Nura's fingers stretch across the cold bedsheets, her eyes still closed, feeling as though grain has been rubbed into them. Her hand doesn't find who she was hoping to and she squints an eye open to see the bed beside her empty. She buries her face back into the pillow, her muscles crying for her to cocoon herself in warmth and comfort and never move again. But the world demands otherwise and always has when Nura's involved.

An odd feeling churns in her stomach as she sits up. Like butterflies, but these butterflies have jagged wings and they're frenzied. Nura presses her hand to her stomach and breathes in, trying to settle her nerves. She has too much to do today to be wracked with such a thing.

She rubs at her grainy eyes with her palms, shoves the blanket off her legs, and stands, gradually preparing herself for the day ahead.

She gets dressed and skips breakfast, having no stomach for it. Instead she chews on Evergreen root to ease the pounding behind her eyes, the thick taste of mint and dirt filling her mouth. She looks outside where the light needles into her head as she chews. She has to face it all eventually.

Nura steps onto the porch and tosses the chewed root to the grass. She watches the soldiers pack their camp and prepare to leave again. Tiran spots her and makes his way towards her, clad once again in his heavy plated steel that clanks with each step he takes

"Ma'am," he greets, his helmet tucked under his arm as he nods his head at her.

"Knight-Captain," she replies, surveying the scene before her as the soldiers mount their horses. "You're leaving."

"We are, and I suggest you do the same."

"I have to wait for Rephas to come back from..." her voice trails off as she realises she doesn't know where he is. Usually it doesn't concern her because she knows he's working tirelessly. But today Nura would have thought he wouldn't leave her side.

The soldier narrows his gaze.

"He'll be back from making preparations soon," Nura finishes, even as her gaze flicks to the forest and gruesome thoughts of Shadow Elves and poisonous traps enter her mind.

"Very well," he says with a stiff bow. "I thank you for your hospitality."

"And I thank you for your protection," she says, intertwining her fingers behind her back, her nerves clenching in her stomach once again.

Tiran turns to join his men but pauses. "If you see any Elves," he says and the words wrap around Nura's throat, "don't hesitate to reach out to me. We're stationed at Fort Dunmyr."

"I thought we no longer hunted Elves in the Human lands."

"We don't, I just have a few questions for this particular Ice Elf." He marches away and Nura's hands tighten behind her back, her nails digging into her skin as she watches them go. Their horses thunder up the hill, the sun glinting on their armour as they reach the road and disappear.

Nura leaps down the steps and runs to Rephas' alcove beside the cabin, his smelter and workbenches within, cluttered with tools and game.

"Rephas?" she calls, but she doesn't see him amongst the shadowed area.

The nerves in her stomach jump and writhe, threatening to make her sick.

Her hands curl into fists and she looks towards the road, towards the village. Someone will have seen something. He would have told someone where he was going. Nura doesn't intend to leave without her husband.

She rushes to the stables, her breaths coming short as she saddles her mare, Rephas' stallion munching on hay within.

He walked. He walked to the village. That's what she keeps telling herself as she rides through the grass and towards the village of people who want her blood.

She passes the slouched fences that divide her land from the road, both her and Rephas have been meaning to fix them for the longest time. There was never a rush, never a dire need to keep anything out. Until things changed.

Large oak trees litter the sides of the road, offering shade when all Nura wants is more sun, more warmth, more reassurance that the world isn't dark and cold.

The dirt road seems to stretch on before her, lengthening with every stride her mare takes. The distance between Nura and the trails of smoke from the village doesn't seem to lessen, an endless winding road that demands she continue to feel helpless for eternity.

Nura sinks her teeth into her lower lip, the pain forcing the tears down. Weakness won't help her find Rephas.

She whips the reins, digs her heels into the horse's flanks, and bounds towards the village, her heart thundering with the gallop of the mare.

The village is frothing with life when she tears into it, the events from the night before hanging in the air.

Nura tugs the reins, the horse spraying dirt as her hooves dig into the ground to come to a sliding stop. Nura leaps from the saddle, winds the reins around a post and rushes into Hearthfire Inn. The conversations within hush with her flustered arrival, all eyes turning to her. Nura nearly runs back to her horse, nearly hides her face as their scrutinising gazes judge every inch of her.

But then she remembers that her husband is missing and she won't rest until he's by her side, safe and well.

"Have any of you seen Rephas?" Nura asks, her tone breathless.

No one answers her right away, the silence thick and rife with a tension that prickles Nura's skin.

"Brave of you to come back here, lass," a man says, his gaze cold as he settles it upon her.

"I just need to find my husband. Please."

"Brave, or stupid," the man continues, not hearing her.

A woman stands, a curl to her lip as she regards Nura. "It was my brother who died at the Harvest Ceremony," she sneers and raises a finger, pointed at Nura. "And it was your name written on him."

"I tried," Nura says, her voice trembling as she's faced with their wrath and sorrow. "I tried to help him."

"It's your fault he's dead!" she screams and Nura flinches, easing back a step.

"Please, I just need to find Rephas."

"And I want my brother."

Tears prick at Nura's eyes as she looks upon the woman, her face twisted, her eyes carrying the loss she shouldn't have to.

Then Nura looks towards the bar where Calla stands, her eyes wide as she watches the scene unfold before her. She opens her mouth when she catches Nura's gaze and gives Nura a silent order; go.

Nura hesitates as she looks back over the faces before her, eager to blame her. Every moment that passes convinces Nura further that she is to blame.

Nura flees. She grips her skirts and pushes through the door, only to stumble upon people blocking the street, having followed her to the inn. Her heart jumps to her throat and she knows that she won't escape this time.

But like a rabbit in a snare, she still fights because she has no other choice.

She darts to the side of the porch and sucks in a deep breath before hurdling over the railing. The drop is small but she stumbles as she lands, pain flashing up her ankle. Shouts echo behind her and she doesn't hesitate anymore. Nura runs, her hands fisted in her skirt to keep herself from tripping on them.

She glances behind her to see the angry faces drawing closer, gaining on her as she struggles with her inflamed ankle. She's not going to make it beyond the village, especially since her horse resides between her and a sea of furious bodies.

Nura's pulse flares as she realises she's trapped and alone, not even Rephas' hand in hers is here to guide her. The soldiers have moved on and no one will stand between her and a Witch's death.

Nura twists around a corner, the squat homes closing in on her as she sprints through shadowed alleys. She loses their fierce gazes for a brief moment but she knows it's only a temporary respite.

She keeps going, losing herself amongst the homes, getting turned in circles until she doesn't know which way to go to get back to the cabin. She sucks in deep breaths, willing herself to keep her head on straight. But she can hear their shouts as they join her amongst the alleys and the air is becoming thin.

Something shifts beside her and Nura cries out, but her voice is muffled behind a palm and she's dragged through a doorway. Nura struggles, sending an elbow back into her attacker who grunts but tightens their arm around her waist.

Her eyes are wide as a couple of men run through the alley, past where she is, and continue through the homes. Her attacker loosens their hold once they've past and Nura spins around.

She comes face to face with the Ice Elf.

"What are you doing?" she demands, breathing heavily as she leans against the wall, her knees trembling.

The Ice Elf tilts his hooded head. "Helping you," he replies.

Nura lowers her head, her chest heaving with each breath. "Thank you."

"I think it's time to leave, Nura."

"Leave?" Her head snaps up to glare at him. "I need to find Rephas first. I'm not going anywhere without him."

The Ice Elf reaches into his pocket with a gloved hand and takes out a slip of paper. "Your husband told me to give this to you."

"What?" Nura snatches the paper from his hand, opening it with trembling fingers.

Don't look for me. Nura presses her fingers to her lips as she reads those words in Rephas' script. It's too dangerous, Nura. All I want is for you to be safe and to accomplish that you need to let me go. A sob wells from her lips. I should have told you about the things that happened to me before I came to the Hold, but I was terrified that if I involved you, then you would be a target too. Taliondil has promised to protect you. He will get you somewhere safe. Trust him, but no one else. I'm sorry, Nura. Know that I love you and will always love you. Please live your life away from this darkness.

The letter ends. Nura flips it over, searching for anymore writing, anything to explain to her why all of this is happening. But there's nothing and Nura is left with icy hands and emptiness.

"He's all I have," she utters, tears dripping down her cheeks. "He's all I have." She slips to the floor with the note pressed to her chest, her heart withering like a flower in Snowfall.

She doesn't know how to accept this, how to process it and move on. She can't. She won't.

Nura refuses to accept it.

"The cabin," she whispers. "There has to be something more at the cabin." She stands and faces the alley as she clings to the letter.

"Nura," the Ice Elf – Taliondil – hisses.

"I'm going back to the cabin," she says, resolve hardening her heart.

"Nura, no."

She doesn't hear him as she darts back into the alley and runs into the heavy silence of the village, the villager's search for her having moved on.

She has to find Rephas. Nothing else matters.

The streets are empty when she stumbles upon them. She whirls around but finds no angry villages, only the smell of smoke lingering in the air. She rushes to her horse, pulls herself onto the saddle, and gallops forward with a cry.

The wind tugs at her hair, carrying still that stench of smoke. It becomes stronger as she rides and as she rounds a corner she sees the thick waves of smoke rising in the air, black as the Abyss.

Her gut lurches when she sees which building has been set ablaze. Aurmir's shop.

Nura yanks the reins to stop the horse as she gazes upon the licking flames, swallowing the shop and the priceless things inside.

"Aurmir!" she screams, the smoke choking her with its foul stench, toxic with what it burns. Her watering eyes scour the building and the area, searching for the man. "Aurmir!" She turns the horse, whipping her head around, trying to find him, panic welling within her like the rising tide. But he's nowhere to be seen.

She squeezes her eyes shut. She can't stay here, they'll find her again soon.

With another pained glance towards Aurmir's burning shop, she rides again towards the cabin, willing her resolve to stay strong because it's the only thing keeping her from bowing down and allowing the world to consume her.

Nura crests the hill to the cabin with hope beginning to bloom in her chest. The hope is dashed when she sees her home.

Nura cries out, her chest swelling with agony to see her cabin bathed in smoke and fire, the villagers still in the process of lighting the stables on fire. She leaps down from her mare as she hears the frenzied screams of Rephas' horse within the stables.

She runs towards her cabin, needing to save the animal but a black stallion rears into her path.

"Stop, Nura," the rider commands and Taliondil jumps down from the horse.

"They're burning it," she exclaims, unable to catch her breath. "They're burning everything. Why? Why are they doing this?" Her knees give out and she falls, only the Ice Elf's arms stopping her from hitting the ground. She clings to him as she weeps, her entire body shaking.

"They've called for Witch Hunters, Nura," he says, his voice calm and soft. "Do you hear me?" He grips her arms and forces her back to her feet, forces her to stand when she can't possibly anymore. "Soon this place will be crawling with people that won't just settle for terrorising you. They'll put you down like a fucking dog and they won't stop." He shakes her and she swallows her next sob as she listens to what he's saying. "There's no penalty against Witches in the Elven lands. It's the only place you'll be safe."

Safe. It's what Rephas wanted for her. It was his last request. But how can she think about being safe when he's out there in a world of danger, facing things he's been running from for years?

She steps away from Taliondil, wipes her tears and nods. "Okay. We'll go to the Elven lands."

Nura won't be able to find Rephas if the Witch Hunters get to her first. And Taliondil could know where Rephas is.

Nura will find him, no matter the cost.