Through the Forest

That night, the trio arrived at the Eternal Forest and dismounted from their horses. After a campfire was set near the road, Lilian took off her cloak and set it on the ground, then grabbed the silver bow slung on her back. As she stood up, the cool night breeze caused her white dress to flutter around her knees.

“I’ll keep watch for the night.” She murmured.

Despite her words, her eyes were half-closed and twitching as she struggled to stay awake. Having noticed that, Colette stepped up to place a firm hand on her shoulder and spoke in a stern tone.

“Lil, you need to rest. Sir Edward and I can keep watch.”

The long-eared lady glanced at Edward, who shrugged and rubbed the back of his head.

“I guess I can do that.” He said without enthusiasm.

After a brief silence, Lilian nodded slowly and sat down on her cloak with her legs crossed, then closed her eyes and let out a soft tired breath.

For a minute, Edward stared at her, or more particularly her pointed ears. He could hardly believe it…

“Elves…actually exist in this world.” He said aloud.

Lilian opened one eye to glance at him, and a small smile crossed her lips.

“Careful, ‘elf’ is a derogatory term here. We are Fae, the people of the forest. Ah, it’s been so long since I told that to an otherworlder.”

Edward blinked as he heard that. “Wait, you met Anastasia?”

She opened her other eye and nodded. “Mhm, I traveled with her and Princess Jenette on their journey. They were my best friends, and I even presided over their wedding. Hm…those were the happiest days of my life…”

Her smile became more wistful as she closed her eyes again. However, it soon disappeared, and she murmured in a more longing tone.

“Anne, Jen…it’s been so long…”

She eventually went silent as she fell asleep. With a raised eyebrow, Edward looked at Colette, who had an expression of pity as she looked at the slumbering Fae.

“She was my age when she met my great-grandparents.” She said quietly. “Now, she’s almost ninety years old. While they passed on a decade ago…”

“She’s stayed the same this whole time.” Edward finished.

With a conflicted frown, he glanced at Lilian. Even though she looked so young…

‘Her soul is that of an old woman.’ He thought with pity. ‘If humans had that kind of lifespan…what kind of hell would that be?’

__________________________________________

They entered the forest at dawn, but by midday weren’t even halfway through.

Edward looked around at the oak trees as they rushed past, and found himself in awe of how big they were. They stood tall and strong, with long branches that held healthy green leaves and provided plenty of shade from the sunlight. When he looked at the ground, he saw no trash amidst the short grass.

When Lilian glanced aside, she noticed his jaw slightly dropped, and gave a slight smile of amusement.

“It’s beautiful, correct?” She said in an airy manner.

Edward let out an embarrassed cough. “I’m just…surprised at how clean it is.”

She shifted to a frown of disapproval. “Humans throw their garbage all over the place in your world, from what I’ve heard. Hmph, such disrespect to the nature around them.”

“You don’t know the half of it…”

Colette snickered at Lilian. “By the way Lil, I once heard from my grannies how you ambushed them in these woods, and got your ass kicked.”

The fae blushed slightly and frowned. “Anne just got lucky, that’s all. I merely underestimated what a human could do.”

“And did you win any duels after that?”

“...No comment.”

Lilian faced forward and closed her eyes in a sagely manner, despite one of her eyebrows twitching from annoyance. Edward shook his head and sighed, with a new opinion of her in his mind .

‘So she’s the stubborn kind of old lady…’

___________________________________________

That night, they stopped to set up camp again.

While the girls slept, Edward kept watch over them and the grazing horses. However, his attention was on the campfire. Its bright flames crackled and danced, keeping him entranced for all the minutes he stayed up.

He recalled that burning wasteland in his dreams, and the words of the Champion from the other night.

‘Do you truly wish to go back, when nothing but suffering awaits you?’

‘...Do I want to go back?’ The dark-haired man thought sullenly. ‘When this is over…will I go back to my dreadful life?’

“Is something the matter?” Lilian spoke up.

Edward blinked as he was snapped out of his thoughts, and glanced aside to see her sit up and stretch her slender body. When she gave him a curious gaze, he shifted his own to the fire and shook his head.

“It’s nothing.” He said quietly.

She stared at him for a few seconds, then looked at the flames herself as she didn’t say anything else. And for a short time, a cold silence fell between them.

Eventually, Lilian spoke again with a soft smile.

“You know, it was here where I first met your predecessors. Seventy years ago, we Fae were much more isolated from humans, and their warfare threatened our own peace. So we attacked whoever entered our territory.”

He looked aside to her. “And that was how you met those two?”

“Mhm. It wasn’t my finest moment, but looking back…I think it was a blessing of fate. We agreed to form an alliance between the Fae and the Kingdom of Leone, and together we defeated the Draconian invaders.”

A memory flashed in Edward’s mind. He saw Lilian on her knees, the point of the World Sword in her face. Then her hand was held by Anne, who also held a blushing Jenette’s hand.

‘What if we worked together, humans and elves?’ The past Hero said with a cheery smile.

The current Hero blinked as he came back to reality, and lowered his gaze at the dancing flames once more.

“...I’ve been dreaming of them.” He admitted hesitantly. “Ser Anne seemed like a true hero.”

Lilian’s smile became more wistful as she nodded. “She was. She may have been a bit reckless, and flirted with every girl who crossed her path…but her heart was like pure gold. No wonder the Goddess chose her.”

Edward scowled with bitterness and clenched his fist, then looked at it with a shadow over his eyes.

“Then why me?” He whispered. “I am nothing like her. I’m not a hero at all…”

She looked at him in concern. “If she chose you, then surely she saw good in you. The Goddess never makes mistakes, Sir Edward.”

“...Maybe she just did.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but he laid down and brought his hood over his head to shut her out. With an exasperated sigh, she looked up at the stars and clasped her hands in a prayer.

“May he find his heroic spirit, Lady Lumina.” She murmured. “Anne, if it’s your memories he’s seeing…maybe he can learn from you.”

__________________________________________

It took the trio until the next day’s afternoon to close in towards the end of the woods.

With the opening of the tree line in sight, Colette narrowed her eyes and spoke in a low tone.

“Hopefully, everyone’s alright. Our forces together should have been able to hold against even Nocturne’s Daemons, at least for a little while.”

Suddenly, a faint rumble sounded from out of nowhere, which caused the horses to neigh in fright and skid to a stop. While Colette and Lilian managed to hold on to their steeds, Edward’s back hit the ground as he was thrown off his own.

“Gah! Dammit…” He groaned and winced. “What the hell was that?”

“I’ve heard this sound before…” Lilian said with a tone of suspicion.

They managed to coax their horses to walk out of the tree line, where they were met by a light drizzle of raindrops. They looked up at the grey clouds and moved their gazes forward. The view they saw…was enough for all their jaws to open in shock.

In the distance, a titanic storm swirled above the shadow of a small town. That rumble once again echoed as lightning flashed within the black clouds.

Edward shivered as he felt a chill in his spine, similar to when the Champion had followed him on that fateful day.

“This is not an ordinary storm...” He muttered.

Colette grit her teeth and glanced at Lilian. “Lil, is that what I think it is?”

The blonde girl clutched her bow tightly. “Maybe, but…we slayed it seventy years ago. How could it be alive again?”

Edward looked at her in confusion. “What the hell is it?”

“It’s Fafnir, Lord of the Nevermore Mountains. The dragon that brings a storm wherever it goes.”