The Endless Forest

Zira let out a huff as she sat, watching Kyrith and the hatchlings frolicking out behind the hatchery. There was plenty she would rather be doing, like finding a nice shaded spot where she could take a nap. Yet, here she was, sitting out in the sun watching the other dragons play.

Kyrith is such a child… she thought to herself as the dragon in question suddenly leaped into the sky to avoid four little ones doing their best to pounce on him.

She let out an amused snort and the four crashed into themselves. Meanwhile, Kyrith had landed several feet away and was looking back to them with a dumb grin.

Childish.

But as she thought the words, her amusement fell away. Kyrith might act like an idiot, but that was the thing. It was just an act. She had seen his cleverness before, the ember-colored dragon was far more intelligent than he let on.

So why waste time playing with the little ones? We should be preparing, or at the very least conserving our strength.

With an equivalent of a frown, Zira sank deeper into her thoughts…

“Are you okay?”

The sound of Kyrith’s voice startled her. Gazing up, she found him standing a few feet away with a concerned look.

“Of course,” she answered dismissively.

He didn’t look so convinced. “If you don’t want to be here, I understand. I can watch the hatchlings myself.” The way he spoke made Zira wince, it sounded…dejected.

“No. I told you already, I’m fine. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here,” she said as confidently as possible.

But Kyrith shook his head. “I know you are fine… But you don’t want to be here, do you?”

Zira opened her mouth but caught herself. Instead, she studied Kyrith for a moment before asking a question of her own. “Why does it matter to you?”

He cocked his head in confusion. “Why? Because we’re friends, aren’t we? Friends care for each other, don’t they? I just want to see you happy…”

Childish… “Yes, Kyrith,” she answered with another huff. “We are…friends. But, you know I prefer to stay out of your antics–”

She immediately regretted the words.

“Oh,” that was all Kyrith said. That was all he needed to say. His snout dipped low and he began to turn away.

Idiot! Why did you say that?

She had no answer to give herself.

Can’t you see what he is trying to do?

Yes, but–

Kyrith has been nothing but friendly to you. He has wanted nothing but to see you happy. So what if he is a little strange? So what if he is childish? He wants to include you. Haven’t you always wanted that?

She nodded.

So say something! Stop him and apologize! Show him you care!

“Kyrith…” Her voice sounded weak and unsure.

The sad dragon came to a stop, his head still drooping. He did not face her.

“Kyrith, I…” Zira shook her head and strengthened her voice. “Kyrith, I want to apologize. I did not mean that.”

He took a deep breath. “Yes you did. I know you did, and… And I am sorry for causing you so much trouble.” With that, Kyrith continued walking away.

Do something!

A deep, rumbling growl escaped. It quickly turned into a roar. She had no idea what she was doing. Meanwhile, the ember-colored dragon froze.

What do I do now?!

I don’t know! How about– An idea came to her.

Letting the roar fade, she took a deep breath and stood proud. “Kyrith! Turn and face me!”

Kyrith shook himself slightly, but kept his back to her.

“Zira–”

“Kyrith, I challenge you!”

His head turned in her direction, a mixture of confusion and fear clear on his face. “What–”

“I said, I challenge you,” she repeated herself.

He blinked. “C-challenge me to what?”

Zira let a toothy smile show.

“To a game of tag.”

There were many things Felix had weighing on his mind. But, out of all them, this wasn’t one.

“What in the Hells!”

Zira’s roar could be heard clearly all the way to the meadow. Him and the others were slowly making their way back to the manor when they heard it.

Now, he was racing back.

Zira! What’s going on–

Not now! I’m busy!

He felt her anger, her frustration, her pure focus on…something. All it did was fuel him further.

“What’s happening?!” Eri shouted out from somewhere behind him, she was doing her best to keep up. “Kyrith is ignoring me!”

Not good… “I don’t know! But I think Zira is fighting! We’ve got to hurry!” He didn’t wait for a response and redoubled his efforts…

Another roar sounded out, this time it was Kyrith and Felix knew enough to know that it was a challenge. Thankfully, he was reaching the edge of the forest. Just ahead was the clearing and–

Pain flooded his mind, causing him to trip and slam into the ground. Gritting his teeth, he picked himself up. Eri came up to him, but he waved her away.

“Go! I’m fine!”

She gave him a single nod and rushed past him. He sucked in a lungful of air and followed after.

He tried once again to reach out to Zira. What is going on?! Are you okay?!

The only response he got was a roar that was even louder than the first.

A few moments later, both he and Eri cleared the last few sky trees and… Came to a stop.

An amethyst-colored dragon soared over the hatchery, only to crash onto the ground between it and the manor. Quickly following after was an ember-colored blur.

Zira leaped once more, just as Kyrith landed right where she had been. She landed safely out of his reach.

“What the…”

“…Hells,” Eri finished for him.

The two of them watched with a mixture of horror and fascination as the two dragons unfurled their wings. With a running start the dragons beat their wings and quickly took to the skies.

But it didn’t last long.

Kyrith reached out and slapped Zira’s tail. The move startled her and sent her back to the ground.

A wave of pure rage and pain filled Felix’s mind, sending him to the ground as well.

“Felix!” Eri was by his side and helped him back up.

He clutched his head with his free hand and let out a groan. “Zira… Zira is hurt.”

As if to defy him, Zira let out another challenge as Kyrith landed nearby her. He had a smug appearance about him.

She did not like that.

With frightening speed he had not seen from her, Felix could only stare in disbelief as she lunged for Kyrith.

Her suddenness was enough. The next instant, the two dragons collided and fell to the ground in a snarling, roiling heap.

“W-we got to stop them…” Eri muttered. She was clearly feeling Kyrith’s pain, just like Felix was feeling Zira’s.

“Let’s…go,” he grunted, taking a solitary step forward. Then another…

As Felix and Eri trudged forward, gasps could be heard from behind.

“Stay…back!” he shouted to the arriving elves. “Me and Eri… We will handle this!”

Two final roars sounded out.

As they approached, Zira and Kyrith finally separated. The two of them slinked away and began to circle. Both were sporting injuries.

“Zira!”

“Kyrith!”

The dragons ignored them and began to lunge at each other.

Oh fuck this! Felix dipped into his mana and began guiding it. Raising a hand out, he aimed for the middle point between them.

A moment before the two dragons clashed, he let out a bolt of electricity.

It zipped through the air and hit right where he aimed. The resulting explosion stunned the dragons, even as they crashed into one another.

Fueled by Zira’s pain and his own anger, Felix stepped up to the pile of limbs and wings.

“Now, the two of you are going to stop…whatever this is and tell us what happened.”

***

“You were playing?!” Eri shouted in disbelief.

“Yeah…” Kyrith muttered, lowering his head in shame. Meanwhile, Zira sat proudly as if she did nothing wrong.

“You call this playing?” Felix asked, gesturing to the serious looking wounds both sported. Large rents covered both their bodies where beautiful scales used to be. Blood slowly oozed from several gashes.

“I admit, we did get a little rowdy but–” Zira said before he cut her off.

“Rowdy?! I think it was a little more than that!”

His partner gave the equivalent of a shrug. “Like you are any better.”

That took the wind out of his sails, still he had to say something. “That’s… That’s not the same!”

“Oh, it isn’t? So when you do something stupid, it's okay? But when me and Kyrith let loose, it's wrong?”

“W-well…”

She went for the kill. “Are you saying you know what is best? Are you saying that my opinions, my feelings, don’t matter?”

“ZIRA!” Eri yelled, coming to Felix’s rescue. “You know that isn’t true! Felix was worried– No, terrified something had happened to you. I saw the fear in his eyes, I saw how he struggled through your pain to get here.

“I know, and you definitely know, he cares very much about you, about your opinions and feelings. Please, do not ever question that.”

Zira’s nostrils flared but she said nothing for several long moments. “I know that. But the fact remains that he has a penchant for getting hurt.”

Eri refused to back down. “Even still, you should recognize how it looked, how it felt to us.” She paused before gesturing to the elven camps. “Besides, have you considered how it looked to them?”

Zira seemed to consider it before answering. “No–”

“Then you owe us all an apology. To me and Felix, to the others as well.” She pointed to Kyrith, “You need to apologize as well.”

Her partner somehow managed to shrink. “O-okay…”

Shaking himself out of his silence, Felix stepped up to Zira and put a hand on her side. “Listen, I understand you were just roughhousing, but when you refused to tell me anything? As Eri said, I became terrified, thinking something terrible was happening.”

She let out a frustrated snort but, thankfully, she seemed to relax. Felix took it as a sign to continue speaking.

“You know I’m not perfect, and I don’t mean to hold you to a double standard, but I was genuinely fearing for your safety. I’m just glad it was one big misunderstanding… However, in the future, could you give me a warning?”

Peeking into her side of the bond, he could tell she was considering his words. He pulled back as she finally spoke.

“I’m…sorry. I didn't mean to cause you, or Eri, to worry. I certainly didn’t mean to share my pain with you.”

“I-I’m sorry as well!” Kyrith added. “We were just playing tag and… And we got a little carried away.”

Felix allowed himself to smile and stepped back. “Apology accepted.”

Meanwhile, Eri stood there still fuming. “I am not happy about any of this, I hope you two know that. However, finding out the two of you weren’t actually trying to kill each other does make me feel better. I will accept your apologies, but this cannot happen again.”

Kyrith nearly collapsed from relief, while Zira merely nodded.

Eri gave each a serious glare before continuing. “Now that this is settled, let me take a look at your wounds. After that, we are all going to march over to the camp and apologize for almost certainly scaring everyone there…”

Chief Calsen found himself pacing back and forth in his tent, contemplating what he should do. On one hand, what happened with the dragons was a perfect opportunity to convince more people to his side.

It would almost certainly call for him to accelerate his plans. Enough fear and panic had spread that if he was going to make a move, it needed to be soon.

But on the other hand, if I’m not careful then this will be all for not. Besides, my contact should be arriving soon. If his message is true, then I can afford to wait and not have to gamble everything.

“Chief!” a voice called out from outside his tent.

“Yes?” he responded as he approached the entrance.

One of his scouts quickly entered. “Chief, I bring news about the dragons.”

Calsen’s eyes lit up. “Well, what is it?”

The scout gave him a confused look as he spoke. “They’re… Chief, they are going around and apologizing.”

“Oh? What even caused them to start attacking each other? Is it what I feared? The human losing control?”

“I…don’t know, not exactly. Something about them playing a game that got out of hand. But Chief?”

How interesting… “Yes?”

“I find their excuse flimsy. Both dragons are sporting impressive looking injuries. I fear that you might be right. I fear the human is losing control.”

Calsen regarded the man for a moment. “Have you told anyone else this?”

The scout shook his head. “I came straight here.”

“Good, let’s keep it that way…”