The Templar Assassin felt only relief that the war was over. That, finally, she didn't have to worry about the Crystal Maiden dying anymore.

The Juggernaut joined them. "Ready for the next war?" The Crystal Maiden grimaced. "Can't we take a break? I don't want to go to the next town war immediately." The man shook his head and the Maiden sighed.

"It is too risky. This is the only way to keep you one hundred percent safe. And I won't take any chances. You can rest here for a bit but we will be kicked out of the town soon."

She rubbed over her face with one hand. "I know. But I'm sick of all this fighting all the time." She looked at Lanaya, then. "You going to join us again?"

"Me?" The Templar Assassin hadn't expected to be asked. She wasn't so sure she wanted to participate in another town war. She had this wish to find a way to use her abilities on others, especially on the Maiden, and she didn't want to waste any more time. But the ice woman didn't want to go to another town war, too, so what was this talk about keeping her safe? Was there a threat outside of the town wars?

Lanaya was in two minds weather to go with the Maiden or to find a way to expand her abilities. On one side she didn't want to leave her, no matter that the town wars were relatively safe. But on the other side she felt as if she had finally found a new goal, something other than these wars to live for.

The woman in front of her shrugged. "I do feel safer with you around. And if I have to go to another town war," she rolled her eyes, "then I would definitely like to have you by my side."

The Templar Assassin frowned. "If you don't want to go, then why do you?"

"Like Yurnero said, it is the safest place for me. And I have some very fierce protectors. They will drag me to a town war if they think it is the only way to keep me from harm."

"Why do they think this is the only way to keep you safe?"

The ice woman sighed. "We heard a rumour that the Anti-Mage is searching for me. I assume you heard about him?" Lanaya nodded. Of course she had heard about him, even though he was relatively young, he was known throughout the world, due to his ruthlessness and persistence.

"It is said that he never gives up when he has started to search for a mage. He finds everyone eventually and he kills us without mercy."

"So you decided to go to one town war after the other because he can't kill you here."

The Templar Assassin looked at the Crystal Maiden. She seemed tired, now that the war was over, and she wondered in how many wars in a row she had participated. The Assassin knew how hard it was to fight all the time and even she rested after four or five wars. It was a wonder that the Maiden was in such a good temper all the time. And Lanaya had suddenly way more respect for the small woman. Because to be the target of the Anti-Mage and still live like her, it was remarkable.

All of a sudden, the need to protect the Crystal Maiden kicked in, stronger than ever before. Lanaya wouldn't let her fight in another town war as long as she looked as tired as she did now. She didn't want to see her like that and she knew that it wasn't good for her. Of course the Anti-Mage couldn't kill her here but it was no life, always going from one town war to the other. Especially not for someone like the ice woman. She would take the Maiden with her, to the Hidden Temple, she decided. She could protect her and the temple was relatively secure as well.

And as soon as she had found a way to cast her abilities on the Crystal Maiden, as soon as she could make her invisible and give her the protection of Refraction to block incoming damage, the Anti-Mage would never be able to get her.

It seemed to be a good plan and so the Assassin addressed the Juggernaut. "She doesn't want to fight in another town war. She can come with me. I will protect her."

The man crossed his arms in front of his chest. His mask covered his face, making it impossible to read his emotions, but it was clear that he didn't like the idea. "I was assigned to protect her. I don't know you and I don't trust you. Go back to where you came from and stay out of my business. No place is safe as long as the Anti-Mage lives but the town wars. It isn't as if we haven't thought about another option, but there is none."

"There is always another option. And don't you think that the Crystal Maiden is able to make her own decisions?" With that she turned away from the Juggernaut, towards the woman. This moment, it would change her live from now on, of that she was sure. Until now it had only been the town wars, regardless of the connection between them. If she left, all would remain as it had been. Everything would be like it had been for the last centuries. But aside from the fact that it hadn't been that great, the Templar Assassin was sure that she would regret it for the rest of her life.

So she took a deep breath. She was a little afraid of what would happen next (which was as strange as everything that had happened since she had first met the Maiden). Then she raised one hand and pulled the mask down, revealing her nose and mouth. She felt more like a woman without the mask, and less like an assassin. And that was how she should face the Crystal Maiden: as a woman.

"I invite you to come with me to the Hidden Temple. I will protect you with everything I have and I will pledge my life to the studies of how to increase my power so none will ever be able to harm you." She tried to be calm but her heart was beating faster than normal. Would she take her offer? Would she come to the temple with her? The Templar Assassin, always cold and unfeeling, was holding her breath while waiting for an answer. She told herself that it didn't matter but she knew that it was a lie. She wanted the woman to come with her and she would be disappointed if she didn't.

The Crystal Maiden was silent for long moments, simply watching the Assassin. Lanaya could feel nothing through their connection that she could decipher and that only made her more nervous. Until the tiny woman stepped closer, a smile appearing on her face. "You really want me to come with you." It was no question and her voice sounded as if she was amazed by it. "Don't be afraid." She touched Lanaya's cheek with the tips of her fingers. "It will be my pleasure to come with you. I am honoured by your words, even more so since I can feel your emotions while you speak them."

A sudden calm spread through Lanaya. Followed by so many emotions that the Assassin had difficulty to decipher them all. There was definitely joy about the prospect of spending time with the Maiden. Then there was pride that the woman trusted her enough to put her life into Lanaya's hands. And only a little fear about how the connection between them might develop and how attached she might grow to this beautiful woman.

The emotions that she could sense from the Crystal Maiden were less confuse. There was mainly relief and anticipation.

The Juggernaut interrupted them. "I don't like this. I'm not sure you should go with her." He had his arms still crossed over his chest.

"It's okay, Yurnero. I promise I'll send a message to Kunkka and Medusa. I will be safe with her and I will be careful. I need a break."

"I still don't like it. But I think you are right, about the being safe part. I will travel a little and try to find out where the Anti-Mage is at the moment and if he is searching for you."

The Crystal Maiden hugged the man. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

Then he was gone and the Templar Assassin and the Crystal Maiden were the two last heroes standing in the town. Even the soldiers were all gone.

Lanaya held her hand out. „Come." She left her face uncovered.

Without hesitation the Maiden took her hand and they left the town war together.

They appeared on a platform in the real world. These platforms were the starting and returning points for the town wars and there were several throughout the world. This one was in a stone desert, everywhere nothing but stones, the wind strong and the temperatures rather low. The colours of the landscape changed from a light grey in the east to a dark red-brown in the west. The platform lay somewhere in-between, higher than the surrounding area. Except from the path that lead up to the platform, there was no way discernible that one could follow through this field of rocks.

The desert was huge, but only from north to south. The next town in the east wasn't that far away, though it was relatively small.

The Templar Assassin wouldn't go to this town or to any other. About an hour to the northwest she had built something like a house in a hollow, protected from direct sight and from the wind that was often extremely strong. It was camouflaged and surrounded by Psionic Traps on all sides and only the Assassin knew where to put her feet not to spring those traps. Absolutely nobody would be able to enter the house. Except this somebody could fly and even then there was no place to land.

In this house several books were stored, together with a few weapons that the Assassin needed for things like hunting. Because killing a creature that she wanted to eat later with Psionic Energy wasn't recommended.

Then there were some items that reminded her of her tutor or of her time in the Hidden Temple, sort of mementos. There was nothing of worth like gold, but it was the one place the Assassin went to when she wanted to be alone. She would read or hunt or just meditate. Her safe house.

And she used it to get to other places very fast. She had several stones, which could create portals to different places throughout the world. That way she was able to travel extremely fast from one end of the world to the other, or from one big town to the next. And the best about it was: nobody ever saw her travel, they only noticed that one never knew where she was or would be. It made them wary. Definitely something the Assassin liked to achieve.

She scanned her surroundings before she left the platform. The Crystal Maiden followed her. "Where are we going? Is the Hidden Temple here?"

"We are going to my place first. I will create a portal to get to the temple. It isn't easy to reach it by foot but since I lived there many years I was allowed to use a portal to come back."

"You live here?" She sounded astonished and Lanaya couldn't blame her. It wasn't the nicest of places, but it was extremely solitary. Just what she liked and needed.

"We have to walk a few miles, but yes, I live here."

The Maiden was now walking beside her and Lanaya could see her smiling out of the corner of her eyes. When the wind got stronger, she raised her hand to hold the hood of her cape, so it wouldn't be blown from her head. She didn't stop smiling, the wind not bothering her in the least. The temperatures didn't, either, but that wasn't unexpected, since she was the Crystal Maiden, and the cold wouldn't faze her.

They walked in silence, the Assassin not used to having company and therefore not knowing what to talk about. She was more watchful than usual and she was highly aware of the fact that she had never before shown someone where she lived when she wasn't abroad. The ice woman would be the only creature in the world who would know where to find her when she didn't want to be found.

It was a huge sign of trust but Lanaya didn't, not once, question her decision to show the Maiden her safe house. She would never betray her. And if she didn't want to walk to the Hidden Temple with her she didn't have much of a choice anyway.

After about half an hour the Crystal Maiden sighed. "Is it far, still? I am a little hungry. And tired."

"Another hour."

She sighed again. "Maybe we could chat so the time goes by faster? You could tell me something about yourself."

"I don't talk about myself."

"Not really unexpected. But you could tell me your name."

"My name?"

"Yes. You have a name, don't you? Your parents didn't name you 'the Templar Assassin'."

Of course they hadn't. She had become the Templar Assassin. The Maiden was looking at her, waiting for an answer. Lanaya was sure that answering one question would lead to more questions but at this point, what did it matter if the Maiden knew things about her nobody else did? That was already the case, a few more wouldn't make it any worse.

"My name is Lanaya."

"Lanaya." The Maiden repeated. It was strange to hear someone saying her name. She hadn't been called by it for a long time. "I'm Rylai."

Silence again. Then: "You been living alone for a long time, now?"

Lanaya simply nodded. The Crystal Maiden, Rylai, laughed. "Well, that wasn't hard to guess." She kept smiling. "I just hope you'll get used to having someone around. Because I'm not used to silence all the time. I like to talk and it is way more fun if the one I'm talking to drops a few words, too, from time to time."

Getting used to having someone around? No, definitely not. But getting used to having the Maiden around, that seemed not to be very hard. She liked when the ice woman talked, liked the sound of her voice, liked her laugh. And she liked how the connection between them made the emotions coming from the Maiden stronger. Or more pronounced.

"Why did you choose to live here?"

As she had predicted, answering one question led to more questions being asked. But the Templar Assassin found that she didn't mind. It wasn't as if the woman was asking them to get information she could use against her. She was just curious.

"Because of the solitude it offers."

"So you like to be alone?"

The Templar Assassin thought about it for a moment. She had never been asked if she chose her style of living because she liked it. At the beginning, she had been eager for knowledge, had wanted to learn as much as possible, as fast as possible. She had craved the quiet and the reclusion to be able to study. She had done so for many years and had not cared about her being alone. She hadn't been interested in anything else beside her books and had only talked to others to learn more, to learn things that weren't written down or for which she needed an explanation or demonstration.

When she had developed her Psionic Powers and had gone to Aiur, the destroyed planet, to hone her abilities, she still didn't have time for interactions with others. She had practiced all day and when her body was tired she had resumed her studies. And one day, when the only person she had talked to, her tutor, had died, she had simply stopped speaking to anyone. There was no one left who could teach her anything, so she didn't have to talk. She didn't need anyone around her.

As an Assassin, which she had become at one point due to her abilities, she couldn't have any friends and due to her lack of emotions, which she had somehow gained in the centuries of studying, she didn't miss having one. And until now she had never thought about it. She had never cared that she was alone, had only looked at it from the point of an assassin: if no one knew where your safe house was, no one could betray it. If no one knew anything about you, no one could betray you.

So now she shrugged. "I got used to being alone."

And she didn't know anything else. A few creatures had cared about her throughout her life but it had never been important for her. She had accepted it and not wasted any thoughts about it.

The smile on Rylai's face disappeared and she stared ahead. She seemed troubled by something, but even through the connection Lanaya couldn't decipher what it was. Should she ask her?

She didn't, but as they kept walking, Lanaya got more and more uncomfortable, first with how the Maiden frowned and second with the distress that she could feel coming from her.

"What is wrong?"

The ice woman hesitated. "I… don't you think you will be bugged out by me in no time?"

Lanaya frowned. "Why should I?"

"Well, you are used to being alone and I'm not the optimal company for someone who likes it quiet. I am extremely lively. And I hate it to be silent. You don't even like to answer my questions, I can't imagine that you'll like me talking all the time, then."

The Templar Assassin stopped. She would never have expected something like that from the Crystal Maiden, but it seemed that the woman was a little unsecure and maybe scared right now. But she was wrong.

"It's not that I don't like to answer your questions, it's just that I'm not used to talking. And I don't mind your talking at all. Your presence makes me relax, no matter how lively or chatty you are. And the way my awareness of you has grown I don't think that this will change anytime soon, if at all."

This had been the longest speech she had held in maybe a century but the Maiden brought out many things in Lanaya that she hadn't done before, feelings that she didn't have. But it didn't disturb her like at the beginning. When the Maiden smiled again, she cared even less, because her whole being enjoyed her smile so very much, enjoyed the happiness that she could feel through the connection. And who cared about so unimportant things as someone starting talking again after a century of speaking almost no word? Or about feeling things that were utterly new?

"Thank you." Rylai said. "This is all very strange for me. I see you and I feel what you do, but your face shows nothing and then I doubt those feelings. At the beginning I thought I imagined it because you didn't even acknowledge me, even when I thought you were feeling something for me. But you are just a perfect assassin, aren't you?"

Lanaya shrugged. Because, what was there to say?

She turned around, then, and resumed walking. She could feel that she had calmed the Crystal Maiden so she could as well go on. She stopped again when the Maiden laughed. "Oh, I see, I think I will have to get used to your silent manner. As long as you don't mind me not being silent I think I'll be able to manage." Her smile was bright and she looked even more breathtakingly beautiful in this dull landscape.

"I'm…" Lanaya hesitated. "I'm sorry."

But Rylai shook her head. „Don't be, silly. It is okay. I don't want for you to change who you are only to please me." A somewhat surprised look crossed her face. "I think I like you the way you are. It is strangely… calming."

The Templar Assassin blinked at this completely unexpected compliment. At least she thought it was a compliment. Of sorts. She stared at the Crystal Maiden, not knowing what to say. The woman smiled again. "Let's get going. I'm curious about how you live."