The Endless Forest

The sky was a bright blue, the sun shined with not a single cloud in the sky. A complete contrast to the previous morning.

It was a late start for most around the manor, but not for all…

In the time between dark and light, where the sun had yet risen, Gillador was already hard at work. He set to the task of sorting through his equipment, much of which hadn’t seen any use for decades.

For all his long, long life, he was an architect. The last of his kind among the elves, only the dwarves cared enough to keep such a profession alive. However, even there it wasn’t as prestigious as the legends once said…

He did not care.

Gillador had spent much of his young life hearing about the grand castles and cities that were lost. Awestruck by such stories and born too late to witness their glory, his young self vowed to rebuild them.

The dream never left him.

But time was fleeting.

He spent most of his growing years studying what he could. He learned from the few builders who survived the war, even assisting in the construction of the last elven village…

An old gray kobold appeared in his vision. There was a spark in those eyes that made him smile.

“Yeah? What can I do for ya?” he asked.

“You Builder?” the kobold asked back.

“In a way. Who are ya?”

“Watcher. I come seek Builder, I offer help. Watcher know land well.”

“Do ya now?” Gillador rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Well, it’s a little early… But I can definitely use ya help. We’ll need to survey the land…”

Haldria poked her head out of her tent, quickly checking to see if anyone else was up nearby. With a thankful sigh, she crawled out and quickly set to the task of setting up her tanning gear.

It wasn’t a full setup, that would have been impossible to bring all in one go. Instead, she brought only what she absolutely needed. Everything else would have to be made. It wasn’t exactly ideal, but that was the price to pay to be here.

Here… That word held more weight to her than any other. For her, ‘here’ was a major step. She did something she wouldn’t have done years ago.

Until recently, she barely trusted anyone other than Gillador and Chief Yorlen. In many ways, they had rescued her.

Rescued me from– She shook her head. They no longer mattered, now she had new friends. Things were looking up for her, and that’s what mattered.

Why had she taken a liking to Felix and Zira? She didn’t exactly know. There was a certain air to the human that reminded her of Yorlen. And Zira was the embodiment of righteousness– At least, as far as Haldria was concerned.

Not to mention, she gets my humor! She let a laugh escape.

“What so funny?” A voice asked, sending her nearly sky high in fright.

Whipping around, Haldria found a green kobold watching her closely. At their feet were several hides, including a rather large one…

When did– How did she even pick that up? Instead of asking that out loud, she instead asked another question… “Y-yes?”

The kobold cocked its head and considered her for a moment. “Tracker ask, what funny?”

“Oh…nothing.”

“Right… Tracker need hide tanned. You Tanner?”

She nodded.

“Good. Tracker leave hide, come pick up later.”

Haldria could only blink as she watched the kobold leave– Wait! Damn it! I don’t have the shit I need!

She threw the only item she had in her hands to the ground, one of her thick and heavily treated gloves…

“FUCK!”

Noria woke to the soft sound of breathing. It wasn’t the same as a room filled with people snoring. No, this was more of a rumble but not like that of a dragon, either. It was like her ear was pressed to someone’s chest–

An arm tightened around her, squeezing her tight. Worst of all, she could feel it across her bare back. A-am I naked?!

Startled, she tried to pull away but the arm only tightened more. She could not escape, but her squirming did cause whoever was holding her to stir.

A moment later the person suddenly let her go and she finally got enough room to see who it was…

“Good morning, Sweetheart,” Lorem said with a jovial smile before giving her a wink. He too was completely naked.

Damn, he looks– The thought died as things started to click together. First, they were in the spare bedroom. Second, they were both naked. Third…

She was wearing a new ring.

A new ring on her ring finger.

Lorem sported the matching one.

Noria’s face turned crimson. The previous night came back to her in a flash.

“Are you okay?” Lorem suddenly asked, his face serious.

“Yep!” she squeaked out as her heart began thudding in her chest.

“Woah! Deep breaths, Noria.” He pulled her closer and tried to comfort her. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect.

What have I done?! Her breathing was becoming erratic.

“Noria! Hey, Noria… Listen to me, take deep breaths…”

Gods, h-he proposed to me! She started to shiver.

“Noria… Please, look at me!” Lorem was getting desperate.

I said yes! And then… And then… Then we–

Her thoughts were broken as Lorem suddenly kissed her. It was deep and passionate. It was the type of kiss reserved only for the most intimate of moments…

He slowly pulled away as she took a sudden gasp.

“Are you… Are you alright?” He asked, taking a shallow breath of his own.

Stunned, Noria could only give a slow nod.

“Thank the Gods… You were having another panic attack, a pretty bad one,” he muttered, releasing her.

Several minutes passed before Noria could finally work up the courage to speak. “A-are we…engaged?” The word nearly caught in her throat.

Lorem studied her for several moments, his expression going through a mixture of emotions before settling back down into a smile. “Yes, I proposed to you last night.”

“Good, I… I didn’t want it to be a dream.”

More awkward silence followed, before Lorem suddenly cleared his throat.

“It’s getting pretty late into the morning… I think I’m going to take a shower and go check on the dragons.”

Noria watched as he got out of bed and started gathering clothes. Her heart started beating fast again, but this time not from anxiety…

We’re engaged and… I want to feel him again. She could feel her face flush. And before her pessimism could stop her, she jumped out of bed.

With a bit of confusion and surprise, Lorem watched as she approached. She grabbed his hand and began pulling him towards the shower.

“I think I’ll join you…”

It was late in the morning, but he didn’t care.

It was peaceful, it was quiet, and after being gone for a week? Felix was perfectly happy to sleep in…

***

Stirring, Felix letting out a yawn as he started waking up. His arm bumped into something next to him. In fact, he could feel a presence. Confused, he turned his head and froze.

Laying next to him, with only a thin sheet covering her modesty, was Eri.

W-wait! Wha– The memories from last night came back to him. His eyes widened in shock, as everything became clear to him.

Gods… He shook his head. No. Get a grip, Felix. She and you wanted this.

Calming down, he quietly slipped out of his bed and began gathering his clothes.

Sleep well? Zira asked, her tone was dripping with sarcasm.

He nearly jumped at the sound of her voice. Zira! I, uh… Yeah?

Oh please, I know you didn’t get that much sleep. I didn’t, and neither did Eri…or Kyrith for that matter. We know what happened last night. There was an edge to her voice as she finished.

Immediately realizing his mistake, he tried to apologize. Gods! Zira, I’m so sorry–

No you’re not, else you wouldn’t have done…that. Are you happy? You got what you wanted. Congratulations… She sounded hurt.

Felix blinked. What I wanted…? Zira, what I wanted was a relationship with Eri. We love each other… Why is that hard to understand–

No! What you don’t understand, Felix, is that all I have is you. Yet, you would rather run off and have fun with her!

Stunned, Felix could only stand there while Zira continued shouting.

Why can’t you understand that?! I have no room for anyone else! I constantly worry about you! I constantly fear that something will happen and I won’t be there!

There was a brief pause as she took a mental breath. Felix, I’m scared of losing you.

Hearing that, Felix took a deep breath himself. Zira… I never knew you were so worried. Why? What happened?

My dreams, Felix… The visions the four of us had… Your own nightmares. And not to mention the amount of times you’ve gotten yourself hurt! Tell me, Felix, how are you not worried? How are you not scared?

He flinched. It wasn’t that he never felt concerned or worried, but he always considered them to be either echoes of his past or– No, I’m lying to myself, he thought.

With a heavy sigh, he began to explain. I am afraid, Zira. The truth is, I’ve been pretending none of it matters or that it's simply just my imagination. Because otherwise, I don’t know if I can handle it…

I go on as if everything is alright. I simply try to do what I can right now, and let the pieces fall where they may.

Zira took a long time before she responded. I… I don’t think I can do that. You are the only thing that matters to me, and every second we’re apart is like torture. Even now, I want nothing more than you to be at my side.

Felix slowly began dressing himself as he thought of a response. Perhaps, Zira, we need some counseling. What you told me, deeply concerns me. I wish I had known this sooner, though I’m sure you’ve tried to tell me. I’m just too dense, it seems.

Maybe we do… But no, I don’t think you are dense. I’ve been keeping it to myself, I should have told you sooner.

Finished with his clothes, he spoke up one last time. I’m going to wake Eri, and then I’m going to find Aluin and talk with him. He… He offered to speak to you regarding, uh…me and Eri’s relationship.

Zira didn’t seem all too thrilled to hear about that, but she didn’t complain. Instead, she simply sent him a mental nod and let the conversation die.

To put action to his words, he turned around and stopped. Eri was already stirring, a moment later her eyes fluttered open and she began moving her arm around in his bed.

There was a look of worry followed by surprise as she noticed him.

“Good morning,” he said, putting on a fake smile.

“Morning…” she trailed off as she sat up, revealing more of her body.

Felix quickly looked away, and Eri pulled the sheet back over herself. An awkward silence followed before he cleared his throat.

“I…” he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. “I enjoyed last night…” He immediately cringed. So damn stupid!

But to his surprise, Eri agreed. “I did too. But it seems there is someone who didn’t…”

With a half-hearted chuckle, he took a guess, “Kyrith?”

“Yes… He is complaining– No, never mind…” Eri quickly stopped talking.

Felix snuck a glance and saw her blushing.

“Anyway!” he said, a bit louder than he meant. “I need to go find Aluin, there’s a lot I need to talk with him about.” He didn’t want to tell her about Zira.

“Oh! I should probably come along as well then. There’s still much I don’t understand, and I guess this would be a good time to get more information.”

Damn it! His plan to casually slip away had backfired. “Sure… I’ll just go wait outside.”

She was already pulling herself out of the bed when she stopped. “Oh… Yeah, I suppose so.”

Seeing his chance to leave, Felix didn’t waste another second and practically flew out of the room…

Solanna and Yedril both stared up at the ceiling. And judging by the bags under their eyes, they hadn’t got a wink of sleep…

They originally came up to the dorm to sleep on a bed, after having to help the workers set up camp well into the night. Unfortunately, it appeared that someone had other plans…

Finally, though, the noises and moaning stopped. And both breathed a sigh of relief. They could finally rest–

A new round of thudding and moaning started…

Without a word, the siblings let out a sigh and stood up. Each grabbed their blankets and a pillow and made for the door. They quickly escaped the manor…