The woods stretched on before me, mallorn trees waving eagerly from a distance, the wind sliding through my hair. I had never run this fast before! She was beside me, her silk robes flying in the breeze, her green eyes keen and glittering with excitement. We dodged low tree branches, leapt over logs and dashed over the wooden bridge, our final destination now in sight. She was so fast it was as if she had wings, but I kept pressing forward until I was only a few metres away from the finish line we had set up. I took one final leap but she got there first, her slippered feet stretching over the line in first place. She laughed brightly and her beautiful face lit up with success.
"You got lucky this time, Aiwentil." I teased, "Next time I'm not so sure."
She laughed again; "don't get cocky, Myral. You know I'm faster."
"But I'm the fastest elf in the realm."
"Second." She corrected, wiping a few loose ginger strands off her face. She grasped a small string which lay around her neck, with a small stone charm on it and pulled it over her head, hanging it from her hand over the ground below. I grinned pulling out my matching one. The stone charm was in the shape of half a love heart and when we put them together it fit perfectly.
"Friends forever." She said softly as the cracks on the edges of either charm slotted together to form the final picture. She leaned her head forward to stare at me deeply in the eyes. She smelt of elanor petals and her breath was soft and fragrant. I wished I could keep an image of her face right at that moment- she looked so beautiful. Her freckles were round and lightly peppered over her round nose, and her eyes captured the colour of every leaf in the Greenwood.
"Because we have forever, and we'll never be apart." I whispered, caught in her gaze. We leaned in closer till our noses nearly touched. I closed my eyes to feel the warmth of the forest around me.
"Do we really have forever? We are probably the happiest elves right now and we're not even that happy." I looked up at her, confused. She continued; "we have both felt the sickness, and we're lucky the Blood-Hungers haven't caught us yet. That we're still alive is a wonder."
"We should head back." I said, after a moment's silence. I knew everything she said was true but I didn't want to admit it. We began to run again, except it was no longer a race. We were silent the whole way, until suddenly I felt a sharp pain throughout my entire body. I gasped in a heavy breath as I felt my legs give way. The sickness was back. My body felt like it was on fire, all my eyes saw was dancing flames, all I could smell was thick smoke choking my lungs. That was when I realised it wasn't just a dream, nor the sickness. The woods were burning.
"Myral!" Aiwentil cried dashing to where I lay. Suddenly an enormous burning filled the gap between us- we were stranded on opposite sides. I stumbled to my feet, gripping the tree beside me.
"Run!" I screamed. "I will see you again. I will not lose you!"
She stared at me for a moment longer, running her finger over the stone charm around her neck.
"I promise."
A crystal tear slid down her pale face but turned to steam once it dripped off her chin. Then she turned on her heels and fled. I too began to run, in the direction of the village of men nearby.
The Heart-stone felt cool on my hot fingertips while I ran- away from all I loved and all I lost.