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With the passing days, Ulrik had become Oliza's support in her recovery. Daily, he would check on her injury and care for it with the same care that a royal physician would give. Sometimes, she would feel guilty in lying to him about her identity. To him she was a normal Avian who had lost her way. Yet, she knew that she would never see him again and it was better to leave things as they were. Besides, it appeared that he held his secrets as well. Despite his ragged appearance, he was probably no older than she was and had surely lived with others at one point of his life.

"How is it that you know so much of caring for injuries such as mine?" Ulrik looked at her, as he stood from the ground. They had spent almost half of the day gathering sticks to use as firewood for the evening and for supper. The question had obviously caught him off guard.

"I've seen worse injuries and I've cared for my own as well. You're a fast healer anyway." He smiled at her and then picked up another stick from the ground. She trailed on after him, helping him with her right hand to carry some of the sticks. After a few more minutes of gathering what was enough, they headed back to the cave. She had come to like it despite its rustic feel to it. There was warmth the emanated from it and the golden glow that was cast by the fire during the night seemed almost ethereal.

"Have you always been alone?" Oliza finally asked the question that had been lingering in her mind ever since she met him.

Ulrik's solemn expression and the short pause before he answered made Oliza uncomfortable. He placed the sticks that they had gathered in corner and then turned to look at her. He brushed the remnants of the tree's peeling back and dirt from his hands and cleared his throat slightly.

"I left my home when I was a child." he smiled, his gaze lost for a moment with the memories. "Well, not exactly a child… I was no more than thirteen and had no family." He looked at Oliza whose face had gone pale for asking such a painful question. He smiled and laughed a bit. "Don't look like that… the situation was not as you might think. I left by my own will and I don't regret it."

Oliza smiled cautiously. "I'm sorry for asking such a question…" she looked down to the ground and thought for a moment how it would be to be truly alone.

Ulrik smiled at her expression and leaned against the rock of the cave's wall. "I wonder, what was a little bird like you doing flying around these areas in the first place?" His question was disguised in a playful tone but Oliza's mind raced to find an answer in despair. She responded with yet another lie.

"In truth," she paused, thinking once again if her response would be the best. "I was sent by the royal family… to investigate an important matter for them."

Ulrik understood the finality in her response, asked no more, and walked out of the cave. He looked at the sky that had begun to fall slowly into the night and shook his head. He had become worried and as he glanced at her, she became curious. "Is there something wrong?" she asked.

Ulrik shook his head and then smiled at her. "There is a river not far from here; you can bathe there if you wish. The coolness of the fresh water will help your healing and then you can head back to your own. I won't be back until later tonight. There's something I have to… attend to."

She smiled sadly to herself. She had come to love the cave and everything that was around it. During the night, she could stare off at the moon through a small opening that lay above her and the furs she rested in. She had come to love the fire and the earth and the woods that came to life every morning with the sun. A snake could wander around so easily about, without a care as a hawk could fly about the sky without a guard trailing after her.

Nonetheless, she took Ulrik's suggestion and bathed in the coolness of the river, feeling the water hugging her in its embrace. She would pair bond with Avaram soon and become the Tuuli Thea and Diente of her people, and soon enough she would bear her children, her future heirs. She would live the vision that her family and her people had passed on to her in trust.

Her body had lost most of the scrapes that she had taken with the brutal fall but her arm was still in pain. She threw her head back as she felt the water wrap around her head and glanced at the full moon above her. It had become dark. Ulrik had warned her to be back before the moon rose, a time when the beasts came out of their dwelling. Yet, it was such a beautiful moon. She rose from the water and then put on her freshly washed clothes that had been drying on a nearby branch. They had not dried completely and were cold against her skin. She walked quickly to her cave, holding her healing arm protectively, wondering what sort of dangers came about during the night.

She was startled by the howl of a wolf and could feel the feathers on her back tingle with a bit of fear. She only hoped Ulrik would be alright. She could hear something running around the woods and realized that it must be the wolf. Whether it was a shifter or a full one, either one would frighten her. She had never met a wolf and even though their lands bordered her city, she had heard many times that they were not to be trusted.

She walked carefully as she headed back to the cave, the night casting a blue shadow on everything around her. A rustling sound came from the tress and bushes in front of her followed by a growl. She kept a close watch, automatically reaching for her blade and realizing that she had left it embedded on the human's body. It was then that a lynx jumped from the bushes, ready to attack her. Knowing how to get rid of it, Oliza was about to shift into her Wyvern's form when another creature, this time a wolf, jumped from the shadows to attack the lynx. The lynx ended up flinging himself into the wolf instead and managed to strike the wolf's chest with its claws. The lynx backed away, glaring at the wolf fiercely, as if thinking what to do next and where to attack. A few growls and a threatening show of teeth finally scared the lynx away.

Oliza stood against a tree, frozen in terror. The wolf had saved her from the lynx but she was unsure if he was still a threat. The wolf turned towards her and glared at her with gray eyes. She wondered for a moment, if the wolf was a shifter but her thoughts were interrupted when she felt the wolf began to approach her. She readied herself to fight the wolf despite her weakened arm but instead, the wolf came in peace. She felt the wolf's tongue lick her right hand playfully and a smile came upon her face. Gathering courage, she kneeled down and placed her hand in the wolf's fur, feeling the softness of it. The wolf's dangerous presence from before was gone now. Nature's creatures had a kinder heart that anyone else, even her kind. She was glad for a moment, that in such an unpleasant upheaval of events, something so simple could bring her comfort.

She arrived to the cave safely, feeling truly secure for the first time in days. As she lay in the covers, she realized that it was the first time she was truly alone. No family, no Avaram, not even Ulrik was with here. Ulrik had become her friend, even though he had come to know her as Namidia. It was rare to have someone care for her without the knowledge that she was the heir to three kingdoms, two of which had been warring for centuries.