The Endless Forest

When Eri awoke she was a little disappointed to find the rest of the bed empty. However, it was not unexpected nor was it truly a bad sign. She knew that Felix wanted to get in some early morning training before they all met with Ithea.

It was actually that that made her frown. She wanted to join him this morning as a way to prepare herself for the dragon woman. But now, as she looked to the shuttered window, she could tell it would be too late.

Her only saving grace was that today, Oralyn would be handling the other elves. An agreement had been made between the three of them. And tomorrow Calinna would make an honest effort.

Eri’s frown slowly turned into a smile. Besides the training she would do today, tomorrow was looking to be rather peaceful. So long as Calinna bothers Oralyn, and not me…

Slipping out of bed, she quickly threw on her clothes and fixed up her hair. She didn’t waste too much time, however, and made her exit.

The sound of kobolds and elves reached her ears as climbed down the stairs, and she gave a courtesy nod to Niri as she passed. Eri hadn’t seen much of the blue kobold recently, but that didn’t mean much. There were a lot of people she hadn’t spent time with over the last week, and it was something she hoped to fix…

Managing to sneak and squeeze her way out through the kitchen and to the backdoor, she stepped out into a beautiful morning. The sun was already in the sky and rising, and the clearing was full of activity.

She gave a wave to a few people as she continued her trek, aiming for the hatchery. It was there that a familiar group of individuals stood and waited. However, there appeared to be a couple missing.

Kyrith wasn’t there, and nor was Felix. Zira was waiting, though, and appeared annoyed.

Curious, Eri thought wondering where Felix could be. As for her partner, she knew exactly where he was.

Come on, Kyrith. It’s time to get up. She felt him groan through their bond causing her to chuckle.

But Eri… I don’t want to get up, he said after a bit more prodding from her.

Yes you do, come on. We’re supposed to train– I mean, play with Zira and Felix. Don’t you want to–

Play?! Wait, but aren’t we supposed to meet with Ithea? he asked, his tone going from excited to suspicious.

That is true, she said cautiously, But we’re supposed to continue our little game from yesterday. Eri wasn’t being entirely truthful, but she was doing everything she could to get the dragon up.

Kyrith suddenly peered into her mind, looking for any semblance of a lie. Thankfully, Eri was ready for that and decided to tease him.

A brief memory from last night flashed to the forefront of her thoughts, filled with waves of pure emotion and–

Eri! Please…

Oh! I’m so sorry! It’s just…last night was wonderful, she said, feigning innocence. It was enough though, as she watched her partner step out from the hatchery. And just in time, as she too made it to the gathered dragons and elves.

“Good morning,” she said to the group, masking away any hint of her mirth.

“Morning,” Noria answered with a yawn.

“You look like you’re in a good mood,” Solanna said with a knowing smile.

Lorem and Yedril gave her a nod but were apparently discussing something. Eri returned the nod but quickly shifted her focus to Zira. The dragon’s expression had become quite dower.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Zira almost hissed as she responded. “Oh, nothing… We just have a new guest, is all.”

“A new guest? Who is it?”

The amethyst dragon peered down at her with narrowed eyes. “A pest. One that I thought we had rid ourselves of.”

Eri was thoroughly confused. She had never seen Zira get this upset over anyone, save for Ithea. And somehow I don’t think she’s talking about her mother. But then, who could it be?

“You’ll see,” Zira answered her unspoken question. “And then you will understand.”

“I take it Felix is with them?”

She didn’t immediately answer, instead her eyes flicked over to the manor.

Eri followed her gaze and found Felix rounding the corner of the building. Indeed, there was someone with him, but not what she expected.

Squinting, it took her a moment before she blurted out, “Is that… Is that a dragon?!”

The others quickly turned and before anyone else could respond, Noria let out a gasp.

“That… That has to be him!”

Now, all eyes were on the short elf.

“Hold on, you know who that is?” Eri asked, only to receive a nod.

“…I think so, at least.” Suddenly, a tome was in Noria’s hands as if it just appeared. She began flipping through pages before stopping and holding it up for the rest to see.

“But of course… He has a self-portrait and not even a good one,” Zira seethed. “But yes, that is Yarnel.”

Eri could only agree about the portrait, especially after seeing some of the drawings that Calinna had shown her. Still, this is big news… The implications weren’t lost on her, Yarnel was important.

Wait a second… She turned back to Zira. “What did you mean when you said: you thought you were rid of him?”

The dragon considered her question before answering. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now… He has been here before, but Felix made him keep out of sight.”

“Why?”

“Numerous reasons, including being rather nosy. You’ll see soon enough.”

Huh, interesting I suppose… Eri let the discussion drop as she returned her attention to Felix, he was nearly to them.

“Sorry,” he said, locking eyes with her. His smile was strained and spoke volumes about the morning he had.

Maybe there is something to what Zira said. “It’s okay, but… Who is this?” she asked, feigning ignorance.

“Ah, right.” Felix composed himself before introducing their newest guest. “Everyone, this is Yarnel–”

“I knew it!” Noria blinked only realizing that she blurted that out when everyone focused their attention on her. Her face became cherry red from the embarrassment. “S-sorry! I, uh, didn’t mean to shout…”

Everyone, save for Yarnel, chuckled. However, feeling pity for her, Eri quickly redirected focus back to the dragon.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Yarnel,” Eri said. “My name is, Eri and–”

“No need for introductions, I am already aware of everyone here.” The dragon’s eyes flicked to the tome Noria was still holding. “Tell me, Noria–” He gave a toothy smile “–How much have you understood of my journal– Of my notes?”

Still embarrassed and now being forced to be the center of attention once more, the short elf stammered out a response. “Oh! I, uh… I am still working through it! There are a lot of concepts in it that are hard to understand… But! I am making progress!”

Noria held the tome up and in an instant, it was gone. There was little fanfare, one moment it was there and the next it vanished. She held her hands wide and smiled in satisfaction.

Yarnel looked absolutely pleased. “Wonderful! I am excited to see that you are grasping the fundamental concepts.”

Noria perked up from the praise, reinforcing her confidence. “Thank you! I have to admit though, I find your theories quite confusing– Not that it's a bad thing! Just, it's different from how I learned magic.”

“Yes, I am well aware of how…different it is. But understanding concepts like fundamental forces is the true foundation of magic. In fact, they explain the world and not just magic.”

Felix suddenly cleared his throat. “Not to be rude, but there is more news to share. First, Yarnel will be staying with us for a while–”

Zira made her displeasure known with a growl.

“–Also, it appears Ithea was called away by the Sages. I don’t know how long she will be gone, unless,” he looked at the small dragon, “you know?”

Yarnel shook his head. “Ithea didn’t bother telling me, but it is possible that even she didn’t know. She was quite angry about being summoned too, but I think that was just her overreacting.”

Eri couldn’t help but let out a smile. “That does sound like her… But if that is the case, what should we do?”

“That one is simple, I think. We continue with our training. Yarnel has already offered to teach me about magic. Perhaps we can make it a class?” The question was directed to the dragon.

For a brief instant, Yarnel looked unsure of himself. Eri thought he might turn Felix down, but then the moment passed and once more he looked confident, arrogant even.

“I see no reason why not. But it won’t be so simple, you will have to throw away any preconceived notions you might already have. I will start with the basics and you all will have to relearn everything.”

“And what happens if we don’t?” Solanna asked, sounding skeptical.

“Then there is no reason for you to attend. I will not waste time on those who are not willing to learn. You may stay as ignorant as you like, it does not concern me.” The dragon snapped back defensively.

Almost too defensively, Eri thought. Kyrith, what do you think of him?

Her partner was watching intently.

I think he needs a friend… Kyrith suddenly approached the other dragon, every step filled with determination. He stopped and began to speak, yet the words did not match with the emotions Eri was feeling from him.

“Oh! You’ll teach us magic?! But Ithea says we shouldn’t– That it's not good for me or Zira until we are older…”

Yarnel looked taken aback but recovered quickly. “That is true, but it is because of wasting mana. Mana that you need to grow. However, that will not be a problem.”

Kyrith cocked his head. “It won't? Why not?”

“Because–” the small dragon opened his hand and revealed several small crystals “–I happen to have plenty of mana crystals for the two of you to use.”

“M-mana crystals!” Noria, once again, shouted out. This time however, she did not care and rushed up to the dragon. “May I?” she asked, cupping her hands together.

Yarnel stared blankly at her for several seconds before snapping out from whatever spell he was under. “Certainly, but do be careful. These ones may be small, but they are densely packed with mana.”

He let them drop into her hands and watched with amusement as she began studying them.

Meanwhile, Eri took the opportunity to get up next to Felix. She had lied to Kyrith about continuing their game from yesterday, but maybe that didn’t have to be a lie?

“Hey, I was thinking that since Ithea isn’t here, we should have another go at ‘tag.’” She used air quotes as she said the word.

“I’d be fine with that…” Felix said, trailing off.

Eri couldn’t help but notice that there was more that he wanted to say. “What is it, got a better idea?”

He shrugged. “I wouldn’t call it a better idea, but remember what I suggested yesterday? About adding something for you and I to go after?”

It took her a moment to remember what he was talking about. “You mean tying a strip of cloth, or something like it, to the dragons?”

“Yeah! I think we should try it, see how it goes.”

She was going to ask Kyrith his thoughts on it, but there was no need.

“Oh that sounds like fun! I can defend the flag and Eri, you can attack!”

“That does sound interesting,” Zira chimed in. At some point she managed to sneak up on them. “But what would the rules be?”

“Hmm…”

The four of them began discussing how this new game, or training, would work…

Tal stared up into the cloudy sky. It matched his heart but, thankfully, not his mind. That was clear, at least it was mostly. His only problem was now Cassius. The god was ever present now, able to communicate with him at any moment.

He did not know how to feel about that yet, despite the time he had to get accustomed to Cassius’s presence.

Remember, the admiral does not know about this. We should keep it a secret.

Tal frowned. He was on the way to meet with the admiral one last time to discuss the final details of their operation. However, every time he was supposed to meet the man, Cassius would warn him. It was starting to get annoying.

Wouldn’t this be better if we did? Isn’t he supposed to be one of your friends?

It is not him I am worried about. There are plenty of spies, listeners who will directly report to the High Prophet.

Supposedly, now that Cassius was with him, he no longer had to worry about the Prophet’s curse. How the god’s presence changed things, he did not know exactly but it was, well, a godsend. Still, he had to keep up the charade. There were still plenty of guards with him and none were his friend…

Him and his guards marched through the streets, a rare opportunity for him to get out and stretch his legs. Unfortunately, their destination was not far, a few blocks at most, and soon they were standing in front of a familiar looking building.

The Holy Fleet’s headquarters, Tal thought to himself. He hadn’t bothered to learn the place’s actual name, nor did he really want to.

They stepped up to the impressive doorway as the doors swung open for them.

“Greetings, Champion. It is a pleasure to see you again,” Fleet Admiral Antony said.

“A pleasure for me as well, Admiral.” Tal responded, keeping a neutral expression.

“Come in, please,” Antony stepped aside and allowed them entry. “Everyone else is already here, we were just waiting on you.”

“I apologize. The weather looked bad and I had to wait for a raincoat to be produced.” he explained as he stepped into the building. Thankfully, his guards immediately dispersed as the Admiral’s took over.

“Understandable, and do not worry. We have not been waiting long. Still, let us hurry. We have a lot to discuss and not much time.”

Tal couldn’t help but hear a little stress in the older man’s voice.

“Has something happened?” he asked.

Antony almost missed a step. “That obvious? But…yes, something has come up.”

“What is it–”

Tal, we have a problem.

The admiral let out a sigh. “The High Prophet–”

–Is here!