarters for the Prince Aedan and Princess Laelia," he continues.

"We understand. We apologise for the inconvenience we are causing," Aedan replies diplomatically.

"There is no need to apologise. I will find out from prince Faolan if he desires your company in his quarters."

"Thank you."

Aedan and I sit down on a sturdy wooden bench, watching the others settle in their quarters.

An elf with dark circles under his eyes approach us after some time. "Prince Aedan and Laelia Darkwood, will you please accompany me?" We have readied a room for you in Faolan's quarters."

He leads us to grand building - its four storeys being the highest in the city.

I smile as I study the building, immediately knowing why Faolan would choose this building to reside in. Its walls are sturdy, and lacking windows. Moreover it is has a strategic position, being difficult to reach save for the winding path with scattered rubble that we took.

"The prince is not present at the moment."

"Where is he?" I ask blatantly. I thought Faolan's responsibility was to lead the men here. Now it seems as if Elorhim is in charge.

The elf's face remains expressionless.
"I cannot disclose that information. "

He leads us in silence into the building. The room is bare, in the tradition of us elves, with only a bed, table, chair and Faolan's chest. Faolan's desk is neatly organised with a few books, stacks of paper, an inkwell and a bowl of water.

Aedan sits down on the bed, immediately taking his shoes off and lying down.

I sit down on the ground, shaking my head at Aedan's arrogance.

After some time, filled with Aedan's complaints, we feel a regal presence entering the room prior to its owner's appearance.

A woman with ash brown hair pulled into a high ponytail walks in, carrying herself like a queen. The blue clothes of the order make her round indigo eyes seem brighter than they are. They regard us with cautious friendliness. "Prince Aedan and Princess Laelia, it is an honour to meet you. I have heard a lot about you."

I stand up to meet her outstretched hand, noticing with a concealed startle that her little finer is barely a stump on her right hand. What an unusual injury!

"I am Aishé, but everyone here just calls me Ash. I don't have all the fancy titles you have. I used to be known as Ash the Lonely Tree, but Faolan abolished that when I got recruited."

My memory flashes back to an event years ago. This is the elf who astonished all of us and rivalled Faolan's skills at her recruitment.

"Ash, it is an honour to meet you," I say, finally letting go of her hand.

Aedan has joined us in the mean time. "Ash, you were absolutely impressive on that day of your recruitment! I'm sad that I didn't get to ask you a hundred questions on that day. I surely have a lot of them."

"Your brother said that the two of you were relentless. I can see why - not that he can say anything. He is way worse."

Aedan and I smile at the same time, and look at each other.

"You are right. All our fault and failures are due to Faolan," Aedan admits.

"Unfortunately my life before Order is non-significant and I don't remember much of it, so your questions can't be answered."

Aedan passes me a glance, letting me know that he also heard the lie in her voice.

"Then my brother will need to find another topic to satiate his curiosity. Would you be able to tell us about the Mountains instead?"

She grabs my hand and pulls me to sit down on Faolan's bed. "I'll tell you what I can, though some of it can only be disclosed to the Order."

After some time of listening to Ash's crystal voice, Faolan finally walks into the room.

"My eyes are deceiving me!" He exclaims with widened eyes.

Aedan and I fly up and rush to him, crashing into his chest as he draws us into a tight embrace.

"Did you at least get our parents' blessing before coming here?"

I nod, but Aedan tells Faolan that we promised we would come, even if it meant defying Mother and Father.

"You little fox! As long as you take the blame and shelter Laelia from Mother's wrath, I don't mind your sins." He finally lets go of us, looking us up and down. "How was your journey here?"

"Quite pleasant, and faster than I thought it would be," Aedan answers with a shrug.

A voice grows from somewhere in the building, approaching us with an unparalleled warmth that seem to fill the room with sunlight. "Faolan, the tunnels on the west side -," it trails off as its owner fills the door.

Involuntarily, my breath is drawn in sharply as my eyes meet with the newcomer. For a moment time seems to stand still as take in his golden curls and the smile that initially adorned his face, being replaced with a clenched jaw.

My mood fouls, reflected in the familiar blue eyes of Khairrim Cadeyrn that still plague me when my thoughts run to the darkest corners of my mind.

"You did not tell me that you will be having visitors," Cadeyrn says, his voice chilling me to the bone, dissipating that memory from years ago before it could even resurface.

"I did not know they would be here. They surprised me - pleasantly I must add," Faolan replies with the joy of summer in his voice.

The Second One does not take his eyes off me - their cold waves crashing into me almost leaving me breathless. "Well then, I am leaving. Let me know when they are gone so that you can resume your training."

As I watch his back turning to us, then distancing from us, I clench my fists.

Aishé takes her leave soon after, leaving Faolan, Aedan and I with the privacy to catch up.

Elorhim makes his appearance hours later, informing us that dinner has been prepared for us and would be brought to Faolan's quarters.

"Elorhim, would you invite Khairrim to join us for dinner?" Faolan asks.

Elorhim returns after some time, shaking his head. "He isn't there or anywhere closeby."

Faolan shrugs and shakes his head. "I thought he meant just leaving the room. I don't understand. He never disappears without cause. He always honours our arrangement. I think this is the second time he ever he leaves without explanation. Something important must have come up."

The few days granted to us to spend with Faolan pass in the blink of an eye, and Aedan and I soon part with Faolan, not knowing when we would be reunited again.