The rain was bucketing down. Small drops of water managed to crawl through the huge leaves of an old oak and dripped on Andri. The warmth of his embrace was the only thing keeping Zacklrina alive at this moment. The girl hadn't said a word since the incident, only tears on her face were a sign to Andri that she was still alive. She was sitting between his legs, back turned on him as Andri's hands lightly held her against him.

The night elf was a rather experienced hunter but when it came to helping someone get over a trauma, he didn't know what to do at all. Every second seeing her like that hurt him because there was nothing he could do. The death of relatives or friends was the one problem nobody had managed to avoid.

"I don't think we're going back to Stormwind," Andri suddenly said. "Not after now. Our best choice is to return to HQ and continue training in Arathi Highlands."

Zack didn't move as if she hadn't heard anything.

In minutes the rain stopped and a bright huge moon lit up the forest. They could see fireflies and Nightshadow was constantly distracted by the distant howls of dire wolves.

"Remember when I taught you how to hold your bow," he reminded, trying to converse with her. "You always messed up the positions of hands and legs… And when I told you it's gonna come easier afterwards you didn't believe me at all."

He smiled but there was no way she could see it. Her red eyes were still looking at the ground but deep inside she wanted to smile because she did remember it very well. And Andri had been right. She didn't even think about the positioning now, it came so naturally.

Or if she thought about being in his arms to keep warm, it all felt right though her heart was still crying and shattered to a million pieces. Something was still keeping her going but she didn't know what it was yet.

"But when I look at you now I feel like you've overcome me, Zack. You really do have the soul of a hunter in you… I'm so proud of you."

No she wasn't, Zack thought. She was never going to become as good.

The next morning Andri loosened the rope around Zack's wrists because her hands were cold, blue and numb. He didn't want the girl to suffer like this but he had to take precautions in case she wanted to shoot something… or someone.

Andri had been granted a vial of the sands with which he could turn into a dragon. Zack stood silently behind the tall night elf as he drank the potion and instantly turned into a brownish dragon. Zack, with her hands tied, was sitting on the dragon's back.

"If we fly for 2 full days we'll arrive at headquarters pretty soon," Andri said with a rough dragony voice.

Zack quietly sat on the dragon's back as they took off. The wind dried her face and she watched the sun rise behind the morning mist.

They had been soaring through the sky for hours now but neither of them said anything. Zacklrina was constantly tired because sleeping at night was almost impossible.

When they were flying above the sea Zack suddenly woke up. All her feelings had gone. She looked down below at the blue water and an idea popped into her mind. It was now or never. She had nobody to live for. All the rage had turned into depression. She had secretly been tightening the ropes around her hands to hurt herself because she had no reason at all to continue living.

She made sure Andri was focused on the flight path. She took a huge breath and looked down again. This is what I want, she thought to herself. And jumped.

Since her hands were tied she had no chance of escaping if she were to drown. She closed her eyes as the wind blew on her face, let out her hands and enjoyed the free-falling. She tried to think of something… to regret something but she didn't care about anything. There was a weird feeling in her stomach, the feeling of falling.

Down and…

Down and…

She opened her eyes, the water was only a few meters away from her now.

She regretted nothing.

And then all of a sudden she felt a big tight grasp around her body and she was swooped up into the air again. The dragon had caught her with its claws. She couldn't hear anything Andri was shouting because the wind was too strong. They landed and the dragon threw her in the grass.

Andri transformed back into himself and Zack could see he was angry. Dead angry. He walked towards the weak girl and grabbed her by the arms.

"What the hell is wrong with you, woman?" He shot at Zack and shook her.

She was now standing on her own 2 feet but didn't say a word. Her eyes were studying Andri's expression but her face showed nothing at all.

"Are you crazy? You could have died!"

She looked down. Andri sighed in frustration and put his hair back, sweeping his forehead with his hands. "Death will come one way or another. But you still have a whole lifetime to live, Zack."

Andri was so mad at Zack she wished she really was dead. Slowly she turned her back and walked in an another direction.

"You still have a reason to live!" he shouted after her.

"No I don't!" she turned her head and stopped so Andri could see the huge tears and red eyes she had.

They stood in silence, both of them gasping for air.

"My wolf is dead, Andri. My parents… my siblings…"

The night elf had nothing to say.

"They're all dead! And there was nothing I could do to save them!" Zack cried.

The wind got stronger as if the girl could control the weather with her mind.

"I hate… everything."

Andri shook his head and took slow steps towards her until he was inches from her body.

"There is some good left in this world," he said softly and came so close to the girl she had nowhere to go.

For a second he hesitated but then slowly planted a kiss on the girl's soft lips. Zacklrina couldn't move. Was this for real? Neither of them moved away which confused both parties. The moment she had felt the night elf's lips, life poured back into her. All the feelings she had owned once before. Her heartbeat fastened and stomach turned.

Since Zack hadn't moved, Andri's senses were clouded with hormones and he went for another round. This time he held her head and deeply kissed her which made the girl respond the same way. She had never done this before but she didn't doubt herself for a second. If this was fate then she liked it. She felt the night elf's unshaved cheek on her skin which gave her goosbumps. Andri responded by thinking she was cold and pulled her closer. When they both were out of air Andri let her go and took a breath.

He laughed. From the depths of his heart. Zack was as if stunned. What in the world was the night elf thinking, kissing a lame human hunter.

"What was that for?" she asked like an innocent girl, biting her kissed lip.

"For being alive," he answered.