The expedition had already been underway for three days. Frey felt much more comfortable riding through those difficult mountain paths than he ever could in a luxurious carriage. He had left it in the city along with most of his entourage, who would work on preparing the trap. It seemed that even Runa was more in her element on her white steed, and Eri was happy traveling in the only supply wagon, with the coachman who had somehow become part of the family. That said, although they had decided to bring Eri, little Koro was not a dragon, so he had stayed behind despite Eri's tantrum. It had to be acknowledged, she had limited herself to pouting and a whole day of bad mood. Eri was becoming more and more aware of her strength and was moderating herself very well.

The mountains surrounding the valley they were seeking were not particularly high, but there was no path. Making their way was slow as they searched for the best routes for the wagon and horses. It was easy to imagine why no one went in that direction; for any observer, continuing there was pointless, it was better to go around the mountains by the regular road.

The prospect of finding the pegasus felt more certain with each step; they had already seen several strange creatures, none truly dangerous. Eri kept asking about the fairies, how to explain that fairies didn't exist? It was just a story.

Asterion, the king's son, who led the march, announced:"Beyond this last peak lies the valley. We will camp at the outer edges. The less experienced will wait at the camp, and the rest will search for the pegasus, no more than half a day's distance. All explorers must be back at the camp by nightfall, no exceptions. If we cannot find its trail, we will break camp and move on to the clearing seen over there and try again. We have not documented all the creatures in the valley, so no one goes alone, and there must be a warrior in each team. I am not interested in your rank; I command this expedition, obey and we will all be fine, disobey and you could endanger everyone. No one has died in this valley yet, let's keep it that way."

Freydelhart was accustomed to following orders; he had been a soldier all his life, and although he was now a prince, he was also a man married to the king's daughter, so he always had someone of higher rank. Runa, on the other hand, was irritated every time the captain of explorers—Frey thought it was a very low rank for a king's son—ordered an abrupt halt or asked her not to stray from the group.

They climbed the slope just at sunset, and the view that awaited them alone made the long journey worthwhile. A pristine mountain river sparkled with the last rays of the sun, extensive meadows covered with flowers of all colors filled everything with their sweet scent, and the most varied birds soared through the skies to perch in the tall trees of the forests that covered the valley.

"It's the fairy forest!" said Eri with her best smile, getting down from the wagon to run around excitedly."You're not the first to say that, little one," Asterion replied, still mounted on his steed. "That tale is popular in this region. I wouldn't be surprised if many have found this valley and thought they would find the fairies in that clearing, but we at least, saw none."

"Daddy! Let's go look for the fairies. I want to make a wish!"

"You heard the captain, tomorrow morning we will all go out to look for traces of the pegasus, I promise we will pass by there. Now you must help Mr. Coachman take down the tents as you promised."

"Oww, alright," the little dragon girl was obedient as always, but with a pout.

Asterion approached Frey.

"Listen, I don't mean anything by this but... What's stopping that girl from doing whatever she wants? I don't think any of us could stop her from leaving or taking whatever she wanted."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"She's just not like that, King Alistor gives me credit for it but I think Eri has always been that way. Sometimes she says I scare her but she never runs away from me, she's well aware of her power, and she restrains herself so as not to hurt anyone."

"No Frey, I don't think she was just like that," Runa intervened, "the first few days she caused a lot of trouble, she didn't control her strength, she stole food and looked at everyone with disdain and distrust. Only you could prevent her from burning down the entire camp."

"My love, I think you exaggerate."

"Of course not, she's imitating that attitude from you. You're exactly the same. And you weren't always like that either."

Frey remembered that first dance he had with Runa, how nervous he was, how clumsy he felt. He had approached her because he liked her, without knowing who she was, he had allowed himself to be hurt to have a reason. Goddess of peace help him, that day he hadn't stopped embarrassing himself, his torn shirt, his obvious anxiety to see her, and worst of all, at the end of the dance, he had been too rough and almost made her fall. He was so distressed afterward that he didn't notice he had cracked the cup he was drinking from.

Days later, the princess, that is, Runa, had given him a delicate and fragile crystal cup, had put her hands around his and told him: "Take care of this gift as you would take care of me." It was a test. Seven years later, Eri had broken that cup, and the enchanted goblet that had replaced it had carried the message: "I will endure whatever comes without breaking, to be with you," although only he understood it.

Frey was perhaps the strongest man in the kingdom, and in the company of his family, he had learned to be delicate, considerate of others. And he had passed that on to his daughter.

"I think," he finally said, "that the credit is all yours, my beautiful Runa," she blushed like a young girl, it had been a long time since he had called her that, "we are a team after all..."

They realized that Captain Asterion had left them alone, or as alone as they could be a few steps from the rest of the caravan. They took the opportunity to share a kiss, not that they didn't do it like before, but the moment seemed appropriate, one in which they felt like those days when they were courting. The last ray of sun disappearing behind the mountains was the perfect frame.

After the kiss, they returned to their duties.

That night they made plans around the campfire, the next day they would set out in three teams to look for the pegasus, the royal family of Artemia would be one by the captain's imposition. The Captain himself and his second would each lead a team of 3 explorers, the group was small, the coachman and the two servants present would stay at the camp.

In the morning, Eri was the first to wake up, although she had also been the first to fall asleep by far. She woke Frey by pulling on his arm, begging them to leave already. It didn't even cross her mind to have breakfast or wash her face, although of course, her mother wouldn't forget. But in less than an hour, they were all ready and set off for the clearing.

Eri walked between her parents, Frey in front and Runa behind, her short legs made the march somewhat slow, but her enthusiasm more than made up for it. Frey didn't expect to find anything significant in the clearing, but he supposed it might serve as a watering hole for their prey sometimes, if so, he would find some trace. Runa collected some berries and nuts from the valley to eat along the way, deep down it would be a pleasure trip.

They arrived at the spring clearing shortly after, the place was truly like in the story, at that hour the sunlight filtered through the trees creating an almost mystical environment by also making the water shine. Eri ran everywhere looking for the fairies, if they had been there, they surely would have fled from the noisy little dragon girl, Frey crouched near the ponds looking for footprints, hair, whatever.

After several minutes, he couldn't find anything.

"Love," said Runa, "I have an idea, what if we make a wish at this fountain? There are no fairies, but we lose nothing, it could be fun for Eri."

"Yes!" said Eri, "I want to make a wish."

"It's not a bad idea, many good stories start with a simple wish."

The tradition when praying to the goddess or making a wish was to join hands and wish in silence, it was said that if you said it out loud or opened your eyes while wishing, it could not be fulfilled, because both the fairies and the goddess collected the wishes without being seen.

After a brief minute, the three opened their eyes, smiled at each other, and continued on their way, Frey thought to test all the nearby bodies of water.

Around noon, one of the alarm horns sounded, followed by an unfamiliar roar.