The Endless Forest

Felix stood back as the Hatchery’s doors slid open, while excited gasps echoed from around him. Almost all the kobolds had decided to come and watch…

Looks like Uzreg let it slip what I was planning on doing… He groaned internally. He was hoping to not have a crowd, let alone a pack of kobolds numbering close to two hundred.

Well, not like it changes much. Even if we get lucky and an egg happens to hatch that exact moment, I’m not letting them keep it. I’ll also not make the mistake of allowing other kobolds in here either.

He glanced over to Uzreg who was standing next to him. The rest of the kobolds were a few feet back. Apparently they weren’t as bold as their leader, and preferred to keep a distance. Good, he thought.

The doors finished opening and Felix walked in, Uzreg followed right behind him. Once inside, he did his best to ignore the hundreds of eyes watching him and spoke to the old kobold.

“So… Can you kobolds tell when an egg is close to hatching?” It was a shot in the dark, but this was a key piece of information he was missing. He absentmindedly patted the pocket that held his notes.

Uzreg stiffened, as if he had startled the kobold. “Kobold can smell. Kobold know.”

He raised an eyebrow at that. “Oh? Interesting…” I’m starting to wonder what exactly they mean by smelling.

He cleared his throat. “Alright then, so here’s the plan. We’ll look at only the clutches with a single egg. I want you to go around and determine which one is the closest to hatching.” He lowered himself to look into Uzreg’s eyes. “I will be watching, understand?”

“Yes Master! Uzreg know!” The kobold almost gave him a salute before he scurried off.

He sure is fast despite how old he looks…and strong for that matter. He rubbed his wrist where Uzreg had dragged him to the library.

Doing his best to keep the kobold within sight, he made his way over to the ‘doorway to nowhere.’ The portal.

Inspecting it, he found runes chiseled into a stone archway. A familiar tugging sensation began to pull him towards it. Unconsciously he reached out with his hand, mana began to swell between him and the portal–

“Master! Uzreg find good egg!”

“Huh?” He was startled out of his trance. Looking at his outstretched hand, he slowly lowered it. Oh, not again…

He felt something pull at his clothes. He glanced down and found Uzreg trying to tug him towards one of the dens.

“Come, Master! We hurry!”

“Oh, right.” He shook his head, and gestured for Uzreg to lead the way.

The kobold led him back towards the entrance, and stopped before a familiar looking egg. It was the amethyst colored one.

He knelt down and looked at the interesting swirls of purple and black. Oh, that’s interesting. He thought, noticing how he could see through the color. The amethyst is almost see-through!

Not wasting another moment, Felix pulled out his notes and quickly added a new entry to them. I wonder if I can see the unhatched dragon? He peered into one of the larger purple swirls and squinted.

For a brief moment, he thought he saw something move within. Hmm, hard to tell. I might be able to see more if I had a proper light, these dens are a bit dim… He had no intention of moving the egg though, as he had no idea how bad of an idea that would be and didn’t want to find out.

Frowning, another idea came to him. I seem to be able to feel mana, maybe I could feel something from the egg? Now he got excited, almost forgetting about his encounter with the portal.

With a nervous hand, he reached out and touched it. He closed his eyes, and did his best to ignore the kobold who was watching him anxiously.

A second went by, then another… Thirty seconds went by, he was about to give up. At the forty second mark, he felt…something.

Felix redoubled his efforts and was rewarded with another sensation. A… Drumbeat? Now that he knew what to look for, or feel in this case, he noticed there was a steady pattern to it. This isn’t mana… What is–

His eyes flew open in realization. “It’s a heartbeat…”

“Master?” Uzreg asked, concerned.

He quickly turned to the kobold, his excitement causing him to almost shout. “I felt it! I felt its heartbeat!” He stood up and rushed to Uzreg. “I think you chose correctly, good job!”

Not waiting for the old gray kobold to respond, Felix ushered him out. “Just stay out there! I’m going to activate the runes!”

Hurrying, he went to the spot where the runes laid. His intuition told him he just needed to swipe his hand, just like all the other runes he’d tried. He didn’t waste another moment, and quickly waved his palm in front of them.

An instant later, he felt the area around the den change. The air itself grew heavy, threatening to push him down. Then it grew cold, very cold. Just breathing the chilled air felt like he was inhaling icicles.

Alarmed, he stumbled backwards. What was that?! Aren’t these dens supposed to be safe? That was a rather drastic change!

He looked over to Uzreg, the kobold had the same expression as him. Shit! We need to do something! This can’t be right!

He tried to move closer, but every step grew heavier and heavier. He was only a few feet away, but he might as well have been a mile away with how hard it was to approach.

Already, his body was going numb from the cold. His vision began to blur as his eyes burned. He was shivering, his teeth were chattering, and he was still nowhere close enough.

Come on… Think! His eyes were closing, he didn’t believe he would be able to open them again. Magic! I need to use magic!

He stopped fighting to keep his eyes open, and forcefully closed them. Desperately, he tried to reach into himself, searching for the mana that was coursing through him. DAMN IT! WHERE IS IT?!

Felix was metaphorically reaching out trying to grab a hold of something, but in the end, it was something that grabbed ahold of him.

A familiar presence entered his mind, a soft hand caressing his own. Fea…

Their hands intertwined and a soothing feeling flooded his mind.

It will be alright, he heard her whisper. It was faint, distant.

He tried to pull her towards him, but there was resistance.

Calm down… It will be alright.

That time it was right in his ear, he felt something press against his cheek. He let go, and her presence left him…

***

Felix cracked open his eyes, his vision was blurry. He felt numb, except for the strange tingling sensation that traveled throughout his body when he shifted.

A shadow appeared in his vision, and a hand pressed gently into his chest.

“Relax,” it was Aluin’s voice, speaking with a quiet tone.

“Where–” He stopped at hearing his own voice. It was hoarse and his mouth felt dry.

“Just relax, we can talk later.”

The elf wasn’t giving him much choice, so he settled his head back onto his pillow. Felix blinked, as details became more clear but they weren’t as well defined as he was used to.

“Wat-er…” He managed to get out.

Aluin disappeared from his view for a brief moment before reappearing. The elf held a small glass up to his lips. “Open your mouth, I’ll slowly pour.”

Doing as he was told, he soon felt the cool freshness of water in his mouth. Almost forgetting to swallow, he nearly choked.

“Careful now,” the elf said, pulling back the glass.

After a small coughing fit, Felix nodded. “More…” He was sounding a little better, even his vision was almost back to normal.

As the water began to pour into his mouth, he was much more careful and managed to finish the rest of the cup.

“Thank you,” he said after clearing his throat. He took a quick glance around him, he was back in the Master’s chamber… He was back in Fea’s room.

He winced as his memories started coming back…

Suddenly, he tried to jump out of the bed.

“Felix!” Aluin shouted in alarm. The elf rushed to him, trying to keep him from getting up. “You need to calm down!”

“The egg! What happened to the egg?!” He asked, matching Aluin’s tone. Desperately, he fought back, but the elf was strong and he was weakened.

“It’s Safe!” The elf said between breaths as they continued their struggle.

Hearing that, Felix stopped his resistance with Aluin slowly releasing him. But he gave the elf an accusatory stare. “Is it?”

“Yes…” Aluin said with a sigh. “Now, please. You need your rest, you are still recovering.”

The door flew open a moment later, with Eri rushing in. However, before she could say anything Aluin held up his hand to stop her.

“Everything’s fine, Eri. You can go back to bed.” He said.

“Are you sure? I heard shouting and–”

“Nothing to worry about, Felix woke up dazed… He’s calmed down, as you can see.” He gestured towards Felix.

“Sorry…” Felix said, stammering.

Eri’s eyes lingered on him, and he thought he caught a glimpse of conflict in them. She quickly averted her attention back to Aluin.

“I see… Please wake me if you need to rest, Master.” She gave the other elf a slight bow before turning around and leaving.

“I’ve got it handled, but I will wake you if I need you.” He said, as she left.

She nodded and gave Felix one last look before closing the door.

With Eri gone, Felix brought his attention back to Aluin. “Tell me, what happened?”

The elf let out a sigh and rubbed his temple. “If I do, will you go back to sleep?”

“That depends…”

“Fine.” Aluin went and grabbed the chair next to the desk and brought it to the bed.

Sitting down, he spoke again. “First let me be clear, the egg is fine. So please, don’t overreact.”

Felix narrowed his eyes. I don’t like the sound of that… “I won’t, I promise.”

Aluin cocked an eyebrow at him, “We shall see…” Taking a deep breath, he continued. “Actually, before I tell you everything I know. I must say, reluctantly, that I’m impressed you managed to pull yourself out of a mana high.”

Felix looked away. “I didn’t. It was Fea… She’s in me, somewhere, and she calmed me down–”

The elf went silent for a moment before speaking up again. “No Felix, it was you. Truth be told, I was worried about this. Those emotions, random thoughts, even impulses; they are just echoes of her soul.

“You are not the first to be…brought back, and others have had similar occurrences. Still, it was all you. Those errant thoughts are just your mind trying to cope.”

He whipped his head to the elf and glared. “She’s in there.” He seethed. “I know she is.”

Aluin sighed again. “Even if you are right, it doesn’t matter. You can’t save her, nor would she want you to.”

Felix opened his mouth to speak, but Aluin continued. “She is with you now, that is what she wanted. Will you take that away from her?”

He had no retort for that, instead he looked away. “Just…tell me what happened.”

“Well, we’ll start with what Uzreg told me– By the way, he’s mostly fine. Just needs some rest, like you.”

Felix cringed at himself, he’d completely forgotten about the old gray kobold. I’m sorry Uzreg, I promise to make it up to you…

The elf continued. “Uzreg said you went and inspected the egg, and at some point, you touched it and, I quote, ‘go quiet.’ I can only assume that you were trying to sense something?”

“Yeah… I wanted to see if I could sense the unhatched dragon. I’ve noticed I can feel mana when it's being used, and I just wanted to see…” He trailed off after a quick glance to Aluin, who was looking deep in thought.

After a moment the elf spoke up. “I see, and did you?”

He shook his head no. “But I did feel a heartbeat,” he added.

“That…might explain a few things. I wondered how the egg managed to–” The elf cut himself off.

Felix narrowed his eyes. “What happened?”

Aluin said something, but he didn’t understand it. However before he could repeat his question, the elf answered.

“The egg is hatching–”

“WHA–” Felix felt a spell take hold of him, freezing him in place.

“I told you not to overreact, it hasn’t hatched yet. The process has started, but that alone could take a couple of days.” Aluin released his spell.

“Wait… How long have I been out?”

With yet another sigh, Aluin answered his question indirectly. “It’s got about a day left, at least that is what Uzreg believes.”

So I’ve been out for a few days… Great.

“Anyways,” Aluin continued, “I think I might know what happened, though it’s just a theory.” He paused, clearly mulling something over.

“I believe the dragon is a Void Dragon–”

Void Dragon? Felix wanted to interrupt, but held his tongue instead. He’ll just use that magic on me again…

“–Incidentally, I believe you actually initiated the hatching process. I think when you tried to sense its presence, you were actually giving it mana to absorb. I’m betting that alone was enough to bring it out of hibernation.

“Then, when you activated the runes, the entire den was flooded with mana. Uzreg, mentioned something about pressure…I think. If that is correct, then it was probably mana condensing around the egg.”

Felix quickly interjected, “It got cold too. Really cold.”

Aluin nodded. “I believe it, the den was covered in a thick layer of ice. That only reinforces my theory though. If it is a Void Dragon, then it was absorbing the heat along with mana.”

“Is it… Still like that?” Felix asked cautiously.

The elf shook his head. “Luckily, I think it had its fill. It's now trying to hatch.”

Felix took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “What can I…uh, expect from a Void Dragon?”

The elf chuckled. “I won't lie to you, it won’t be easy. There’s almost no documentation, and they are extremely rare, but I‘ve met one before… First, they can absorb energy from around them instead of needing to constantly eat. Though, they will still eat, don’t forget that.

“They also have a natural breath weapon that is… Well, let’s just say it makes things disappear for good. Outside of that, they aren’t the fastest or strongest but they don’t need to be, as you can imagine…”

“I see…” Just my luck, a baby dragon that could erase something with a sneeze.

“Felix, there is one other thing I think I should warn you about…” Aluin looked nervous.

“What is it?”

“The dragon might have imprinted onto you…”

“What?” He gave the elf a concerned look.

“It’s rare, and sadly I’m not entirely sure how it works myself… But it’s possible for a dragon to choose someone to sync with.”

“Sync?” He asked, even more confused.

“That’s all I know. It is–was, a deeply guarded secret between a pair. Apparently, it's rather personal.”

“Then why do you think it imprinted onto me?”

“Because, as you said, you felt its heart beating. Also, if my theory is correct, you were the one to bring it out of hibernation. The little mana you would’ve fed it shouldn’t have been enough, yet it was.”

The elf quickly added, “I didn’t mean any offense by that, but as you saw it needed a lot more mana.”

Great, just great…

Felix could feel a headache forming, and closed his eyes. From what he could tell, it was nighttime and probably at some awful hour. Despite sleeping for multiple days, he was quickly becoming tired again.

He heard Aluin stand up.

“I think that’s enough, please try to get some rest. I will check on you later today, and if you are good… I’ll even take you to see the egg for yourself.”

Felix let out a laugh, remembering a similar conversation he had with Uzreg.

“Good night,” he murmured before drifting off…

Eri laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She couldn’t go back to sleep, her mind wouldn’t let her. Instead, she was forced into her thoughts…

My Queen– Fea...my friend. How did this happen? How did you come to love a human? What did life do to you that forced you down that path? How could you even trust him?

She let out a sigh, there would be no answers to her questions. Even Aluin, her own teacher and Master, wouldn’t tell her. She wanted to curse him and, if she was her younger self, she would have tried.

But now? I just want the truth…

In many ways, she understood why he wouldn’t say. It was personal, it was private, and not something to be shared out in the open. She didn’t think that even the other Sage’s knew about their relationship, it was that secretive.

When word had finally been spread about her reviving a human, it had caused an uproar in the forest. The elven tribes, and even the dwarven clans, had become outraged. It took the Sages’ intervention to quell the unrest.

Something they were not exactly good at.

A Sage was someone who, metaphorically speaking, spent their time planting saplings, and slowly cultivating them into strong and mighty trees. They were not someone who meddled in the day to day lives of people, nor did they concern themselves with politics.

At least, that’s what they’re supposed to do… Aluin believes that’s all in the past and that even Sages need to change. She wasn’t sure what to think about that. Beside Aluin, elves had few records of their time…from before. Most of what they knew came from stories passed down.

The largest library we have is here in this manor… A sad truth, to say the least.

Fea did what she could to save literature, but she had a…particular taste. Eri let out a strained laugh.

Even then, the Queen only had her own stores of books, the elves and dwarves had lost most of theirs. Eons of history, culture, and tradition were just lost. There was nothing anyone alive could do about it.

Eri pulled herself from those depressing thoughts and back onto the present. The question I should be asking myself is, what am I going to do? Fea wanted to bring the human– To bring Felix back, and she did.

Do I spite her, my friend, the Queen, the last ruler of any of the races? Do I spit on her, the one who sacrificed almost all, but a handful of her people, to keep us safe? Even the dragons that are left, still follow her last order; protect the forest from invaders.

Eri shook her head, she hated humans with a passion, even more than most, and she had good reasons to. But she couldn’t bring herself to go against Fea, and ruin her friend’s plans.

It would only cause more pain for me, and make Aluin’s life even harder…

She closed her eyes, resolving to do better, to continue to follow her Master’s teachings, to help instead of hinder, and, most importantly, to cherish Fea’s memories.

I will not fail you.