Drake grinned as he saw Gigi stare dumbfounded at the wall. He rarely brought joy with his gifts. Her bright brown eyes danced from the shadow to him in disbelief.

“I’ve never seen magic like this! What else can you do?” She turned to him, wonder in her eyes.

He had never wanted to impress someone so badly in his life. He could do whatever he liked with the shadow. The darkness was the ink and the world his canvas, even if each stroke shortened his own life a speck. But what was his life worth? He estimated very little. If it meant this beautiful woman would keep looking at him like that, he would have given his entire shadow.

He dramatically cracked his knuckles. If she wanted a show, she was going to get one.

“What’s your favorite animal?”

“A wyvern!”

Drake nodded confidently. That was a creature he had seen on the battlefield more than once. He focused on the wall, a jolt of energy shooting through his frame. Before them, their shadows merged into a new shape. An inky reptile began to emerge from the confines of the second dimension into the third. Slick black skin oozed forth until it truncated in a coiling tail. The black beast spread its mighty wings in the small room, blowing a gust of wind on Gigi’s face.

Making the darkness solid was no easy task, but Drake was well versed in this particular mystic craft. Gigi stood and approached the sooty wyvern that bowed before her. She placed her hand on its head and scratched behind its ear.

“This is amazing,” she whispered.

Drake could feel his wound beginning to throb from the exertion but pushed through the pain. He gritted his teeth, focusing on folding the darkness. Gigi put her forehead against the creature, gently smiling. At that moment, something inside Drake gave way and agony seared across his body. The shadow wyvern dissipated back into the darkness and his consciousness followed.

When he came back around, Gigi was sitting next to him reading quietly. She flashed a fang-filled smile his way, closing her book.

“You’re back!”

“You’re still here,” he said, sitting up.

“Well, yeah, I live here.”

It was a fair point but he was still surprised. “What do we do now?” asked Drake.

“You are going to stay here and read a book or something. Also, do NOT show my siblings this shadow stuff.”

“Because it’s dangerous?”

“No, because they won’t leave you alone.”

“Oh okay, I promise I won’t, Lady Gigi.” He nodded again. Gigi shook her head no.

“Stop that, it’s weird, and it’s just Gigi, got it?” Drake raised his head again and nodded his acknowledgment. “You are a strange one.” She reached into her satchel on the floor and pulled out a petite key. Gigi placed it in Drake’s palm. “This is for the room. Don’t let my siblings in. I have the only other key so if there’s a knock, it isn’t me.”

“Okay,” he said, looking nervous.

“You’ll be fine. Here, read this.” She handed him her book. Drake took it with a dry mouth.

Books were scary things where he was from. If the captain caught him with one, the punishment would have been more than the simple slash on the back. He gently took the book as if it were a wild animal, holding it at arm’s length. He sensed that she was much smarter than him but was embarrassed by how much. He felt no need to be better than her, but he worried she may find him a bore. He wanted to impress her.

“Thank you,” he said, forcing a smile.

“I’m going to go help my mom with the preparations for the harvest festival in a couple weeks, so you just relax and sleep.”

Drake nodded. He was not certain what a harvest festival was, but he was certain he was done looking stupid in front of Gigi for now. With that, the goblin woman walked out of the room and locked the door behind her with a heavy click. Drake heard her footsteps grow fainter until everything was quiet and he was alone once more.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

He set the book down on the table and began to look about the room, the fireplace catching his eye. There were big pieces of charcoal, perfect for drawing. He felt excitement bubbling within him. If only he had parchment. He glanced at the book again. No, that wouldn’t do. His eyes scanned the room until he saw a small desk at the foot of the bed with a neat stack of stationary. He quickly got out of bed, grinning, and stood in front of the desk.

Next to the parchment sat a book with a little lock on it. He picked it up and inspected it. He felt the darkness within the lock and twisted it, hearing a click as it opened. Inside he saw what appeared to be Gigi’s rough scrawl. It looked to be frantically written and mostly illegible, even if he had someone there to help him understand each word. He did recognize a few words here and there, like “alone” and “love.” It suddenly occurred to him that perhaps what he was doing was wrong. Drake quickly shut the book and popped the lock back into place.

He put the book back as carefully as he could, sensing he had unknowingly committed a great sin. He quickly went to the fireplace to scoop up a fine-looking piece of charcoal. With a drawing utensil and parchment secured, he whittled away the time stooped at the desk. It had been ages since he could just draw. During the campaigns, he was allowed only an hour before bed and after drills - if he even had the time. As he toiled in the room, the sun crested, then began its heavenly descent.

He drew furiously page after page. His hands were completely covered in soot, but he didn’t care. He drew picture after picture. Sprawling landscapes, wild animals, and grand castles, but his favorite subject was Gigi. There was something about her heart-shaped face, framed with lush black hair, and those piercing brown eyes. Drake simply couldn’t get her out of his head.

He tried to render her likeness on several pages, not satisfied with the ones before, until he heard the door unlock. He looked at the pages of paper strewn before him. His cheeks flushed at his drawings of the woman that saved him. He frantically tried to pile them up as the door swung open.

“You alive in here?” Gigi opened the door to find Drake with a pile of parchments in his arms.

“Umm, hello,” Drake said, clinging to the papers as he slightly turned away.

“What in the realms are you doing?”

“Oh, this?” He raised the pile in his arms.

“Uh, yeah, obviously, you weird man.”

Drake looked at the ground. He considered trying to lie, but he suspected she would see right through it. He had been caught red-handed; no point in trying to hide them now. He bundled the sheets up as neatly as he could then handed them over.

“Uh, they are actually drawings,” he said gingerly, rubbing his hands on his trousers.

Gigi took the pile with confusion plastered on her face. She started looking over them one by one. First was the dragon, Drake had fought one once, it was a fierce but beautiful creature. He had never forgotten the way the sun hit its scales. Majestic wings spread across the page, sharp claws reaching out to the viewer. The dragon’s maw seemed to practically leap off the page. Gigi’s mouth went slack.

“Drake…these are amazing!”

She flipped the page to a ruined and smoking husk of a fortress. One the army had laid siege to. A stalemate he had been called on to break. The ashy smoke and scattered stones that resided on that sheet were all that remained of the ruined relic now. The next page was a landscape, rolling fields punctuated by throngs of trees. In the center was a village, what he thought Poppy looked like. He knew it couldn’t be accurate, but he liked to think he had done a good job of rendering the countryside of the village with just black, white, and gray.

Drake braced himself, knowing what the next likeness was. Gigi turned to the next drawing and froze. She considered the picture for a moment.

“Is this me?” She held up the drawing next to her face and smiled lie the picture. Drake nodded bashfully. “This is incredible! Where did you even get the charcoal to do this?”

He pointed to the fireplace. Gigi looked at him with amazement. She flipped the page to see herself again, then once more. She kept leafing through to see the rest of the drawings were, in fact, of her. Her green cheeks took on a scarlet hue.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. Usually people like when I draw them.” She was silent as she took in his words. He wanted to say that he just couldn’t stop thinking about her but held his tongue instead.

“Nobody has ever drawn me before.”

“Really? But you’re so beautiful.” He blurted out. Then looked surprised at what had come out of his own mouth. The red in Gigi’s cheeks brightened. She brought the papers closer to eye level to hide behind them.

“You really are an odd worm aren’t you?”

“Is that good?”

Gigi lowered the pictures to reveal a nervous smile. “Can I have these?”

Drake grinned and nodded. His art had made people happy before, and he loved that. However, he couldn’t recall it ever making someone blush before.

“Gigi?”

“Yes?”

“When I stop bleeding, can I help in the bakery?”

“You want to work in the bakery?” she asked.

“Well, I want to work with you.”

Gigi giggled and sat down on the bed. “Of course. We’ll make a baker out of you.”