Dorian had recovered faster than expected but it had taken us the whole night and all of our available potions to get him into a stable condition.
No one had closed an eye for even a minute when the sun rose in the far east the next morning.
"We should go..." Dorian had come back to his senses even though his complexion was bad and his body language indicating he was still in pain. I observed him for a moment feeling strangely empty.
"How can we possibly do that?" I sighed and swallowed down the urge to cry again when that fairy prince cracked a smile as if it was the most beautiful day in the year.
"I'm doing fine and if we stay here any longer, we'd only be wasting time." He pushed himself up on wobbly legs so Ilayda stepped over to support him for a moment.
"I said I'm fine. I've been through worse" he snapped at the royal guard that took a deep breath and checked their surroundings.
"I don't want to admit it, but Dorian is right. I sense a weird type of energy coming from that mountain and it's getting worse everyday. If we miss our chance it might be too late to inform the royal army." She explained and the prince nodded along.
"Then go without me..." I looked at the ground and tried staying strong. It was better like this. The more time I spent with Dorian the higher the risk of something like yesterday happening again. It didn't even seem like he tried to avoid it so I had to be the one to draw the line.
"Vael..." Dorian reached out his hand to me but I immediately stepped back.
"I'm sorry but... please don't touch me. We should keep our distance from one another for the time being." I quietly said and avoided his gaze again. So pathetic... why couldn't I say this to him confidently?
"We don't have time for this. Vael, you will come with us. It doesn't sit right with me to leave you here." Ilayda suddenly grabbed onto my arm and shoved me to start walking.
"But-"
"Just promise you'll be extremely careful with Dorian from now on since he doesn't seem to care for his own health." She whispered for only me to hear and didn't leave me a chance to further complain.
"Perfect, let's go." Dorian didn't hesitate to close up to us and held onto my hand like he did before. I pulled away in panic but he didn't let go.
"Calm down, holding hands won't hurt me" he presented himself as if to show that he was fine but it was not in the slightest convincing.
"You almost died yesterday" I forced the words to come out of my mouth. "Don't you have any instinct to survive?" I seriously worried about him at this point. He knew exactly what he was doing yesterday... he knew what it might to do to him and yet he did never hesitate.
"Let that be my worry. I've lived for hundreds of years so you can trust that I'll live for at least another hundred." He winked at me and shifted his attention to the path ahead again. So he was avoiding the question... it was suspicious and I didn't like it.
Having lived for a hundred years without the ability to love must have been cruel... so it was likely he wanted to enjoy these new feelings no matter the cost. I couldn't say for sure but it would fit his actions so far.
Throwing his life away just to be with me? Wasn't that a little too self centered?
I let go of the thought and decided to also focus on the path again. It wouldn't take us long to reach the gate of the volcano's cave so we had to be prepared for anything.
But what awaited us there was nothing like what any of us imagined.
The path got wider and wider and led through a maze of trees until a large stone wall rose up in front of us. There was a giant gate carved into the mountain but its doors were wide open and severely damaged.
"What has happened here...?" I breathed out in shock and went closer to touch the broken gate. There was no doubt that this was the smithy of the gold smiths. Its doors were made of heavy steel, engraved with a golden pattern that formed faces and figures, flowers and rivers.
"I don't know... but I can't imagine the dwarfs leaving their doors wide open for us. Something feels off" Ilayda followed me and observed the panels on the door that seemed to be telling a story.
"They would never leave this cave out of their own free will..." Dorian told us as he gazed into the pitch black darkness that awaited us behind those doors.
"Do you think we should go inside?" I wondered, still unsure of Dorian's physical condition. This whole situation left me with a sick feeling in my stomach.
Who the hell would chase out the mighty gold smiths of the Dragon King? Was it connected to the reason why all the demons gathered here?
"It could be a trap for all I know." Dorian shot a bolt of bluely glowing magic inside the cave but it was swallowed by the darkness the further it reached inside.
"Do you think the story on the door might give us a clue?" I pointed up at the golden engravings and Dorian followed my eyes to observe it.
"This story has nothing to do with the present..." he said after a short moment of silence but there was a bitter tone in his voice.
"What's it about then?" I wondered, finding it difficult to decipher where a picture ended and the other began. This artwork was connected with thousands of strokes... it was truly mesmerizing.
"It's an ill-fated love story" Someone spoke with an enthusiastic voice... but it was neither Dorian nor Ilayda.
I turned around to all sides but couldn't sense anyone's presence. An enemy? The mastermind behind all this?
"Vael, get behind me!" Dorian yelled as his eyes began to glow bluely when all of a sudden I was swept off my feet and lost my balance.
But instead of falling, someone held onto my hand and waist, swirled me around as if we were dancing and caught me like a prince would catch a lady in a romance tale.
Totally perplexed, I looked up at the person who had caught me off guard this easily and spotted a familiar pair of purple colored eyes with a mole underneath the right one. His lips curled into a playful grin and I finally felt a weight being lifted from my shoulders.
"Vael!" I was yanked out of Michael's hands with the determined force of the fairy prince and at the same time Ilayda started a coordinated attack with her great sword.
"Wait!" I freed myself from Dorian's protection and jumped between Ilayda and Michael while releasing my powers.
Raging flames emitted from my hands and clashed with her sword mid-air to stop it from mercilessly hitting down on the other.
"He is not our enemy!" I yelled and gladly it didn't take Ilayda long to understand before she put her sword back very slowly and stared at the two of us suspiciously.
"What is that supposed to mean, who is that guy?" Dorian growled and put me behind him when Michael observed us.
"H-hey, I already told you, he won't attack us" I complained and held Dorians hand to try calm him down but the magic he emitted from his body didn't die down.
"I didn't mean to scare you. It's just that I recognized Vael from before." Michael held up his hands to sign peace but his kind nature only seemed to tick off Dorian even more.
"From where? Have you been spying on us? Who are you?" Dorian threw question after question at him and I sighed deeply. Of course he'd be like that...
"No, this is the first time I'm seeing you and your other companion. It's just that Vael found me down in the forest and saved my life about a day ago... I'm in his debt." He explained slowly and tried to calm the atmosphere. The more Dorian faced him with anger the more the smile faded from Michael's face.
The fairy prince gave me a side eye and I bit down on my lip nervously.
"Watching the sunset... of course..." The disappointment in his voice sent a sting of pain through my heart when he mentioned my lie from yesterday. I felt really guilty all of a sudden.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want you to worry about me..." I mumbled but Dorian ignored it. Why had I not told him about Michael in the first place? Maybe I already knew that he'd react like this.
"You didn't answer all of my questions yet. Who are you and what are you doing here?" The fairy prince had the intimidating aura of a lion but Michael stayed just as calm as before.
"My name is Michael and I grew up here in this forest most of my life. But isn't it rude to ask for my name without introducing yourself first?" He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. Now that his injuries were not visible anymore, his clothes were clean and his hair neat, he looked like a medieval prince.
"You dare-" Ilayda was about to lecture him when Dorian held up his arm to stop her.
"Pleasure to meet you... Michael. I guess the folks up here are a little behind on knowledge about the world. I am Dorian, Prince of the Fairy Queendom." He spoke with confidence but at the same time I felt like he was looking down on Michael. The blond haired vagabond scoffed at him a little and rolled his eyes.
"I don't care if you are a prince or a beggar but if you are here to investigate the cave you better fix that attitude of yours." He glared at Dorian intensively and it felt like sparks were forming in the air when their eyes met.
"I think we should hear him out first, right?" I put my hand on Dorian's shoulder but he didn't move a muscle even when Ilayda came to support me.
"He is strange but if he has information we shouldn't let that opportunity slide... we just need to be careful" She spoke to him also trying to persuade the prince so this wouldn't end with Michael being ripped apart.
"Fine" he finally relaxed a little and held onto my hand more firmly. I noticed Michael's gaze falling on our intertwined hands but when he noticed I was watching he quickly averted his eyes.
"If you are willing to talk then I want to know everything. How you grew up here, what happened to the gold smiths, what do you know about all the demons gathering here..." Dorian stood his point and approached Michael with confident steps. He was slightly taller than the blond one but again Michael didn't seem even a little intimidated.
"I offer you generous compensation for your help" he reached out his hands which actually left a big impression on me because for Dorian to go this far, he must have swallowed up a lot of his ego.
The mood got uncomfortable though when Michael refused to take it.
"I'm not interested in compensation from someone like you and I don't owe you anything." He turned his head before his eyes landed on me again.
"If it was Vael, who asked though... I might be willing to spill a few things." He innocently said but his reaction to Dorian stayed bitter. In a way they were strangely similar.
"Alright" I pushed myself forward even though Dorian and Ilayda were hesitating and offered Michael my hand. I took a deep breath and let the tension fall from my shoulders.
"I couldn't tell you before but we are investigating the agglomerations of demons to evaluate possible dangers. Since you are quite familiar with this place I'd really appreciate if you could tell us everything you know." I smiled kindly at him and hoped he would forgive Dorian for being so harsh. I didn't know anything about Michael and I didn't trust him but as long as there were no signs of hostility I didn't see a reason for treating him badly.
"Hmm that's a lot better." The grin retured to Michael's face and his eyes lit up.
"My first impression of you wasn't wrong. You really are a modest and kind guy." He took my hand that I had reached out to him and pulled me closer.
Dorian immediately pushed forward but Ilayda held him back.
"I'm glad that I give of that impression." I answered wanting to get my hand out of his grip while we shook but he kept holding onto it. Instead he brought his head to mine and whispered something into my ear.
"But for real like I have a feeling your friend is going to kill me any second. I didn't mean to offend him, it's just that I have really bad social skills" he quickly said and did a panicked side eye to the prince on the verge of going crazy.
The situation had been so serious before, I thought Michael already hated us but to hear him saying this so casually...
"Pfffft" I couldn't help but laugh but I tried to cover my face so he wouldn't notice too much. This wasn't even supposed to be funny but somehow I couldn't stop myself from laughing and it also brought some peace to my mind.
"D-did I say something funny?" Michael unsurely laughed along while Dorian and Ilayda were just watching the situation with blank faces.
When I had calmed down we were all standing together again and for now Dorian and Michael wouldn't be at each other's neck... hopefully.
"What was so funny, Vael? You never laughed like that when I did a joke" Dorian whispered to me not even trying to hide his jealousy.
"Shh not now" I shook him off and signed to listen to Michael who said he'd tell us what he would be able to show.
"I can fill you in on the details later but for now you should know that it's been about 200 years since the gold smiths left this place. The volcano has slowly died down after the Dragon King disappeared so they lost their smithy and left the mountain one by one. I've been living in their old residence in the cave for a long time since it's the safest place around so I know my way. I'll show you and tell you more details if you want to." He pointed at the entrance of the mountain's cave and we followed his gaze. So it was true they were gone... then the final lead to find my mother was gone too... it felt like a slump to basically be at point zero with finding her.
"What about the demons. Where are they gathering and who called them?" Ilayda wanted to know and Michael's eyes darkened. So he did indeed know something...
"I've watched the phenomenon for some time now. It first happened 10 years ago and year after year more demons gathered, left again and came back with twice as much." He explained but stated it in a rather neutral way before he scoffed and shifted his gaze to the far away end of the forest.
"It's not like they have anywhere else to go though... after the Dragon King died they've been chased out of their lands, murdered, disrespected. It's cruel really. I keep my distance from them but even I have noticed as much." He sighed and it made me feel guilty for not knowing about all of this.
"Who chases them?" I asked and Michael eyed me up and down for a moment before looking at Dorian and Ilayda.
"You're traveling with two of them" he coldly said and when I followed his gaze I saw Dorian avoiding my eyes for a moment. Of course it was the fairy folk... they didn't hide how much they hated the demons.
"We're protecting ourselves and the humans from them... if they didn't cause problems there wouldn't be a need to fight." Dorian stared at Michael with a dangerous spark in his eyes.
Of course there were many creatures that had committed horrible things out there but I knew that not every demonic creature was like this. Some of them like the Kelpies usually kept to themselves as long as their territory was not invaded. Yet, it was definitely necessary to protect the world from the demons. It would mean a disaster otherwise.
"Yeah sure, keep telling yourself that..." Michael responded and cleaned some dirt off his fingernail.
"You have no idea-"
"Right and that's why I don't want to get involved." The blond haired boy cut Dorian off mid sentence but it seemed fine for now even though I could still feel the tension between them.
"So you just observed what is going on but you are not involved?" I wondered and Michael nodded.
"Something is calling for all these demons down there..." he pointed into the black abyss of the volcanos cave.
"I didn't go down there because I didn't think much about it... but if a war is around the corner I might have to leave..." he mumbled hinting a little sadness. Did this place mean something to him? I wondered how he grew up here.
"So there is a giant army of demons hidden under the earth that could strike anytime?" The fairy prince wondered, now also staring at the caves entrance with narrowed eyes.
Michael tilted his head as if to say 'do I have to repeat myself'
"Ilayda, go to the closest exit of the forest and immediately contact general Hawk. Tell her about what we heard and that she needs to have the army of the royal knights ready to counter an attack once the demons emerge." Dorian turned around to his knight who bowed and asked "Your Highness, how can we be certain that he is telling the truth?"
"I can feel the darkened energy from that mountain... it doesn't matter if what he says is accurate as long as we are prepared for a possible attack." Dorian sternly answered and his knight nodded obediently.
"Wait! Shouldn't we try to negotiate first? I thought that was what we came here for?" I stepped up to them but Michael put his hand on my shoulder to hold me back.
"Negotiation doesn't work between fairys and demons. There is no reason for the demonic creatures to show mercy with the them." He said in a bitter tone before the prince noticed and pulled me away from him.
"Don't touch what doesn't belong to you... even though I share your opinion on this one." He gave Ilayda a sign and I watched her already getting prepared to leave. Would she travel alone the whole way back? Wouldn't that take days? Even if she flew the whole way...
"I don't belong to anyone" I freed myself from the fairy prince and took a deep breath to calm myself.
"Michael" I turned around to said boy who gave me a curious look.
"Please tell us what happened to the gold smiths and show us the way underground..." I urged him before Dorian answered first.
"We'll stay here until back-up arrives to further investigate. However, you will not go down there, Vael. It's too dangerous."
He ordered and I sighed internally. I was half demon myself and on top of that I was the son of the Dragon King. I needed to go down there to find out who the hell used my title to call all those demons here. On top of that... it might lead me to my mother.
"So it's only gonna be us three for a few days? I have mixed feelings about this." Michael held his head but he had already offered to help us so he couldn't take it back. Meanwhile, Ilayda had said a short good bye and was already gone in the green maze of the forest.
"So do I..." Dorian glared down at him when he walked right next to me.
"Well, if you are actually interested in knowing the full story I'll have to start at the very beginning" Michael stretched his back and then pointed at the giant destroyed doors of the entrance. I was actually quite relieved by how cooperative he was... even though he obviously held a grudge, it didn't seem like he wanted to be involved in all this.
"The story of the Fairy Queen and the Dragon King... the very reason why demons and fairys have never found peace after the war."
"I already know that story..." Dorian commented and I wondered why he hadn't told me before.
"The stuff they preach at the palace is probably just half of the truth... let me tell you the real story." Michael turned around to point at the very first frame that was engraved into the gate.
It showed a perfectly balanced scale. On one side of it, a giant dragon and on the other, a Pegasus, the animal representing the Dragon King and the Fairy Queen.
"It all began long before the first human was born." Michael started and signed us to follow him into the cave. I glanced at Dorian for a short moment and he must have interpreted it as fear because he was by my side immediately and walked so close that our shoulders were touching.
With a sigh I followed Michael into the cave and waited for him to continue despite Dorian's occasional remarks about how boring this was and that he already knew that story.
Where would he lead us?
Am currently in Japan and I can totally recommend it. It's the best country for vacation that I've ever been.