image [https://i.imgur.com/cooTTeR.png]
Crystals of Tame
Chapter 20
A mark of fate
“Don’t go too far,” Lily said, as she was picking some berries from a bush.
“Okay, Aunty,” Lex said, as he began to chase after some of the monsters that called Woodfield Forest their home, laughing and smiling as he chased them. He loved monster partners, and he couldn’t wait to have one of his own. Every time he saw the monster battles in the village from other aspiring tamers, his eyes would glow up, and at that moment, he would think about his mother, as well as all the stories his aunt Lily had told him about her and tamers.
Lily looked over and smiled. Lex was now four and he was the spitting image of Anita, and in a way, to her, it felt like she wasn’t gone. She was still with them.
“Please be careful, dear,” she said, as she watched him run around the forest. She was sure Lex knew the forest by hand now, coming here every day for ingredients for the bread she and her mother were famous for in the village. He had loved the forest ever since he first brought him here.
“He sure does love monster partners a lot,” she thought, covering her eyes from the sun, and going back to picking more berries. Yet, she couldn’t help but think what her mother, Nana, would say about Lex’s fascination with monster partners. Even though she had started to warm up to them a bit, she still disliked them, blaming them for Anita’s passing.
***
Lex found himself chasing after a small beige color Leafirrel, a common novice-level rodent monster partner around Woodfield forest. A lot of the aspiring tamers in the village had them, and they were quite common to use for the Taming exam in Stonetopolis City. An exam he dreamed of taking.
"Wait for me," Lex said, as he chased the Leafirrel monster deeper into the forest.
When he suddenly came to a stop, spotting a large red color lizard monster lying on the ground.
“Wow!” he said, spotting the red color scales of the dragon monster as they lit up by the light of the sun hitting them, almost sparkling like a crystal.
He had never seen such a cool monster partner before in all his life in the village.
image [https://i.imgur.com/YDltWYL.png]
"Hello,” he said, waving at it,
“BLAZ!” the large red dragon said, looking at the strange child with apprehension.
Lex noticed that one of its wings was hurt.
“BLAZE!…” the monster continued, leering at the Lex as it watched him getting closer to him.
“It’s okay,” Lex said,
“I mean no harm.”
The red dragon looked at Lex for a few more seconds, inspecting him, and deciding he was of no danger to it, placing his head back on his claws.
“Blaze.”
“Were you hurt in a fight?” Lex asked,
“Blaz,” the dragon monster scuffed, ignoring the noisy kid that had stumbled upon it.
“Does it hurt?” Lex said, reaching for its wounded wing,
“BLAZE!” the dragon monster screeched, its yellow eyes looking at the strange child, its sharp claws coming out like knives as if to tell the young boy to touch at his own risk.
“Sorry,” Lex said,
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‘Blaze....” the red dragon monster said, forgiving the young child’s curiosity.
“If only there was. Oh! I know,” he said,
“I’ll be right back.
Lex ran toward his aunt and began to take some of the berries she had gathered.
He turned to his aunt to make sure she wasn’t looking and left when he saw the coast was clear.
“Lex, not too far,” Lily said, catching a glimpse of Lex running.
"If Nana saw how much freedom I give you in the forest, she would freak,” Lily said, letting out a chuckle.
But there was nothing to worry about, besides, they had Nana’s monster partner, Maidanda, for protection, and also, the monster partners in the forest seem to have taken a liking to Lex, which, if she was honest, was quite peculiar. Not that there were any dangerous monsters in Woodfield forest, since most monster partners that called Woodfield forest their home were of novice level and quite friendly. Though there was the occasional Ragekey and Ragepanzee, but as long as you left them alone, you were fine.
“I brought some food,” Lex said, running toward the dragon monster, with a bunch of berries in his hands.
“Hehe it tickles,” he said, as the dragon monster began to eat from his palm.
“BLAZE!!,” it screeched, as it tried to move its body to a more comfortable position, and in the process, it moved its damaged wing by accident.
“Are you okay?” Lex said, feeling sad for his new friend Drogo, which he had named.
“If only there was a way to help you,” Lex thought, but the only thing he had were berries and bread, which would fill Drogo’s stomach but not heal his wing.
***
“All done,” Lily said, wiping away the sweat from her forehead. She felt around her bag and found the weight to be quite satisfactory to her, filled with delicious ingredients she couldn’t wait to make bread with and share it with the village.
“Time to go, Lex,” she said, looking around for him, but not seeing him.
“Now where did that rascal go to, Maidanda.”
She called for the medium size white and black bear monster, which came down from the trees.
"Find that adventurous tamer of ours,” she said,
“Maidanda,” Maidanda said, as it sniffed the air with its nose, searching for Lex’s scent.
***
“Blaze!” the dragon monster said, as its wing was being touched, feeling the pain of it circulate throughout its red scaly body. Yet, for some reason, it trusted Lex.
“Sorry,” Lex said, trying to see how hurt his new friend’s wing was.
“If only there was a way to heal it,” Lex thought, wondering what he could do to help his new friend. He looked around to see if there was anything around them that could aid him in helping his new friend.
“Oh! I know,” he said, looking at the Leafirrels that had begun to gather around them.
“I’ve seen the Leafirrel do this all the time,” Lex said, recalling how the Leafirrels monsters would heal their wounds whenever they would get hurt in one of the taming battles he saw back at the village.
“Could they perhaps heal other monster partners as well, “ he wondered.
“Worth a try.”
He didn't know if what he was trying to do was going to work but he had no other option. He signaled the Leafirrels to come, and to his surprise they obeyed, gathering around them both.
“Let's see if it works,” Lex said, feeling confident in himself that whatever he was trying to do would work, almost as if some instinct in him was guiding him. He began to motion the Leafirrels to move toward Blaze and himself, making a circle around them.
The group of Leafirrels began to gather around them, almost as if knowing what Lex was trying to do.
“Okay perfect,” Lex said,
“Now shall we?” he said as he looked at them. They closed their eyes and their leaf tails began to glow,
“Blaze,” Blaze said, as it began to relax its body, trusting Lex and the Leafirrels.
“I feel it,” Lex said, feeling something he had never felt before, yet it felt familiar in a way. As if he was learning something that he had forgotten. He didn’t know why, but something in him was propelling him, like a force of nature.
The Leafirrels that had surrounded Blaze and Lex began to glow as small light green particles around them engulfed them in its light.
***
“Seriously, how far did Lex go, "Lily said, as she and Maidanda went deeper into the forest. She was beginning to grow scared now, worrying something might have happened to him.
“Maidanda,” Maidanda jumped, blocking Lily from getting run over by a group of green color goat monster partners called Leafoats. Lily noticed that they were running toward a faint green light. Not only them, she also noticed other monsters running toward it almost as if they were being drawn to it.
“Lex!’ she said as she ran toward the light.
She could feel her uneasiness in her throat, a feeling that felt like it was stopping her from breathing. She didn’t know what was going on, but she had to make sure Lex was okay.
***
Lex's body along with the Leafirrels began to glow a vibrant green aura around them, and a ball of light engulfed Blaze and its damaged wing.
The next thing they knew the light had engulfed the forest like a typhoon had descended upon the forest, every monster within the light felt its healing aura. The people of Woodfield village noticed a faint green light from the forest, but ignored it, going back to their business, and attributing the light to the vibrant sun that morning.
***
“LEX!” Lily yelled, coming into view of a fallen Lex, with a monster by him. He had seen them in pictures of the kingdom of Traineria. The Majestic Blazerons were an enhanced level monster partner used by expert tamers for they were of the dragon class. She also noticed a group of Leafirrels and Leafoats gathered around them as well as other monster partners.
"Lex!” she yelled as she ran toward him.
***
“You should be more careful, he’s only a kid,” Nana said, reprimanded Lily,
“Luckily he didn’t get hurt, but you know how curious he is, you should have known better.”
“Sorry Mom,” Lily said, she had lied to her mother about what happened. Telling her he had climbed a tree and fallen. She looked at Lex who was sleeping peacefully on his bed. She didn’t truly know what had occurred in the forest, all she knew was that what she saw was a large flash of light in the forest, and the next thing she saw was Lex's body lying on the ground where the light had come from.
She didn’t know if it had anything to do with Lex. And she wasn’t going to tell Nana about it either, she already didn’t like him going to the forest, and Lily knew how much Lex liked the forest. She glanced at Lex one more time, making sure he was okay,
“Thank the ancient one,” Lily thought, thankful that he hadn’t gotten hurt by whatever had happened in the forest, she looked at him one more time, making sure he was alright when she noticed something odd about him.
“Did he always have that mark,” she said, noticing a strange mark on his right hand. It looked like a birthmark of sorts, it had a very peculiar shape, almost like the face of a monster.