The Endless Forest

Ithea took a deep breath of the brisk air that rushed past her, her wings beating hard and fast. She was not in her human form today and for a good reason. Time was of the essence and she had multiple stops to make…

Gods! Those Sages are slave drivers, she thought bitterly. Even Aluin was barely tolerable to her.

They had summoned her to chastise her for not making certain key events known. But just as she thought they were going to keep her there, they gave her a new task.

‘Go, and awaken Lorenzen. Then, alert the others…’

Ithea let out a rumbling growl. Lorenzen, the name gave her a momentary pause. Of all the dragons remaining, he was the only one who could stand up to Ithea in a pure fight.

A momentary flashback caused her to shiver.

***

Ithea watched from afar as the cold, rocky earth crunched under foot. She stood upon a mountain and looked down into the valley below.

A siege was unfolding, the humans were threatening to smash the dwarven defenses. Rage simmered just below her scales.

“We should be down there!” she shouted, the air growing ever colder.

“Patience, Dear. Zen is coming and we wouldn’t want to be in his way,” Nevrim, her lifelong partner, said.

“Hah! Of course he gets first choice! Meanwhile, we are left to fight over the scraps.”

“Have you not seen his terrible power?” he asked.

“Can’t say I have. But it can’t be any worse than my void magic.”

Nevrim began to laugh. “Truly, I love how cocky you are. But, Dear?”

“What?” she shot back, unsure how to feel about his declaration.

“Your power is mighty, truly. But Zen’s is something else, something few see and even fewer live to tell.”

“What is it then?!”

“Perhaps it will be better for you to witness it. He comes.”

Ithea’s eyes flicked to the cloudy sky. A tiny blue speck streaked through them. And it was then that she felt a truly terrifying spell begin to form.

The ambient mana quivered as a booming voice shouted across the land.

MY NAME IS LORENZEN, THE QUEEN’S PERSONAL GUARD. YOU ARE TRESPASSING. BEGONE.

Reality shattered.

***

Ithea shook her head, what she saw that day truly terrified her. In an instant, an army of a hundred thousand simply disappeared.

But that was long ago, and that one spell had cost the dragon most of his mana well. A permanent, crippling injury.

Yet, and it pains me to say it, he is still an even match against me. She had a certain amount of respect for him, even if she never showed it.

She let her thoughts go for now, her destination was near.

High on top of a mountain, similar but different to the one of her memory, sat the entrance to a cave. It was there that she would find the slumbering dragon.

Descending, she slowed herself down and aimed for a small ledge. With a simple thought, her human form returned.

Landing upon the ledge, Ithea wasted no time and stepped in. A short, but winding path greeted her until it opened up to an even larger cave. This one was not natural, however.

Carved by sheer force of will and smoothed by magic. The cavern had been created for two purposes. The first was for Yarnel as it was close to the barrier ritual. From here he could easily keep an eye on it.

The other purpose? It was the home of Lorenzen. Or, more importantly, where he slumbered. The dragon had to constantly sleep in order to build up what mana he could. Otherwise, every waking moment would drain him.

Ithea.

Hearing her name in her mind startled her.

Ah, you’re already awake, she responded, doing her best to hide her surprise.

For a while now, yes. Ever since he returned.

Felix, you mean? I wouldn’t worry too much about him, she said, scanning the open cave. There was no sign of a massive dragon within it.

On the contrary, I am interested in what he accomplishes.

Right… Ithea took several cautious steps further in. Anyway, where the hell are you? I can’t scent you anywhere and I have a message for you.

A message? I can only assume it is the Sages…

It is.

There was a pause before Lorenzen spoke again. Fine, give me a moment and I will make myself appear– Oh, and you might want to back up.

Taking his suggestion, Ithea moved back toward the tunnel. A moment later there was a flash of light followed by a crack in the middle of the cavern.

The crack spread, hissing and crackling as its sharp tendrils formed. Reality was once again breaking.

Another pulse of light and the scene before her shattered, revealing a massive dragon.

Impressive, she said, stunned once more.

Lorenzen’s head rose and their eyes met. “Thank you,” he said with a toothy smile. “It has been a long time since we last met. Even I learned a few tricks since then.”

Ithea found herself matching his smile with one of her own. “I see, perhaps you are well enough to spar once again?”

He gave her a deep rumbling chuckle. “Perhaps… But I suppose if you were sent to deliver me a message, then it is bad news and I should conserve my strength.”

She took a moment to properly take in the other dragon.

Lorenzen was sapphire-colored, a deep untainted blue. His scales truly glistened from what little light there actually was. However, there were deep rents across his side. Scars he chose to keep from some long forgotten battle.

But those weren’t his only notable features.

It was his chest that drew Ithea’s eyes, causing them to widen as she stared. “What…happened?” she gasped out.

In his chest was a single large crystal, mounted and secured by enchanted bronze-colored plates that clashed against the color of his scales.

“A gift from Yarnel. The mana crystal helps contain, well, mana. Unfortunately, it is not perfect and I still need to be careful. But with it, I can do a lot more than I could before.”

Ithea swallowed, but was quickly regaining her composure. “Well, it sounds like that moron actually did something good for once…”

“Don’t be so hard on him. It’s true that he can be…an ass. But he is doing his job, and doing it well.”

“Hah! All he cares about is his experiments… But anyway, I unfortunately don’t have the time to chat. I did have a message to deliver to you, and then I must go to the others.”

Lorenzen took a deep breath, his smile fading. “What is your message then?”

“The humans are on their way.”

The sun was setting over the clearing as Felix took a seat upon the ground. Him, Eri, the volunteers, and all the dragons were situated outside the hatchery. In front of them was Yarnel, the small dragon was about to begin his first ‘class’ on magic.

However, as they waited to start, Felix found his thoughts drifting. There was a lot to think about and to plan for. While he had called it a date, and meant it, the journey to the sanctuary was increasingly becoming something more in his mind.

It’s true that finding its other entrance is important, but maybe bringing some supplies to store there wouldn’t hurt… There was also everyone else he had to consider.

Lorem, Noria, Yedril, and Solanna don’t know about it. Should I make them aware? And how much should I reveal to Oralyn and Calinna? Especially Calinna… No doubt her father will find out.

He let out a sigh, this was going to get messy. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. We need to scout the area around the sanctuary and we need to come up with a plan to move people there if it becomes necessary.

A presence nudged his mind. You know, this sounds less and less like a date, Zira teased. Don’t get me wrong, I think you are thinking of the right reasons for doing this, but it is supposed to be a date.

That’s funny coming from you–

Hey, I wanted it to be the two of us. I only agreed to bring Kyrith and Eri, because you wanted them to come. I know how much she means to you, I’ve come to accept that. I’m sacrificing a bit of my own happiness here, and I’m doing it all for you.

Felix mentally recoiled, feeling like an absolute jerk. Sorry, I didn’t mean to–

Apology accepted, she said curtly. Now, do you want my opinion?

Yes, he said hesitantly.

Tell them the truth– Have them swear an oath to secrecy, you can even ask Yarnel to help with forming contracts. She paused, letting her distaste for the small dragon leak through their bond.

Anyway, do that and tell Calinna and Oralyn the truth. They should be told everything, let them come to terms with what they will have to deal with if they become Queen.

Taking a moment, Felix considered her words. They simply made sense.

Of course they make sense, I make sense. Her tone was filled with mock arrogance, something he easily picked up on.

Thank you, oh Great and Wise Dragon! he responded, adding his own sarcasm to the mix.

You are very welcome, peasant–

“Felix, are you listening?”

“Huh?” He blinked before looking up to Yarnel. The dragon was staring right back at him.

“I will take that as a no… Please try to pay attention– Same for you, Zira.”

She let out a grumble. Felix, meanwhile, apologized.

“Anyway,” Yarnel started once more, “I was asking for everyone to get into a meditative stance.”

“Right…” He did as he was asked. “But what about the dragons?”

“They shall watch for now. I plan to giving them a lesson separately… Perhaps tomorrow? Anyway, they will need special guidance and that, I think, will be too much for tonight.”

He gave the dragon a confused look. “Then why have them join us?”

“Because, It will be important for their lesson.” Yarnel said, starting to sound annoyed. “Now, I will ask you once again to please pay attention. I shall repeat myself only this once.”

After being chastised, Felix gave him a slow, if a little embarrassed, nod.

The pixie dragon returned it before bringing his attention to the group as a whole. He silently regarded them for a few moments before he began.

“For your first lesson in truly understanding magic, you must first understand what magic is. Now, I could sit up here and lecture you all well into the night, but you still wouldn’t understand. No, before I can begin to teach you, you will need to see– To feel it for yourself.

“For you elves, and you Felix, please get into a meditative stance. As for you, hatchlings–”

Zira let out a growl at that.

“–I will ask that you remain quiet and observe your partners. But please, avoid disturbing them at all costs. This will be important for your lesson.”

Felix and the elves all got into the proper stance and closed their eyes.

“Good, now I want you to focus only on my voice. Listen to my instructions and ignore everything else, less I say so.”

With a deep breath, Felix exhaled and pushed all his thoughts from his mind. He listened carefully to what the dragon said next.

“Perfect– Yedril, Lorem, try not to fidget… Good, that’s better. Alright, now I want you all to listen carefully to what I say next. Instead of looking inward, like you would traditionally do, I want you all to listen outwardly.”

Felix took another deep breath, slowly releasing it. As he did so, he stopped focusing solely on Yarnel and listened to the ambient noise.

There was noise all around. The ringing of metal, the clattering of hammers upon wood, conversations that blended together. All of it mixed into a cacophony of noise, harsh but muted by distance.

“Yedril, tell me what you hear,” Yarnel said, his voice now faint.

“I hear… Um, I hear people working–”

“That is… An observation, yes. But not what I meant. Try to listen past the noise.”

The elf gave a bit of a grumble before quickly quieting down. Meanwhile, Felix took the dragon’s advice and tried to tune out the noise.

It was difficult, he wasn’t sure as to what he was supposed to be listening for and he was starting to wonder if maybe setting up class here was a good idea. That is, until Noria let out a gasp.

“I see you have figured it out… But please, refrain from making any noise and distracting the others.”

“S-sorry…” she muttered.

Redoubling his efforts, Felix cleared his mind of any doubts and confusion. He put all his concentration towards his hearing and pushed past the ambient noise…

For what felt like both an eternity and a single instant, the world grew still and quiet. Even the random errant thoughts he sometimes got from Zira disappeared.

He continued to let his ears guide him, not daring to breathe for fear of breaking his concentration. The moment went on…

It was faint at first, a possible figment of his imagination, but a hum began to sound. However, it slowly grew the more he listened, its tone becoming deep and vibrant.

A single note, made up of tens… Hundreds… Thousands of individual sounds. The more he listened the more that singular hum turned into ever more complex music.

There were drums, voices, instruments of all kinds. All natural, and all originating from one place.

It was a symphony.

It was the beat of a heart, of life itself.

It was the Symphony of Life.

And like life itself, it played out in heartbeats that all came together. They all formed that one, singular hum. That one single note. That one singular pulse.

Felix’s eyes shot open. He wasn’t the only one either. The others were also coming out of their trances, the same look on their faces.

Yarnel floated above them, a smug look on his face. “Tell me, Felix. What did you hear?”

Still hearing the echoes of the hum in his ears, Felix slowly opened his mouth and answered.

“Mana.”