“Zerrin, are you feeling alright?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

They had been hiding out in the abandoned stables for… nearly a day and a half now. Zerrin and Nisk were afraid of being caught by the general authorities, for good reason, and had found the makeshift hideout after nearly being “caught” by a drunken, though they didn’t know at the time, patron of the nearby inn.

Neither of them had much experience with people before. Zerrin was previously a prisoner of a travelling circus - actually a blood-thirsty, demon worshipping cult - for a vast majority of his lifetime, and Nisk was a confused resident of the Realm of Shadow with severe memory issues, who had rescued Zerrin accidentally by visiting the circus while trying to remember where he was.

Though they had become great friends during their travels together, neither of them really knew how currency, business, and trade were organized, nor did they have any money to pay for… really anything. So, they stole from people. Food wasn’t as much of a problem as they thought it would be, because Nisk, originating from the Realm of Shadow, didn’t need to eat, but theft is still technically illegal, and they ran into problems from time to time.

It was near midnight now, and neither of them could sleep. Nisk couldn’t because, once again, he was from the Realm of Shadow, and Zerrin couldn’t because of Nisk’s constant attempts to find anything that could possibly be wrong.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Nisk whispered.

“Yes. I’m fine.” Zerrin replied, now feeling a bit grumpy.

“I… have I asked if you’re okay yet?” Nisk asked, again, after a moment.

“Yes.” Zerrin answered, “Many times.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Have a nice sleep.”

“I don’t really think that’s going to happen.”

“Oh… why not?” Nisk asked, now seemingly worried, “Are you alright?”

Zerrin sighed.

Nisk’s memory problems usually only troubled him this much when he was stressed. The situation he was in, with the stealing and the confusion and his dear friend who couldn’t sleep, all appeared to really weigh on him. His faulty memory wasn’t his only problem, either. Nisk was also plagued by two troublesome phobias: autophobia, the fear of being alone, and siderophobia, the fear of stars.

Neither of them had even the slightest idea why Nisk was afraid of stars, but he was, and whenever someone would be about to mention to him that the sun was also a star, Zerrin would quickly change the subject, and then try to end the conversation as soon as possible. Nisk ended up believing that this was because Zerrin was secretly at war with the sun, and would say so, but he always forgot the silly explanation Zerrin always told him.

A rather bright beam of light from outside of the stables suddenly landed on Nisk’s chest. It appeared to be reflecting off of something, but he couldn’t tell what it was.

“Zerrin?” Nisk asked.

“Yes?” Zerrin sighed, clearly expecting Nisk to ask if he was feeling okay again.

“Something is reflecting light into here.”

“Yeah? Things do that all the time. I’m sure it’s nothing for us to worry about.”

“But it’s really bright, and I want to know what it is.” Nisk quietly protested.

“Then go find out.” Zerrin said.

Nisk let loose a small squeaking noise, sounding almost like a whimper.

Zerrin, remembering it was night and that the stars were probably out, rolled over to look at the bright beam of light, then sat up quickly.

“That… is actually really bright.” he admitted, then sighed again. “Alright, let’s go see what it is.”

As they left the stables, Zerrin, looking up at the midnight sky, was surprised and rather grateful to find that a large cloud had covered the stars. He was sure, however, that this meant it was going to rain, and he didn’t want to be in those smelly stables when it did. Nisk noticed this as well, and was also quite grateful.

The beam of light was coming through a small forest that the townspeople kept to hold their annual Greenery Feast, a celebration to one of their gods, though neither Zerrin nor Nisk knew which god it was.

They followed the beam of light for a couple of minutes before they heard the flute.

The further they followed the beam of light, the louder the flute became, almost as if they were walking towards it. It was a very sweet sound, and the tune it played was joyful and calm. It made Zerrin realize just how tired he was, but they kept following the light.

Eventually, Nisk saw where the song was coming from.

“Zerrin!” he whispered excitedly, “Look!”

There was a man, sitting upon an old tree stump in a clearing surrounded by beautiful flowers. The clearing must’ve been used for the Greenery Feast, but Nisk and Zerrin weren’t entirely sure, seeing as neither of them had ever gone.

The man played a beautiful silver flute, and it looked rather expensive, much like the rest of his attire. He wore a long green coat, tidy brown pants, and a pair of well-kept leather boots. The beam of light was coming from something inside a small leather bag that had been laid against the stump.

The man’s pointed ears and brightly colored hair gave him away as an elf, which explained the silver flute and nice clothing, as well as his surroundings. He hadn’t seen either of them yet, but he suddenly stopped playing his song and left the clearing, as if someone from within the forest had called him. He left his bag by the stump, and, after checking to see that the man had really left, Nisk began to creep towards it.

“Nisk!” Zerrin hissed, “What are you doing?”

He didn’t answer, and it was at this moment that Zerrin realized that the beam of light was trained on Nisk.

But before he could do anything about it, Nisk retrieved a silver compass, similar in craftsmanship to the flute the elf had been playing, from the bag and came back to him.

“Look! It’s a compass!” Nisk whispered.

“I can see that.” Zerrin answered, then became cross. “Why did you run off?”

“I wanted to see what it was!” Nisk replied.

“What if someone had seen you?”

“They didn’t!”

“You should have been more-” but Zerrin stopped, realizing that the compass wasn’t reflecting any light at all. The compass’ arrow was pointing at Nisk, and shining a beam of light straight at him.

“Look!” he said, gesturing at the compass.

Nisk didn’t understand why Zerrin was so upset. He didn’t seem to have noticed anything about the compass’ light, or where the arrow was pointing.

“Yes! It’s a compass!” Nisk repeated.

“But it’s pointing at you!” Zerrin hissed, “Look!”

Nisk looked at the compass, and waved it in front of him to see where it was pointing, then finally discovered the truth.

“Zerrin!” he exclaimed, his voice high with fright, “It’s pointing at me!”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Zerrin nearly yelled, but caught himself.

“Why is it pointing at me?” Nisk whispered worriedly, “What did I do?”

“I don’t know! Maybe you shouldn’t have stolen it!” Zerrin growled.

“Hello?” a soft, calm voice asked from behind them, “Are you both alright?”

Zerrin looked around and saw the elf that had been playing the beautiful song on the flute. The elf that Nisk had stolen the compass from. In their scuffle, they hadn’t noticed him sneak up behind them.

Nisk looked up at him and held out the compass.

“Why is it pointing at me?” he asked, not aware that he was talking to the person he had stolen the compass from, “Do you know?”

The elf took the compass and studied it for a moment.

“No,” he said after a moment, “I have no idea why it’s pointing at you.”

He walked in a circle around Nisk, holding out the compass, humming to himself quietly. Zerrin held his breath, silently hoping that the elf wasn’t the kind of person to be too mad at theft. Nisk appeared to be slowly putting the pieces together in his mind. He casually picked one of the flowers in the clearing. It grew back instantly.

“Hmm… that certainly is strange…” the elf finally mumbled, then gasped. “Hold on… why do you have my compass in the first place?”

His tone was still calm and reassuring, so the question caught Nisk and Zerrin off guard. Before Zerrin could say anything, Nisk spoke up.

“It was in that bag over there.” he said innocently, pointing at the leather bag by the stump, “It was shining a bright light, and we wanted to see what it was.”

“Oh!” the man exclaimed, still using the same tone, “I’m sorry for the light! That must have been quite annoying.”

He gazed at the compass for another moment, then looked up again. “My name is Freyan.” he said, holding out his hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Again, I’m sorry for the light. The compass is enchanted.”

Nisk smiled. “I’m Nisk!” he exclaimed happily. They shook hands.

Zerrin, who hadn’t made a sound or moved a muscle while this was happening, took a deep breath. The elf, Freyan, appeared to notice him for the first time.

“Oh, and hello to you as well.” He said, “Again, I am terribly sorry for the light. The compass is enchanted to point towards-”

He stopped, and turned back to Nisk, then kept speaking.

“-towards creatures from the Realm of Shadow. That explains it.”

Freyan’s tone was still calm, which caught Zerrin as unsettling, to say the least. Nisk noticed, again, seemingly for the first time, that the compass was pointing towards him.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, “have you said why it’s pointing at me yet? I… can’t remember.”

Freyan hesitated, blinked once, then explained again.

“The… compass is enchanted to point out creatures from the Realm of Shadow.” he said, still in his calm voice. Then, he hesitated again before continuing, “Which… which means that I want to get to know you… both.”

Zerrin almost laughed. Of course he wanted to know about Nisk! Everyone always did. They wanted to dissect him, pull him apart. For science, of course! Everyone would always be paid compensation, they would promise, and they assured it would be a generous payment. And everyone would know that they contributed to… oh, who knows… the first colonization of another Realm, or something.

But, he almost laughed. Freyan had said ‘you both’.

Nisk, who, as usual, didn’t think about any of this, looked up at Freyan, smiled, and exclaimed happily, “Hi! I’m Nisk!”

Freyan chuckled, looked him in the eye, and said, almost cautiously, “Yes, I know. You’ve said so.”

Nisk’s smile immediately disappeared. “I… I have?”

“Yes, you have.” Freyan answered.

The clouds suddenly parted, and the stars were visible.

Nisk awoke from the dream. He wrote it down while it was still fresh in his mind. He looked around the old stables. That old memory must’ve been from… possibly centuries ago. He hated that he couldn’t remember anything else. Why wasn’t Zerrin here anymore? What had happened to Freyan?

He took a deep breath, then sighed.

He read over the dream again, and again, and again and again. How did he remember this? How would he remember other memories?

Nisk looked at his colorful ribbon bracelet. Zerrin was still alive, wasn’t he? He had to be.

I’d know if he wasn’t, wouldn’t I?

He took another deep breath, then stood up and headed towards his favorite clearing in the forest that the town used to hold their Greenery Feast. He would pick some flowers. He loved picking flowers.