Ines was hastily walking through the snow-lit forest. The night before had been rough, and while sleep had spread over the city, the snow quietly fell, painting the world with white. In the sleek midwinter, the sunlight brought a brightness to her surroundings, and Ines, loving winter as she did, yearned to admire the beautiful landscape. She had not time for delaying, though.

'I don't have much time left. Come on!' she whispered to herself, as she anxiously searched for clues on the ground.

The old elf had given her explicit instructions; it would be impossible for her to find them if she didn't reach out to her powers. She wasn't sure how that would help her, so she had chosen to use the tracking skills she had already mastered instead. So far her efforts had been fruitless; no footprints, no signs of their presence. Ines was beginning to worry about the time.

After a few minutes' futile search, she eventually realised that she was running late, and that she had to at least try to use her powers if she wanted to survive that mission. She stood still and closed her eyes, breathing in the crispy air of the woods to calm herself and harness the flow of her powers. She wasn't sure what she was doing, but she trusted her gut and let it come to her naturally.

A few seconds passed, and slowly she began to feel a tingle in her fingers, a small tug in her mind, and without knowing it her legs moved on their own. She didn't know where she was heading to, the only thing that guided was a tiny light glowing through the trees like a trail of magic left behind wherever the old elf had cast a spell.

Ines followed the trail, and soon enough she reached a well-hidden opening through some rocks that led to a small passage between bushes and trees. The first thing she noticed there was the old elf standing with his back at the opening.

'You are out of time,' the old elf said in a dry tone, and turned around to look at her. 'You have failed. Too bad the magic inside him can no longer be removed.'

'What?' she yelled, her eyes going round, her heart racing in panic.

She didn't want to believe him; it was too painful for her. She immediately ran towards Matthew who was sitting by a rock a few meters away from him and he was staring blankly straight ahead. Ines knelt beside him, her brows furrowed from worry, and gently touched his face, trying to deny that her delay was the cause of his unconscious state.

She couldn't control her feelings as she looked at those dead eyes that didn't return her gaze, in her body raved a thunderstorm so great, it broke down and scattered her soul away. Her emotions rallied her powers and roused the familiar sense of energy in her body, her eyes brightening up.

'Is that all you can do?' the elf shouted behind her. 'Create a blast? Focus your mind!'

Ines mastered all her strength to keep her powers at bay; she didn't know how they would affect him, and she didn't want to make his state worse. She only wished to rid him of that awful spell. As if on cue her arms started burning up. Ines felt like they were on fire and when she couldn't take it any longer, she quickly removed them and immediately felt better.

'The results are promising,' said the old elf.

He stood over Matthew and with a snap of his fingers he obviously broke the spell, because seconds after Matthew shook his head, blinking rapidly, and seemed to regain consciousness. Ines thanked the heavens for bringing him back to her.

'Uhmm...what did I miss?' he asked them groggily.

'A possible death!' she exclaimed in anger.

'What?'

'Nonsense!' the elf dismissed her outburst with a wave of his hand. 'I could simply remove the spell from the start, but I wanted to test you. That seemed to do the trick.'

'Ugh!' Matthew groaned while glaring at him.

'So, you lied to us,' Ines said.

'I did not lie to you; I just omitted a few details. What matters is that I had no other choice; you would not react the same way if you knew that he was not in real danger. I needed to see you use your powers differently.'

Ines looked at him with a blank expression on her face. She still didn't understand how Matthew was connected to all that, why he had to suffer so much for her sake. She was furious with the elf for recklessly putting him at risk without considering his opinion.

'Enough for today,' he said, 'it is getting dark. We had better return to the city.'

The old man was about to walk away towards the entrance of the passage, but Ines stopped him before he could take another step. 'No. You tortured him without even asking him how he would feel. I will not stand for your demeaning attitude and your senseless training methods anymore.'

'Why do you care so much about my treating him? He can handle himself.'

Because I care for him!, a voice screamed in her mind. She shyly glanced at Matthew who was staring at her with a ghost of a smile on his lips.

'Because he would do the same for me,' she said instead.

'I will leave it at that. Come.'

'Not unless you promise. No more tricks, no more half-truths, or I'm out,' she warned him, her voice laced with determination.

'Okay, okay, you have my word.'

Ines nodded at him in satisfaction and went to help Matthew get up. Together they exited the passageway that barely fit both of them together. Ines' heart fluttered with every step they took in that close proximity, his arm around her shoulders for support. The old elf was walking ahead, leading the way back to the city.

The forest was painted in the colours of the dusk as the last sun rays of the day kissed the snow-covered earth. Soon the path ahead of them would disappear into darkness, and they hastily stepped over the icy snow. Ines looked at the elf's slender back and remembered that he basically hadn't explained anything to her.

'You wanna explain to me what happened today?' she asked him.

A few seconds of silence passed before he replied. 'At first I believed you showed signs of telepathy. However, after our lessons I deduced that your powers are not like mine.'

'And?'

'You seem to absorb the power from elves near you, making them weak and vulnerable, and you probably need a source of magic to activate that. When we fought at the clearing the blast you created drained my powers, and I was unable to cast a spell for a few minutes. Apparently, your powers are interwoven with your emotions. Every time you feel threatened or frightened, they instinctively rise to the surface. At the clearing I had a general idea of what happened, but I needed something else, something more delicate to help me see you control your powers, not just set them free.'

'And how would endangering Matthew help in any way?'

'You would be afraid to create that blast again.'

Ines thought it over. The second time she had used her powers she was more controlled, more conscious, she had taken hold of her emotions and propelled them to work differently.

'Wait a second,' Matthew interrupted them. 'Why did I have to come too?'

'It is time you were trained to face elves too, and understand how his powers work, if you wish to stay by his side.'

Ines felt his eyes landing on her face, and she kept her gaze trained on her feet. She was a bit unsure if he still really wanted to stay after all that had happened. She was used to people disappearing when things went downhill.

'Okay,' he said without looking away from her.

Gradually they exited the woods and the city bridge appeared through the trees. They were about to head towards it, when Ines suddenly felt a huge bird attacking her hair. She yelled in frustration and waved her arms in the air, trying to shoo the brown falcon away, and it screeched and bit her fingers. As she was fighting for her life, she heard laughing from behind her.

She immediately turned around and saw Inerma and Landos chuckling with her distress. Inerma sent the bird away with a sheepish smile.

'Will you stop being such jerks?' she seethed at them.

'Will you master your powers already?' Landos answered back sassily.

'Yeah, because you mastered your powers in a single day, huh?'

'Oh, please, I could brew potions since I was a baby.'

Ines opened her mouth to grace him with her outmost congratulations, but a rough hand covered her mouth before they could hear her not so praising words. She looked up to see whom that hand belonged to and saw Matthew staring at her, his eyes sparkling with humour. That immediately made her anger evaporate.

Their gaze was interrupted by a smiling Inerma who took her hand and pulled her away towards the city. The women quietly crossed the bridge, enjoying the beautiful night under the starry sky, until Inerma started asking her how it went. She patiently answered all her questions, leaving out unnecessary details, and prompted her to talk about her day.

They cheerfully chatted all the way down the infirmary, and as they walked with their arms linked together Ines felt like maybe she had gained a friend who honestly listened to her and cared for what she had to say. It was something new to her, to be able to share her burdens and thoughts. When they reached the infirmary, they bid each other goodbye with smiling faces, and promised to each other to meet before her training the next day.

Ines watched Inerma and the others walk away. Matthew stood next to her, admiring the city that was already asleep, and softly touched her shoulder.

'Come on,' he whispered. 'You must be exhausted.'

He led her to her bed and made her lie down despite her protests about being perfectly capable of finding her way to the bed on her own. She rested her head on her pillow and glanced at Matthew. His tall figure silently moved in the room, casting shadows on the walls. While he stole fleeting glances from her, Ines fell into a gentle slumber, and asleep she made the leap her waking brain was afraid to make; a leap closer to him and her heart.

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A/N: Hi! Soooo how was this chapter? I find it insane that there are actually people reading this story. It shocks me, to be honest. Thank you all! ❤ Wish to our protagonists a good night by leaving a vote xo

Phrase of chapter:  fugit inreparabile tempus / time is flying never to return  - Virgil