Guin’s face flushed as she stared at the beautiful humanoid form of the Dragon King.
“So,” he said candidly. “Miss Reili has sent you to me for one of my scales, isn’t that right?”
“Yes, my lord,” Guin said with a great deal of uncertainty as she lowered her eyes.
The Dragon King gave her a gentle smile. “You should be proud of the way you have faced me this day,” he told her. “You are stronger than you think, human child.”
Feeling foolish for several reasons, Guin looked at her feet until a shining blue scale, about the size of her hand, came into view. “This...” she looked back up.
“It’s only a scale,” he said. “They grow back.”
“But...”
Its eyes were soft as it told her, “Your words were not wrong—but nor are mine. There are many sentient spirits like myself in this world; Amikavi and I are even among the lesser of those. With each passing day, fewer and fewer of us have the patience for the ambitions of the Che. No matter what path you take in the future, your life will be full of corruption—some more obvious than others—and you may very well have to face your foes alone. Your actions have saved the forest and your friends today, but I hope you do not think this is the end. This,” he said, waving the scale in front of her. “Is nothing but a thread in a tapestry. The problem will still be there tomorrow.”
Hesitant, Guin took the scale from his hand. “I will do my best to serve the spirits now and in the future,” she swore.
As her quest updated, the Dragon King patted her on the head. “Good girl,” he said. “Wise will go back with you to where Miss Reili awaits. You should have everything you need now to cleanse the forest.”
“Thank you,” Guin said, placing the scale into her inventory.
“We shall meet again,” he said, and with a great whoosh! He and the surrounding area became nothing but mist.
As the mist cleared, she felt cheated. They were in the forest again. Had it all been nothing but an illusion?
“Guin!” Jormund’s voice called.
“I’m here!” she called and ran over to where they were standing.
“Uhh,” went poor Dawl, who had probably been unable to see the Dragon King in the first place, “What just happened?”
Jormund just shook his head as, from his shoulder, Wise said, “We should make our way back to Lady Reili.”
“Let’s go!” Guin said and took off along with Wise.
“Guin!” Guin’s heart jumped when she heard Tik-Tak’s voice call her name when they arrived. He came, bounding out from Reili’s cave to greet them, fluffy white tail high in the air. “Guin, Guin!” he cried, bouncing around her feet. Guin reached down and caught him, picking him up to rub his soft, feathery fur across her face. Nuzzling her back, Tik-Tak asked, “Did you find the things Momma was looking for?”
“I did!” Guin told him. “Let’s go bring them to her!”
“Yeah!” Tik-Tak exclaimed, climbing up onto Guin’s head.
“We will stay back here and set up the bonfire,” Jormund told her. Leave the wood you’re carrying, and we will find a place for it nearby.” Guin took the stacks of wood out from her bag and left them in a pile for the other two to figure out. As Guin and Tik-Tak moved to go in, however, Reili gracefully appeared in the entryway.
“Greetings, Candidate. I assume that your meeting with the Dragon King went well?”
“Well enough,” Guin said. “I have brought the things you asked for.”
From the top of her head, Tik-Tak gasped, “Wow! Did you meet the Dragon King? I wanna meet the Dragon King!”
Reili chuckled while Guin just looked away unhappily. Tik-Tak didn’t have a ‘one day’ anymore, but no one seemed to want to say it. Instead, she said, “Dawl and Jormund are making a fire....”
“The bodies in the cave should be placed within the logs,” Reili said, looking at Jormund.
“I will start pulling them out,” Jormund said, giving Dawl some instruction. Guin went in with him, and bit by bit, they moved all of the rotting bodies out from the cave and into the pit that Dawl had made. Eventually, Dawl also joined them, and things moved quite quickly. Guin was very thankful that Liorax had kept her sense dulled; she wanted to gag even through his buff.
Once all of the corpses had been moved to the fire—including Reili's and Tik-Tak’s—everyone gathered around the stack of wood and bodies.
“It’s done,” Dawl said, lowering his head. “I hope this works.”
“This one,” Reili said, looking at the Master Hunter. “This one is a fool.”
Jormund chuckled and patted Dawl on the shoulder. “He’s not so bad.”
“I never said he was bad,” Reili snorted. “Good or bad, a fool is a fool.”
Jormund, Guin, and Tik-Tak laughed together as Dawl stood, confused.
Reili stood in front of the pyre a moment, then turned to look at Guin. “It is time,” she said, her voice softer now than it had ever been. “Light us aflame, girl. Set our souls free.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. Guin took out a flint and tinder that Dawl had given her and set the kindling off. As the fire took to wood and flowers, the air filled with the scent of a soft, sweet combination of citrus and lavender.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
And then the sky filled with spirits.
One after another, the spirits of the burning bodies were set free, flying up into the sky. Pure white as they danced with one another, with the stars in the sky, with the leaves and branches, with the grass and the ground. They raced about the forest, glowing so brightly in their purity that they lit up the forest. Other animals and spirits began to appear and joined the dances of those who had been trapped so long that they had lost themselves. Everything those spirits touched, Guin saw, purified the corruption.
Tik-Tak watched on with wonder until Reili nuzzled him. Looking up at her, he went, “...are we going now, Momma? Do I need to say goodbye to Guin?”
With a smile, Reili nodded. “It is only for a short time,” she told her cub. “After all, once our spirits are free, we shall continue on the great cycle of rebirth—and even if we do not remember this life, we shall meet again!”
“Momma...” Tik-Tak looked at his mother with earnest eyes. “Will I be able to protect the forest like Papa? Will I be able to meet Guin again?’
“I do not know such things,” Reili said, shaking her head. “But perhaps if you wish it in your heart hard enough, the gods shall hear your wishes. Now. Say your goodbyes.”
As Tik-Tak hopped over, Guin knelt. Their farewell was wordless, for Guin’s throat had contracted in her sorrow, but she gathered his little spirit up in her arms and hugged him tightly. She kissed his head, and he licked her nose.
“That’s enough, now,” Reili called. “Time is growing short. I thank you, child, for your aid. You have served the forest well, and if there comes a time when the forest can serve you, know that it shall do all it can. Rewards have been arranged for you—all of you—between the Dragon King and myself. So long as you uphold the laws of the forest, let them serve you well.” The fox spirit, standing tall and proud, faced the fire. Tik-Tak gave Guin one last nuzzle before he joined his mother’s side.
As they started to walk into the flame, Guin smiled, hearing Tik-Tak continue to ask her questions about what would happen in the future. Reili was a good mother, Guin thought as she internally praised the fox spirit for her patience.
Their white spirit forms entered the fire and melded with the flames. In a burst, they, like the other spirits, emerged, brilliantly white and full of energy—and they joined in their celebration of freedom. They danced, and they danced. Tik-Tak’s little spirit came and danced around Guin and on her head while Reili’s went about cleansing the land. The other spirits seemed to gather around her; hers was a much brighter, more pure light.
Dawl walked up beside Guin and asked, “Is it done?”
“I think so,” Guin told him.
“The fox spirit is a peace then?”
Tik-Tak floated over to nuzzle his mother as the spirits stopped and gathered above the flames. “Both of them, it seems,” Guin whispered.
“Both?”
Simply smiling, she turned her attention back to the fire.
“Go on,” Guin said to the spirits softly. “Be free.”
Reili’s spirit nodded and bowed, and with that, they all disappeared into the night.
Everyone stood, silently watching the fire. The alarm she had set to signal that it was time for her to log off and go to bed started to go off, but she ignored it. She figured game time wouldn’t allow the fire to go on longer than it needed to. She was happy she had been given time to send them both away.
Guin sat on the ground and hugged her knees as silent tears slipped down her face. The fire sounded like home and smelled of spring. It was peaceful, calm, and quiet, and she was allowed to reflect.
He’s really gone now, she thought to herself. All that was left was the memories of the time they had spent together. The feel of his fur. His childish nature. The way he would always be so excited to see her. The look on his face when she would leave him behind...
Like that, an hour came and went, and the fire died away into embers.
Dawl, who seemed to have wandered off when Guin wasn’t paying attention, placed a couple of buckets of water by the edge of the ashes and kneeled next to Guin.
Putting a hand on her shoulder, he said, “You all right, girl?”
The tears on her face had long since dried, but she could still feel the streaks on her face. She nodded as she rubbed her eyes, wondering if the game made her look as ugly as she did when she cried in the real world. “They’re really gone,” she said.
“Gone?” pondered Jormund. “Not really. Their spirits have joined the Veil. They aren’t ‘gone’—they have simply taken another form.”
Guin laughed a little as she stood. She knew Jormund’s words were meant to make her feel better, but they didn’t, not really. It’s not the same.
Walking over to the ashes, she could feel that the heat still lingered; she held her hand over it, feeling the heat emanating from the remains. Bones. Bones of all sorts were sticking up and out, in addition to bits of log that had survived. But as her eyes lingered on the greys and blacks of the ashes, they fell upon something else.
Stepping around carefully, she made out what looked to be a red and white fur. Taking out her spear, she used the blunt end and started poking at it. Somewhat satisfied that it didn’t seem alive, she managed to hook it on the spear enough to lift it out.
It wasn’t just skin. It was an equipable cloak. Guin’s eyes started to tear up again as she lifted it. The main parts of the cloak were made of a single red and white fur, with the head of a fox as a hood. Around its shoulders was attached a second skin, that of a smaller, more fluffy fox, with its head resting on one shoulder and its tail on the other—a face that bore quite a resemblance to the little fox she had loved so dearly. Hugging the cloak to her chest, she pulled up the tooltip.
<<[ Fox Fur Cloak (Unidentified)]>>
<< Bound - Armor - Robe - Rank -- >>
<< Armor +2 >>
<< It appears to be a cloak made of fox fur. It looks ragged around the edges, but the fur is otherwise pristine.>>
<< Required Level: -- - Rarity: -- - Class Requirements: -- >>
Well, it looks perfect to me, Guin thought as she stared at the cloak fondly, even if she felt that it was just as morbid as the tokens that the Fools of the Forest had lent to her. Dawl and Jormund looked at her with curiosity but went about dousing the fire.
“What do we do now?” Jormund asked when they finished. Wise flew down onto his shoulder and cooed softly.
“You have two other quests that Lady Reili assigned to you,” Wise reminded them. Guin had almost forgotten.
“We need to find the trappers still,” Dawl said in a grim voice. “You should both head home now. I will take responsibility for them.”
“The mission was given to all of us—” Jormund started, but Dawl shook his head.
“No,” he looked at the fire. “This is my fault, and yet I have been able to do anything but follow you and Guin around because I can’t see into your world. The trappers are my world. Let me prove myself to the spirits of the forest, whom I have so offended with my ignorance and stupidity.”
While Jormund just stood, shifting uncomfortable, Guin smiled. “Then, we can leave it to you?” Dawl nodded. “If you need any help,” she said. “I am sure that Jormund and I will do anything in our power to do so. All you need to do is ask.”
Jormund and Dawl looked at one another and exchanged a nod. These two, Guin thought, amused.
“Finish the quests as you see fit,” Wise told them, her voice warm. “When you are finished, the Dragon King will be waiting for you. As will I.”
“Thank you, Wise,” Guin said, and with that, Wise flew off into the night.
It was quickly decided that the men would walk her home. She could have gotten home faster in fox form, but she rather preferred spending her time in thought, clutching the cloak her friends had left her.