Weeks had passed since my "incident," and boredom mixed with frustration had been driving me absolutely insane while I was locked inside the chamber, like a hamster trapped in the world's most luxurious but still hamster-sized cage. Under my family's restrictions, freedom had been denied to me; the cave complex could not be left without direct adult supervision.
Each time the entrance was approached, someone would materialize to ask where I was going and why, like security guards with supernatural timing abilities.
"Just getting some fresh air," I would say, and the reply would always come: "The air inside is perfectly fresh, little flame. Why don't you practice your fire breathing instead?" Sparkwing would suggest with the enthusiasm of someone recommending vegetables to a sugar‑addicted child.
Most of my time was spent lying on my favorite warm rock near the lava channel, staring at the cave entrance and thinking about amber eyes and perfect crimson scales like a lovesick teenager with a dinosaur twist.
Will she be okay among those cunning family members? She's bearing punishment for a crime I caused. My heart was unable to rest until I met her again; my mind was restless with thoughts of her like a broken record stuck on the same romantic song.
"You look miserable," Sparkwing observed as she settled beside me on the fourth morning of my captivity, like a therapist making house calls. "Want to talk about it?"
After glancing around to make sure we were alone, I answered, "I hate being stuck here. I feel like I'm in prison."
"You're being protected," she corrected gently, like a lawyer arguing for house arrest instead of jail time.
"Is there a difference?" I asked bitterly, like someone who'd discovered the difference between a cage and a slightly larger cage. "I can't go anywhere, do anything, or see anyone without someone watching my every move. How is that different from being a prisoner?"
Sparkwing was quiet for a moment, my expression being studied with those wise amber eyes like a detective reading clues written in misery. "This is about more than just exploration freedom, isn't it? This is about the Lavaforge girl."
My scales flushed with embarrassment , with mine acting skills fool other easily expect of her as read through mind of mine.
. "I don't know what you mean."
"Rider," she said with amusement, like a parent who'd caught their child with chocolate on their face denying they'd eaten candy, "you've been staring toward their territory for four days straight. And every time someone mentions 'the Lavaforge girl,' you perk up like your tail's on fire."
There was no point in denying it, like trying to hide an elephant behind a toothpick.
"She was nice to me. She didn't care about my weird scales, and she stepped up for me against her family... and what I did caused her to be locked inside prison..."
"Now I want to meet her and apologize for my mistake," I confirmed miserably, like a defendant pleading guilty to crimes of the heart. "But I'm not welcome in Lavaforge territory, and she can't come here because of that rotten‑faced Scarletface uncle."
She smiled. "How badly do you want to see her again?" she asked directly without beating around the bushes.
"Badly," I admitted, like confessing to a crime I was proud of committing. "Really badly."
"Just sneak out. I'm not saying you should disobey your parents," she continued carefully, like a lawyer finding loopholes in a contract, "but sometimes young T‑Rex need lessons that can't be taught in the safety of their family caves."
"Like what kind of lessons?" I asked.
"Like how to move quietly through the forest without being detected. Like which family members patrol which areas at what times. Like where the natural boundaries between territories become… less clearly defined," she explained, like a professor with a PhD in sneaking away.
My heart began to race with excitement like a race car engine revving up. "Are you saying I should sneak out?"
"I'm saying," Sparkwing replied with a slight smile like a co‑conspirator sharing state secrets, "that Uncle Scarletface always takes his evening patrol through the northern caves between sunset and full dark. Parents are also busy with tribe work. And there's a lovely little lava spring about halfway there with a secret passage opening directly to the back of their cave. I'm the only one on surveillance, but I love my afternoon nap."
I stared at her in amazement like someone who'd just been handed the keys to a candy store. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Who knows? Maybe something interesting can develop between you that can relieve my boredom," she smiled weirdly.
That evening, as the family settled down for their post‑dinner rest, Sparkwing's information was put to the test like a spy executing a carefully planned mission. Scarletface had indeed departed for his northern patrol right on schedule, and most of the family was drowsing contentedly in the warm lava‑light of our main chamber like content cats after a big meal.
Moving as quietly as possible like a ninja dinosaur, I slipped out through one of the smaller cave entrances. The flame forest was crossed using routes memorized during my supervised explorations. My heart hammered against my ribs with every step like a drummer having a panic attack.
But the forest remained peaceful, filled only with the gentle crackling of lava flows and the distant calls of other families going about their evening routines. The blue sun was setting, casting everything in gorgeous purple and gold light that made the flame‑trees look even more magical than usual, like a fairy‑tale illustration come to life.
The lava spring Sparkwing had mentioned turned out to be exactly where she'd suggested — a beautiful natural pool fed by a small thermal vent, surrounded by crystal formations that caught and reflected the evening light in rainbow patterns like nature's own disco ball. Gentle steam rose into the cooling air from the perfectly warm water.
After searching for a while, the underground passage she'd described was indeed discovered. I crawled inside the narrow passage like a determined mole on a mission. An hour later, I emerged and saw the stony wall of the cave with window openings inside the prison room.
Climbing on the rocks was challenging, but success was achieved and the window was reached like a very determined and slightly clumsy Spider‑Man.
I looked inside and saw the beautiful little T‑Rex with her gloomy face, staring at the roof in boredom like someone waiting for paint to dry in the world's most boring art class.
"Pallet, look here," I called softly.
"Huh, Rider?" she said softly as she discovered me hanging on the window like a very lost window cleaner.
"Hello… hehe… can I come in?" I asked, hardly able to balance myself like a tightrope walker having second thoughts.
I jumped directly and landed beside her like an action hero with questionable landing skills.
"No, Rider, you should go back. It's very dangerous here. What if you get caught again?" Pallet warned, like a concerned friend with excellent survival instincts.
"Don't worry. Previously I was caught because I was unprepared. But now it's different. Family members are busy with their stuff, and I know an underground passage that leads here. Even if they return, I'm confident in running away," I replied like an overconfident escape artist.
"Look what I brought for you — fire‑elk meat specially cooked by my mother," I said, forgetting my previous sentence in my excitement like someone with the attention span of a goldfish.
"You brought dinner?" she asked in amazement like someone discovering room service in prison.
"Well, we missed our proper introduction the other day," I said. "I thought maybe we could share a meal and actually get to know each other more. This is my apology and thanks for saving my life that day. Please don't deny it."
"This is incredible," she said. "Thank you."
"I also have something I stole from my family garden. Try the fire‑fruit," she suggested, indicating the golden glowing fruit like a sommelier presenting fine wine. "It's a special variety that only grows near lava springs. Most families don't know about them, but we've been cultivating them for generations."
I took a tentative bite and nearly gasped with pleasure like someone tasting chocolate for the first time. The fruit was sweet but with a warm, spicy undertone that spread energy through my entire body.
"That's amazing," I said honestly, like a food critic who'd just discovered the meaning of life in fruit form. "What does it do?"
"It's supposed to help with flame development," Pallet explained like a helpful pharmacist. "Young T‑Rex who eat them regularly tend to develop their fire breathing earlier and more powerfully."
"Really?" I looked at the fruit with new interest like someone who'd just learned their snack was actually a power‑up. "Does it work for… unusual flame types?"
"I don't know," she admitted like a scientist facing the unknown, "but I thought it might be worth trying. Your purple smoke is so unique — I keep wondering what it might develop into."
As the meal was shared, everything was talked about — our families, our fears, our dreams for the future. Pallet spoke of her passion for art and her secret desire to travel beyond the flame forest someday to see what other landscapes looked like. I found myself sharing things I'd never told anyone else to her .
stories of another world, yellow‑haired heroes fighting alien monsters, overpowered bad guys, like a storyteller who'd discovered his perfect audience.
She was amazed by those stories, listening intently and clapping every time I finished, like the world's most enthusiastic audience of one.
As the evening grew later and the blue sun finally disappeared behind the flame‑trees, plans to meet again the next evening were made like two conspirators planning the perfect crime. The excitement of having something to look forward to — someone to look forward to — made my chest feel light with happiness like a balloon filled with pure joy.
"I should get back," I said reluctantly as the forest began to grow dark, like someone leaving the best party ever. "If they notice I'm gone…"
"Be careful," Pallet said softly, like a prayer wrapped in worry. "I don't want you to get in more trouble because of me."
"It's worth it," I replied, jumping through the window and hiding myself in the hidden passage like a romantic action hero making his dramatic exit.
The journey home was easier than the trip out, partly because confidence had been gained about the route and partly because happiness had made me light, like a cloud made of pure contentment.
I slipped back into the family cave just as cunning Scarletface was returning from his patrol, and managed to pretend I'd been napping in my favorite spot the whole time, like an actor giving the performance of his life. No one seemed to notice my absence, though a knowing look was given by Sparkwing when I passed her chamber like a co‑conspirator acknowledging a successful mission.
As I settled down for the night, I found myself already counting the hours until I could see Pallet again like a kid counting down to Christmas morning. Tomorrow couldn't come fast enough.
Yet as sleep overtook me, thoughts of amber eyes and shared fire‑fruit filled my mind. I knew I was going to do it again tomorrow night. And the night after that, like someone addicted to the world's sweetest forbidden fruit.
In this life, I was going to live differently. Loving parents and an adorable girl as a friend , like winning the lottery twice in the same day.
Inside lavaforge family cave
" Huff, I was suffocating, feeling of almost died" pallet breath air relief watching rider leaving cave.
" But why He so kind hearted and innocent , totally contrary to evil villain i face against during war.
I myself charmed in his loving character if not witnessed that the terror of half of eleves Army incinerated by similar color breath." Her little figure was sweating and trambling .
Control her emotion , she rest her head on cave Wall .
" Or I am wrong , he maybe not that monster , for now maintain my friendship with him allow me more observe his behaviour "
She lazily extended her claw
" Yawn , trash trex family think of impression this daughter of Queen elf " she streach out her claw point at steel bar .
Suddenly a crimson magic' circle rotated above her heart .
" Amazing, only week year old I am already two circles mage that t rex heart is completely extraordinary in compare of eleves heart of hold and channelise magic power .
Let steal some fruit and berries to nutrients this body " steel bar heated turned hot red and then melt down .