The sun started to rise in the sky, falling onto Ili's face with a bright white color, slowly waking her up. The fire had died out some time ago, as small waves of smoke were still dispersing in the air from the cold coals.
Ili woke up lying in the snow, making it obvious that her plan to remain in the meditating position didn't work. She got up on her feet and stretched her body, shaking the snow off her clothes. For a moment, Ili took a deep breath of the cold, mountain air. She looked at the great expanse of the forest in front of her, seeming to be without an end. It was really happening... Despite the unfortunate situation that brought her here, she was actually on the journey... Not in someone's home, not next to the road in a small camp... She was in the middle of the forest, next to a burned-out fire, breathing in the fresh air of nature...
It brought a sensation of relief and calm... A feeling that there is more in the world than what meets the eye... than the crowded cities and battlefields, the grand castles and fortifications...
"Rise and shine!" Ili called out cheerfully as she gently shook Zephyr's shoulder.
The boy stirred, blinking sleepily as he slowly came to his senses. "Huh? What the..? Oh, it's you..." he mumbled, recognizing her. He let out a long yawn before asking, "What, are you in a hurry to get somewhere?"
"Yup! I've got to get back to the village! The festival is today, and I don't intend to miss it!" Ili replied, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Plus, Kaeldor and Kulhun are probably searching for me too..."
Zephyr looked at her with a bewildered expression, clearly lost. "Huh? What village? What festival? Who?" His confusion was evident, etched on his face. "Just take it from the beginning."
Ili smiled and began explaining. She told him about Heidal, its residents, Kaeldor and his cousin, and even about Old Man Kal. She shared what she remembered about the Dragon's Festival, the excitement of the village, and the traditions that made it special.
Zephyr listened with a sigh, his interest waning. "Okay, okay, I get it," he spoke, sounding somewhat disinterested. "That all sounds nice, but why are you telling me all this?"
"Because," Ili replied, her expression mirroring his confusion, "don't you want to know where we're going?"
Zephyr blinked, caught off guard by her assumption. "Who said that 'we' are going anywhere? I mean, I'm grateful for your help and everything, but I never told you I'd be coming with you anywhere!"
Ili's face fell slightly in disappointment. "Well... I guess you never said that, but I thought it was a given…"
Zephyr shook his head, trying to keep his tone neutral. "Why would I even come with you? You don't even trust me enough to untie m—"
Before he could finish, Ili swiftly drew her sword and cut the rope binding him. Zephyr stared at her, startled by her sudden action.
"Just like that?" he asked, incredulous. "You're not even going to ask if I'll attack you or something?"
"Mhm!" Ili responded with a bright smile. "Now, let's go!"
Zephyr hesitated, glancing at the severed rope and then at Ili. "Even if I wanted to come with you, you know what I am. I can't just waltz into a village and expect everything to go smoothly…"
"So what if you're a kalzraak?" Ili replied without missing a beat. "I'll... figure out a way!" Her hand drifted to the hilt of her sword, a mischievous glint in her eye. "I can always cut off your other horn!"
Zephyr recoiled, taking a few quick steps back. "Don't even think about it!"
"Come on! You already have one severed horn, what bad could another one do?" Ili tried to sound reassuring, but it was clear her suggestion wasn't sitting well with him.
Zephyr's eyes narrowed, his voice firm as he responded. "It's not like cutting off a branch! It's like asking you to cut off your arm!"
Ililith sighed as she took her hand off the hilt of her sword.
"Fine, whatever... Then, we'll find another way!" Ili said, her eyes starting to sparkle again with hope.
"Why do you even want to see that stupid festival anyways?" Zephyr asked, in a slightly annoyed tone. "You said that it takes place once every twenty years, so why not come back another time?"
"Well, we humans don't really live as long as you do!" Ili defended herself, starting to get a bit heated up. "If I don't go now, I probably won't get the chance to come back later! Besides, if I'm here right now, why not enjoy the festival while it takes place?" Ili smiled, tilting her head slightly to the right.
Zephyr sighed, but he knew that there was no point in trying to change her mind.
"Alright," he responded, a slight smile creeping onto his face. "I guess I could come along to see that stupid festival..."
A joyful smile appeared on Ili's face, and she let out a happy chuckle.
"Alright then! Let's go!" she said, her face full of determination. She took his hand, pulling him along.
The sun was shining brightly through the trees, a warm wind blowing through their leaves. Walking on the side of the ravine, trying to find a place where they could cross it, the two of them exchanged short stories and events that had happened in their lives. Nothing too intriguing, but enough to keep the mood light.
Here and there, a few small animals could be seen, searching for food under the deep snow. The hardened snow cracked beneath the feet of the two travelers, sounding like sticks breaking from trees…
"Over there!" Zephyr pointed to a small passage of hardened snow across the now narrower ravine.
Ili nodded, getting closer to it. It was a bet, but even so, it seemed large and strong enough to hold their weight if they crossed one at a time. She approached cautiously, tapping it with her foot to check its stability before turning to Zephyr with a soft smile.
"Yeah, I think we could make it!" Ili gave the passage another test with her foot, seeing that it was pretty stable.
"After you, then!" Zephyr responded, in a jokingly courteous manner, clearly not wanting to be the one to cross it first.
"Alright!" Ili said, approaching it joyfully, stepping on with enough confidence.
After a few more cautious steps, seeing that the snow was perfectly stable, she decided to move more freely.
"Tch, be careful!" Zephyr said, a little concerned at the relaxed behaviour that Ili had while crossing.
The girl didn't really seem to bother, as she even made a quick spin on it, letting out a playful chuckle.
"If you fall, I won't try to catch you!" Zephyr shouted, clearly annoyed by her behaviour.
However, he couldn't hold his anger for too long, calming down after seeing her playful chuckle. He sighed.
"You're a pain, you know that?" he said, trying to sound somewhat annoyed, but failing to do so.
Ili just chuckled in response, getting a little more focused as she made it to a slightly more abrupt part, where she needed to use both her hands and feet to climb. But after not too long, she managed to get her hand on top, pulling herself up on the other side of the ravine. She turned around, smiling playfully.
"Your turn!" she said, waving at him.
Zephyr exhaled once, trying to steady his breathing and stop his slightly visible shaking. He checked the passage too, tapping it a little harder with his foot than Ili did, not fully trusting its stability.
"Come on! It's perfectly stable! Stop worrying!" Ili reassured him, her voice both playful and daring at the same time.
Zephyr growled a little, annoyed, but decided to trust her. Taking a few cautious steps, he managed to get to the middle of the ravine, at the part that was starting to arch upwards. Frustrated by what he considered 'his stupid fear', he took a strong step up, sticking his hand into the side of the snow, trying to pull himself up.
But, because of the strong hit, a small crack formed in the snow. Taking another step up, the crack became more apparent, as the whole thing started to crumble apart. Zephyr's eyes widened as he felt the snow fall from under his foot, bringing him along with it!
Running a few steps up on the falling snow, Zephyr used all of his force to jump and catch Ili's hand, before all of the snow fell in the abyss.
Breathing heavily, he looked at the darkness inside the hole, before turning his head upwards, a realization hitting him, as he spoke
"Wait, how did you..."
Ili smiled, looking at him. She was holding his hand, as his whole body was dangling in the air. She wasn't even holding anything else as support. She simply leaned over the edge, holding his arm with hers.
"Don't worry, I'm much stronger than I look!" she said with her generic, sweet smile, hiding a hint of pride under it as she pulled him up.
Once up, Zephyr took a few steps from the edge and let himself fall in the snow on his back, breathing heavily, letting out all of the stress that surged through him. After a few seconds of organizing his thoughts, he raised his back from the snow, looking at Ili in a slightly scolding manner.
"It's 'perfectly stable', huh!?"
"Well, if you wouldn't have stomped on it like an animal, maybe it wouldn't have crumbled!" Ili tried to defend herself, with a pout formed on her face.
Zephyr wanted to argue, but nothing else came to mind. He sighed.
"Alright, alright! I guess you have a point there..." He sighed, letting his body fall back in the snow.
Suddenly, some inconceivable shouting was heard in the distance. Hearing it, Zephyr got off the ground, looking confused in the direction where the shouting was coming from. Looking to his right, he was surprised to see Ili moving in that direction.
"Hey!!" she shouted towards the voices, waving her hands.
Zephyr decided to follow her. As they were getting closer and closer, the voices could be heard more clearly: "Ili! Ililith!". A smile appeared on Ili's face, as she started moving towards the voices with a little more haste.
"I'm here! Hey!!"
Zephyr followed her from behind, as they were getting closer and closer to where the shouts were coming from.
But Zephyr stopped, as soon as the figures of two armed dwarfs appeared in sight.
"Kulhun! Kaeldor!" Ili said happily, seeing the two.
"Iilith!" Kaeldor shouted in relief, but his smile faded as soon as his eyes met Zephyr's. "Ili, get behind us!" he shouted in an authoritative tone, taking his weapon in both hands, followed closely by Kulhun.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Ili asked, her smile dropping too, replaced with a look of concern.
Before she could say anything, the two dwarves launched towards Zephyr, Kaeldor attacking him directly, and Kulhun getting in front of Ili. Zephyr was barely able to dodge the downwards strike from Kaeldor, who quickly regained his footing and turned back towards him.
"Just what the hell are you doing following this girl, kalzraak?!" Kaeldor shouted, fuming.
"What's it to you, dwarf?!" Zephyr asked angrily, opening his hand, a small black crystal dagger forming in it, as he got in a battle stance.
"Hey! Kaeldor, stop it! It's not what you think!" Ili shouted, trying to get closer, but her advance was quickly blocked by Kulhun.
"Ili, stay out of this!" Kulhun shouted, keeping his body in front of hers, his battle axe ready.
Ili was getting more desperate as she saw Kaeldor taking a step towards Zephyr, ready to attack again.
"Kaeldor! Stop! He's my friend!" Ili shouted, her eyes getting slightly teary.
"Stay out of this, Ili!" Kaeldor shouted back, keeping his eyes locked on Zephyr, his tone firm and cold. "You cannot be friends with a kalzraak! He might be docile now, but as soon as he feels a moment of weakness, he won't hesitate to stab you in the back! I know their kind..."
Kaeldor was fuming. He took another strong step forwards, his expression determined and cold, without a hint of mercy in his eyes. Zephyr tried to keep his ground, but couldn't help but start shaking a little. He clenched his teeth, gripping the dagger tighter.
In the blink of an eye, Kaeldor launched himself back at Zephyr. The boy threw the dagger at Kaeldor's throat, but the dwarf shattered it easily with a strike of his axe. Jumping to the side, Zephyr made yet another dagger.
He was barely able to see the new crystal dagger shatter, before Kaeldor's axe was pointed back at him, ready to strike the decisive blow... With a strong stomp on the ground, Zephyr threw his body backwards, barely escaping the attack, falling on his back in the snow, breathing really hard.
He tried to get up, but Kaeldor was already in front of him, with the axe at his throat.
"Any last words, kalzraak?" he asked in a cold tone, his grip firm.
"Go to hell!" Zephyr screamed.
"I'll make sure to write that on your grave."
Kaeldor raised his axe in the air, ready to deliver the final blow. But, when he was about to send the final hit, he could feel something holding his axe.
"No!" Ili said with tears in her eyes, as she held onto the edge of the axe, blood dripping from her fingers onto the weapon. "Please, don't..."
Behind her, Kulhun was trying to hold her back by her arm, but in vain, as he didn't want to hurt her. Kaeldor scowled, but left his weapon down, hitting it in the snow next to Zephyr.
"You are making a big mistake, Ililith," he said, taking his axe from the ground and walking away towards Kulhun.
On the ground, Zephyr finally calmed down, getting up and shaking his clothes, turning in the other direction.
"Zephyr..." Ili said, taking his arm as he stood with his back turned to her.
"Don't bother," the kalzraak responded, pulling his arm away and leaving.
Ili turned and looked around, not knowing what to do, as she saw Zephyr and Kaeldor walking in different directions.
Finally making up her mind, she turned around. "Zephyr, wait!"
Kaeldor didn't even bother to turn around.
"Kulhun, we're leaving!" he spoke in a firm voice, as he passed by his cousin, going back the way they came.
Kulhun was hesitant too, looking at his cousin and back at Ililith.
"God dammit, Kaeldor!" he said, going after Ili.
Kaeldor stopped for a second, but scowled and continued to walk back to the town, leaving the other three behind.