Chapter 2

I remember crying at the docks begging my brother not to leave.

"I promise I will come back " he said as he was hugging me,

"p-promise " I said as I tried to wipe my tears off my face. He sighs and gives me necklaces that grandpa gave him before he passed.

"I'm going to make a deal with you, if you keep this safe for me, I'll take you and Dudley out for a ride just you and me" He said with a smile.

"What about you boyfriend?" I asked a little calmer,

"First of all his is just a good friend, second he is a soldier of the Elves, I work with him it be a little weird if we were more than just friends" he said as he helped me put on the necklaces

"Right just friends, like the time he cared for you home in his heritage armor" I said as I looked at the pendent

"I broke my leg" he said as he standed up as he picked me up. I hummed as I looked at him, not convinced.

"You look so convinced," he said sarcastically.

"Ahh, Ryder there you are, I've been looking for you" a voice said behind my brother

"Hi, just a friend," I said as my brother turned around. There was a tall elf of dark skin meant to walk at night,

"Hey, Aldon didn't see you there," said my brother. One thing that I noticed about Aldon was not his midnight colored skin, it was his eyes that were Green like emeralds.

"You seem more dressed than usual," I said as I smiled

"Yes, yes I am" Aldon said as he held his arms out to give him a hug. My brother let me hug him as my parents called for him. "I promise to keep him safe" said Aldon as he held me

"you better," I said as I looked at him. He smiled

"I think you know how much I care about him," Aldon said.

" You break his heart I break your face" I said as he put me down " sweetheart you're 5 years old" Aldon said as he looked down at me.

"That does not mean I still can't do something about it" I said as my brother came back over and ruffled my hair.

"Okay I think it's time for us to go," my brother said as he gave me one more hug for the last time before he left. He told me he loved me and that he will come back. We watched as the boat left the dock, my mom and I were the last ones to leave. Several months went by before they came back. When my mom got the letter that my brother was coming home the next day. When we got there all the soldiers were all lined up. My dad went down to my level and said

"they can only move if their family hugs them, so I need you to go find him for me". I nodded and ran towards the crowd of soldiers. I looked at what felt like forever, and couldn't find him. I started to panic but I kept looking at the second to last row until I saw him. I have never ran so fast. My brother waited until I was 6ft away then he knelt down and scooped me up. I think I was crying at this point.

"It's okay, I'm here.'' My brother said as he gave me a tight hug trying not to cry. After an hour we were home. I was sleeping from crying so much. My brother put me to bed, and the next day we went on a horse ride with just the two of us. The final time he was deployed he promised that we would go to Stormwind and watch the Elves dance for the night of Elune. We never got to see that dance. I remember the front door opened and the SI7 soldier said something. Then I saw my mother fall to the floor crying, I held my mother as she sobbed. My father asked him a few questions and closed the door and got down on the floor with us. I was more shocked than sad. Aldon died as well. I lost two people that day. I wasn't told how they died until later. I didn't cry, not one tear, not when I was told they were dead and not at their funeral, I felt broken like a piece of me died that day. I kept being told I was bad at bottling it up, but I didn't know how to feel. I was just there, trying to do what I could to keep my family together. I relished in the memories I had, I just sat there then looked over at the gravestone next to his. It was Aldon's gravestone. I grabbed a small green candle from my bag lit with my brothers already lit candles and set it down next to his picture, I moved to sit between two gravestones. I told them I loved them and left. I walked back to the gates of the cemetery. I saw Llane just standing by the gate without saying anything. He opened the gate and we walked towards my house.

"Are you okay?" asked Llane,

" Yeah, I'm fine," I said.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was your brother like?" Llane asked as we came back to town.

"He was kind, and strong. Everyone really liked him" I said as I looked around at the buildings.

" Was he a champion?" Llane asked,

" No, but he had the heart of one. He was an outstanding warrior," I said as I turned to him. Llane hummed as he looked at the floor, we came up to my house I waved him goodbye as he left