The Endless Forest

The next morning started early for Felix. He woke up knowing that today he would be discussing his visions and what’s to come with Calinna and Oralyn. That, unfortunately, put him in a bad mood…

The sun was still cresting over the horizon when he and Eri slipped out of the hatchery. She was going to start her day by checking on the supplies that had been gathered so far. Meanwhile, the dragons and other elves were still fast asleep.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to be here?” Eri asked as the door quietly closed behind them.

Felix forced a smile. “No, Zira will be with me. Besides, I’m going to get Yarnel to form a contract with the three of us. That way they can’t divulge any secrets.”

Eri pursed her lips as she fell silent for a moment. “I’m still worried about bringing those two here.”

“It’ll be fine,” he said with false bravado. In truth, he was still worried as well. But then again, there are so many more important things to worry about. Not to mention I might need Calinna’s and Oralyn’s help.

“If you are sure–”

He gave her a nod. “I am.”

Eri let out a sigh. “Well, I suppose this is where we go our separate ways…”

However, before she could get out of reach, Felix quickly pulled her into a hug. “Thanks for yester–”

“Hah! Look at ya! Two hopeless fools in love! Ya need to get a room!”

The sound of Gillador’s voice startled them both, forcing them to quickly separate. Felix looked towards the elf’s voice and found him and two others approaching.

Doing his best to hide his embarrassment, he quickly called out. “Gillador–” He immediately recognized the other two. “–Calinna, Oralyn! What are the three of you doing here?!”

“We came to present our plans for the dormitory!” Calinna said excitedly. Meanwhile, Oralyn stood back and watched the interaction with an amused expression.

Felix and Eri exchanged a confused glance before he spoke again. “You finished the plans, all of them– Including Eri’s?”

Gillador and the two other women came to a stop before him.

“Damn right I did,” the old elf said. “Told ya it would be an all-nighter, but I got them done.”

“Huh… Well, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised but I honestly thought it would take you longer.”

“I might be old, but I got more energy than ya.”

Honestly, I don’t think I want to challenge his claim. “Right… Anyway,” he looked at the group but didn’t see any parchment. “Where are they?”

Gillador cocked an eyebrow. “Oh? Interested are ya? Well, I figured ya would be. Come, I’ve got them at my tent.” He turned around and started walking away.

“Well,” Felix muttered to Eri. “Looks like we’re staying together for a little while longer.”

“Indeed, I suppose we are,” she responded as she began following behind Calinna and Oralyn.

He let out a sigh and set off with them…

The trek back to Gillador’s tent was rather quiet, save for Calinna. She kept sneaking glances back to Felix with an obvious question on her lips.

“What is it?” he asked, finally growing tired of her antics.

“Huh? Oh, I um… I was wondering when we would be going to see the hatchery? I kinda hoped since we were there… You know–”

He shook his head. “Well, I need to find a certain someone first. In fact, before you all…interrupted us, I was going to go look for them. But now, we’re going to have to wait until we’re done with the plans.”

The poor woman deflated for a moment. “I understand…” She suddenly perked up, however. “But, I think you’ll absolutely love what I came up with! You’re sure to pick mine!”

“Oh? Is that so?” he asked with a little amusement of his own. “You know, you sorta remind me of Kyrith.”

She skipped a step and stumbled. “W-what?! No… He’s kind but he’s a dragon.”

“And? I meant your personality is similar to his.”

Calinna shook her head before looking away. “He’s a dragon, he can be brave or even… Scary. I’m just stupid, stupid and scared.”

Oralyn decided to speak up for the first time. “You aren’t stupid or scared, Calinna. You’re just innocent.”

“That’s not any better,” Calinna muttered, barely loud enough for Felix to catch it.

Gillador cleared his throat. “Listen, everyone’s different. Calinna has a pure heart. Can any of ya say the same?”

No one responded.

“That’s what I thought. Anyway, we’re here.”

Felix hadn’t been paying attention to their surroundings but indeed they had made it to Gillador’s tent. However, things looked a little different than he remembered.

The old elf’s little camping spot had grown. Instead of one table with a few chairs, there were now several larger tables, chairs, and various strange instruments that were all sitting within a canopy.

“Wow, you got all this made in less than a day?” Felix asked, surprised.

“Not really, most of it had been ready for a little bit. Just been busy and hadn’t gotten around to setting it all up. Had some other young bucks come and help me last night.”

“Interesting… Well, I suppose it looks more official now.”

“That it does… Now come and sit, I’ll bring out the different plans.” With that, Gillador slipped into his tent.

This should be exciting at least, Felix thought as he and the others made their way to one of the tables and sat down. Eri and the other two candidates chose to sit opposite of him.

An awkward silence fell upon the four as they waited for Gillador to return. None dared to break it.

“Alright, here ya go,” the elf said, dropping three large, rolled parchments in front of Felix. “The one on the left–”

“No, don’t tell me,” Felix quickly said. “I want to be as blind as possible, that way no one can say I was biased in choosing.”

Gillador let out a laugh. “Well, ain’t ya smart. Suit yourself, I’m just gonna plant my ass down in a chair and watch then.”

Felix gave him a nod before turning to the three candidates. “Do any of you want to mix them around?”

“I do,” Oralyn answered. “Not that I think it will matter. I’m fairly sure it’ll be obvious which one is which.”

“Be my guest then.” Felix pushed the rolled parchments up to her before closing his eyes.

There was the sound of shuffling before she spoke again. “Alright, it's done.”

Opening his eyes, Felix looked down at the parchments. “I’m going to open them now, good luck.”

With that he began to unroll each one, setting them side by side. Next, he focused on keeping his expression neutral as he began to study them.

Silence fell upon them once more as Felix took his time. Two of the plans were clearly made by Gillador, with proper measurements and neat, if bland, sketches. The last one, however, was clearly drawn by Calinna.

Hers was stylized and, more importantly, it was drawn out with furniture and made to be pretty. It was beautifully done, too. Yet, it had a problem…

After what felt like an eternity, Felix slid two drawings forward and cleared his throat. “I am rejecting these two, and accepting this one.” He gestured to the last remaining one in front of him.

Immediately Oralyn’s eyes narrowed while Calinna started to look depressed.

“Why?” was Oralyn’s response.

Taking a deep breath, he pointed to the remaining parchment. “You tell me, what is different about this one than the others?”

Calinna leaned forward and squinted her eyes. “It looks bland,” she muttered, noting how it consisted of only the drawing of barren rooms. “And I worked so hard on mine…”

Felix felt a pang of guilt, but he did his best to give her a smile. “I know, but there is a reason. Oralyn, can you tell me what the difference is?”

She took the three plans and carefully studied them before raising her head to speak. “The one you picked has bigger personal rooms, a lot bigger if I am reading this right.”

“Really?” Calinna asked as she too peered at them.

“Indeed.” Felix turned his gaze over to Eri. “Would you mind telling us why?”

“Certainly,” she said with a hint of triumph in her voice. “Dragons don’t normally stop growing. Kyrith and Zira are going to get much, much larger. I estimated what their sizes would be in a year and had Gil design around that.”

Upon hearing his name, the old elf merely gave a grunt.

“That isn’t all, though. Eri added what are effectively balconies and ramps for the dragons to use. Whereas yours and Calinna’s focused on them using the main entrance all the time,” Felix added.

Oralyn stiffened and balled her hands. “I see. If that is the case, I understand why you picked Eri’s.”

“And what about you, Calinna? Do you understand? For the record, yours is beautifully drawn but you filled the rooms with too much furniture. I know it was just a concept but I could only imagine Zira knocking everything over as she attempted to navigate the room.”

“Yeah… But I didn’t know they would grow that much,” Calinna said, settling herself back in her chair.

He couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “Believe it or not, Kyrith and Zira aren’t even a year old. They only hatched seven months ago.”

“Really?! I… I didn’t know that!”

“It’s true, hence why I did my best to factor in the growth when me and Gil designed mine,” Eri added.

“You could have told us that, you know,” Oralyn hissed. Clearly, she wasn’t happy about this.

Felix shrugged. “I answered all your questions truthfully. That was the deal. It isn’t my fault if you forgot a question or didn’t understand the significance of an answer. Hells, I warned you Eri would have an advantage.”

She stood up suddenly. “I need some time to think.”

Felix kept his expression neutral, as far as he was concerned he did nothing wrong. “By all means, I still have one thing to do before I take the two of you to the hatchery. I will come get you once I am ready.”

He stood up and addressed Eri as Oralyn stormed off. “Take care, I’ll see you later and fill you in on what happens.”

She gave him a concerned look before smiling. “Best not go and cheat on me–”

“Eri!”

Poor Calinna looked confused, meanwhile, Gillador burst out laughing.

“Careful princess! A young buck like him thinks with his–”

“Enough!” Felix shouted. He too quickly stomped off, grumbling the entire time…

***

Finding Yarnel turned out to be easier than Felix predicted. The dragon was in his room working on some sort of ‘experiment,’ as he put it. Curiously, though, it didn’t take much to convince Yarnel to set up a contract either…

“I shall meet you in front of the hatchery, but I would ask you not to take too long. I can step away from my experiment for a short time. However, it is crucial that I be here to witness its completion,” the small dragon said.

“Oh… That shouldn’t be a problem, I only need to go and fetch Calinna and Oralyn. But, what are you working on exactly?” Felix asked, surprised.

The dragon waved his hand dismissively. “Nothing too important. I am merely experimenting with crystallizing the low amount of ambient mana. I have been working on a new process, since my old one required higher levels. The only downside is that the process is slower.”

“Ah… I see.” Felix had no idea what the dragon was on about. Mana crystals were a subject he knew nothing about and doubted would be able to understand any time soon. “Anyway, I’ll go now and meet with you back at the hatchery…”

After leaving the dragon, Felix made his way out of the manor and headed for the elven camp. Calinna was easy to find, as she was still with Gillador.

Upon seeing her, he was glad to see her spirits were back up. She wore a bright smile as she happily drew within her sketchbook. Her elation peaked, however, once he told her it was time…

“I can’t wait! I’m so excited… Say? Will any of the younger dragons be there? I would love to draw them!” she exclaimed.

“I don’t know, but Zira should be there,” he answered, doing his best to hide a smile. Gillador is right, she is pure of heart… And I have to be the one to break the news to her. Any amusement he had instantly fell away.

Taking a more stoic expression, Felix marched on…

Several minutes of searching later, the two of them finally found Oralyn. The elven woman was back at her tent, meditating. Her expression was serious, focused, and… Burdened?

Felix hadn’t put much thought into why Oralyn had stormed off earlier, assuming it was only her being upset that her design hadn’t won. But maybe there is more going on?

“Is it time?” she asked before he could even speak. Her eyes opened but her expression remained the same.

“It is. Are you ready?”

“I am. Will this take long?”

“It might, I have something to discuss with the two of you. That will take some time.”

“So be it.”

Oralyn stood up and took a deep breath. Only then did she relax her expression. “Let us go and... Let us go.”

The woman began walking past him before coming to a sudden stop.

“I will not give up.”

Felix felt the determination in her words.

“Good.”