Felix sat upon his perch in silence, wondering how this would all go. He was excited to meet the other Sages but after everything that happened? It honestly felt insignificant in comparison. Yet, this was important, without their help he wasn’t sure how much they could get down on their own…

Come to think of it, where are they? He hadn’t realized it until that very moment, but a quick scan of the area had revealed elves and a few kobolds. The only thing of note was in the camp, where people were handing out several items from crates.

“Are you looking for the dwarves and gnomes?” Oralyn asked, carefully studying him.

“Yeah. I was in such a rush to get here, I hadn’t even bothered to check,” he fibbed. It wasn’t a complete lie but his distraction was due to other things.

She continued to eye him as she responded. “That is why I was so furious– And not just me, Master Aluin was as well. The Sages wanted to meet with you all, so that a place could be secured beforehand. They didn’t want to teleport everyone here until they had a campsite selected.

“They were generous enough to bring some supplies with them however.” She gestured back to the camp. “Mainly tents and rations, enough that we should no longer have to all sleep outside, nor shall we have to constantly hunt or forage.”

That last part alarmed Felix. “Have people been starving?! I was not made aware–”

“No one is starving,” Oralyn said, cutting him off. “But we lost most of our own rations. The kobolds have been kind in supplying us with food, however, they are struggling as well. The fire scared away most of the local wildlife. It will take some time for it to come back.”

Eri decided to chime in. “I will have to thank Watcher for his help. The kobolds have done so much for us.”

“And Tracker,” Oralyn added. “She has personally gone out, deep into the unstable regions, to bring back food.”

Felix nodded along. “We have a lot of people to thank… Perhaps, when things settle down, we can hold a feast for them?” The ones that are alive, that is, he thought but did not say.

“That was one idea I was going to propose–” Oralyn was suddenly interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

“And what a wonderful idea it is!”

Everyone’s attention snapped back to manor. There, standing in front of the backdoor, was a dwarf. Next to him, a gnome.

Before anyone could respond, the dwarf suddenly hopped off the stairs and made his way over to Zira. He craned his neck to look up to Felix and her.

“Well, are you gonna make this short, fat bastard have to climb, just for a proper greeting?”

Felix blinked, forgetting he was still sitting atop Zira. He quickly slid down her side and landed next to the dwarf just as the gnome made his way over.

“Felix,” he said, going for a bow. However, the dwarf stopped him with a laugh.

“No need to be so formal, we dwarves hate that.” He extended a hand out. “Name’s Master Realgar, and yes I’m named after a mineral.”

Hesitantly taking the offered hand, Felix gave it a shake. The dwarf, though, had other plans. “No, no, no! It’s got to be firm, like this.” Master Realgar squeezed.

Wincing, Felix did his best to do the same. All it did, however, was make the dwarven Sage laugh and squeeze harder…

“I think that is enough Realgar, you’re clearly crushing his hand," the gnome Sage said. He waited for the dwarf to let go before turning his attention to Felix.

“Master Josphel, a pleasure to finally meet you.” The gnome gave a small but polite nod to him.

“No, the pleasure is mine,” he said, returning the gesture with a bow.

Ahem…

“Oh! Right, and this is my partner, Zira.” He reached up and patted her side.

“It is nice to finally meet you, Master Realgar, Master Josphel,” she said, lowering her head to get a better look at them.

As they exchange greetings with her, Felix finally took a moment to properly take the two Sages in.

Master Realgar couldn’t have been more than four feet tall while Master Josphel was less than that at around three and a half feet.

The dwarven Sage had a magnificent beard, woven and properly groomed. His eyes were a clouded blue, contrasting heavily with his brown hair that was tied and partially braided.

Meanwhile, the gnome Sage was clean shaven and had wrinkly skin. He looked old but there was a hidden vigor in the way he carried himself. However, not helping his aged look was his bald spot on the top of his head. He had thin, short white hair that started just under that and quickly tapered off.

Yet, the most striking feature was his milky-white eyes…

Lastly, both the Sages wore what appeared to silken gowns. The dwarf’s was blue while the gnome’s was red. Outside of color, however, the designs were nearly identical.

After finishing with Zira, the two Sages made their way over to Eri, who was now standing on the ground as well.

“Greetings Masters, it is good to see you two again,” she said with a bow. Her partner, on the other hand, was a little too excited.

“I’m Kyrith! Nice to meet you!”

Master Realgar chuckled as he looked up to the ember-colored dragon. “Nice to meet you as well!” He looked back to Eri. “And good to see you again, lass–”

“It’s Your Majesty,” Master Josphel corrected before giving that small but polite nod to Eri. “I apologize for his rudeness.”

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“Oh, it is fine. I’m still getting used to– Well…all of this myself,” she answered.

Strange, they aren’t what I expected, Felix said to Zira.

However, before she could respond, the two Sages came to him once more. Master Realgar spoke, his expression becoming serious.

“Now that we’re done with the greetings… I think I have to offer you an apology as well.”

“Oh?” Felix asked, surprised.

“No doubt Master Aluin has told you our original opinions of you. Make no mistake, we had to be cautious. Having a human on the island has never led to anything good. And frankly, I think that does remain to be the case.”

Felix felt taken aback by that last statement, however before he could reply the dwarf continued.

“Now, I don’t blame you for what happened here. Clearly, this was something beyond your control. But many will not see it that way. Still, I don’t think it's fair and, on my blood and the honor of my ancestors, I apologize for that.”

Master Realgar put a balled hand up to his chest. “I swear to correct that.”

Felix stood there, shocked. “I-I see… Thank you… I, uh, accept your apology.”

Felix, he just swore an oath, Eri said, almost whispering through the bond.

Oh.

He could feel her irritation. You just got the dwarven Sage to swear an oath to you! That is huge! For a dwarf of any kind to do that… Look, it's a big deal.

While he still didn’t fully appreciate what had just happened, he trusted Eri. He decided to do something he felt was just as significant. “Master Realgar, I promise on my life, on my soul, to do what is necessary to protect our home.”

While calling forth a small fraction of his mana, he held out his hand. The dwarf studied him for a moment but ultimately accepted the handshake. A contract was formed.

Felix felt it settle in, giving him a shiver in the process. However, with that done, he gave the dwarf a smile. “I mean it.”

“So you do…” The dwarf’s expression softened as he quickly pivoted. “Anyway! We need to find a spot for us to set up shop. And…” He looked up past Felix, towards the towering tree. “I think I’d like to examine that, if possible.”

“I have no issues with that. As for finding a spot…” Felix winced as he looked around the clearing. With the hatchery, the two elven camps, the kobold village, the future sight for the dormitory, and now, the colossal tree… The clearing was starting to feel a little cramped.

“How about over there?” The Sage pointed to the left of the hatchery. “Shall we go check it out?”

Felix nodded and, as a large group, they made their way over to it.

The spot, however, wasn’t ideal. This side of the clearing was a long but narrow strip of land, bordered by the forest on one side and the hatchery and tree on the other. There were two other problems…

“A bit small,” Master Realgar commented, echoing his sentiment. “I mean, if you’d let us, we can expand the clearing on this side.”

Felix considered it. “I would be okay with that, but…” He gestured to the area between the manor and hatchery. “The dragons use that to take off and land. You cannot block that, less you want your camp wrecked.”

The dwarven Sage laughed. “We dwarves don’t do camps! Felix, we’re going to build an outpost. Still, that’s understandable. We can avoid that, I think.”

An outpost? he questioned to himself but quickly shook the thought away. There was still one more problem…

“We use this area of the forest for training. Also, there is a nice little glade not too far in… I’d like to not disturb it. If you need to clear more than a hundred yards over here, come talk with me first.”

“We can work with that. Though, a hundred yards would be a bit short for what we are going to do…”

“Yeah… you mentioned an outpost? What did you mean by that?” Felix asked.

“Well, exactly that. We’re here to help put together a militia. We’ll need somewhere where we can house people and equipment. Besides, we’ll have some shops set up, too. Our engineers have already come up with some ideas… Speaking of which, I’ve heard Gil is here.”

That caused Felix to perk up. “You know Gillador?”

“Know him?! Hah! He’s one of the best architects to ever live! If he were a dwarf, he’d be considered a legendary Mastercrafter– But, uh… Don’t ever tell him I said that. He’d never let it go.”

For once, Felix chuckled. “Well, I didn’t know he was so famous, at least outside of the elves. But to answer your question, yes, he’s here.”

“Good, no doubt we’ll need his help– Again, don’t ever tell him I said that.”

“I promise,” Felix said with amusement. “But can I ask why you’d need his help? From the sounds of it, you already have things figured out.”

“Ah, you must not know what he’s capable of… Well, I won’t spoil the surprise. I’m sure if you watch him long enough, you’ll see what I mean.”

Felix raised an eyebrow at that. Certainly Gillador has a unique skill set, but I never got the impression there was something more going on with him.

There is more to Gil than meets the eye. Though, I’m curious too. I knew he was known among the dwarves but not to this level of praise, Eri said.

“I’m curious now, but I suppose I will have to keep an eye on him then,” he responded to the dwarf's words.

“Oh, absolutely…” The dwarven Sage cleared his throat and faced towards the colossal tree. “Now that we’re done here, I’d like to see that.” He pointed.

“Indeed,” Master Josphel added. He had been surprisingly quiet up until now. “I must say, last night gave us quite a fright. Then, when we arrived here, I was absolutely astonished.”

“Sorry about that…” Felix said awkwardly. “I had no idea how powerful of a spell it would be. I was merely trying to create an anchor for a spirit and then… Then things got a little out of hand.”

“Indeed, Master Aluin has filled us in a bit on its creation.”

“Right… Shall we go see the tree?” He quickly gestured at the way forward.

The group wasted no time and headed out. However, as Felix looked around, he only just noticed something missing…

“Say, where did Aluin– I mean, Master Aluin go?” he asked aloud. Actually, Oralyn and Eri’s guards are gone as well…

They didn’t follow us, Zira commented as Master Realgar spoke up once again.

“Master Aluin will be back shortly. He said he wanted to go ahead and get everyone ready to teleport here. I told him it’d be fine, but this is Master Aluin we’re talking about…”

That does sound like Aluin… Still, I’m surprised he didn’t want to be here for this introduction.

Zira spoke up. I think that he trusts us enough to be able to handle this by ourselves. Besides, Eri does know them.

Eri, for her part, sent a mental nod in agreement. However, Kyrith had something to add…

He knew I was here! There’s nothing to worry about!

That caused Felix and Eri to both roll their eyes and even Zira let out a low groan.

Is this what you have to deal with constantly? she asked Eri.

Yep! And now you all get to suffer with me! Eri responded.

Great… And here I thought he was annoying before…

What?!

Nothing, Kyrith… Nothing.

Felix held back a laugh as the exchange came to an end. In fact, they had made it to the great tree already…

He stared up at it and felt it watching him. Deep underground, he could feel a faint pulse of mana as its roots slowly dug further down.

It was still growing.