The Endless Forest

It was too much for him, as she screamed, he screamed. He could feel himself falling to his knees. Panicked, he almost wretched himself from her mind but it was his own terror that stopped him. In his confusion, he’d forgotten how.

The wave of pure emotions passed over, leaving his own senses numb. He could feel a hand grab him and a voice speak, but he was too disoriented.

The only thing he could focus on was Zira…

“Help her…” He muttered. For a moment, he thought he saw Eri standing over him, but his vision was blurred. The rainbow of colors only made it more difficult.

Whoever it was, said something before rushing up the stairs, leaving him on the hardwood floor of the manor. He stayed like that for a few moments, trying to get his mind to focus but Zira’s anguish made that near impossible.

He managed to slightly pull away from her mind, just enough for him to come to his senses.

He grabbed a hold of something, the stairs most likely, and began to lift himself up. It took several agonizing moments, but he made it onto unsteady feet. Not wanting to waste any more time, he began staggering towards the kitchen and the backdoor.

Zira! He called out to her, hoping to distract her, hoping she was okay.

She didn’t respond.

Frantic, he picked up his pace and nearly fell multiple times. He did not let this stop him.

He reached back deeper into her consciousness, prepared for the wave of pain. It came, causing him to wince but he persevered.

Zira! He tried again.

He could feel her mind grasping for his, he let her.

Nothing was said, but a cold, if still painful, comfort settled around him. He made it to the kitchen at the same time.

Stepping in, several kobolds were working diligently. He spotted only one he recognized, Chef.

“Get… The… Door!” He grunted, pointing to the backdoor.

Most of the kobolds came to a complete stop, but Chef bolted for it and threw it open for him.

Felix staggered past him. “Thanks… Zira… Hurt–” He sucked in a shallow breath. “–Bad.”

Chef opened his mouth to speak, but he wasn’t focusing on the kobold. Instead, he felt more agony coming for the injured dragon.

Hold...on! I’m coming! He said, finding himself outside.

With nothing to support him, and unsteady ground, he would need to be extra careful. But he didn’t want to slow down.

This time, he did fall.

Grunting, Felix struggled back onto his feet and continued. He wasn’t sure exactly where he was going, but he knew he was heading straight for Zira.

Several hands grabbed him, a quick glance down revealed they belonged to kobolds. They did their best to support and help guide him, he mumbled his thanks.

Looking out to where they were going, he could see a gathering of colorful blobs. They appeared to be away from the kobold’s camp, almost near the tree line.

The trip there was slow and intense, even with help. All the while, he could hear Zira’s desperate and incoherent cries in his mind. He did what only he could, and tried to send his own emotions of love and calmness towards her.

He wasn’t sure how effective it would be, but she latched onto it. It bought him enough time to finally reach her.

Squeezing through the gathering of kobolds, Felix found, in the center, a terrible scene. Zira laid splayed out, her wings smashed and broken, her front left arm– Leg? He didn’t know, nor cared at the moment. It was bent at an unnatural angle.

She had several visible cuts and scrapes along one side, hinting that she had slid quite a bit on it. He felt tears running down his face at the sight of her.

Oh Zira…

He fought hard to not break down right then and there. She needed him, and he would not dare risk sending her any negative emotions.

So he approached, ignoring the few kobolds tending to her. He spotted a gray kobold nearby, but he said nothing.

Felix sat down on his knees, and carefully lifted Zira’s head onto them. There was hardly any resistance. He began to stroke her head, whispering soothing words. It was all he could do.

A few moments later a frantic voice shouted out. “MOVE! GET OUT THE WAY!” It was Eri, and she practically barreled through the kobolds.

The elf kneeled down next to the dragon and began assessing her injuries.

“Please! Tell me you can save her…” He asked, pleading for her to say yes.

“I will try.” She said curtly, switching her focus entirely onto Zira. “Be ready, this will hurt…a lot. There's nothing I can do for her pain.”

He shakily nodded his head, preemptively sending as much soothing emotions to the dragon as he could.

He ‘saw’ a colorful aura form around Eri, before it flashed to her hands. Immediately, he could hear and see the bones in Zira’s wings snapping back together.

She began to thrash uncontrollably.

“HOLD HER DOWN!” Eri shouted, and several kobolds snapped into action.

Meanwhile, Felix was facing another onslaught of agony. Zira was lashing out in her mind, but he resolved to bear it and let her assault his own. He heard her cries, her wails. Her breathing was erratic, even the air around her began to grow cold.

Z-Zira! It’s okay… Just take it out on me!

Through it all, not once did he stop stroking her. Not once did he try to pull away from her mind. Not once did he let her bear it alone.

Then, it was all over…

Eri slumped away, exhausted and gasping for air. The kobolds released their hold on Zira. Only Felix was left, holding the dragon’s head in an embrace.

Zira had finally calmed down. She was still in pain, but after what she had just gone through, it was nothing.

Eri finally spoke up, “I’ve mended her bones back together… But I couldn't do much about the other wounds… At least, not right now.” She sounded exhausted.

“Thank you,” he muttered, feeling light headed.

His world began to spin, the voices around him began to distort. His vision went black, and the last thing he felt was his body hitting the ground…

***

When Felix came too, he was laying on a mat. There were no lights on, but even in the darkness he could tell he was not in Fea’s chambers. Shifting, he let his eyes adjust and took in the room.

There was a single, poorly constructed door on the far wall. A singular window stood a few feet away, shuttered so no light crept in. Pushed to one side of the room was a knee-high table, and scattered about was various junk that he could not discern.

However, there was one thing that was obvious to him.

Next to the mat he was on, was a nest of leather, furs, and blankets. Inside it laid Zira, her side wrapped in bandages.

Felix quickly looked away, feeling the guilt of what he had done. He blamed himself for what happened to Zira. It pained him to see her in this state.

I’m so sorry… I never meant for this. He thought to himself, feeling fresh tears forming. He wanted to cry, he wanted to beat himself up. His anger boiled, he hated what he had done to her.

I don’t know how you’ll ever forgive me, I don’t even know if I can forgive myself. But I’ll do whatever you want… He let his tears fall, bringing his hand up to muffle his crying.

Shh… Too noisy…

He shot up in surprise. Zira?!

Shh!

Sorry! He whispered and crawled out from his mat.

Coming to kneel next to her, he wanted to reach out and touch her but was afraid to. Not because of her injuries, but because he didn’t think he should. He had no right.

Zira… I’m so sorry.

Yes. You sorry. You do what I ask, right? He picked up on her annoyance.

Yes! Uh, yes… Anything, I’ll do anything.

There was a pause as she thought for a moment. You become pillow. Like…night before.

You mean like how you slept on top of me?

Yes.

…Are you sure? He asked, surprised.

Yes.

But I–

Yes, I know. You sorry. I feel you emotions, I know you sorry. Now, come be pillow. She let out an audible huff in irritation.

Okay… I’ll have to move you, just let me know if it hurts.

No stalling! She let out a low growl.

Not wasting any more time, Felix carefully laid down next to her. He daintily shifted her to be mostly on him. Her head came to rest on his chest. Meanwhile, Zira unfurled her wings, despite the pain it caused, and wrapped them around him.

The dragon began to purr.

He could feel her mind wrapping around his, embracing him just like her wings. He realized then, Zira would never come to hate him.

Felix choked back tears…

***

He woke to the sounds of the door creaking as it opened. Morning light streamed in, silhouetting Eri as she stepped into the one-room shack.

“Morning,” He whispered, still half asleep. He felt Zira shifting on top of him, but he made no attempt to move.

“Good morning,” Eri responded, looking curiously down at the two of them. “You know she is still injured right? Moving her at all could cause her wounds to open, not to mention her arm and wings are not fully healed.”

Felix looked away embarrassed. “I know, but she wanted me to sleep with her… I just couldn’t refuse.”

“Hmm?” The elf cocked her eyebrow. “Anyways, is Zira awake? I’m here to use some more of my healing magic on her.”

I now am… Zira grumbled to him, subtly pulling him closer to her.

He could feel a slight bit of satisfaction coming from the dragon, but he chose to ignore it for now. They would have to have a talk later about a lot of things.

“She is.” He responded doing his best to keep his own thoughts private.

Eri came and kneeled down next to them. “Alright… Felix I’m going to need you to move. And Zira, I’m going to remove the bandages and take a quick look.”

With a sigh and a quick acknowledgement, Felix pulled himself out, much to the dragon’s annoyance. It took some help with Eri and Zira both, for him to safely remove himself without hurting the dragon. But they managed.

Felix stretched real quickly, and took up a sitting position right next to Zira. After a moment of hesitation, the dragon lifted her head and laid it on his legs. He proceeded to stroke her, and she let out a low purr of approval.

While that happened, Eri began cutting and removing the bandages that covered the dragon’s side. They revealed several long, but, thankfully, not very deep cuts. She was clearly missing some scales.

Felix frowned at the sight, an all too clear reminder of his screw-up. He renewed his vow to make it up to her. He would never do that again, he had learned his lesson.

Eri spoke up, breaking him from his train of thought. “Luckily, I will be able to numb these wounds as I heal them. Afterwards, I am going to take another look at your arm.” She said to Zira.

Felix responded for the dragon. “Thank you.”

The elf held up her hand. “I wasn’t quite done. I will numb it, but you will most likely still feel uncomfortable.” She quickly added under her breath, “If only I was better at healing…”

Felix heard that. “Eri, without you, I don’t think Zira would be alive. From me personally, thank you.” He did his best to give a bow, but with sitting and a dragon laying a head on his lap, it was difficult and awkward.

The elf’s cheeks flushed, and she stumbled over her words. “O-oh… N-no, I-I just… I just know a little healing magic. There are better healers out there…”

“But you are here,” he countered.

Silence fell within the room, and Felix used that time to focus on Zira.

Alright, I don’t know how this will go but you can just latch onto my consciousness. I’ll take the brunt of it. This is my fault anyways…

What you mean ‘take brunt of it’? She asked, sounding confused.

He debated on answering her question, but after a moment he could feel her dig into his side of their bond.

A moment later, Zira let out an audible yelp, startling Eri.

“Is she alright?” The elf asked, slowly regaining her composure from both his compliment and Zira’s reaction.

He ignored her, as he could feel Zira recoiling from something.

Zira! What’s wrong?

I hurt you?! She was stunned.

What do you mean? You didn’t– It dawned on him, she must have looked through his memories. His eyes widened in horror.

Zira, listen to me. You were hurt badly, you were barely responding to me. You were disoriented and scared, you did nothing wrong!

But I hurt you! I no want to hurt you!

Zira… He tried to pull her mind closer to his, but she recoiled away. Zira, please… I deserved it, I deserve more than that for what I did. My foolishness got you seriously injured, and so I bore the brunt of it. I did it, I allowed it.

You needed comfort and I gave it. I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew you were terrified and confused. I knew you were only acting out because of that, so I took it. I bore it all for you, and I will gladly do it again…

He paused, searching for the right words. He failed to, and decided to just go with it.

Zira, I honestly didn’t know what you meant to me until that very moment. Now I do, I care for you. I can’t explain it, but you mean so much to me. We are bonded together. And so long as we are, I will do anything for you.

In this moment he finally understood what the spirit had meant by soulmates. The bond that formed between them was so profound, that it transcended all description that he could give. He could feel this, at the very core of his soul.

Zira said nothing, she didn’t need to. Her consciousness drifted closer to his until they meshed together. This was completely different than before. It was as if they had become one.

It was an odd and strange experience for both of them. Felix struggled to tell the difference between his thoughts and hers–

Actually… He realized something. This experience was familiar. It felt very similar to how Fea had been giving him knowledge.

Zira was in agreement.

However, before he could truly come to terms with that, Eri brought him back to the present.

“Felix! Zira! Are you okay?!” She sounded frantic.

Blinking, Felix focused his attention onto the Elf. “Huh? Oh, yeah… Why do you ask?”

Eri looked at him wide eyed. “Felix… I sensed that.”

He furrowed his brow in confusion. “Sensed what?”

“Your… Hers…” She gulped. “…Mana combine.”

Felix could only laugh.

Eri frowned. “What’s so funny? I know what I felt!”

He shook his head, his hand waving for her to give him a moment. Even Zira let out an amused chuff.

After a few moments, he was able to take a breath and calm down. “Sorry,” he said, still snickering. “Just out of curiosity, what did you sense exactly?”

“Yours and Zira’s mana combined, it happened so quickly… I’ve never seen that before.” She answered.

That got him even more curious, but he knew now was not the time. There were bigger problems at hand.

“I see… Well, I guess that is what happened.” He said, not entirely sure. “Let’s just say, me and Zira had a little… Uh, heart to heart conversation. Don’t worry about it, we’re fine.”

“Are you sure?” She asked, clearly not convinced. “Perhaps, I should check–”

“No, I assure you we're fine.” He said, interrupting her. He nodded to Zira, “but we should probably get this done and over with…”

Eri looked at him like she was studying him. Eventually though, she blinked and looked down at the dragon. “Alright then. I’ll get started…”

As the elf got to work, Felix and Zira both tensed up at the exact same time. It was no longer them just sharing emotions and feelings, but experiencing them together.

This… He winced at the sensation of dull pain. This is going to take a while to get used to.

Zira added her own comment, at least he thought so. We…get used to it soon.

You–We…? Are right. It is taxing though… A headache was forming, though for who, he did not know.

Time progressed as they continued to work out everything. The uncomfortable feeling of Eri’s healing and their head ache, only made it more complicated. But they pushed on, hoping to understand what this new combined consciousness meant for them…

Eri let out a sigh and wiped her brow. “Alright, I’m done.”

Felix let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, meanwhile Zira visibly relaxed. Eri gave them a concerned look but didn’t say anything. Instead, she began inspecting the dragon’s arm.

Zira let out a yelp as Eri carefully moved it, Felix just grunted from the spike of pain. The elven woman pursed her lips while in thought.

“Hmm, not good. I’m going to have to heal it some more. Hopefully, we can get it good enough for you to at least limp around… I’ll probably have to come and heal it once a day for several days.”

She looked up to Felix. “This will be painful, unlike the cuts I can’t numb this. I’m just not skilled enough.”

“I– We understand. But why once a day? Does it consume that much mana?” It sounded concerning to him and Zira.

“Yes and no. It does consume a lot of mana, but nothing I couldn’t regenerate back in a few hours. That’s not really the problem though. The body can only take so much healing magic before its effectiveness starts to decrease.”

He nodded to Eri in understanding and then spoke to Zira. Are you ready then?

No… I still no want hurt you. But you give no choice… Go on, get over with it.

“We’re ready,” he said after taking a deep breath.

Eri took a breath of her own before bringing her hand down onto Zira’s arm.

“Then I will start…”