When we arrived at the clinic, Doug’s small room was already full of visitors. Granny Blossom, Arthur, Jones, and Jones’ wife and nurse, Nancy, were already gathered there when we joined the crush, making seven of us in total packed in around the bed. Doug was conscious, and Avani squeezed in and knelt next to his bed. “Hey, are you okay, Doug?” Avani asked as she looked at him, her eyes concerned.
“Yeah… I guess,” he replied, not meeting her gaze. “I’m so sorry, though. It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t reported in with them… if I hadn’t just blindly believed their lies…. I’ve caused everyone so much trouble—especially you and Venti.”
She took his hand in hers, saying, “Listen, Doug. It’s okay. It isn’t your fault. They manipulated you. If you’re guilty of anything, it’s just of being too trusting—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. So just get better, okay? You’re our friend, and we’d all be devastated if anything happened to you.”
“Avani… thanks.” he replied, looking at her for a moment before looking away again, tears in his eyes. Avani stood up, still holding his hand in hers as she said,
“Doug… is there anything you can tell me that might help me to find them?”
Doug quickly looked back at her, mouth agape. Arthur exclaimed in surprise, and Granny gasped. “You can’t mean… a-are you seriously…?” Doug stuttered.
“Yes,” she replied, quietly but firmly. “I’m going to track them down. And I’m going to get those rune spheres back.”
“But hold on, Avani, you don’t seem to realize how risky that will be! These people are dangerous—completely ruthless!” Doug protested.
“Yes,” Arthur agreed, “It certainly will be risky. Who knows what they are plotting?”
“Exactly!” Doug said, struggling to sit up. “You can’t just take off like that!”
“I have to,” she replied. “For the very reasons you gave to deter me, I must go. We need to get those stones back. Besides,” she added with a smile, though I saw a faint glitter of tears in her eyes, “I made a promise to a dear friend. So please, Doug, tell me anything you can that will help.”
“Just a minute, Avani,” Arthur interrupted before Doug could reply. “You aren’t going. I am.”
Avani whirled around to face him, shocked and disconcerted. “What?” she exclaimed, searching his face for any sign of jest.
“Remember, Avani, I am a Prince of the realm. Surely you haven’t forgotten that?” he said with no trace of humor in his vermillion eyes.
“No, of course not, but….” Avani replied, apparently at a loss for words.
“This is my duty as Prince of Selphia. I appreciate your help in taking on the day-to-day responsibilities as the Acting Princess, Avani, but there are limits as to what I will and will not ask you to do in my stead. And we have reached one such limit.”
Collecting herself, Avani stepped up to Arthur, and genuflecting before him, she looked up earnestly into his face and said, “Arthur, my Lord and Prince, I implore you, allow me to do this. The Sechs Empire has invaded our kingdom. Our town may be in grave danger. Someone must inform the king. Only you can do this, as a Prince of Norad. I do not have that authority. Someone must arrange for the defense of our city. Again, you are the one who can do this—not me. I bear the title of Acting Princess only at your indulgence; I have no claim to any of the authority of royal blood. Forte, as the Dragon Knight, is needed here to take charge of defense. I am strong—the best fighter in town; you know this is true. I can do nothing to aid Selphia and Venti but fight. So I ask you—no, I beg of you, as your subject and as your friend, let me fight. This is what I can do—what I must do.”
Arthur, startled by her impassioned petition, reached down to her and raised her up by her hand, saying with a small sigh, “These things are all true, but….”
“Please, Arthur. You’re the only one who can take care of the town in this time of need. And you know you can trust me to keep my word,” she said, a fiercely determined glint in her eyes.
“I see that you intend to go no matter what I say,” he said, after giving her an appraising look, “so I may as well give you my blessing. All right, Avani. I ask you to accept this quest on my behalf. But in return, you must give me your word that you will come home safely, whether you succeed in your mission or fail.”
“I swear I will return,” she replied. “It will take me a little time to prepare; I will inform you as soon as my preparations are completed.”
She turned back to Doug, and asked again, “Is there anything you can tell me that might help me to find them?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Doug replied, “South of the ruins of the old Water Shrine is a bridge heading west to Sercerezo Hill, the spring lands. The Sechson army established a secret research facility of some sort there. That’s all I know—I don’t know exactly where. But… I would expect if they are doing research there, that it’s very dangerous. Who knows what they might be hiding? So please… Avani… be careful….” With that, he sank back into his pillows, utterly drained, and immediately fell into a deep sleep. Arthur, Avani, Dylas, and I all left as quietly as we could.
Once outside, Avani said, “Arthur, I’ll talk to you tomorrow about our plans. For now, I think we all need some sleep.” Arthur agreed and departed for his rooms.
She turned and headed back to the castle and her rooms, so lost in thought that she apparently didn’t even notice us behind her until she turned to close the door behind her. She started, then gave a half smile as she apologized for her inattentiveness. “You two should get some sleep. It looks like things are serious, and you’ll need to be prepared for whatever may happen.” I nodded agreement and, bidding the two of them good night, departed for my room, leaving them alone. However, several minutes later, as I walked along the street to the inn, Dylas bolted past me towards the restaurant where he shared living quarters with Porcoline and Arthur, looking preoccupied and frustrated.
The next morning as I sat at my desk poring over a scroll that I’d been commissioned to translate, Dylas burst into my room. I looked up in surprise; although he and I had established a friendly working relationship over the past several days, he had never called on me for any reason, social or otherwise. Without preamble, he said, “It’s like this. Last night, I told her I want to come with her when she goes searching for the rune stones. I don’t want her to go alone, facing who-knows-what without anyone to back her up. She did that when she went to rescue you… and I thought I’d lost her forever. I don’t want anything like that to happen again. But she refused.
It’s the same old argument that we always have, like that time you caught us fighting over her going out to train alone at night. We’re both stubborn, so when we don’t see eye-to-eye… well, I guess it turns into a battle of wills then, and we lose sight of what we were fighting over in the first place. I wish I could find a better way to persuade her, but I’m not very good with words, and all I seem to be able to do is fight.”
He paced around my room for a few moments, then he turned back to me, saying, “But I don’t intend to give in this time. This is different—we’re not talking chipsqueaks and orcs here. In fact, we don’t even know what we’re talking. So I intend to train and get as strong as I can on my own while she makes her preparations, and then I’m going with her, whether she likes it or not.”
I looked at him appraisingly, then said, “I see. Your lover must mean quite a lot to you if you are willing to risk both your life and your relationship with her for her sake.”
He blushed and looked away, stammering, “Ahh, well… s-she does, b-but not only because we’re lovers! I mean… she was my first real friend here, you know? For that matter, my first real friend ever, other than Venti. I know she rescued me because she’d been asked to deal with my Guardian form and that it wasn’t anything to do with me personally. And maybe I kind of resented her for rescuing me at first—I kept thinking that I hadn’t asked to be saved. But… but she kept coming to see me, asking after me, wanting to get to know me no matter how much of a jerk I was to her. She never gave up. No matter how many times I walked away, she’d always find me again. And… before I knew it, I found myself looking forward to seeing her and even missing her if something kept her away. I… I found myself wanting to do better, to be better—partly for myself, but mostly because I wanted to see her smile of approval. And so before I knew what had happened, we were friends. And for me, that’s the most important thing. I mean, the… the other’s great, but I know I don’t really have anything to offer her in the long run. She’ll probably find someone perfect for her someday, and it’ll be over between us then. And I know it sounds weird, but I… I think I’m okay with that. I think I’ll be happy that she’s happy, and I’ll be grateful for the time we had together. Even if it doesn’t last, I’m glad to have been accepted for myself, just as I am, for once. Even though I was really self-conscious about my changed appearance, especially the… uh… horsier aspects, she never seemed put off by my appearance. Not even after… when we… uhh… well, you know. So I’ll always be glad she came into my life, whether she stays with me or leaves.”
I was surprised by his lengthy speech, given that he was normally so reticent. But I appreciated his candor, and said, “If you ask me, that sounds a lot like love. But of course, you didn’t ask me.”
He shot me a nervous glance, saying, “Hey, you won’t tell anyone what I said, will you? Especially not Avani! I… I don’t know why I told you all that. That’s… not really like me.”
I just smiled and said, “Well, remember that I was the Dragon Priest in my era. I’m accustomed to people confiding in me. So… what is it you want from me, regarding your difficulties with your lover?”
“Oh, yeah. Well, aside from me, you’re probably the best choice to accompany her. So I wanted to know—do you want to join me? I mean, train with me and then follow her when she goes, whether she wants you to or not? I may not be as good a trainer as she is, but still….”
I leaned back in my chair, and looking him in the face, said “So… you’re asking me if I want to risk my newly-regained life and limbs chasing after a more than capable warrior whom I hardly know to offer whatever small assistance I might be able to provide and that she almost certainly doesn’t want?”
“Oh… well, when you put it like that…. Just… never mind. I don’t know why I bothered,” Dylas said, looking angry and disappointed as he turned to leave.
“Sounds fun,” I added with a grin, and he spun back around, caught off guard by my unexpected concurrence. “When do we begin?”