A/N: This is the final chapter. Thanks for the ride, the support and the input everyone, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I'll definitely keep on writing about these two. Thank you all so much for reading!

The morning air was thin, and chilly. For the first time, the dew on the grass in the Grove had crystallized into tiny beads of ice. Had this been any ordinary day, the Sylvari would have been out and about, playing in the field, experiencing this, but the Grove seemed empty and silent. Its inhabitants kept to their close friends, staying inside, speaking with hushed voices.

It was as if the cold reflected the chill that had been run through each beating heart in the area. Even those who had not heard the rumours, had felt the pain. And so they sought out the shelter of comfort and familiarity with their loved ones, and did not show themselves.

Footsteps shattered the virgin ice on the ground. Canach adjusted his backpack, and looked back at his home. He had left most of his belongings behind. Only the items that had held the most emotional value to him he had packed. Somehow, they all seemed to be connected to Cadeyrn in a way. In his left hand Canach held the letter he had received. It came an expensive looking envelope, and the elegant cursive in the top right corner read Consortium.

The path to Lion's Arch lay wide open before him. And yet, the only thing Canach could think of was the way Cadeyrn had been annoyed with him, every time he had mentioned the city. The way he hated him for thinking of leaving. He slowly shook his head. Cadeyrn had left before he did. And now they were worlds apart. His Dream pulled him away, to far places, but at least he would still be closer to home than Cadeyrn would ever be.

Next to Cadeyrn's bed, a cup and a bottle stood. Cadeyrn woke just to hear the sound of footsteps dying away, not yet realizing what it was. A small note was left with the items. As he picked it up, Cadeyrn noticed how empty the home was.

Don't forget me, my friend.

.

One home in the Grove seemed to be emitting shadow, instead of its natural glow. A few brave saplings had come closer to find out what was going on, but none had dared to enter. They quickly parted when a tall Sylvari stepped forward and told them to leave. Kahedins followed close, and smiled at the scared younglings.

'Malomedies, be calm. They do no harm.' His lover looked back at him, a serious expression on his face.

'They will do no good either. ' Malomedies said, his voice stern. He would not soften on this matter. Kahedins sighed.

'You heard him. Come back later,' he said to the saplings, trying to be friendly, but still making his point clear. 'Caithe does not have time for you today.'

'What's wrong with her?' a sapling girl asked timidly. 'I can feel her grief,' she laid her hand on her chest, 'I can feel it ache!'

'We are here to sort that out. Now, to your homes.' Malomedies said, matter-of-factly. The girl shied away, and the other saplings slowly retreated with her. Once Malomedies was sure no unfamiliar eyes were cast on them, he opened the door and let himself and Kahedins in.

It was eerily silent in the home. Once the door closed, no light entered from outside. The emotions that lingered pressed heavily on their chests, and Malomedies felt Kahedins interlace their fingers. He squeezed them reassuringly. Then he called out softly, while Kahedins gently let go and stepped away.

'Caithe?'

No answer. Kahedins had lit a candle and came back to him, spreading a small trail of light in front of them. He led them towards the back, and around the corner into the bedroom. As he set down the candle, they could see Caithe's curled up form next to the bed. She had her knees pulled up and her head crooked to the side, resting on the mattress. She stared into nothing, sometimes quietly coughing or sobbing, but her tears had long ran dry. Kahedins kneeled next to her, gently picked her up, and set her on the bed. Malomedies sat down on the other edge, uncomfortably folding his hands. Kahedins had put an arm around Caithe and settled himself beside her, gently, carefully trying to shake her awake.

The first sound she made was something between a cough and a tormented wail. Kahedins immediately pulled her close again, and rocked her slowly. Malomedies' eyes were filled with sorrow at the sight of his friend in this state. He felt like he needed to say something, anything, but everything seemed useless and meaningless. He sighed. It was difficult to separate his own feelings from Caithe's. It would be easy to drown in her sorrow, heavily as it hung over them, but he could not let her influence him, if he wanted to help her.

'Where is she?' Caithe muttered against Kahedins chest. 'I want her to come back..'

Malomedies bit his lip. 'We were hoping you would know.' He exchanged worried looks with Kahedins. 'No one knows where she is.'

'I sent her away, I sent her away..' Caithe said, shaking her head, her body shuddering, but she was too exhausted to cry any more. 'And now she's gone, she will never come back, I am all alone..'

'We're here, Caithe,' Kahedins soothed her, but she did not even seem to hear him. She simply buried her face into his shoulder and let out another tormented wail.

'Caithe, what happened on that field?' Malomedies started carefully, ignoring the warning look Kahedins gave him. 'Why can't we come into contact with Faolain?' Caithe slowly sat up. She trembled, and still held on to Kahedins.

'I don't know,' she said slowly, rethinking the events once again, as she had done continuously since she had been alone. 'I was there. She was so, so, she was..' Caithe trailed off. Kahedins nudged her softly and she gathered her thoughts with a violent shake of her head.

'She was happy. In a way I had not seen her in a long time. And I was happy that she was happy. And then.. ' she paused again as the memories played before her mind's eye. 'Suddenly she pushed me away, and the next moment I was on the ground. And then she- she- she snapped.'

'Snapped?' Malomedies asked, and Caithe nodded.

'I-, no, there was magic everywhere. Her magic. And- oh, that Secondborn Sariel was screaming, screaming so awfully, I can still hear it. She had changed, I had never felt her like this, this murderous bloodlust, it just cannot have belonged to her! I tried to stop her, I held her, and I wanted her to be happy again, and I told her I would do anything, anything for her, but she did not listen,' Caithe's voice was growing more and more panicked as she recalled her painful memories, 'she just kept screaming with her broken voice and then- then she was gone.' Caithe held up her hands and stared at them, as if she had just dropped something fragile and it had shattered.

'Can it be?' Kahedins whispered. Malomedies' expression was thoughtful.

'She laid with me as she always did, but it was cold and strange,' Caithe continued, more to herself than the others. 'I could not read her. She was- she felt- dead,' she concluded slowly. Kahedins gasped softly.

'Riannoc. Oh, it felt exactly the same...' He said. Malomedies' eyes narrowed.

'Could she have been torn from the Dream?'

'Yes.' Caithe answered simply. She sadly stared at her hands, which lay folded in her lap.

'Then, maybe the Mother Tree could-'

'She said this was what she had always wanted.' Caithe interrupted him. Malomedies held his breath, and Kahedins just stared wide eyed at her. 'She wanted me to discard my Dream as well, and follow her..' Caithe curled up, sobbing again, 'but I was scared..' she whispered, and Kahedins protectively pulled her close again.

Malomedies' forehead was pulled into a frown as he thought deeply.

'This could be worse than we imagined.'

.

Sariel ran as fast as her broken body would carry her, following a trail of destruction through the forest.

'Faolain! Faolain, wait!' She cried out, not even sure how close the other was. It was like a giant tunnel had been burned through the forest, embers glowing on the ground, the highest leaves on the trees still smoking slightly. The contrast was sharp with the untouched, unharmed forest only a few steps to the side. The trail lead a few hundred metres farther, and then turned right. Trees blocked the view. Sariel caught her breath for a second, steadying herself, and prepared to start running again.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a flash in the distance, purple and burning, and heard the screams of agony directly after. She was close. Sariel gritted her teeth and started running in the direction of the commotion.

The seared leaves fizzled and let out thick twirling strings of smoke. The Firstborn stood amidst a small human convoy, or what was left of it. They lay on the ground, faces in the mud, blood splattered over their white armor. Faolain just heaved, staring at their dead faces. Then she laughed, out loud, ringing and menacing and bordering on insane.

Sariel approached her carefully. Faolain looked back at her over her shoulder, letting her eyes glide over Sariel for a second, then her expression softened. It was as if a barrier around her fell. Sariel reached for her, slowly sliding her arms around the Firstborn's shoulders and pressing her chest against her back, holding Faolain carefully. She was shaking. Sariel held her a little tighter, finding extreme comfort in her scent, the touch of her hands on her own, in feeling her open up to her, and sharing her sorrow.

'Caithe..' Faolain muttered. Sariel hushed her.

'They did not need to die. They are but humans.'

'They said she was above me,' Faolain whispered back, nodding at the dead woman in the middle. 'This mere human. Caithe would never have accepted that.'

'Caithe is not here, Faolain,' Sariel tried. It just made Faolain tremble even worse. She then let her gaze glide over the humans. The woman in the middle had an expensive looking garb, and figuring she'd had an escort, she must have been someone important.

'Who was she?' Sariel asked.

'Some Duchess of something, Ebonhawke, I believe,' Faolain muttered. 'Some human... Where is Caithe?'

'Well, she wasn't worth much, was she?' Sariel immediately tried to steer the other's thoughts in another direction again. 'You are better than her.'

'Yes,' Faolain agreed. 'She was in the way.'

'You should have a title too, Firstborn,' Sariel flirted, pressing them closer together. She slowly caressed Faolain's face, letting her fingers glide over her cheek, then pushed her chin to make their gazes meet. 'So that I can worship you.' Slowly, a conceited smile spread over Faolain's face as she leaned in. Sariel could feel her breath as their lips inched closer. She instinctively closed her eyes, her heart beating faster-

'Don't make me kill you too,' Faolain whispered against her lips, her voice as deadly as it was seductive. Sariel's eyes jolted open and she scrambled back, gasping for air. Her face had become pale in a split second.

'But you are right!' Faolain said, out loud this time, and she almost looked light-hearted. 'I do need a title.' She kicked the dead body with her heel. It made a slurping sound as it sank into the mud.

'Well, you killed a Duchess, my lady,' a boyish voice sounded from the other end of the path. Sariel looked over to see Cadeyrn carefully scuffling closer. He stopped a few strides away from them, looking from one woman to the other, carefully analyzing if he would be hurt or not. Faolain smiled widely at him.

'Cadeyrn! How nice of you to join us after you ruined everything!' Her voice dropped, and she walked towards him, elegantly sliding around him and wrapping an arm around his neck, almost strangling him. He gasped and paled, quickly looking for a way out but finding himself too scared to move. Sariel's injured body flashed before his mind's eye, together with the slaughtered humans before him, and he swallowed thickly.

'I was just saying, my lady,' he said, sugar-coating wherever he could, 'since you killed her, you could have her title - no, yours should be higher than hers, you see-' he stuttered, thoughts racing. He intended to just keep talking, to hopefully distract the Firstborn from ending him then and there.

'You are way elevated above her, of course, my Firstborn,' he turned his head, trying to loosen her grip and look her in the eye. 'You are at least a Duchess, you are a- are a Grand Duchess, Firstborn. The Grand Duchess of my Nightmare Court!'

She grinned, and slowly let go of him. Her chuckles died down into snickers, and then turned into sobs.

'Well, isn't that just great?' she sneered, irony and venom dripping from her voice. 'Then I have everything! Everything I ever wanted! I am the Grand Duchess of the Nightmare Court!' She twirled around over the dead bodies. Cadeyrn coughed softly and calmly tried to correct her.

'My Night-' Sariel punched him in gut, making him double over. He quickly rethought what he had meant to say. 'Y-yes. Your Nightmare Court.'

'Why isn't Caithe at my side?' Faolain exclaimed accusingly. Then she suddenly stopped and grasped her arms, clenching herself, like a lost child. 'The moment I lost my Dream.. I thought she did too. But she didn't. And mine.. my Nightmare became reality. I am living in this cursed waking Dream that should have been the solution to everything!' She whispered, at no one in particular. Sariel stepped forward, reaching out for her again, but she pulled away.

'Find Caithe, Sariel,' Faolain whispered. 'Find her for me. She is so far away from me. I miss her... so much...'

'Shall I bring her here, Faolain?' Sariel asked tenderly. She wanted to feel ache, to feel jealousy, but it was as if her heart had gone numb from all feelings except love. She could only love the Firstborn before her for tormenting her, not hate or resent her. It was strangely comforting.

'No. Just find her. I must know if she also feels this pain,' Faolain said, suddenly stopping as the realization hit her then again, and Sariel saw her pupils dilate and her breath hitch. 'I cannot sense her, she is not, she is not-' She desperately dropped to her knees, pulling Sariel with her. She kneeled next to her, simply holding Faolain in her arms. Cadeyrn sat not far away from them, terrified, trying his hardest not to make a sound.

'Find her, Sariel, my sweet,' Faolain whispered, and Sariel nodded dutifully. She stood up, nodding at Cadeyrn to follow her. They left the Firstborn kneeled in the mud, sinking corpses staining her dress with mud, blood and guts.

For a while, Faolain listened to the forest quietly breathing. She looked around, and even though the sun shone brightly, it was cold, and everything seemed dull and grey. Then she rose, and turned around. She faced an overgrown clearing, separated by a shallow hill. The burned treetrunk that had once lain here had been completely covered in vines and other weeds. Faolain idly ran her hand over it.

'Even from death something may grow again,' she said, digging her nails into the mossy trunk. 'Eventually. In time.' She stood, staring into the distance, her thoughts racing but her body perfectly still, making her blend in to the environment perfectly. Finally, she broke down, and allowed herself to cry, to admit to her sorrow, her terrible feeling of loss. She washed all her desperation away, finally secluded, finally alone.

'Caithe, on this place where we started,' she then started quietly, slowly, looking up at the splintered tree stump that had remained standing. 'I vow we shall not end, for I will be by your side. Your love will grow again, and we shall be-' she breathed in. Birds chirped above her. 'We shall be together once more. Forever more.'

She lowered herself down, and slumped against the trunk, folding her legs under her. 'I promise you, my love. No Dreamer, no Dragon will keep you away from me, no matter how many I must kill, how many stand in the way..

I have become Nightmare to free you, and I will make you see reason. I vow it to you here, Caithe.

My love, we are far from through.'

.

I see days turning to months, and months turning to years, Caithe scribbled idly on a piece of paper. She did not keep a diary, but more a book of sorts, which was basically a tool for her to sort her thoughts. By thinking about how to word a certain feeling, she would understand it better, and come to accept it. She never read her old entries, but kept them safe, just in case. Somehow throwing them away felt just as wrong as reading them, so she just stored them in a by now rather large folder. It was a habit that had grown over time, as she spent more and more time alone.

Soon, I will leave the Grove again, after all this time. She tapped her pen on her desk, deep in thought, wondering how she felt about this exactly.

Although I am excited to venture outside this forest again- Caithe stopped. There were many things that could follow that sentence, and they were all equally important. It was just that she did not want to face all of them. She sighed, then wrote further.

Although I am excited to venture outside this forest again, the thought of leaving the protection of the Grove into the Warden's hands still makes me nervous. I trust them, but this will be their first mayor task, and I will not be here to help them. Caithe bit down on her pen. Her train of thoughts was diving into depths better left unexplored. Then again, it would be meaningless to stop now, and start over.

The Nightmare Court will inevitably strike again. I shudder when I see familiar faces suddenly turning so twisted. I could never have imagined any Sylvari to be like they are, so cruel and heartless to anyone around them. Even amongst themselves they are wicked, and torture each other. They believe a life has no more value than the duration of its agony.

It will be a heavy burden on the Wardens. The Courtiers they can handle, I am sure of this, Caithe stopped again, rubbing her temples, trying to focus.

'If only she doesn't appear,' she sighed, throwing down her pen and running her fingers through her hair. There were days where she wrote multiple pages in a row, but today, she felt her thoughts drifting off towards the one thing she did not want to think about. She took a few deep breaths, and then with a sigh, picked up her pen again.

I am sure of this, as long as she doesn't appear. There is no telling what F- Caithe abruptly stood up and left her desk, walking slowly towards the window. She smiled sadly, wincing at how pathetic her behaviour was.

'After all this time, I still cannot even bear to speak her name,' she sighed, talking to herself because there was no one to hear. Caithe had gotten used to being alone, gotten fond of it, but at times like these, it seemed as if the broken connection was still an open, bleeding wound.

A soft knock on the door shook Caithe from sorrowful thoughts and sad memories. She looked up, to see a young Valiant with a beaming smile, holding a package in brown paper.

'Firstborn Aife sent you this from Divinity's Reach,' the sapling said, happily handing over the package. 'I think it's a book! Isn't that just cherry?'

'Thank you,' Caithe said with a small smile. The sapling stalled for a moment to see if Caithe would unpack the package in front of her, but when she didn't, she politely greeted the Firstborn and walked outside. Caithe heard her voice die away as she rejoined her friends.

'Thorns, now I did not get to see what it was..'

An amused smile on her face, Caithe tore away the paper. It was indeed a book, bound in brown, elegantly decorated leather. The title on the front was coloured golden, written in an overly swirly font.

'Long-distance Relationships, 10 ways to make it work,' Caithe read aloud, wondering what could possibly have convinced Aife to buy this book, and then send it to her. She rested her hand on the cover for a moment, dumbfounded, debating whether she would read it, or, as seemed the far better option, just discard the book somewhere.

'It's not like she is just far away, she is- she is absolutely lost,' Caithe stuttered, still completely abashed by the book. Then slowly, a smile formed on her face. 'Well, if you look at it that way...' Reluctantly, Caithe opened the book and started reading.

'If my way does not work, perhaps one of the other nine will,' she snickered. And yet something in her eyes glistened, a spark of hope that had not been there before.

'I guess it doesn't hurt to try..'

And I will keep trying.

Until we get it right.