The Endless Forest

When Felix woke, he found himself curled up in his bed. He was not alone.

Slowly, quietly, he pulled himself free and sat up, stifling a yawn. His clothes laid on the floor and with as much grace as he could muster, he donned them. There was no point in cleaning up, he was planning on getting some training in this morning.

However, as he approached the door, a muffled noise caught his attention. It was coming from somewhere beyond his room. Curiously, he opened the door and peered out.

The noise was still muffled, sounding like someone moving furniture. It was coming from further down the hall.

He slipped out, quietly closing the door behind him.

The noise led him to the spare bedroom that had once been Aluin’s room. He put his hand on the doorknob, but a sudden memory told him to not immediately barge in. Instead, he put an ear up to the door and listened.

“Ah! You shall go there–”

The voice was instantly recognizable. Yarnel…

For a moment, he felt relieved about on not intruding on–

Wait a second… Felix furrowed his brow. What is Yarnel doing?

Turning the doorknob, he threw open the door and… Mana, dense mana, slammed into him. Even without his mana sight, he had to look away as it threatened to sting his eyes.

“What– Ah! Felix!”

In an instant, the mana evaporated. And as he peeked through his eyelids, he found the small dragon floating in front of him.

“Yarnel? What was… What was that?” Felix asked, releasing a breath he was holding.

“Hmm? Oh! Apologies, I was merely redecorating–”

“What?” He peered over the dragon and into the room.

It certainly has been redecorated… What was a mostly barren room had been transformed into a– What do I even call it? A dungeon? That was about as close as he could get to what he was seeing.

“Is there something wrong with your ears?” Yarnel asked, sounding sincere.

“Huh– Oh, no. Sorry, I was just surprised.” He forced a smile.

“I see. Anyway, yes. I was in the middle of moving furniture. I decided that since I would be here for an indefinite amount of time, I would settle in this open room.”

“Right…” Felix blinked. “Wait, what do you mean you’ll be here for an indefinite amount of time?”

The small dragon cocked his head in confusion. “I am here to teach you all about magic– Please don’t tell me you’ve hit your head! Memory loss is no joke. Perhaps I should run some tests… Tell me, how many fingers am I holding up?”

He counted three but before he said that he quickly shook his head. “Hang on! I did not hit my head! I am perfectly fine… Why would you even think that?”

Yarnel answered with a straight face. “Well, you were quite loud last night. I assumed you were doing some kind of late night training with Eri and possibly hurt yourself.”

There were no words to describe Felix’s expression. “Ah, my apologies,” he said deadpan.

After a moment he shook his head and peered back into the room-turned-dungeon. It was… Well, interesting. The window was gone, along with most of the furniture. The bed being the only surviving asset.

But it wasn’t empty. No, far from it in fact. Strange and clearly magical contraptions took up most of the space, none of which looked familiar to Felix. Arcane, that was the only word that came to his mind and the darkness of the room only helped to reinforce it.

Strange… It looks bigger than I remember.

“Nothing to worry about, I can undo the process at any time,” Yarnel stated, deducing what Felix was thinking.

“I see… But why is it so dark? Where is– What happened to the window?” Felix asked, still a little stunned.

“Many of my experiments are sensitive to the light. So I merely covered the windows and removed any light fixtures.”

“Huh… And you can put everything back?”

“That’s what I said, yes.”

With a deep sigh Felix decided to not think too hard about it and moved to end the conversation. “Well, I won’t keep you. I’m hoping to slip out and get some morning practice in before I and the others have to meet Ithea.”

The small dragon perked up at the mention of the dragon woman. “Ah! Well, I have some news then. Ithea is gone.”

“Wait, why? What happened?” he asked, surprised.

“She was summoned by the Sages. Apparently, they want to speak with her. But not to fear! I did promise to teach you proper magic.”

Well I guess that explains where Aluin is, he thought. Felix knew the Sage was going to inform the others, but he expected to hear something back before now.

“Okay… I guess I don’t have a problem with that,” he responded before a thought crossed his mind. “Actually, maybe you can help me?”

“Oh?! Does my student already have a question for me?” The dragon lowered himself to the ground and peered up confidently to him.

“Well, it’s my ability to cast spells. I finally figured out how, but… It’s draining and not efficient.”

“Let me take an educated guess. Ithea forced you into casting them?”

Felix gave a careful nod, not wanting to say anything out loud.

“But of course,” Yarnel hissed. “Do not concern yourself with her…teachings. I will show you the proper way.” He brought a taloned hand up to his snout in thought. “Perhaps, I should observe though… Hmm, yes. My notes are lacking a little in that regard.”

The small dragon brought his attention back to Felix. “Right, I think we shall start simple. I would like to observe how you mediate, then how you use your mana manipulation. Finally, I will see just how you cast a spell.”

“And then?” Felix asked.

“And then I can teach you.”

Honestly? Not a bad plan. Maybe there is something more to Yarnel than an arrogant little asshole. He smiled. “Sounds good to me. I was going to start my training this morning with a little meditation. So if you want to come along, you can.”

“Excellent, I will come with you. The rest of my things can wait.” the small dragon said, the door behind him closing on its own. “Please, lead the way.”

Felix wasted no time and made for the stairs, heading down to the first floor. From there, he paused for a moment. Normally, he would have gone out the back and into the clearing, but now that they had so many…guests that was probably not a good idea.

He made his decision and went for the front door, quietly opening it and peering out from it. No one was out there and the sun was starting to rise, casting the sky in beautiful oranges and reds.

The two of them made it outside and Felix took a deep breath of fresh air.

“Right,” he started, “normally I would just find a spot and start… Is there anything you want me to do differently?”

Yarnel shook his head, no. “As I said, I wish to observe how you do things normally. In fact, I want you to pretend I am not here.”

With a hesitant chuckle, he responded. “You know, it isn’t that easy. But, I am sorta used to being stared at while I meditate.”

He didn’t wait for any reply and made his way off the porch and onto the grass. Sitting down, Felix did his best to get comfortable before closing his eyes and getting into a meditative state…

With a thought, Yarnel made one of his journals appear with a simple quill floating beside it. Crystals popped into existence and floated above him and Felix. They would help record this event.

Finally, he opened his senses, all of them, and began to take in everything. There would be no missing details…

The first thing he noticed was how well Felix’s mana responded to the human. For most, this was a difficult task and the main reason one meditated. It helped one get better control and to familiarize themselves with their own body.

Obviously, the human had the ability to shift and control his mana at will. It was unique, but not unheard of, at least to the small dragon. He had seen similar control in others, in the past.

Curiously, though, it wasn’t just Felix’s mana that he was picking up. The Dragon Queen’s own mana flowed and responded to the human’s will.

That was truly interesting.

He had never seen someone commanding another’s mana with such ease. Only the Sages had such control and understanding–

But maybe that’s why? When was the last time someone had two souls melded together? Or had been resurrected? Again, he had seen people like this before, but not since the ancient war and never had he got to properly study them.

Yarnel made sure his quill was writing everything down, as he shifted back to observing.

Mana spread out from deep within Felix, coating him. But it wasn’t solid or rigid like the dragon was expecting. It acted more like a fluid, one that was being gently guided. The entire process was mesmerizing and intriguing.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

Felix took another deep breath as his mana receded back into his core, leaving only a minuscule amount to flow through his body.

“Fascinating!” Yarnel muttered, a bit louder than he intended. He approached the human and settled down in front of him. “That was splendid. It has been a while since something has truly captured my interest.”

“Was it?” Felix asked. “I know my mana manipulation is unique, but I didn’t think it would impress you.”

“Oh, you fresh hatchling… You have no idea– But! That is why I am here, that is why I have offered myself to be your teacher. And to think, Aluin and Ithea have tried to ruin you.”

The human furrowed his brows in anger. “Ruin me? Aluin has tried to help me, and his guidance has helped. Ithea… Well, I don’t think she is out to kill me anymore.”

Yarnel waved a hand dismissively. “Of course I don’t mean they intended to ruin you. But their guidance certainly hasn’t helped.”

Felix crossed his arms. “Explain.”

Hmm, I wanted to just observe but… I suppose this is a good time to start. The dragon broke out a toothy grin. “Very well, and I shall endeavor to keep it as simple as possible.”

He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts before continuing. “Tell me, Felix, why do people meditate?”

The human considered his question before giving what Yarnel could only assume to be a guess. “It helps them control their mana?” he said, more of a question than a statement.

“Indeed, but there is more to it.” He waited several moments as Felix continued to think on the question, however, it was becoming clear that he did not know the answer.

“It is fine if you don’t know, I shall explain. The reason one meditates is it helps them connect to their mana. Most people struggle with that. In fact, it is the greatest challenge one must face if they ever hope to learn magic.

“However, as I said, most people. You do not necessarily fall into that category. Your ability, mana manipulation, is the reason. To put it simply, normal meditation does nothing for you– That doesn’t mean you can’t but it means you must adapt.”

“Adapt?” Felix asked, seemingly realizing something. “I think… I think I’ve done something like that before. I’ve used it to sharpen my senses.”

“Good! Then I can move on and explain further,” the dragon said. “Why I said Aluin and Ithea have tried to ruin you, is because they don’t understand magic like I do. They are set in their ways, like meditating, or being forceful.

“Make no mistake, both are quite capable and their personal understanding of magic is beyond most. But they don’t study it like I do, they don’t understand it like I do.

“The elves have their own ways of studying magic, as do my own kind– In fact, so do the humans. For the most part, the elves, dwarves, and so on, believe that magic is made up of various elements. Curiously, humans believe it is divine in nature, that it comes from their own God.”

Felix threw up his hands. “Whoa, wait a second there. You aren’t telling me I have to start worshiping a God just to use magic, are you?”

“Gods, no!” Yarnel shouted, sounding offended. “It is merely how they study and practice magic. It’s wrong by the way, all of it is.”

“Good… But how is it wrong? Actually, how can there be more than one way to study magic? I was under the assumption that it works only one way.”

“And that is my point! It only works one way, but it can be interpreted differently! For eons, everyone has just accepted what they have been told as fact. It works, so clearly it's right.”

Yarnel narrowed his eyes as old memories came to the forefront of his mind. Memories of others simply ignoring him, or worse, mocking him.

“That is what they believe and so it is the truth! But I have dedicated my entire life– No, dedicated my entire soul to proving them wrong!”

Felix shrank as the dragon let out his frustration and anger. “For centuries I have striven to disprove each and every fact about magic. I have been successful, even providing undeniable proof! Yet, still, most would scoff at me!”

He drew quiet, breathing heavily as the anger was replaced by something else, a mixture of respect, awe, and… Devotion.

“Only one person ever listened to me. Only one person gave me the chance to prove my theory, and myself.” Yarnel said as he regained his composure.

“Her Majesty, the Dragon Queen, Fea.”