The next day started with Zerine waking up early. She had barely slept at all, having tossed and turned because she was way too excited about leaving…today! She was up and dressed in an instant. Packing was simple because she really had little in the way of belongings. Most of her belongings hadn’t been replaced after Raith and the assassin had throughly demolished her room. She didn’t even think to grab the few nice clothes she had replaced, but did grab books she was reading and intended to read. Funny enough, it was Varino who had more things to pack, including…
“Oh, hell no!” Zara said as a mana cannon floated into the room with the spirit riding triumphantly atop it.
“Where did she even find one of those?” Nerel wondered.
The fairies had stayed overnight so they could leave together. The plan was to meet up in the dinning, which they had, but Varino had been a bit late. Varino during the night had gone off to practice and met with the group in the dining room only a few minutes ago, which was when the spirit realized she had to pack, too. Her staff and natural treasures were soon followed by a pile of storm, water, and wind quintessence. Oh, and a crossbow, which the spirit was brandishing as she sat upon her destabilized mana throwing throne.
“How does she have more things than you Zerine?” Kamar wondered, while Zara scolded Varino about stealing the mana cannon. Now that she looked at it, the cannon looked newer than the one they had brought back from the trail.
Huh, where did she get a new one?
“Most of my stuff was destroyed during my trial and the rest was turned to scraps when my room was utterly demolished when two gold-ranks fought,” Zerine said.
“What about your books?” Valnari wondered.
“They survived, but I know you all have a library, so there will be plenty to read. Although I did pack some,” Zerine replied, chuckling as Ava appeared and facepalmed seeing the mana cannon and a disgruntled Varino sliding off the weapon, still holding her newly enchanted crossbow.
“What about your weapons?” Keldrick wondered.
“I have my bow, knives, and…that is all I have right now. Oh, but I packed my cloak and dragon scale shirt…well I’m wearing the dragon scale shirt,” Zerine replied then crouched as Varino ran over, chiming holding up her crossbow that was still larger than the spirit itself.
“Sorry you didn’t get to bring your ultimate weapon, but I doubt you’ll need it,” Zerine said to the spirit as the crossbow vanished into her spatial storage.
Varino let out a disappointed sigh and climbed up to her shoulder.
“Why did you have one of those cannons?” Kamar asked the spirit.
“You're asking the wrong question,” Zerine said, then glanced at the spirit. “Where did you get one of those, and why didn’t you tell me about the plan to steal it? I would have absolutely helped.”
The others laughed, while Varino fluted her response, saying it happened last night.
“Don’t encourage her to steal the cannons,” Ava said, walking up to them.
Both Zerine and Varino complained, making a similar groaning sound, which got stifled laughter from the fairies and rolled eyes from both Zara and Ava.
“She stole,” Ava said, but Varino whistled. “Ah, borrowed,” Ava continued shaking her head, “the cannon from Bernards workshop. We were seeing if we could recreate what you did during the mana storm, but so far, no luck. That’s why we even repaired the one Varino used during the trial.”
Well, that explains where she had gotten her hands on one, Zerine thought, thankful that Varino didn’t steal it from the port’s defenses, or gods, a navy ship. Both sounded crazy, but Zerine was fairly certain Varino could find a way if she learned where the defenses were kept. Or she would just go with plan Zappy zappy, which was her fall back to pretty much any plan.
Gods, the dragon riders are going to have their hands full, Zerine thought, a grin spreading across her face as a thrill of anticipation for this trip shot through her.
“Does she realize that she and Varino have a similar grin?” Valnari said in a not so subtile whisper to Nerel.
“You would think, based on how they act, that they already have a familiar bond,” Nerel whispered back.
“Yeah, they have almost the exact same grin right now,” Kamar whispered loudly.
Zara was smirking, folding her arms, while Ava simply raised an eyebrow, but Zerine saw the corners of her mother’s mouth twitching as she fought form smiling.
“Care to share you two?” Ava wondered, putting a hand to her hip.
“Umm, my guess is that Varino will just steal,” a bright whistle, “right, borrow the cannon during one of our visits.”
Varino whistled, flapping a hand at Zerine in clear and totally unconvincing denial.
“As for my smile, I’m simply excited to see how the dragon riders will react to our antics,” Zerine said cheerfully, echoed by an agreeing chime from Varino who said that was the same thing she was thinking.
“We’ll just make sure Bernards lab has more restrictions placed upon it,” Ava said with a shrug. Varino made a flute note that sounded as if someone gave up halfway through as she let out her equivalent to a groan.
“Gods, we will have to make sure they don’t get in trouble with the elders,” Keldrick said, which got agreeing nods from the others.
“I’m sure we-”
“No special treatment is to be given to you. Other than food and shelter and education. You get in trouble by breaking their rules or customs it’s yours to bare,” Ava said, which got another groan from Varino.
“Fine, we’ll behave,” Zerine said, bowing her head, and Varino followed suit.
“They sure know how to act the picture-perfect image of meekness,” Zara remarked, which got giggles from the others and Ava sighed.
“They’re doing this out of kindness, so please, by the gods, don’t cause chaos,” Ava said.
“Alright,” Zerine said, while Varino chimed saying fine, which got a stern look and Varino changed her tune, agreeing fervently to be on her best behavior.
“Good, let’s do some training before breakfast, then you two can say your goodbyes to everyone,” Ava said, gesturing for the group to follow her and Zara.
***
After saying their goodbyes, Zerine and Varino walked towards the group of fairies waiting in the courtyard.
“Ready?” Marigold wondered.
Zerine took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, then smiled. “We are, right, Varino?”
A trilling flute note cheer, answered Zerine.
“Then let’s go,” Marigold said.
Varino and Zerine waved farewell, smiling as she saw most of the household seeing them off, including slimes, spirits, and even the pixies. There was a green and gold flash of light that filled her sight. Then Zerine stood in a large room.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
She looked around to find it was basically empty, but the walls made her think they were in one of the shaped tree buildings that parts of the Emerald Sky had. Her assumption was purely based on how the room was curved and made entirely out of light-colored wood.
“Welcome Varino and Zerine to the Emerald Forest,” Kamar said with a flap of her wings, took flight. The others followed suit, except for Marigold.
“Varino, you're going to be using far more mana while you live here, since you’ll be helping Zerine get around our settlement,” she said.
Varino chimed a question, and Marigold glanced at Zerine for her to answer. Most fairies could communicate with spirits, but Marigold wasn’t one of them.
“She asked if there wasn’t some magic tool to help with that?” Zerine translated.
“There is, but it needs mana to help power it,” Marigold answered, while the others flew above, looking down curiously.
Varino shrugged and chimed.
“Then alright you’ll have to show her what to do,” Zerine said.
“Perfect. It’ll be great mana control practice for you, so then let’s head out,” Marigold said and led them to a doorway while the rest of the fairies flew through a large hole in the ceiling.
They followed Marigold onto a platform, and Zerine gasped from the view. They were far above the forest floor, so far that Zerine couldn’t even guess. Enormous evergreen trees dominated the Emerald Forest, with a smattering of other types of equally massive trees. The almost citrus-like scent of the needless wafted over them and Zerine took a deep breath in enjoying the calming and refreshing scent.
Varino whistled her appreciation of the height and something about how the winds seemed excited. Zerine wasn’t entirely sure about the second part of Varino’s statement, but looking around, taking in what would be her home for more than a year, Zerine had to admit.
“This is incredible,” she said.
Marigold grinned. Her green and gold wings appeared as she gestured with a hand towards a cluster of round, almost pod-like buildings that spiraled up the trunk of the nearest evergreen trees. She saw the unmistakable glint of fairy wings as the beings flew from tree to tree or flew to nearby buildings.
“There are about two thousand fairies here currently. I’m not sure how sharp your vision is, but those round bumps are homes, businesses, and training areas. There are around two hundred trees that have similar structures to what you see.”
A gust of wind made Zerine sway for a moment before bracing herself. It wasn’t exactly cold, but it wasn’t comfortable either.
“Yep, you’re probably going to want to wear that Runic Spider cloak you have. Varino is already wearing hers.”
Zerine glanced to her shoulder and sure enough, Varino was wearing her cloak the hood up and this time it was a shade of light green. Varino gave Zerine a beaming smile before sliding and falling slowly to the wooden platform before scampering around, looking over the edge of the platform.
She followed Marigold’s suggestion and the Runic spider cloak appeared around her shoulders, then shifted to the poncho style. The color she had chosen was a light brown, making the Gold-rank item appear like plan leather or cheap cotton.
Marigold was watching the curious spirit running around the platform, peering out over the forest with a smile. Zerine was going to ask if they were waiting for something when Kamar landed on the platform next to Zerine, holding a large…surfboard?
Kamar held a long, surfboard-like magic tool under her arm. It was easily taller and wider than Kamar and had runes carved along the edges on both sides, Zerine noted, as Kamar shifted her grip on the surfboard, revealing the other side for a moment. Other than the runes, the surfboard was rather plain looking. It wasn’t the colorful ones that she had seen, but just plain wood with a glossy finish.
Zerine assumed, based on the runes, that this board somehow would allow her to fly for short periods, which was awesome. She had enjoyed trying to use a surfboard on the water, but wished she could use it like the others who zipped over the water, not at its mercy like she had been. She was definitely going to memorize the runes so that when she got her crest, she could make her own…
“Skyboard, Skyboard!” Varino whistled, pointing excitedly, doing little hops while giving Zerine an eager smile that said they were going to have far too much fun with this.
“This is a Forest Skiff and what you’ll be using to get around,” Kamar said as Fiamma, her fire elemental familiar, flitted above them, clearly excited.
“Skyboard,” Varino whistled again, nodding as if that settled the matter.
Yep, that board was going to be called a Skyboard no matter what the fairies said, as Varino had decreed it. And Zerine had to agree with Varino. Skyboard was better than Forest Skiff. Or maybe hoverboard? Nah, that felt like it was meant to be used closer to the ground. This was definitely a Skyboard.
“Awesome!” Zerine said, not able to hide her excitement as she moved her hands over the Skyboard, inspecting every inch.
Varino jumped and clapped, unable to hide her excitement, either, as she looked at what parts she could see standing on the ground.
Marigold cleared her throat. “It will take a lot of mana control, Varino. If you don’t do it right, you could shoot Zerine into a tree at high speed.” Her words didn’t have the effect that she thought they would have. Both Varino's and Zerine’s eye lit up with even more excitement.
“It doesn’t have a set speed!? What’s the ratio of mana to speed? Wait!! I can read the runes and probably figure that out,” Zerine said, taking the Skyboard from an amused Kamar. “Oh, maybe we can use a mana crystal to help supplement power or to act as throttle or…” Zerine went on soon Varino was chiming at Zerine, probably having her own suggestions to what sounded to Marigold like the two were going to make the Forest Skiff some sort of project of theirs, which she was curious what they would come up with.
Marigold would come to realize that all those red flags Ava had warned her about were present in that moment. Too bad it would only be obvious to her months later after hosting the pair. She should have listened to her instincts, which in that moment, seeing Kamar start throwing in her own suggestions to the rapidly evolving…Skyboard, were telling her that the next year and half was going to be quite the experience for everyone involved. The sleepy Emerald Forest was about to become far more boisterous something the fairies would never forget.
The rest of the day Zerine and Varino were given a tour by Marigold, who had unknowingly had wisely decided to the be the one to control the Forest Skiff. Zerine learned that all the buildings allowed fairies to fly in from a ceiling entranceway, but most still landed on outer platforms to enter the building if it wasn’t their home. The ceiling entranceway was used primarily if there was bad weather and was protected from the elements.
“Where we first arrived is the teleportation and transfer key building,” Marigold said as the skiff flew at a leisurely speed. Varino was running along the board, looking around curiously, her cloak flapping in the breeze.
“I thought teleportation to my home was blocked?” Zerine wondered.
“We have a transfer key to it, which allows only those granted access to teleport in. Not even an Iridesium-rank can force their way in now. Sashi did an overall to its defenses and they are impressive, I must say. “
“Yeah, she’s great. I wish I got to know her for longer,” Zerine said, looking out over the forest.
“I will assure you that when she returns from her trips, we will have you spend time back home. I know what it is like to have family ascend that you wish you could have just a few more days with,” Marigold said, thinking back to her father who had ascended and the last time she had seen him, they had argued. Something she still regretted a hundred years later.
“I’m excited for her. It’s something few get to experience, but I just wish we had more time. I feel like I’m missing out not having a crest. Her insights have helped everyone grow,” Zerine said, still looking out at the forest. And without looking, her foot shot out and stopped Varino from tipping over the side. The spirit had started wobbling while leaning over to peer down to the forest floor when she saw something move down there.
Varino patted Zerine’s foot, whistling a thank you. Zerine gave the spirit a grin before continuing. “I didn’t even bother to go to the crest ceremony before my birthday. I don’t have any of the signs still and it just feels like when Sashi is gone, I would have missed out on an incredible opportunity.”
“You’re still young and there will be plenty of other opportunities that will come along. But I also know she will leave behind plenty of things to help everyone at the compound continue to grow. She did that for the Triarch as well,” Marigold said.
Zerine only nodded, still taking in the city. Marigold’s words helped, but Zerine knew she would feel like she was falling behind as long as she didn’t have her crest.
Varino’s question brought a change in topic.
“Where will Varino and I train with the dragons and with you, for that matter?” Zerine translated.
“Oooh, no I have many things to handle and won’t be training you directly for sometime, but there will be a fairy I trust to do a great job. As for the dragons…” Marigold had the skiff rise and pick up speed, much to the storm elementals excitement if the chittering cheer was anything to go by.
Soon they broke through the tree canopy and Zerine realized just where in relationship to the city they were. The mountains that she could just make out from where Terri and the others had made their home were now about a day’s travel away. Just looking at the mountains, she just knew a whole riot of dragons could easily make them their home.
Definitely not the water affinity aligned dragons. Probably storm, fire, and maybe ground. Oooh, it would be a first for me if I met a ground affinity dragon, Zerine thought.
Varino pointed at what might have been the tallest mountain and chimed.
“You can sense Bronte is in that direction!?” Zerine said, startled. Varino nodded.
“Ah, that’s a good sign for that bond of yours, Varino. You’ll meet some dragon riders in a few days after you settle in here. Then you’ll start your training with them in earnest,” Marigold said, bringing them back below the evergreen canopy.
“That’s a relief. I honestly thought this whole year and half would be a trial by fire situation,” Zerine joked.
Marigold grinned and Zerine realized they were probably in for it.
“Just wait and see. I’m genuinely curious to see how long you and Varino can keep going at the pass we will set.”
welll…shit, Zerine thought.