Morning came, and Esther woke up early, stretching like a kitten. She peered around, noting that Royal was still asleep. Quietly, she prepared a small breakfast for herself, and left some mushrooms for Royal to eat when he finally woke up. Deeming her work adequate, she went outside to practice. But the sun was rising, and it was beautiful. Red and orange filling the clouded sky. Esther sat and watched it for a while instead.
Meanwhile, Royal had woken up. He smelled the mushrooms, and ate fervently, feeling much better. To be honest, Royal only stayed down all day because Eldrie scared him, not because he was sore. But today, he was free to do as he wished. He went outside to see Esther staring at the sky, tears in her eyes.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked, alarmed. Esther started for a moment turning to face him.
"It's so beautiful..." Esther said dreamily. "It's the first time I've gotten to see the sun rise..."
"Yeah, sunrises are amazing. All the colors make everything look great." Royal nodded. "Everyone should get to watch a sunrise, at least once."
Esther smiled. "That would be nice..."
They sat in silence for a bit, before being suddenly interupted.
"If you're done spacing out at the sky, we have business to finish."
It was Eldrie, deadpanning as always. She had slipped up behind the pair again, and was hovering impatiently. "Come on now, let's not waste time." She flew off deftly.
Esther looked saddened for a moment. Royal put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. We help Eldrie today, and then we get to see all the sunrises we want. I promise."
Esther nodded, and lit a Fireball. "Ok, I'm ready. Please be careful this time..."
Royal gave her a thumbs up. "Of course."
It didn't take them long to return to the pond. There was no new enemies around it, save for some tiny gremlin creatures that seemed harmless. Eldrie was directly above the lake, hovering and watching all movement below her.
As soon as Royal and Esther arrived, she made her move, tangling as many of the gremlins as she could with sharp brambles. This got the two monsters' attention, and they looked for the attackers. Instead, their assailants got there first. Royal bashed the closest target with his sheild to knock it off balance. The irritated monster turned to face him and punch him. He didn't block, but the punch was weak, and glanced off. Esther didn't waste time, using her Focused Light Beam while the monster had its back to her. This one seemed feeble, and the beam punched through rapidly, defeating the monster.
"That feels too easy..." Royal muttered.
"That's because the last one you fought was built to endure harm, rather than deal it. But watch yourself." Eldrie scolded, like Royal was supposed to know this.
Royal, biting back a retort, was met with a blast of magic that pushed him back. Eldrie healed him swiftly. "Now, let's go over this again. Stop dying." She said, irate.
Royal tuned her out, trying to get the last target into a position for Esther to fire. But Esther had bigger problems at the moment. The gremlins were angry, and some were pursuing her. Frantically, she cast spells at them,but there were over a dozen, spread out so that her Fireball couldn't hit them all.
She called for help in her panic. Assistance came from Eldrie and Royal at the same time. Several gremlins found themselves shared again, and Royal slashed at others. While hardy, the gremlins were small, and Royal was easily able to send them reeling, so that Esther could finish them off one by one. But then, Royal noticed how infrequent Esther's attacks were becoming. She was tired.
"Eldrie, Esther needs to rest! What do we do?" Royal asked.
"On the defensive then. Don't die." Eldrie grunted.
Royal hunkered down behind his sheild. As the only thing attacking was the last monster, he was able to sit and take it. The attacks bounced off practically. It seemed the monster was tiring too. Upon further inspection, Royal noticed that it was actually asleep, and Eldrie's hands were glowing.
"Take your break. Feed the Mage a Mana Berry." Eldrie said.
"Manafruit?" Royal asked, confused by this name discrepancy.
"Yeah sure, call it that. Just give her some. Get on with it." Eldrie replied sourly.
Esther was already on it, eating a Manafruit that she got from somewhere in her outfit. Royal wasn't looking, he had no clue. Soon, Esther began to feel her energy mount again. She did a fist pump. "I'm ready now!"
Royal nodded, and ran back to the sleeping monster. He jabbed and stabbed at it until it woke and faced him, allowing Esther to take the shot. It was another easy kill.
"Why was that so hard last time?" Royal questioned aloud.
"Because last time, since you didn't hear me, you picked the toughest one to fight first. Pay attention to your foes, mages have much less stamina and endurance." Eldrie said dryly. "I did not anticipate the arrival of those lesser spawn. It seems the denizens of the Void wish to destroy all." She added, solemnly.
"So what does that mean for you?" Royal asked.
"It means I take as much nectar with me as I can, and we handle this problem together." Eldrie replied, matter-of-factly.
Royal made a note of that. Then what Eldrie had said really sunk in. "Wait... You mean you're tagging along with us?"
"Yes." Eldrie said. "Is that an issue?"
"No!" Royal answered quickly. "Just, please stop watching us sleep. It's creepy..." He said softly.
Esther made a confused face. She didn't know Eldrie did that... It made her feel nervous. Nonetheless, she smiled shakily. "You can come with. I hope we can be friends..." She said meekly.
Eldrie nonchalantly turned and flew past them. "Friends is a strong term." She said gruffly.
"We should probably follow her. That's where our camp is anyways." Royal shrugged, looking at Esther.
"Ok, come on!" Esther grabbed Royal's wrist and began prancing home.
Royal let her pull him along. This was typically of her. And he found it endearing to see her happy and energetic.
They met Eldrie back at the tent. She was cooking something.
"Took you long enough. I suggest you eat, and I mean properly." She said. "I left food inside."
"Then what are you cooking now?" Royal couldn't help but ask.
"Mana potions, so that when the Mage imminently runs out of her Mana Berries, she's not going to up and die on us." Eldrie grunted.
Instead of trying to converse with the clearly jaded sprite, Royal went into the tent with Esther on his heels. They found something that looked like a burrito, but a lot different from what Royal knew. Esther looked amazed.
"Ooh! It looks yummy!" She grabbed one and gleefully dug in. It was vegan, but nonetheless, Esther are happily. Royal on the other hand, was underwhelmed. Until he bit into something gamey and meaty.
"How did she... Nevermind." Royal decided that pondering what Eldrie did with her life was a terrible idea.
Having just eaten lunch, Royal couldn't help but wonder what to do. He didn't have a practice sword on hand, so no sparring with Esther. Talking to Eldrie was an immensely hard feat... He realized neither girl was nearby. He ran out of the tent and looked around. And he found Esther sitting on the ground, having a conversation with Eldrie, who wasn't hovering for once.
"What's it like, having wings?" Esther asked.
Eldrie fluttered her wings a little bit. "It's hard to stay on the ground..." She said uncomfortably. "They seek to stay in the sky."
Esther nodded. "I wish I had wings sometimes. What about you? What do you wish for?"
Eldrie seemed taken aback. "I have no wishes. I never have. All I need at I arms reach."
"But if we're traveling, that will change." Esther reminded her.
Eldrie sighed. "I do what I must to preserve what matters to me."
"Come on, you're so serious! Royal used to tell to me smile more all the time. You can't just be grumpy all day!" Esther playfully pushed Eldrie's shoulder. She did not account for size difference, and Eldrie tipped over.
Instead of moaning and groaning, Eldrie just laid there, contemplating life. "Smiling is done to show happiness. But you cannot find happiness, you must make it. I never had the time to make my own happiness. It is the burden of being a keeper of the forest." She said after a long pause.
Esther gave her a sympathetic look. "It's really cool that you did that for so long. You're really strong, you know?"
Eldrie sighed. "My strength is in healing. I am truly weak. Don't flatter me." She said, disdainful.
Royal decided to stop evedropping, and went inside again. But Eldrie and Esther kept talking.
"It takes a lot of skill to heal. I can't learn how to." Esther said.
"That's because you're a Void Elf. Certain schools of magic will elude you. Did nobody teach you this?" Eldrie asked, shocked.
Esther shook her head. "I always counted on others. I had no teacher."
"I suppose in that way, we are alike." Eldrie said. "The strongest magics come from being taught by one's self. It becomes all the more personal."
Esther looked thoughtful. Finally, she spoke again.
"I think we should rest soon. Where will you go?" She asked.
Eldrie pointed towards a nearby tree. It was dead for sure, but she liked it's branch layout. "I will rest there when I must." She said.
Esther looked bewildered that Eldrie did not want to snuggle. But she didn't comment on it, turning to go inside the tent. "Sleep well, Eldrie!" She said cheerfully.
"Rest well yourself, Mage." Eldrie said back, flitting off to do who knew what.
When Esther came back into the tent, she found Royal looking closely at his sheild.
"We need to find a town soon." He said, not looking up. "My sheild cannot endure much more abuse."
Esther got a good look at it. Indeed, the symbol of might and strength that Royal carried, the wall that kept them all safe, was peppered with cracks. It looked like it would shatter at any time.
"Don't worry. We can prepare to go whenever." Esther reassured him, hiding her own nerves. It was well known between the pair, however, that both were nervous by nature. So Royal saw through her.
"Hey, it'll be ok. We have our cloaks, nobody will give us a bad time." He consoled her. "And if they do, we can ask Eldrie to stalk them in their sleep." He poked his tongue out.
"Absolutely not. I only watch you because your death would be rather inconvenient for myself, and the world." Eldrie interupted, coming from seemingly nowhere.
Royal raised his finger, and lowered it slowly. Eldrie turned and left again, blowing a hair from her face.
Esther looked at Royal. "Should we get ready now? It's not late yet..."
"We probably should. It'll be fast." Royal nodded, already stashing as much food as they could carry. Sure Eldrie apparently could hunt game, but Royal didn't want to take any risks. The job was done fast, and the rest of the day seemed to drift by. Before they knew it, Royal was asleep with Esther lying across his back like a cat. She shivered in the cold.
Eldrie came in, sighed, and unceremoniously dropped Esther's bedroll on top of her. She soon stopped shivering as Eldrie flew to make a makeshift hammock, the only bed that she could sleep in with her wings.