"It’s already getting colder."

Time here seems to go by really slow, the same as my potion making lessons. I have been going at it nonstop this past week and keep making the same mistakes.

Thankfully, today another elf returned from a 50-year trip to the northern region with an extremely rare grimoire and the Mothers did not want to wait a second to decipher it, which gave me a long deserved day off.

"Why aren’t you training?"

Well, not exactly off. I am supposed to be practicing mana manipulation here at the forest but instead decided to lay down and enjoy nature. That was until Lada interrupted me.

"I’m training my meditation. What about you?"

"I ran out of materials and figured I would come here to study some spells."

"You made that many potions and are still in one piece?"

Lada is ages far from me when it comes to her lessons. She already can make almost every basic potion and is starting to learn actual magic. Not this boring mana training stuff I am stuck at.

"Say Lada, do you want to go get more materials?"

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly that, why don’t we take this opportunity and sneak outside to get more materials."

"You mean outside the barrier."

Poor little Lada, she is such a good girl even the idea of breaking a rule sounds confusing to her.

In fact, I have been planning to sneak outside for a while but I am too much of chicken to do it alone. This was the perfect opportunity to trick Lada into joining me.

"I mean, we don’t need to go that far. I heard from Mother Lelyah that most medicinal plants grow at the outskirt of the sacred forest."

"Going outside of the barrier is forbidden. The Mothers don’t even do that unless they have a good reason."

"I don’t see it as going out of the barrier, I see it as part of our studies. At some point, we will have to learn to differentiate and collect plants; this will be like getting a little bit ahead of the schedule."

Even the mature Lada will not be a problem for my adult brain to convince. I know the outside of the barrier is just a massive forest, but the fact that I have never left the village in nine years just make me want to go there. Even though I was never a big fan of nature.

"I don’t think that is correct."

"Come on, don’t you want to start making more advanced potions with Mother Eva tomorrow?"

I pulled my winning card.

"We will return before night, right?"

"Sure, the moment you want to return, I will follow you."

Operation convince Lada was a success.

The barrier we are about to cross does not offer much in terms of protection. It is just a magic field that prevents anything that is not a pure elf or an animal from entering the village. Obviously, the Mothers have many spells covering the forest to know exactly when someone is nearby, but I hope they are too busy at the moment to notice us leaving.

"Are you ready?"

After a few minutes, we arrive at the zone where the village officially ends. Tall trees standing right in front of us.

"Sure."

Lada responds as she refuses my hand and we cross the barrier at the same time.

"Don’t cry if you get lost."

"What now?"

"Did you see that!"

Before I can listen to Lada’s response, I screamed at the sight of a big rabbit-like creature that probably felt our presence and got scared. It was my first time seeing a big animal, usually only small horned squirrels we call eichhorn go near our houses.

"What was that? It’s so big."

"Let’s follow it."

"Wait…"

Without stopping to look at Lada, I dashed with all my power. I guess this new body is getting to me because I acted just like a little kid the first time going to the park. The big rabbit is incredibly fast, so much that it does not even take me more than five minutes to lose sight of it.

"Wait… I just want to pet you…"

I lay against a tree to catch my breath

"Crap…"

I turn around to see that I ran deep into the forest without noticing it, I can no longer see the village from here. However, what worries me the most is that Lada is nowhere to be seen.

"That’s what I get for teasing her."

Knowing Lada, she probably did not want to run and is just walking somewhere behind me. My best bet is to wait here until she arrives, I feel bad for leaving her the first moment I saw something interesting; the purpose of this trip was to collect plants for her.

"Laaaadaaa! I’m over here!"

....

No response …

If we were a little bit better at magic, we could communicate with telepathy like most elves do. This is when I miss having a smartphone.

As time passes, I start getting increasingly nervous and decide to return from where I came. I am not that good with directions; my biggest fear was not that something might have happened to Lada but that we might be lost in this massive forest.

"Uhhh…"

Finally, after a few minutes, I hear a faint sound coming from the forest; like someone trying to breathe through their mouth. It might be Lada, she must have tripped along the way.

"Uhhhh…"

The sound is getting louder and louder, now is clear it comes from Lada. I run again with all my power towards it and the big tower from the village’s library appears at the horizon. My worries about being lost finally disappear.

"Lada, are you all right!"

At the side of tree is Lada, breathing heavily and with her eyes half shut.

"Did you fall and hit your head?"

Wishfully thinking our best scenario, I lay next to her and ask softly. A horrible smell sets me aback and I notice the skin around her wrist to be slightly blue. This is bad.

"A… ba…silisk…"

Lada whispers a single word and my mind goes blank. It might be too late.

Using whatever strength I have left, I am now carrying Lada behind my back. The entrance of the village is at least two minutes away from here, but considering the Mothers are busy at the temple located all the way to the south I might not be able to make it.

"You… can try… making an… antidote…"

Like hearing my thoughts, Lada suggests from behind. Apparently, when she was trying to follow me she put her hand against a tree without noticing the basilisk resting there.

"I don’t know how to and I don’t think we have enough time to gather the ingredients."

The basilisk is a fearsome creature native to this forest. At rare occasions, they wander inside the village looking for food, so the Mothers made sure to teach us about them. They do not attack elves unless they feel threatened, but once they do, a single bite is enough to poison an adult to dead. Their most distinctive trait is the putrid smell of their venom.

"I… can’t… feel my… legs…"

I feel her body getting hotter and the little strength she was putting to maintain herself in my back disappears. I need to find an adult soon, anyone older from the village should know a curative spell to save Lada.

"AAAAAAAH! AAAAAAH!"

Hot liquid drenches my back and I hear Lada’s agonizing scream. Did she puke? Is she bleeding? I do not have time to stop and check her condition.

"AAAAAAAH!"

"Lada, please, stay with me."

…

"Hang on! Just a few more minutes!"

……

"Do you want to hear a story?"

………

"What about your favorite, when Perseus killed Medusa?"

…………

Every step gets more difficult as times passes. I cannot lose this battle; I must be able to protect her.

"Agafya… don’t… leave me…"

Please, we are so close.

"I won’t! I promise! I will save you!"

I tumble down as I reach the barrier, crossing it should alert the village. I pray for someone to be paying attention and start screaming with all I have.

"Someone! Please help! A basilisk!"

"Someone cure my sister!"

I stand up and leave Lada lying on the grass.

"HELP! HELP!"

I see two elves hunters arrive to see who is causing the commotion. As soon as they lock eyes with me, they stop abruptly.

"Help Lada! A basilisk bit her!"

They just look at me without uttering a word.

"Can’t you see! She’s dying!"

Their cold stare and complete disregard for the situation in front of them drives me crazy. Not looking for help or helping themselves, they just watch Lada suffer from afar.

"WHY WON’T YOU HELP?"

A strong wind current pushes me back and I fall right beside Lada before I can continue screaming. It is Mother Eva, she teleported herself right in front of me.

"I thought some fool had invaded us, but it is just you two. Could you explain to me what were you doing inside the sacred forest?"

"Mother Eva hurry, you must save Lada…"

"She is already dead."

My whole world collapsed and my mind went blank as Mother Eva uttered those words as if it was nothing. She did not even wait for an explanation.

"It is a shame. Lada was a promising elf, diligent in all areas of study. What a waste of potential, specially this year when there is only you two."

Mother Eva crunches in front of Lada and the horrid scene brings me back to reality. She was lying in the ground with eyes wide-open and a distorted face, black putrid liquid gushing out of her nose and mouth.

"May Mother Jörð guide you back home."

Lada’s body started to fade and transform into small particles of light as soon as Mother Eva covered her eyes and said those words.

"Let this be a reminder to never neglect your studies. If you knew some spells, you might have been able to do something."

Walking past me, her cold words echoed through my mind.

"Although with your current level, magic is still too much to ask for. Clean yourself and get ready for supper, tomorrow we will practice how to neutralize basilisk venom."

Just like that, she used teleportation again and disappeared. I looked around and the hunters were gone too. I am left alone and broken; the girl that have been with me since I was born in this world, the girl I loved deeply and considered my sister, the girl closest to me in almost twenty years. Even if to her this did not mean anything, Lada was still my only family and now she is dead, because of me.

If only I were stronger, if only I took my lessons more seriously, if I had not suggested going out because of my stupid curiosity.

Regret because of my own ineptitude overwhelms me as I look at the endless forest and I come to a dreadful realization.

"Why… can’t I cry…?"

The only feeling inside me is disgust, at the bottom of my stomach a sensation of uneasiness builds up. Something that has been bothering me deep inside finally becomes true.

Elves are not just cold. Love, compassion, friendship, empathy, anger, envy, all these humans feelings are not only too primitive for an elf to understand, we literally cannot feel them.

My own body proves it, as it rejects even shedding a single tear for my dear sister Lada.

In this world and to us elves, only knowledge and power matter. For me to survive here, there no other way than to become stronger and let go of my human heart.

It is with this realization that a part or me, a part of Nana, dies and fades away with Lada.