The Endless Forest

Felix took a deep breath as he and Eri sat down onto the stone floor of the hatchery. Zira came and laid right behind him and Aluin took a seat across from them. The arrangement made it obvious who was on whose side.

“Before we began,” the Sage started with. “I want you to know, Eri, that I have always believed in you. I am sorry for leaving you in the dark and misleading you, there is no excuse save for what we’re about to discuss. I can only hope, in time, you will forgive me.”

Eri’s hand squeezed against Felix’s as Aluin gave a sitting bow.

Should I say something– His question was answered as Eri spoke.

“I…cannot say if I will forgive you right now. In time, and with an explanation about what is happening, maybe. But not until then.” She kept her expression neutral as she spoke, but if Felix’s hand was any indication, that was just a facade…

Aluin raised his head, his expression unreadable. “I understand. Then let us not waste any more time.” The Sage closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Eri,” he continued, his expression now serious. “Do you remember the history lessons I gave to you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember the story of the first Queen?”

Felix watched as Eri’s expression shifted into confusion.

“I do…” She answered.

“Tell me, do you know how she became the first Queen?” Aluin asked.

Eri was silent for several moments before she finally answered. “She was selected by the Fay Court. If I remember correctly, they were in the midst of a brutal civil war.”

“Indeed, though there was more that happened. Do you remember, though, about who she was?”

This time Eri shook her head, no.

“Her name was Sari, and she was common born. She did not hail from any house, she did not have any linage. Yet, the Court selected her. Why?”

Eri’s eyes lit up slightly as if she recalled something important. “She was highly decorated within the Court’s army.”

The Sage shook his head. “No, that’s not quite right. She was decorated, but more importantly, she had something that most do not have.”

“What’s that, exactly?” she asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

“She had a fire burning in her that inspired others. Her presence alone was enough to rally the troops, inspiring them even during some of those truly gruesome battles. It wasn’t just her tactics, though she was skilled…it was her sheer force of will. It was her presence. It was her fire burning, yearning for a better tomorrow.”

Upon hearing about Sari’s fire, Eri’s eyebrows raised. “In your letter, you mentioned that I had a fire burning. What did you mean by that?”

Aluin studied her for several long, hard seconds before responding. “Eri, you have the same ability as her, and all the Queens after her…”

Even knowing what was coming, Felix still sucked in a lungful of air upon hearing the pronouncement. Eri, on the other hand, was completely floored.

“W-what…” She trailed off, stunned by the implication.

Aluin suddenly stood up and approached them, only to kneel before her.

“Eri, you will become the next Queen.”

Lorem casually exited the forest and back into the clearing, alone. Ithea had chosen to vanish long before then.

In his hands were two small chunks of wood and while they weren’t very interesting at the moment, he would soon be changing that. He had grand plans for them.

However, he had one more destination in mind and he hoped Noria wouldn’t be nearby. While he could easily come up with a lie, he would rather just avoid the whole situation. He hated lying to her, especially with what he was making…

Thankfully, as he quickly scanned the area, he found her along with Solanna and Yedril busy helping the new arrivals. His eyes next made contact with his destination: Four young dragons cheerfully playing with Kyrith.

At least the younger ones were, Kyrith looked distant and worried but Lorem wasn’t entirely sure. The ember-colored dragon was chasing them, playing some kind of game, but every few moments Kyrith would look back towards the hatchery…

I hope everything is alright with Eri, Lorem thought to himself. It was the only thing he could think of to have the big dragon so worried. Master Aluin is here, and so is Felix. Everything should be fine… I hope.

With that, he let the thought die and instead poked Tzarin through their bond. Hey buddy, I need a favor from you and Azelea.

He watched with amusement as Tzarin suddenly skidded to a halt before staring straight at him.

Favor?

Yep! I just need a single scale, can I pluck a loose one?

Sure– Tzarin was immediately pounced on by Azelea.

Lorem broke out into laughter at that.

Not– OW! Funny! The Ruby dragon managed to kick her off of him.

Continuing his approach, Lorem let out a low whistle gaining the attention of Azelea. She stopped dead in her tracks before suddenly bounding towards him. Tzarin, not to be outdone, took off after her.

Lorem dropped to his knees, throwing out his arms and caught the two dragons as they slammed into him.

With a grunt, he wrapped them in a hug and held them tight for a moment. “You two are getting a bit too big for this…” He let them go. “Any more and you will end up crushing me!”

With a laugh, he continued. “Anyway… I told Tzarin this but, Azelea, I need to see if I can take a loose scale from you.”

Hearing her name the citrine dragon looked up to him with a curious expression.

“It’s for a gift… I’m making something for Noria– But you can’t tell her anything, understand?”

She nodded her head, looking rather excited.

What gift?! Tzarin asked.

“I’m going to make her a ring– Well I am making two rings. They will be a matching pair, one for her and one for me.”

Azelea cocked her head.

“It’s hard to explain, but the rings are special. They mean we care about each other.”

We get rings too?

Lorem chuckled at that. “Maybe in the future, these rings are meant for the one you will spend the rest of your life with.”

Tzarin just gave him a blank stare for several moments. So…me?

That had Lorem nearly on the ground laughing. It took several seconds for him to calm down. “N-no… Not quite. A… A lover,” he said, still chuckling.

Before his curious partner could ask any more questions, Lorem continued. “So, Azelea, Tzarin, can I get a single scale from both of you?”

Yep!

Azelea nodded, but it was clear she still seemed a little confused.

“I need the scale to make the rings magical,” he said with some exaggeration.

Both dragons perked up at that. They silently looked at each other and stared, then without saying a word they both gave each other a quick nod.

Tzarin spoke up. We help!

Lorem blinked, unsure what to say to that. I guess it couldn’t hurt…

“Sure.”

Eri blinked, finding herself at the base of the stairs back in the manor. Felix was guiding her, and… The rest was a blur. Her mind was still reeling from the shock.

“Are you…” Felix trailed off, his eyes filled with concern.

“Yeah, just… That was a lot to take in.”

They reached the top of the stairs when Felix pulled her into a hug. “It’s okay, I know it was a lot.” He let out a half-hearted chuckle. “You should have seen my reaction, I about jumped through the roof.”

She smiled, though it was hidden in his chest. “Felix?” she muttered through his tunic, before pulling her head away. “Should I do this? I don’t know if I can… I don’t even know if I understand.”

She stared into his eyes.

After a moment, he spoke. “Yes, I think you should.”

“Why?” she pushed.

“Because, I know you can do it.”

That made her pull away further. “I’m being serious,” she muttered, furrowing her brows.

“And so am I,” Felix responded. “The truth is that I’ve seen how strong you truly are. Sure, you’ve had moments of weakness, moments of doubt, but everyone has those. What sets you apart is they fuel you to do better.”

He continued, “If you don’t want to do this, then simply don’t. But I know you, you can do this.”

Searching, Eri looked for any sign of a lie… “And what about you? You’re supposed to be the…judge of all this?”

He nodded and added, “I have to admit Aluin was quite clever with that.”

“Because he knew you would pick me?” she said with a coy smile, her wit was starting to come back to her…

“Well, he certainly knew of our relationship…”

Our relationship… His words made her remember her anxiety from a few nights ago. What is going to happen to…us? she wondered with a renewed sense of dread.

I don’t want to let it die…

Suddenly, as they stood over the stairs, she had an epiphany. There were two roads for her to take. One led to her bedroom, alone, and forced to contemplate what her future would hold. The second, however, led to–

She blushed, feeling her heart rate increase. She knew exactly what that meant. Yet, if she chose him, if she went with him, they would be together.

There would be no going back.

There would be no guarantee it would all work out either. No, far from it, going with Felix would mean uncertainty, for her and him. But something told her that if she left for her room, right now, their relationship would never grow. Instead, it would wither and die…

In a split second, she made her decision.

Taking Felix’s hand, she pulled him towards his room. “Come, let’s continue our discussion in private.” Her pulse quickened as she uttered the words. Still, it had the desired effect of keeping him from asking questions.

They quickly entered his room and shut the door, Eri made sure to lock it…

Felix blinked up at her in surprise. “Wha–” He froze, his eyes alight with confusion, curiosity, and finally…realization.

“Oh… Eri, we don–”

“I want to!” she shouted out, surprising herself. But before either one of them could think of backing down, she snapped her arms up to her chest and began working on the laces that kept her dress fitting tight around her.

Her heart was threatening to pound itself out of her chest, but she refused to stop, she refused to let things end here…

With her newfound determination, she felt herself becoming bolder. She could feel Felix’s eyes upon her and instead of wanting to shy away, she decided to do the opposite…

With a bit of flair, she let the rest of her clothes fall to the floor.

Felix gulped as he stared at her naked body.

“Your turn…”

Noria was exhausted and a little annoyed. Lorem had disappeared, and when they needed him the most. To make matters worse, Azelea had been acting strange. Her partner had been quite cagey when it came to what she was doing. Now, she was missing…

Stepping into the manor, her and the two siblings trudged past the kobolds in the kitchen before making it into the hall. There, they made for the stairs–

Noria stopped as she took her first step. Solanna and Yedril gave her a curious look, but she waved them onward. She thought she heard something coming from the library.

Making way, she turned and headed for the source of the noise. Poking her head in, her eyes widened at the sight before her.

For starters, the room was a mess. Boxes were pushed aside and their contents dumped onto the table. Strewn everywhere was what appeared to be wood shavings…

Then there were the two dragons, both passed out on the floor and looking as if they just collapsed there. However, as her concern grew she looked up to the only other individual there.

Lorem.

He was hunched over and muttering, his words incomprehensible as he worked on–

Noria gasped. There was a faint red and amber glow coming from something in his hands.

Visible mana– She rushed forward, knocking a box over in the process. Noria paid it no mind in her mad scramble.

Reaching Lorem, she yanked two small objects away, startling him.

“WHAT ARE– Noria!” he shouted in surprise, stumbling backwards. There was the sudden look of guilt in his eyes. “I-I can…”

Noria wasn’t listening, she was busy inspecting two odd, wooden– Rings? It was the only thing she could think of to describe them. Right, let’s see…

A bead of sweat began to form as she activated her mana sense, quickly using it to tell her what was wrong. The glow from the rings was a bad sign, it meant that mana was leaking and becoming unstable.

Strange… This mana, it feels familiar. She couldn’t quite place it however, especially when she had to work fast.

She noted a few interesting details. First, they weren’t just being infused with mana. No, there were definitely several runes etched into the wood. Secondly, the way the mana and runes were reacting didn’t make sense. Something else was interfering with them.

What were you doing, Lorem?

She carefully watched as the rings shimmered between amber and red. These colors… Her eyes drifted over to where the two dragons slept, neither one had so much as stirred. Next she spotted in among the mess of the table her mortar and pestle.

It all clicked at once.

“Listen, I just wanted–”

“I think I can save them,” Noria said, cutting off Lorem. “I don’t know what you were doing, but any more and you could have been hurt!”

She didn’t wait for a reply and immediately set to work…

It took several minutes of her carefully tracing out the runes. She had to use a trickle of her mana to ‘feel’ for each one and try to piece together what it was all supposed to do. All the while, she had to ensure that neither ring became too unstable.

Finally though, she figured out the problem. One of the runes meant to focus mana was made incorrectly. It was a simple beginner's mistake, one that ordinarily wouldn’t be all that bad. However, crushed dragon scales were embedded within. They amplified the mistake and threatened to overpower the rest of the runes.

Fixing it required only a minor tweak but one that took all her concentration…

“Done!” she gasped out, nearly dropping the rings. Weary, she slumped against the table and turned just enough to see Lorem.

He was staring in awe at her.

“W-what?” she asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“You never fail to amaze me…” Was his only response before coming up to her. He pulled her into a hug.

“What… What are these?” she asked, feeling the last bit of strength leave her.

He tensed up. “W-well… Uh, they’re rings…”

“I, uh…got that part. But those runes, those inscriptions–”

“Are meant for vows!” Lorem shouted, pulling her even closer to him.

“Vows?” she said, her voice muffled by his chest.

He tightened his grip around her even more. It was starting to become painful…

“Lorem… I can’t…breathe!” She flailed her arms in an attempt to slap his side.

He immediately released her. “Sorry…”

What is wrong with him? she wondered as she caught her breath. “Lorem, are you okay?”

“Y-yeah… Absolutely.”

She did not believe him, so she tried a new approach. “Where were you the whole night? We needed your help, and you were missing.”

He winced and looked away.

“What was so important that you had to disappear? At the very least you could have told me…” There was a hint of disappointment in her tone.

Lorem closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Opening them, he faced her with a determined look. “Noria,” he reached for the rings and grasped them, “I made these rings for us.”

He held them up for her to see. “I…wanted something to give you.”

“To give me? L-Like a gift?” she asked, feeling her cheeks flush.

He shook his head. “Not exactly. Noria…” He suddenly dropped to one knee and presented one of the rings to her.

“Will you marry me?”