The dragon is still laughing at me as he kicks me out of his soulscape and I return to my body. I am tempted to go straight back to the hallway to experiment but decide against it. We have been gone long enough, we should return to the village and see how things are first.

So, I turn to Brightfire and tell her to get ready to leave, then I help break camp. Once everything is cleaned up I open a gate, but not to the village. Instead it is to one of the empty islands, call me paranoid but I don't want to leave a trail to the village.

Only once we have passed through the gate and it is closed do I open another gate to the village. The sudden appearance of a gate surprises the elves but when we walk through they start cheering. It looks like we have been gone long enough that they thought something happened to us.

The cheers die down quickly and most of the elves are just staring at me. I quickly realize why, they don't recognize me in my new body, so I shapeshift back to my old form. It probably won't hold for long, but it should be enough for the elves to recognize me and spread the word.

As soon as they recognize me the cheering picks back up and everyone looks happy. A single question is enough to find out where Stillwater is and we head that way. As we are walking through the village the foal comes running up to me, he has grown a bit.

Not only is he bigger, about as high as a pony, but his horn has grown. He is definitely a unicorn and it is easy for me to see the intelligence in his eyes. A quick scan tells me he is already a sacred creature, but only a rank one currently.

To be honest, with everything that has happened, I completely forgot about this little guy. Obviously, as he rubs against me, he has not forgotten about me. So, I return the affection and rub his neck, which makes Nala jealous.

She bumps into me on my other side, demanding attention, so I start petting her as well. The two of them stay on either side of me getting petted all the way to where Stillwater is. As soon as he spots us Stillwater comes running over and hugs Brightfire.

Obviously he has been worried about her and that is totally my fault as usual. To give them some time I move to where Stillwater was sitting and sit down. Nala and the foal lie down on either side of me and I continue to pet them.

Stillwater and Brightfire talk quietly for a few minutes before they come over and sit down. Once they are settled I start telling Stillwater everything that has happened since we left. I even drop the shapeshift at the right time to show him my new body.

Both Stillwater and the foal jump in surprise when I return to my normal body. The foal sniffs me and then settles back down as I resume telling the story. It is a little odd petting them with my paws, but I manage as I finish the rest of the story.

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

Stillwater says "I thought you were going for some simple exploration?!"

"That was the plan, things just went a little off track!"

Stillwater says "So, now we have to worry about this 'maker' finding us before we leave?"

"Possibly. I am hoping that they are trapped on the island I found them on. However, I can't be completely sure."

Stillwater says "So, what's the plan now then?"

"Same as before. I will build the ship and we will leave. By the way, I didn't see the human sailors in the village?"

Stillwater says "All the elves have been trained as sailors, so we got rid of the sailors."

"You didn't kill them, did you?"

Stillwater says "No. We abided by your wishes, gave them some food, and sent them on their way."

"Okay, good. How long ago was that?"

Stillwater says "Five days. Why?"

"If they make good time they could reach the humans in another week. That means if the humans want to reach us they could do so in a month or so."

Stillwater says "Do you think that is likely?"

"It depends on how greedy the new group of humans are. If they are as greedy as the previous group, then yes."

Brightfire says "We should expect them to come then. Humans are greedy!"

"Yes, they are, but they are also busy warring with the orcs right now. That should buy us some time."

Stillwater says "How long do you think?"

"I have no idea."

Stillwater says "Alright, how long will it take to build the ship?"

"Again, I have no idea."

Stillwater says "So, what next?"

"First, I need to go check on the tree and see if it is ready."

Stillwater says "Alright. Silverstream has been camping at the tree taking care of it."

"I will head there now then."

Brightfire says "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, stay here. Don't you have things to talk to your father about?"

Brightfire smiles and says "Yeah, you're right."

When I get up to leave both Nala and the foal do as well, guess they are coming with me. I was going to fly to the tree, but I guess a run would do me some good. As I start running the two of them easily match my pace, it looks like I am the slow one.

However, since they both look like they are enjoying themselves I just keep going. Although, I should really try and discourage the foal from getting attached to me. I already have one new kid in Nala, if I adopt another I will never hear the end of it.

Then again, it might be worth the trouble, he is cute and already a sacred creature. There are plenty of things that I am in trouble for already, what's one more? I think I will just wait and see, let him be the one to decide his future.

Flying to the tree only takes about ten minutes, but running there takes us about an hour. By the time we reach the tree all three of us are fairly worn out, but also feeling good. The foal being built for both speed and endurance is in the best shape out of the three of us.

Nala is built for quick bursts of speed, so this long run has been harder on her. With my body type I should be the worst out of us, but thanks to my ridiculous stats I am doing fine. Still, before approaching the tree, I stop to give us a break and provide water from my canteen.

Between the water and a chance to catch our breaths we all recover fairly quickly. Being young also plays a factor in our speedy recovery, but we will need food to completely recover. However, I want to get to the tree before we eat, that way Silverstream can eat with us.

Once we have rested we walk the remaining distance to the tree and I examine the tree as we approach. The tree has grown a lot, it is now tall enough to rival a skyscraper and its branches cover a huge area. The news isn't all good though, the forest around the tree looks to be dying.