The Legend of the Seven

Heartbreak

As the sun began to set Arcaena emerged from the cave, Celaena let out a sigh of relief and rushed over to he twin "Well what did you learn?" Theoden asked as the girls hugged. Arcaena let her sister go "The ancestor gods spoke to me, they told me my magic is a gift directly from them. They want me to train with the elders, learn how to control and use it." she stated bluntly. Ailwin nodded "I know who you can train with, my grandmother on my father's side. She was very gifted when she was young, her power has only grown with age." he said. "Well we have to return to Naellin first." Celaena said. The others nodded "Then let's get going, I for one can't wait to reunite with Shael." Arcaena said grabbing her sister's hand. Celaena smiled and the four began heading towards Ancestor wood. It was half a day's ride from the cave to the edge of the woods, the two moons were just about to peak as the four arrived. They began looking around for any sign of the others, finding nothing Celaena looked from Arcaena to Theoden with growing panic. Theoden grabbed her hands "Worry not. They were further away than us, it's to be expected that we arrived first." he said. Ailwin jumped in "Let's just make camp here for tonight, we'll take turns watching for the others." he said. Arcaena nodded "You and I can take the first watch." she said placing her hand on Celaena's shoulder. Celaena took a deep breath and smiled to herself knowing the others were doing everything they could to comfort her.

As Arcaena and Celaena sat watching the horizon the boys set up camp for the four of them. Ailwin brought food to the girls "Theoden and I will relieve you two just after sun rise." he said before going to settle into bed. As the boys slept Celaena let out a sigh "I miss her so much Caen, we never should have let her out of our sight. I'm so worried." she finished with another sigh. Arcaena placed her hand on top of Celaena's "Oh Laena, Shael is so strong. Stronger than you or even I give her credit for, how many years did mother spend teaching her to fight? How long did I teach her to defend herself? The four of us, mother, father, you, and I prepared her well for this. She WILL come home to us." she said looking over at her sister. Celaena gave a small smile "She will come home to us." she nodded. A sense of calm washed over her as she repeated that phrase to herself over and over again. Sunrise came rather quickly, Celaena let out a loud sigh as the boys came over to send the girls to bed. She stood staring out across the plains before Arcaena grabbed her by the shoulders and lead her to bed "Wake us as soon as you see them." Celaena said looking back. Theoden nodded to her "I will my dear, get some sleep." he said.

Arcaena and Celaena curled up together as Ailwin and Theoden settled into their watch. Ailwin shook his head "I don't understand why she's so worried." he said. Theoden raised an eyebrow "You aren't worried about your brother?" he asked. Ailwin shook his head again "No, I trust him, and if something was wrong I'd feel it." he stated almost as bluntly as Arcaena would. Theoden's confusion only grew "Well I'm worried about mine. And to those girls Shael is another sister. The five of us are a family, the only family any of us have left in reality." he stated shaking off the pain that thought brought him. Realization washed over Ailwin "I...I'm sorry, I didn't think of what you all lost in Asisari." he said truly feeling his error. Theoden shook his head "No need to be, but if you plan on being part of this family, you are going to have to try harder to connect, with all of us." he said. Ailwin raised an eyebrow "What do you mean?" he asked. Theoden placed a hand on Ailwin's shoulder "I mean you're distant, you can come off as cold and detached. Like not being worried about your baby brother! He's out there somewhere, for all you know in danger. The only backup he has are two lightly armed elves who have only seen battle twice, and one of those times Arcaena and Elzae won the day for us all." he said getting a bit more excited than he planned.

Before Ailwin could respond Theoden sighed "Sorry, that came off harsher than I meant for it to." he said looking down. Ailwin also sighed "No I get it, you're right. I've always had a hard time connecting, even with Ayred. He believes I don't like him for that exact reason, but that couldn't be further from the truth. If I'm being honest I wish I could be more like him." he said. Theoden raised an eyebrow "How so?" he asked. Ailwin looked up into Theoden's eyes "He's so free, he loves without bound, he gives his smile and laughter easily. He can connect with a person he's known fr hours, I can't, I can't even connect with him and I was there when he was born." he stated sadly. Theoden placed his hands on Ailwin's shoulders "I can't say I truly understand, but what I can say is I will try to help you. After all we're family, right?" he said with a small smile. Ailwin nodded "Right." he smiled back. The sun peaked as the girls woke, the four came together as a group "We should expect the others any time, by now they should have reached their unicorns and be well on their way." Ailwin said. The others nodded "Well we're all awake so let's take some time to relax and clear our heads while we wait." Arcaena suggested.

Theoden and Celaena went to the tree line and sat together, Ailwin grabbed Arcaena's hand "Come on, there's something I want to show you." he said as he started to pull her away. Arcaena smiled "The last time you said that I ended up bonded to a dragon hatchling!" she jested. Ailwin laughed "Worry not, it's nothing as serious as that." he said leading her into the trees. Just a few feet inside the trees the grass turned into a bluebell field that stretched as far as the eye could see. The flowers covered the base of the trees, coming up to the elves ankles, Ailwin sat down "At night they glow the brightest blue I've ever seen. Before my father died he'd bring me here, just the two of us. He told me his mother would bring him here when he was young, for some reason this place is full of magic. He would tell me of the inner peace it would bring him when they came here, he hoped it would do the same for me." he said. Arcaena sat down next to him "You've never talked about him before." she said placing her hand on his. Ailwin sighed "Theoden and I had a conversation while you slept, he reminded me of my father in that moment. Reminded me I need to be more open." he said. Arcaena nodded "He's good at that. Without him none of us would have survived the attack at Asisari, nevertheless made it to Naellin." she said.

Arcaena suddenly stood up "Come on, let's have some fun." she said pulling Ailwin up with her. The two spent the next few hours frolicking through the flowers and laughing together. Ailwin suddenly pulled Arcaena close "I haven't laughed so much in years..." he said placing his forehead against hers. He let out a small sigh "I love you Arcaena." he stated laying his heart in her hands. She gave a small smile "I love you too." she said. He leaned in to kiss her, she went to meet him halfway but before their lips met Ailwin let out a loud gasp. Arcaena pulled back and saw the blood start to appear on his shirt. Ailwin fell to the ground blood pooling around him, Arcaena fell to her knees and cradled him in her arms. Tears beginning to fall from her eyes "Run!" Ailwin whispered with all his might. Arcaena shook her head "Never!" she said her voice cracking in pain. Suddenly she heard a twig snap, she looked up and saw four men were beginning to surround her. Ailwin took one last ragged breath then his chest stopped rising and falling. Arcaena let out a deep, guttural scream, louder than she ever had before. As the sound rang out bright purple flames burst out in a circle around her engulfing everything in a ten foot radius.

Theoden and Celaena heard the scream from their spot at the edge of the woods, they both jumped to their feet "That was Arcaena!" Celaena yelled as she began running. Theoden was just behind her as they ran into the trees, the scene they came upon was heart wrenching. Arcaena sat holding Ailwin's dead body sobbing loudly, four human men laid a few feet away one wasn't breathing and the other three were burned. The ground around all of them was scorched beyond all recognition. The four men quickly disappeared in a black mist at the arrival of Celaena and Theoden, though they didn't care. Celaena kneeled down next to her sister, she placed a hand on her shoulder gently "Arcaena... You have to let him go..." she said in a sweet whispered tone. Arcaena shook her hand off "No!" she yelled "I won't!" the pain in her voice was clear. Celaena looked up at Theoden, her eyes begging for his help, Theoden kneeled down next to them "Arcaena, look at me." he said. She raised her head slightly not looking into his moss green eyes "I said look at me." he said a bit more forcefully this time, he grabbed her chin and raised her head. She tried to shake him off but he held tight "He is gone Arcaena, you need to let him go." he stated looking directly into her amethyst purple eyes. Tears streamed down her face as she let Ailwin go and wrapped her arms around Theoden's neck, he picked her up cradling her in his arms as she sobbed into his chest.

Theoden carried her back to their camp and laid her down in her bed roll. They then went back for Ailwin's body, just as they laid him down in the center of camp Ayred, Shael, and Wyn appeared on the horizon. At the sight of Arcaena and Ailwin on the ground the three dismounted their unicorns and began running as fast as they could. Ayred was the first to reach them, he fell to his knees next to his brother's body "No... No! This can't be happening. This isn't real!" he cried out. Wyn and Shael arrived just behind Ayred, Celaena and Theoden pulled them off to the side and told them what happened. Theoden and Wyn embraced as Shael's eyes filled with tears. Shael and Celaena went to Arcaena who was lying curled in a ball sobbing quietly as Theoden and Wyn went to Ayred. The six spent the next few hours mourning "We should get back to Naellin guys." Theoden said. Ayred raised his head "I am not leaving him here!" he shouted. Theoden raised an eyebrow "Neither am I, we're bringing him with us." he said. Celaena and Shael wrapped Ailwin's body in one of the bed rolls and Theoden and Wyn picked him up.