"So this short cut." Cybelline stared at the wide expanse of land in front of her, ignoring the chilling wind as tore through the summit.

"What about it?" Jinon grunted as he shook the icicles from his mane, which clattered down the mountain and shattered into a million pieces.

"It's not much as a short cut as a long jump to our deaths." She said flatly as she looked down into the smooth sheets of icy granite and a few branches that formed the near vertical drop. Far below, a narrow road, made hazy by the clouds, snaked around the base of the mountain.

Jinon snorted, "Well I'm going to climb down." He glanced down the side of the mountain, "It's simple, just grab the rocks that won't drop you down a thousand feet." He glared at her, "If you die now, it'll be a huge inconvenience for me."

"Right, because that's what I should be worried about. Inconveniencing an old man who uses his beard like a napkin." Cybelline rolled her eyes and gestured "Anyways, age before beauty. If I fall, I'll take you with me."

"Coward. What's the use of that ridiculous strength of yours if you can't even climb down a little cliff?" Jinon clapped his together to warm them up.

"The better to kick you with." Cybelline muttered as she watched his head disappeared down the side of the mountain. She smiled wryly, she was more used to kicking people off cliffs than going over them herself.

"What's that?" He called as he quickly scaled down twenty feet.

"Just wishing you a long and healthy life." Cybelline replied and began to climb down as well. Her muscles protested after the long days of relentless travel and exercise but she relished the feeling of physical strength that came with being in the best condition.

She was only a few feet down from the cliff when the boy she had met a few minutes ago came to the edge. His eyes were still covered by the thick black cloth but it didn't seem to impede his vision. The white cloak and white hair blew in the wind, giving him an elfin, ethereal look.

"Why hello again." Cybelline looked up and roared over the strong winds. "Nice weather we're having."

The boy looked at her quizzically, "The blizzard is about to start any minute."

Cybelline blinked and looked at the sky, "Shit." She cursed at her own carelessness and yelled down at Jinon "Hey Big Beard! Storm's coming!"

"Better hurry up then!" Jinon replied, he grunted and slide down ten feet. His powerful hands crushing several rocks in the process, "And don't call me that!"

"It'll take you at least the whole day to make it down the cliff in good weather." The boy's voice was cool and polite, he looked down at her, "It would not be advisable, come back up."

Cybelline looked down at the base of the mountain, it was now covered entirely by the thick black clouds.

"If you waste your time staring at that pretty face, I'll come up there and kick you down myself!" Jinon roared, "Girl, come! I did not live all this time only to die on the side of a cliff, waiting for teenagers to moon over each other."

"You're a girl?" The boy's eyes widened. Cybelline raised an eyebrow. He cleared his throat quickly, "My apologies. I should have guessed."

He thrust out a hand, "I'm sure your companion will wait for you. No lady should have to bear this kind of condition"

Cybelline looked up at the hand, white as snow and without the burden of calluses. She grinned up at him, "No thanks. I think I'll break you if I squeeze too hard."

The boy opened his mouth and then closed it, he smiled gallantly, "You have a strange way of refusing. But I insist."

Cybelline sighed, "What's your name?"

"Kieran." The boy said automatically, "What's yours."

"You seem like a nice guy, Kieran. The type of guy who was raised to be a gentleman." Cybelline brushed off the question about her name.

"What are you doing up there, growing your own garden?" Jinon growled up at her.

"Unlike some neanderthals. " She remarked dryly, "And, in your young life, you've probably been told that women are delicate and must be protected. They have no ability to fight or fend for themselves." He nodded.

She shook her head with a wry smile, "That'll get you killed one day."

She let go of the rocks she was hold, letting her entire body fall backwards into the air.

"NO!" The boy cried and tried to catch her. He caught the end of her glove but failed to catch her fingers. Her grey cloak fluttered elegantly, like giant wings as she seemed to be suspended in air for a fraction of a second that stretched into infinity. Her eyes were magnetic and Kieran found himself unable to tear himself away from this frightening, devastating sight.

Jinon looked up to see the girl child he had been tasked to protect fall backwards off the cliff.

Suddenly it took him back all those years ago, in the land of blood and fire, back to when he was just a young man fighting an endless war. A woman covered in blood, her body glowing with magic, falling off the city wall, her red dress like flames around her body. Her eyes on his as her smile, full of pain and hatred branded itself onto his face. She would destroy everything he had built, she told him, she would burn it all to ash and him with it.

Jinon's hands crushed the granite, leaving deep marks onto the side of the canyon. That woman whose life had been intwined with his. His fault. Everything was his fault.

He prepared to spring into action and catch the foolish child, but as just as he prepared to move, everything changed.

Cybelline backflipped in midair and caught a small branch, quickly and lightly she swung off it using the momentum to swing down to the next branch. This time, she not only swung from the branch, she broke off the thick wood and with all her might, slammed it down on the side of the mountain where there was a deep crack, it widened by the force of her brute strength. There was practiced efficiency, as if she had done this a million times. A prima ballerina who danced on air.

The branch slide her down the slide of the mountain like a zip line until she reached Jinon. She smiled at him, "Borrow you for a minute. She grabbed the rope from his belt, "I don't know about you, but jumping is much faster than climbing."

Cybelline tied the end to her belt, planted her feet on the side of the canyon and then proceeded to run down vertically until she disappeared into the cloud cover.

Jinon and the boy watched, speechless as she seemed to sprint down vertically without an issue. After a minute they heard a faint sound, "Let go!" Jinon dropped the rope.

Cybelline dropped the rope down, there was still a hundred feet down, but there were a lot more rocks now. She smiled and jumped, this was now much more manageable. The rocks gave her the ability to parkour down the rest of the way. In twenty minutes, she was at the bottom of the mountain.

Jinon looked down and then back up at the boy, "Well. Goodbye, Your Majesty."

Kieran looked at him, "Who is she?"

Jinon shrugged, "That's really none of your business, isn't it?"

Kieran looked at the lion maned man, "No, I suppose not, Lord Jinon. My great grandfather told me tales about you, the man who destroyed the Folk Kingdom. I suppose I have to thank you for that. Without you, I wouldn't have become King." He smiled ruefully, "It's strange to see a legend come to life, I had thought you died thousands of years ago."

Jinon looked up, "You flatter me, child. It's not every day a member of the Cursed Line will speak to a commoner like me."

Kieran smiled, "You are as much a commoner as I." He bowed slightly, "Thank you again for saving my companion."

Jinon was silent for a minute, then he nodded, "Good luck child. I hope you have a good life."

"You and I both know that it's not possible. But," The young king hesitated, "That girl, what's her name?"

Jinon shook his head.

The boy opened his mouth and then closed it again. What was the point? Why ask about someone when he won't live long enough to truly know? Kieran gripped the glove that he had taken from Cybelline when she had let go.

The boy turned and walked away.

Jinon sighed, "My fault." And began to climb down again.

Cybelline sat on a large rock, eating an apple as Jinon climbed down the last part of the mountain.

"What were you doing, growing a garden?" She threw the quip back at him. He glanced at her.

For a brief moment, Cybelline saw in his eyes what she saw on the faces of soldiers who come home after the horrors of war. It was the cursed nightmare of those who had seen too much, had been asked to bear the unspeakable burdens of battle. He looked twenty years older.

She stood up quietly, "Let's go."