Elowyn kept her lips sealed.
Stunned by how close she had come to spilling her darkest secret, she slapped on a fragile, unconvincing grin and waved her hands between them.
"Forget I said anything at all— don’t worry about it. The sun is up, so you must be starving. I’ll quickly put something together for us to eat, okay?"
Before he could reach out and stop her, she scrambled up to her feet and slipped out of the shelter into the crisp morning air.
Ares was left staring at the empty space she had occupied seconds ago. Though his expression remained calm, a deep, unfamiliar irritation pricked at his mind. Why was she so desperate to keep him at arm’s length? Did she really view him with such deep distrust after everything they had survived together?
He reminded himself that he couldn’t force her to speak...
Yet.
He dropped his head back with a quiet, defeated sigh. It was a losing battle. Try as he might, he could not ignore the fact that she had affected him in some way.
Outside, Elowyn wiped her brows and exhaled a shaky breath, thanking the gods she had managed to deflect his questioning.
Kneeling by the woodpile, she forced her hands to steady. He had no business carrying the weight of her exile. The IronFang, Nysa, everything– that was her burden to bear alone. He was recovering, and once he regained his strength, he would begin his own journey. She had no intention of anchoring him to her.
She’ll survive this.
She always did.
[•]
The morning passed quietly, the tension of the night fading into the steady crackle of the hearth as they shared a decent breakfast.
Ares was sitting out in the cool mountain air on a low log when she stepped out to meet him, holding out a sturdy branch, except this wasn’t just firewood.She had spent the morning carefully carving and scraping it into a custom, walking aid.
"Here," she said, blowing out a weary yet determined breath. "I dug through the pile to find the densest wood and shaped the grip to fit your hand. Tell me if the balance is right."
Ares shifted his gaze from the polished wood up to Elowyn. A faint, genuine smile lingered on her lips, masking the exhaustion in her eyes. He reached out and took the stick, feeling the smooth weight of it in his palm.
"There are no splinters or rough edges," she babbled softly, suddenly self-conscious under his intense gaze. "I smoothed it down so you’d have some actual support, just in case you want to stretch your legs or—"
The blunt question hit the quiet air like a falling stone, freezing her in place.
Elowyn blinked, her small smile fading from her lips as she looked down at him in confusion.
"Doing what?"
"All of this," he said softly, setting the carved wood aside. "You’ve spent days burning through your supplies to treat a man you don’t even know. You risked your shelter, cooked for me, stayed up all night tending to my fever, and now this... all without asking for a single thing in return. I’m trying to understand your motive. Why go through such lengths for someone who owes you nothing?"
The wind howled softly across the mountain ridge, filling the heavy silence between them.
"Must one have a reason to want to care for another fellow being?" She replied softly, keeping her gaze steady. "I had a nice teacher who once believed every life had value, provided they weren’t trying to tear out your throat. If anyone else had been under the snow, I would have done the same. I simply want you to get better. Besides, your stick was ruined because of me, and you caught that fever trying to protect me. Helping you recover is only right."
Ares stared at her, a profound, almost alien-like disbelief tightening in his chest. He found it difficult to believe that such unyielding kindness still existed in a world as this. Her response hadn’t changed at all, always insisting on his survival, as if her own life mattered less.
Though the fog of amnesia still veiled his past, a deep, resonant chord struck somewhere inside him, warming toward the woman who had fought so hard to help him stay alive, even when he was being a handful... sometimes.
"Thank you," he said, his voice entirely sincere. "Truly."
Elowyn froze, her blue eyes rounding in stunned silence at the word.
For a heartbeat, the world stopped spinning. Then, a violent rush of heat surged up her neck, painting her cheeks in a brilliant, burning crimson. Unused to praise, and unequipped to handle his sincerity, she scrambled back a step, waving her hand defensively.
"Th–There’s no need for all of that," she stammered, her voice pitching up nervously as she refused to meet his golden gaze. "Anyone with two eyes would have done the exact same thing. Just focus on healing. That’s all the payment I need."
Ares stared at her flushed, hurried movements, a faint, unaccustomed smile breaking through his serious expression. He caught himself and stopped it.
"By the way," Elowyn said, looking at him with a more practical focus. "I still need to make a trip down the creek. We lost our pails there, and I need to stock up on fresh water."
"As it happens," he replied, shifting his weight, "this is the ideal moment to take your craftsmanship for a spin."
Planting the carved wooden stick firmly against the packed earth, Ares pushed himself upright. He stood tall, his muscles tensing as he squared his shoulders against the chill of the mountain.
"Are you sure?" Elowyn questioned. "You don’t have to push yourself."
"You made this specifically for me. At least have some faith in your own work," he clicked his tongue lightly, a ghost of amusement in his golden eyes.
Elowyn offered a soft, yielding sigh. She couldn’t deny that watching him move on his own was a relief, and a short walk down to the creek would be good for him
Together, the two of them set off once more into the frozen wasteland, and to her astonishment, he navigated the uneven terrain with surprising stability, leaning into the custom made stick as the pale winter sunlight caught the frost. Even leaning on a stick, he moved with the innate grace of a highborn lord.
Down in the hollow, the gentle rush of the creek cut through the silence, giving Elowyn the courage to voice the burning question she had carried since last night.
"Ares?" She began hesitantly, her eyes tracing his profile. "I can’t stop thinking about everything that happened yesterday. When you fought the dire wolf, how on earth did you kill it with a stick? I know you don’t have any beastly traits like the healer, yet you killed a beast of the mountain twice your size. Is there something I’m missing here?" This chapter was copied from novelping dot com without permission.
Ares didn’t stop walking, though a thoughtful frown touched his brows. That was the terrifying part. His mind was an absolute blank, yet his body had reacted with cold, calculated precision—as if violence were a native language he had spoken his entire life. And yet, if he was that formidable, why had he been left broken in the freezing wild?
"I don’t remember," he answered flatly.
"Nothing at all?"
He gave a slow, rigid shake of his head.
Realizing she had accidentally struck a nerve, Elowyn immediately backpedaled, waving her hands defensively.
"I only meant it was genuinely impressive!" she rushed to clarify, smiling brightly. "Most men in my tribe would have been torn to pieces before landing a scratch. You just stood there and smacked it out of the air."
Ares stopped in his tracks, a slow, dangerous sort of satisfaction blooming beneath his ribs. He turned his golden gaze toward her, a subtle hint of amusement cutting through his dark mood.
"Better than your tribal warriors, you say?"
She nodded earnestly. "It also left me wondering how you found me."
Ares stared back into the distance, his eyes narrowing as a faint memory surfaced through the haze of his recovery. Then he said, "the leaves."
"What?"
He looked at Elowyn, recalling something he might have ignored due to the intensity of the moment yesterday.
"The odd foliage, can you take me to the tree?"
"The tree?" It immediately hit Elowyn. "Oh, you mean the summer-blooming tree. Sure, I can show you. Come with me."
Elowyn took the lead, stepping lightly through the snow while Ares followed closely behind. But as they crested the final ridge and stepped into the clearing, the breath caught in her throat.
The anomalous tree had vanished.
There were leaves scattered about, but the tree itself wasn’t there.
Worse still, the massive carcass of the alpha dire wolf was gone, leaving behind only dark, frozen pools of blood staining the pristine white snow.