“Good,” Marin stated. “Not that I haven’t enjoyed traveling with you all, but I can’t go much longer without a big meal and a soft bed.” Marten and Hana laughed, and I scratched my stomach in silent agreement.
“Oh, I can’t wait!” Lia hummed, nestling her head into my shoulder. The feeling of anticipation buzzed like static electricity throughout the camp, but our group slowly dispersed one by one in search of sleep until Lia and I were the only ones remaining at the fireside. “I guess I should go to bed too,” she said sleepily, making no move to follow through on the thought.
“Mhmm,” I agreed, nuzzling the top of her head. “The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner you get to see your Aunt Ellie.”
She reached up over her head and grabbed the edge of my cloak, nearly vanishing inside against my chest as she pulled it around her shoulders. “She’s not actually my aunt, that’s just what my parents call her. I think they’ve been friends since before I was born.”
“I see,” I murmured, looking down at her with a touch of amusement. “You’re planning on sleeping out here tonight, aren’t you?”
“I’m too comfy to move.”
“That’s okay. I appreciate the company.” I took a few deep breaths and prepared to start my watch for the evening. “Goodnight, Lia.”
She gave my hand a squeeze and let out a long, satisfied sigh. “Goodnight.”
I closed my eyes, and the world sprang to life in vivid neon color around me. As my mana rushed out in all directions I was surprised that, even after two days of travel, all I could see was the endless forest of emberwood trees. Marin had explained that the forest covered over a quarter of Lybesa, and despite the massive lumber industry, it never seemed to shrink. According to her, emberwood was highly sought after for all manner of construction products due to both its high strength-to-weight ratio and its remarkably efficient insulative properties. I had seen evidence of logging camps, and small sections of forest that had been recently cut and replanted, but they hardly seemed impactful against the hundreds of miles of dense tree cover.
“Lux?” Lia’s voice asked, small and far away.
I cracked open one eye and peered down at her. “Yes?”
“Are you happy?”
“Of course I’m…” I started, then paused. After fighting off the reflexive instinct to blindly reassure her, I took a moment to truly consider the question before responding. I am happy...when was the last time I could say that? “For the first time since I lived in Alderea, I feel like I have my feet on solid ground. I can take a breath without worrying if it’ll be my last one. I have people around me that I care about, and who care about me, too. I want to see tomorrow again.” I smiled as I reflected on the life I had fought so hard to find. “I’m happy, Lia. For the first time in a long time, I’m really happy.”
“That’s good,” she answered, patting me lightly on the chest. I waited for her to follow up on the question, but it quickly became apparent that she had fallen back asleep with her lips curled in the faint remnants of a smile. I couldn’t help but laugh and hold her a bit tighter against me. Slipping back into my meditative trance, I pushed my attention out from my body to observe the surrounding landscape all at once. There was an immense rush through my mind as a million individual dots of life shifted into focus at once, and I flitted from light to light as they moved.
My attention settled on a skulk of what looked to be giant foxes, each nearly the size of a wolf. They crept through the tall grasses between the trees, carefully encircling a pair of yearlings. Without any apparent signal, they all pounced at once, sailing up through the air from their hiding spots and catching the deer unaware. The twin green lights of the yearlings quickly faded as the skulk finished their synchronous kills and settled in to feast. A quick flash of energy a few miles to the south drew my focus, and the majestic form of an owl appeared all at once as its talons sunk into the back of a mouse, both of which quickly disappeared from sight a moment later.
The teeming life within the forest provided me with an endless array of stories to watch, and I felt the warmth of the rising sun on my face before I had a chance to consider how much time had passed. Lia shifted for the first time as the light roused her, stretching her arms out from beneath the tightly bundled cloak. A small squeak escaped her lips as her eyes opened, and she looked side to side as her brain gradually woke up and began to process the information. “Mmmph,” she grunted eventually, burying her face behind my cloak.
“Good morning to you too,” I chuckled, opening my eyes. “You know, hiding from the sun won’t make it go away.”
A weak punch glanced off of my armor as she grunted again. “You don’t know that.”
I stood and pulled away the cloak with a quick flourish. Lia covered her eyes with her arm and yelped as she toppled backwards off of the rock, landing in the grass with a dull thud. Before I had a chance to laugh, a flurry of legs and feet flew out at my shins, and I felt the edge of her boot scrape my greaves as I dodged backwards. She landed her spin in a crouch and lunged forward while I was off balance, hooking her foot behind my heel as she pressed against my opposite shoulder. I knew I had already lost before I started to fall, so I grabbed her under the shoulders and pulled her along with me.
We collapsed in a heap beside the fire pit, each of
