Forest of Memories

The forest itself naturally split in two halves the side that joins Acmelia was lush with deep green trees, bountiful fruits and vegetation thrived here, animals frolicked through the bushes unaffected by the presence of humans, it was believed this was where the memories of those long since passed from this realm of existence come and fill the trees with joy and perfect moments, the second half was attached to the Kanar Desert the trees were sparse and brittle bleached white from the blistering sun, smoke filled the space between the trees as though a fire raged deep under the ground, there was little vegetation save for the cacti bearing the ever-sought-after dragon fruit surrounded by vicious bald necked birds whose gaze could frighten even the most experienced adventurer, this side is said to be flooded with painful memories; moments of heartbreak and loss.

"Urgh, we should have learnt Transportation Magica," Tatiana groaned dragging her bag along the floor.

"We've only been travelling for two days!" Kendra moaned turning to look at her over her shoulder "shall I carry your bag milady?" she teased, bowing as low as she could go folding one arm across her waist whilst extending the other towards the sky.

Tatiana harrumphed picking her bag up slinging it back over her shoulder before marching past Kendra pushing her out of the way, "I hate walking! It's boring!" She stormed, Kendra brushed down the dust gathered on her cloak running to catch up laughing at her disdain for physical activities.

"Transportation isn't taught at The Guild, not since Master Mooncalf disappeared an entire class," Kendra stated.

"Master Barley was not a mooncalf! She just wasn't particularly good at her job." Tatiana replied.

"Literal definition of a mooncalf! It still amazes me she became a Master of Study."

"Yeah, that was concerning, did you hear she's retiring this year."

"I wonder where they are now?"

"Who? Did you hear me?"

"The class. They never returned. No one knows where they went, just poof. Gone." Kendra smiled remembering the events of that year, that was a fun time, "I'm glad we were a year too young to attend her classes."

Tatiana sighed, "she's retiring this year Ken, that means a Master of Study position will be open in the new season!" Tatiana was determined to become Master of the Guild, ever since she arrived at the gates of The Guild, students had the option when they reach the age of eighteen; become a freelance adventurer until your reputation of conquests are noticed by one of the five Adventure Guilds; Flaming Swords, Dragon's Breath, Iron Spirit, The Order of Healers or, The Guardians of the Queen, secondly a student could return home and do whatever it is they wanted to do there or thirdly remain at The Guild and become a teachers, that path allowed teachers to progress into Guild Liaison much like Adrianna, Master of Study, or Master of their practical Magica and eventually become Master of the Guild with time and dedication.

"I'm sure you will be a great candidate Tatiana!" Nudging her shoulder Kendra grinned looking out towards the horizon, the sun was beginning to set, "we need to find shelter before the darkness sets in, we shouldn't use our Magica at night, it'll draw unwanted attention," they come to a stop at the edge of the Forest of Memories, the tallest trees disappearing into the orange and red clouds, on calm nights the calls of animals could be heard for miles around, Kendra bridled slightly at the familiar sight of the ruins where she was attacked by the wraith, "I was hoping we would be further than this so these ruins wouldn't be an option," she says begrudgingly heading towards the ruins, the suns light started to fade causing the shadows to grow longer.

"If we get there quick, you can draw some temporary sigils into the ground and I'll get a fire started" Tatiana squeezed her shoulder reassuring Kendra gently pushing her forwards towards the ruins she nods at her friend's plan, running ahead they enter the through the broken doorway and get to work blocking the windows and doors with broken bits of tables, chairs, and shelves to prevent any gusts of wind from distorting the temporary sigils placed down by Kendra, drawing the sigils in the dirt in front of the doors and windows which glow gold with her Magica, marvelling at the colour of seeing her Magica for the first time, Tatiana gathers red flames into her hand and casts them into the fireplace, "wow, I've been using basic Magica energy for so long I never thought it would look like this..." Tatiana confirmed what Kendra was thinking.

Ruins could be found everywhere since the Dragonfire War, after the war most buildings that were destroyed where rebuilt by the Kobold Dwarves as they ran the Blood Iron Mines, the ruins which were not rebuilt continued to fall into disrepair, those which were made of wood had completely degraded into nothing, some were made of stone which were often used as temporary shelter for those travelling the land, "we'll head into the forest in the morning," Kendra announced rooting through her bag finding the map safely tucked away in the inner pocket, laying it out by the fire using the light to plot their course

"Won't that melt?" Tatiana asked.

"What?"

"Won't that melt?" she repeated, looking down at the map Kendra saw the wax start to melt "argh, no! make it stop!" she frantically pulls the map away flapping it up and down to dry the wax, daring to glance at the map in my hands Kendra sighed at the ruined mess,

"...I'll light the candles then, shall I?" Tatiana smirked retrieving the candles from Kendra's bag.

"Damn, stupid fire."

"Don't blame my fire, you're the one who made a map out of wax! Why didn't you make it resistant to heat?!"

"That didn't cross my mind. Aw I was really happy with that; it took ages to get it right!" she whined.

"And three seconds to be melted by the fire… well done," patting Kendra on the back she sets the candles down with a fresh sheet of parchment, with the new map in hand Kendra rolled it up carefully placing it back inside her bag.

"I'll plot our journey tomorrow morning…away from your fire thank you very much." Glancing sideways at Tatiana Kendra stuck her tongue out at her friend.

"I didn't tell you to put your map by my fire, did I?" exasperated she sat besides Kendra handing her a paper bag filled with sandwiches, cooked meats and small wrapped pieces of fruit, these bags will only last the week before the pair would have to start finding our own food and water for the rest of their adventure, Tatiana soon fell asleep on the floor, it looked rather uncomfortable compared to their beds back home.

The light of dawn shone through the gaps left in their barriers with Kendra's sigil flashing gold before fading to nothing, "mmh...how mmh did you sleep mmh?" Tatiana grumbled.

"Pardon?" Kendra craned her neck over her shoulder.

"How did you sleep?" Sitting up she yawned taking the plate from Kendra's hand who stayed awake all night watching the doors and windows, waiting for the wraith to return.

"I slept fine, you?" Kendra trusted her Magica to keep her safe but unfortunately it did not shake the feeling of the wraith watching her, waiting for its chance to claim what it once lost, waiting her sigil to fail or for Tatiana's flame to prematurely die out, after breakfast the two women removed the blockade from the door, stepping out into the rising light of the sun.

"So, it's faster to go through the forest which will save two days travelling but that does mean going through the Kanar side of the forest or we can follow this path around the forest which will most likely have bandits and wraiths after night and who knows what else." Kendra stated scanning the map.

"We'll head into the forest, we need to stock up on plenty of food and water there before we head into the Kanar Desert, has it moved any closer on your map?" Tatiana came up behind Kendra placing her hands on her shoulders and peering over the map.

"Erm, no not yet it's still wedged in the top left corner..." looking down at the map the wax letters seemed to stay fixed in place showing how little they progressed, "I'm sure once we get to the Kanar side of the forest the map will change to show more of the desert and we can work out where to go from there."

As they entered through the trees the pair were taken aback by the sheer beauty of the forest, where deer drank from a stream, their baby fawns stumbling to their feet curious of the new visitors entering their home, rabbits emerging from their underground homes, squirrels skittering up through the trees, jumping from branch to branch, the trees themselves ascended into the skies their canopy disappearing above the clouds, the sound of animals filled the air along with the scent of damp moss, spruce trees and various flowers, pine needles lining the floor crunching slightly under each step they took, Tatiana split from Kendra's side beelining for the stream filling their spare canteens with fresh water, the deer flinched away slightly causing the fawns to flee behind the trees, Tatiana remained in place waiting for the deer to relax, keeping them in the corner of her eye, observing the deer hesitantly taking a step towards the stream after a few minutes the deer decide it is safe to be near her, the fawns sensing the relaxed air returning bounded playfully back into view, slowly Kendra reached out her hand allowing the closest fawn to draw closer sniffing the air around her, taking her chance she closed the distance cupping the fawn's chin, his fur was as short as it was soft, bright white spots lining his coat matched the Taurus constellation connected by a faint line, Kendra peered over to the doe drinking from the stream the matching marks revealing her to be the fawn's mother, another fawn wearing the sign of Scorpius joins the clearing alongside its mother, "they're Astrum Deer," Kendra laughed watching the fawns prancing and playing over when a 12-point stag emerges from the trees, his grunting signalling for the rest of the heard to follow him away from the clearing, Tatiana and Kendra stepped back allowing the herd space to proceed across the stream, the young fawns seemed apprehensive to leave the new visitors behind but a stern grunt from the stag kept them from falling behind.

"That was magical!" Tatiana stood admiring the view before her.

"Did you get enough water?" Kendra questioned taking her own canteen and placing it in the depths of her bag.

"Hmm, yes I did. We won't need them until we hit the desert but the closer we get to the Kanar side of the forest I can't guarantee the quality of the water." Tatiana specialised in Elemental Magica, but she had yet to master working in the extreme conditions and the desert was said to be unbearable during its cooler months.

Crossing the stream the pair head deeper into the lush forest the trees whispered among the wind, swaying in the breeze. The animals that roamed within this forest were born with unique physical features connecting them to the moons and stars; the deer bore constellations upon their backs, the squirrels, rabbits and hares fur changed colour under full moons, which happened twice a month due to the two moons that rest above Acmelia, and the wolves that frequented during the spring and summer seasons the area brought with them the Aurora Borealis , "do you think the forest actually holds memories?" Kendra pondered, peering through the clouds up at the underbelly of the canopy.

"I'm not sure really, Palmer said that Treants returned to the forests after the War soaked in the blood of the fallen, both ally and foe alike, I guess it's possible that they absorbed their memories to."

"That just sounds creepy now, can you imagine? Minding your own business out for a stroll or tending your fields and some giant-ass blood-soaked tree walks past you 'morning!' and all you can do is wave hoping you don't get stepped on!" Kendra retorted, incredulously.

"That must have been terrifying!" Tatiana giggles.

As the hours passed in the forest the two women were greeted by the vast amounts animals coming and going checking out the new visitors some even travelling with them for a while until it was time for them to turn back and head home, finding a clearing in which to rest Tatiana and Kendra set down their bags and weapons in the centre stretching out their muscles, yawning Kendra picks up a fallen stick walking to the edge she drags it along the ground drawing a large circle before she was able to cast a protection spell over their encampment, a small, spritely Forest Imp leaped around spinning into the clearing laughing to itself, "mortals have entered my forest I see, let's play a game so mote it be," hopping from one foot to the other his sights land on the bow engrained with gold, a toothy grin spreading across its jagged face and with a poof of smoke and a snap of his long bony fingers the bow appeared in his sharp, pale blue hands, "find this weapon whose string you'll pluck up high is where you should look, on branches high above the ground, one should look anywhere but down!" His laugh echoed as he danced through the trees expertly leaping onto the high branches rapidly disappearing above the clouds.

Tatiana and Kendra gave each other an exasperated look, "well, it's not my bow..." Tatiana remarked, Kendra shot her a look grabbing her bag, she chases after the Forest Imp, silently preferring to guess his name instead. Craning her neck looking for any signs of the Imps whereabouts she spots scurrying movements among the branches, squinting Kendra trying to see what it is, as it pauses she makes out its shape, the bushy tail giving it away to be a squirrel, exhaling deeply she hears his laugh echoing close by.

"My, my how far you've come, as you climb your fingers numb, find your bow aligned with magic or soon your fall will be tragic," the giggling Imp appeared on one of the branches.

"Aside from my bow Imp, will you grant me your name?" she called as she began climbing up the tree using the closest branches as make-shift steps, climbing higher and higher trying to reach the same level as the Imp.

"My name be lost to the ages, mortal," the Imp scowled, his beady black eyes narrowing in her direction.

"That's a shame Imp, I thought we could be friends." Kendra retorts dryly, the higher she clambered up the trees, the colder the air around her became, the Imp was not kidding about her fingers going numb, "Imp are you there? Am I close?" she called out, waiting for a mere moment for a response, when none was given she carried on her way nearing the cloud layer of the forest, her hair became damp from the moisture of the clouds, her cloak stuck to her skin, Kendra's hands kept slipping from the moss covered branches which grew in abundance due to the moisture, clinging to the thinning trunk of the tree Kendra released the clasp of her cloak, hooking it onto a nearby branch she continues her ascent till her head poked out over the cloud layer, every part of her body losing out on heat, water droplets fell from her hair racing down her spine.

Her bow glinted under the setting light of the sun, just an arm's length away from her, reaching over to retrieve it, her hands were numb from the cold even going as far to wrinkle from the water in the air, edging her feet slightly along the branch she stood her tiptoes leaning her body over as much as she could the tips of her fingers rattled the bow back and forth moving just out of reach of her grasp, harrumphing in frustration she edged across the branch, her legs shaking with each movement, her hand holding the trunk of the tree slips on the moss, losing her footing, Kendra fell below the canopy her body met with every branch on the way down, frantically grabbing the passing branches to stop her fall, a large branch extending out intertwined with its neighbour saving Kendra from meeting the ground, landing on her back the air launched out from her lungs leaving her gasping starting wide eyed up the broken branches and fallen leaves that cascaded around her, her arms and face bled from the smaller branches and leaves that connected with her body, as the air slowly returned to her body Kendra slowly sat up groaning against the pain that radiated across her body, lifting her shirt a dark bruise spread across her ribs disappearing around her back.

"That was close, mortal." The Imp dropped into view on a branch above her, his head tilted to the side.

"Imp… I don't think we can be friends after this," Kendra rasped breathlessly, looking up at the clouds, the Imp laughed jumping up and down freeing more leaves from their places on the branches. Moaning Kendra stood up leaning against the trunk for support, her whole body battered and bruised, wiping the blood that dripped down her arms, she began climbing once more ignoring the Imp's leaps of glee and amusement.

Reaching the cloud layer, Kendra realised her bow was no longer where it should be, instead she saw it bumping and bouncing through the clouds in a baby dragon's mouth, its beautiful silver scales shimmer in the light, chirruping it tilted its head side to side, bringing her bag to the front she rooted through the paper bags finding a perfect cut of meat to trade for the bow, holding her hand out with the meat resting on top of it, she uses her other hand to reach for the bow, wrapping her hand carefully around its shaft as the baby dragon let go, gently taking the meat from Kendra's hand, the soft warm air that blew against the palm of her hand she smiled hooking her bow over her left shoulder, scratching behind its ears, "who's a good dragon? You're a good dragon, yes you are!" she beamed at the creature before her.

Baby Dragons were born silver so they could hide among the clouds, only receiving their colours once they discovered their own elemental abilities, during this time the mature dragons left their offspring forcing them to provide for themselves with the bountiful forests below. Kendra peered across the cloud layer seeing other baby dragons hopping in and out of the clouds chirruping and purring they adeptly knew where the branches were beneath them, knowing that once they received their colours they would eventually learn to fly or swim depending on their abilities, and in the rare Elder dragons, learn to communicate telepathically with the humans.

"Well done, mortal you found your bow, it's off to home I go," the Imp grinned, his yellowing teeth are narrowed into points in a mouth much too big for his face, he disappeared in a poof of grey smoke only leaving the fading echo of his laugh. Kendra wasted no time returning to the clearing dropping her bag and her bow on to the floor before lying face down "oww."

"I don't know Healing Magica," Tatiana stated bluntly.

"Oh, hi Tatiana, thank you so much for your concern, I'm fine by the way, just bruised and bleeding from almost plummeting to my death." Kendra replied flatly, "Imps suck…so much." Forest Imps or any Imps were originally thought to be evil creatures thanks to multiple accounts of their 'dealings' costing human lives, as it turned out Imps could live for centuries and did not injure the same way humans did, so when they first came across humans they assumed they were a different type of Imp and wanted to play the same way an Imp would, it was not until three centuries ago that they learned humans were different and had a much shorter lifespan, some Imps kept to themselves still playing pranks on unassuming travellers, most had moved to the cities, guilds or even assisted farmers, although the urge for their Impish games and pranks could cause havoc most humans welcomed them, The Guild Chef was a Cave Imp who lived deep within the twisting cave system long before the Guild was built, only making their presence known ninety-six years ago.

"I don't think we brought any bandages," she says leaning over Kendra.

"I'll be fine, but the next town we find, we will have to stock up and I want to buy some fresh clothes mine are all tattered and shredded by the fall!" groaning she forces herself into a sitting position.

"I cast the protection circle while you were messing around with that Imp."

"I wasn't messing around with the Imp, the Imp was messing with me… Thank you, I honestly don't think I can move for the rest of the night." Tatiana shook her head a bemused smile on her lips.

As the night drew nearer the once pleasant sounds of the forest give way to an eerie silence only broken by the howl of the wind blowing through the trees, shadows seem to darken between the trunks making it impossible to see out of the clearing, sitting close to the fire the pair warmed themselves against the blowing wind, the cuts on Kendra's palms and face sting against the heat of the fire, Tatiana soon fell asleep her cloak covering her, the red smoke covering her feet, Kendra watched as the black petals swirl disappearing into the smoke before re-emerging twisting around each other but never touching. Kendra's eyes closed unable to stay open any longer, the leaves rustled above them as something silver flitted between the branches silently dropping to the ground just outside of the protection circle, its soft chirruping as its head tilted from side to side, carrying in its mouth a dull grey cloak, cautiously approaching the two sleeping bodies by the fire, the baby dragon dropped its bounty next to the red headed body as the cloak changed to black, gold and silver, not that these colours mean anything to a baby dragon yet, the dragon hops back into the low branches resting for a while watching the flames mesmerised by their dance, shortly before dawn the dragon wakes and heading higher into the trees leaving the stirring bodies to wake.

Kendra stretched across the soft grass floor feeling something soft bundled beside her bruised ribs, shifting slightly she cranes her next down to see what it was, her cloak began swirling with her Magica, confused Kendra tried to remember if she did indeed bring it back with her after her game with the Imp, searching around she could not see any signs that the circle had been broken, deciding that maybe the Imp threw it over as an apology, she shrugged her shoulders, sitting up against the first light that broke through the the clouded trees , with pained fingers she fastened the cloak into place feeling the coolness of the silk draping along her arms, "we should reach the Kanar side of the forest by midday Tati," calling out to Tatiana whose hair remained unaffected by the new sleeping arrangements, perfectly straight. As always. Rising from her own makeshift bed Tatiana deftly twisted her long hair in between her fingers creating a simple waterfall braid in mere minutes, revealing the nape of her neck as she pulled it over her right shoulder.

The women continued their way North-West towards the Kanar side of the forest, the ground shook and cracked, holding onto the tree trunks to steady their balance, the rumbling drew closer until it came to a complete stop, "ahh, travellers... welcome," a deep baritone voice drawled from above them, sharing a look the pair arched their next towards the sky, "up here, Young One..." the voice continued, bending down to greet the travellers.

"There is no need to be frightened... Young Ones. I am Baelun, a Tre-ant of the Forest of Memories. I merely came to say... hello."

"Hello..."

"Hi..." Kendra moved back in line with Tatiana giving herself a clearer view of Baelun, "I'm Kendra and this is…"

"Tatiana of the Red Mountain Village." Baelun interjected softly.

"I am Tatiana Leonis. How do you know who I am?"

"I hold the joyous memories of your village elder. My brother Caelun holds the sorrowful memories, along with the memory of his death. Would you care to visit his most treasured memory of you?"

Tatiana stammered unsure how to respond to seeing the long lost memories of her Village, Kendra placed a hand on the small of her back, the action bringing a small sense of reassurance throughout Tatiana's core, biting her lip she nodded silently, edging closer to Baelun's trunk.

"Lay your hands on my branch and close your eyes," he instructed her lowering one of his tallest branches down to greet her.

**Mountain peaks surround the Red Mountain Village, people were running around frantically setting up for a large event in the centre of the village, some are talking animatedly off to the sides of small stalls and homes carved into the stone, laughing and smiling excited for the days event. Elder Sands emerged from his house which sat at the head of the village, looking over the preparations his eyes turn to the sole path which lead through the mountains, two figures appearing over the horizon, drawing closer the woman was carrying a small bundle of cloth bound tightly with rope, his heavily wrinkled face pulling into a smile, "oh Joyous Welcome! The happy couple has returned home" he called to the village, the people stopping in their tracks, some emerging from their homes.

The Villagers turn to the couple now in full view of the village, a man with strong arms and dark silver hair thrusted his arms into the air, "and many joyous returns Elder Sands! How it is good to be home!" his gruff voice carrying through the mountains, the similar silver-haired Villagers erupt into cheers of welcome and praise, their native song swelling into the air, carrying well into the night.

Totems become alight with dazzling blue fire and the couple met with merriment, wine and succulent meats brought forward the bundle of cloth placing it onto the central pedestal. Elder Sands unwrapped the bundle revealing a beautiful silver and blue-haired baby girl, raising her up high, her eyes open revealing the brightest golden hue, a name fitting the child entered his mind, "I name you Tatiana Leonis! May the brightest star guide your heart! May your mind be sharp, and your wit be even sharper! My beautiful grand-daughter I bid you joyous welcome into this world!"

The people of the village stood around the pedestal cheered "A JOYOUS WELCOME TATIANA LEONIS!" before descending into drinking, eating and making merry. Elder Sands leans down to whisper one final thing as the memory begins to fade, "I know you will do great things, my beautiful Tatiana."**

Tatiana's tears silently washed down her face watering the flowers beneath her feet, eventually letting go of Baelun's branch she covered her face, rushing to her side Kendra wrapped her in a hug, unknowing to the memory that was freely given, sniffling she thanked Baelun for the beautiful gift. "I hope I have not saddened you Miss Leonis... allow me to carry you and Miss Kendra to the Forest's Divide." Baelun offered extending his branches once more.

Heading deeper into the forest, the air began to thin out as the temperature steadily climbed, reaching the Forest Divide there was a stark contrast between the terrain, the trees on the Kanar side were broken, without leaves they are bleached white under the glaring sun, the pale yellowy-brown ground peaked out from the smoke that covered this side of the forest, the blackening cracks that threatened to grow larger if a traveller misplaced their steps, Baelun lowered the pair to the ground bidding them farewell at the border before returning into lush greenery of the forest.

To cross into the desert side of the forest would most likely cause him to suffer, "hmm, that sucks, we could have made it to Kanar in half the time." Kendra looked over at Tatiana whose face was still tinged with red from her crying.

Sighing she forces a big smile, "I miss Elder Sands...right let's do this!"

"I know you do Tati..." Kendra placed both her hands on her shoulders holding Tatiana's gaze, "now let us get out of the forest before we run into Caelun and you're faced with another memory! I hate seeing you cry!" she smiled at her before turning to face Kanar's side of the forest.

Her smile quickly fades, looking out at the smoke swirling between the bleached trunks, the tops of broken branches poking out before being consumed by the white smoke, the ground under their feet crack from the pressure, Kendra decides to pull the map from her bag holding it out in front of her she mutters a single spell forcing the map to zoom in, "we need to follow this path exactly..." she points to the golden dot which spread out into a small thin line through the Kanar forest, the smoke hid a multitude of pitfalls; hidden underground cave openings, geysers, and quicksand disguised under the hard, crusty layer of mud with the smoke itself stealing the moisture from the air leaving those passing through draining their water reserves.

The clouds too seemed to stop at the border, leaving the unfiltered heat to bare down, the only animal that thrived here were vicious long necked birds with sharp hooked beaks, who guarded the only fruit bearing plant known as the Dragon fruit Cacti, clever little things that used to circle travellers crossing the desert until they fell from heat exhaustion, they soon noticed travellers and adventurers risking their lives; breaking limbs, falling into caves unable to get out becoming trapped in quicksand all for the sake of a single fruit bearing cacti, if they were lucky the fruit replenished their energies, leaving the birds without their meal, now they attack anyone who tries to take the plant, forcing them to suffer even further under the heat, the sudden kettle of birds caused anyone hoping to taste the fruit to flee recklessly abandoning their pursuit, fleeing in all directions, succumbing to the dangers hidden under the smoke providing an easy meal with little effort.

Following the maps route the pair began walking cautiously, taking little steps to avoid any hidden pitfalls as they went, the heat was already causing Kendra to sweat profusely, the top of her head burning from the sun, "do you want a drink of water Ken?" Tatiana asked already gulping from her reserves.

"Tati, stop! We can't drink from them yet, we should wait until we're halfway way through the forest and then when we reach the edge and even then, small sips!" Kendra complained, knowing Tatiana would struggle to pull drinkable moisture from the air in this extreme environment.

Begrudgingly Tatiana placed her cannister back in her bag, Kendra felt like joining her in drinking deeply from her cannister but refrained from doing so, looking down at the map she could see Kanar has grown just a little closer on the parchment , but it was still a long way to go with very little hopes of a hidden oasis to rest at.

The smoke rose and fell as though something was moving underneath as Kendra and Tatiana progressed through the forest, glancing up from the map Kendra caught sight of the cacti plants bearing the sweet, oblong fruit, its vibrant purple flesh popping against its arid surroundings, Tatiana paused in her tracks her eyes wide in awe, "hey Ken... we should get some," she says tugging at the sleeve of Kendra's cloak, "the birds are busy over there, we can just grab a few, put them in our bags and hurry out of the forest before they even notice, we're practically at the edge now..."

"We're nowhere near the edge Tati, leave them alone," Kendra sighed shaking her head, forcing herself to push past the cacti and its colourful bounty and continue forging a path for Tatiana to follow.

Loud squawking and hissing signals the birds return as they reclaim their perches above the pair's heads, Kendra glanced up quickly, keeping the birds in her sights as she reached back to grab Tatiana to keep her close, her hand grabbing at the air, closing her eyes in, she hopefully murmured, "do not be picking the fruits, do NOT be picking those fruits!" she turned her head looking in Tatiana's direction, she had stopped at the plant her hand tentatively reaching for the fruit, "'Tiana, stop!" Kendra hisses at her, Tatiana freezes only now noticing the birds arrival, who were now waiting for their next meal to touch the fruit so they could descend from their committee upon the branches.

"I really want one though..." she seemed bewitched by the sight of rare dragon fruit.

"Tatiana, stop, please... if you touch the fruit you WILL be attacked, Master Gray did not send with me so you could have your body pecked apart by birds! Now slowly back away and come to me..." She did not move, her hand still hovered debating grabbing the fruit, the birds began to lean in anticipation.

A thought occurred to Tatiana, taking her cloak off, she peeked across to Kendra who was stood holding her hand out, trying to prevent her from taking the fruit, her eyes darting between the birds and Tatiana, her face met with concern, Tatiana felt confident in her ability to trick the birds, tossing her cloak high in the air covering the birds view of the cacti plants, the immediate hissing and cawing erupt from the predators startled by the oncoming cloak flying away from their perches, leaving the fruit temporarily unprotected, Tatiana wasted no time hurriedly picking as many fruits as she could and stuffing them into her bag, only stopping as her cloak twisted and drifted back down towards her, snatching it she re-joins Kendra's side.

The birds soon settled back on the branches, furious as their quarry left, squawking at each other they eventually turned their sights to the absent dragon fruit, something akin to anger riled inside the birds their long necks turning in the direction of the two cloaked figures hurrying away, the smoke that covered the ground separated and bulged as their wings beat down gusts of stagnant air, flying straight up over the baron trees they soon had the backs of the thieves in their sights.

Kendra dragged Tatiana along the path, ignoring the faint flashes of the map begging them to follow the path exactly, Kendra's only thought was to clear the forest quickly now and find shelter, "why are we going so fast? are we not having a rest?" Tatiana whined panting she struggled to keep her breath even and her feet stable as she is dragged across the broken ground.

"No! You took the fruit from that stupid bush, not just one either, it was practically the entire plant! Why not just dig up the roots and bring it with us!" stopping in her tracks Tatiana collided into her almost toppling the pair, Kendra spun on her heel, "I told you not to touch it. You heard me say that! And you did it anyway! Even when those murderous birds returned!"

"Kendra, I wanted one! No one has ever managed to get the fruit without at least breaking a nail! I came away with handfuls!"

"That isn't the point! This whole journey was put at risk less than a week into it! All because you wanted a piece of fruit. Fruit! Tatiana." Kendra complained running her hands over her face, wiping away the dirt and sweat that built up, taking a breath Kendra felt the hot air burn her lungs forcing her to cough, her mouth drying, glaring up at Tatiana whose tears formed in her eyes, taking a swift drink from her own canteen, Kendra sighed feeling guilty for losing her temper, "I do not care about some reclusive fruit that kills people. I care about getting this Life-key to the Villas Queen, I care about you staying alive long enough to become Master of the Guild and give The Guild a bloody name!" she puts on a weary smile trying to reassure Tatiana that she was not angry with her.

Tatiana wipes her tears away, a small laugh escaping her lips, "technically, the fruit doesn't kill people. Everything surrounding it does."

"Tati…"

"Right... sorry."

"I want to be out of this forest before nightfall, it might actually be possible now thanks to Baelun carrying us through the rest of the Acmelia side of the forest!" The sun felt stronger the further it travelled through the sky, reluctantly taking sips from her canteen as they walk, wafting the smoke away from in front of them, trying to find their original path, "we still have a few hours of daylight left, we should be able to get clear of the forest and find some ruins or sand caves to find shelter in," Kendra sighed, her shoulders slumping at the thought of walking any further in this heat, what she wouldn't give to be on the cool side of the forest right now, as the sun bore down through the cloudless sky, the sky suddenly darkened.

The sound of hissing and squawking became deafening as the birds, furious that they were bested by a cloak descend upon the thieves, Kendra yells covering her head with her hands dropping to her knees, the smoke coming up to meet her filtering into her lungs threatening to suffocate her, her cloak reacts on its own protecting her body from the damage the birds claws and beaks try to inflict upon her body.

Tatiana tries to run through the smoke, stumbling in the larger cracks and spraining her ankle in the process, the birds flock around her preventing any escape as she continues to hobble towards the far edge of the forest, they were not after a meal anymore, they were here for fruits she took, the birds had become reliant on them to drew in their prey, swooping down their claws fully splayed out pierced her skin, yelling out in pain she tries desperately to use her sword, unsheathing it, waving it around frantically, narrowly missing the birds by an inch.

Their claws dripped with her blood, falling to her knees Tatiana was weakened by the barrage, the murderous kettle descend once more, eager to finish off their attack and reclaim what was rightfully theirs, Kendra lunges from her covered crouch rushing to break through the barrier of birds, the wings beat against her body, blocking her access to Tatiana's bleeding body, some of the bird's attention turns her way, their beaks and claws connecting with her arms and face.

Breaking through into the eye of the feathered storm, Kendra clocks a familiar silver creature jumping up snapping at the attackers dragging them beneath the smoke, the sounds of their necks snapping and their croaks gargling as the silver creature moves on to the next bird, Kendra unties her cloak flapping it at the birds, opening the gap between them and Tatiana, removing her bag Kendra tosses her cloak over her body, leaping through the birds she haphazardly races back to where they reside, ripping open Tatiana's bag Kendra began throwing the fruits at the now barren cactus, the birds fall for the bait, following her through the trees, some moving to attack her to retrieve the fruits, eventually seeing them fly threw the air, hitting the ground the kettle of birds pass over Kendra's head, seeing their bounty returned they return to their perches upon the branches.

The assault stopped as suddenly as it had started, Tatiana's bag hung empty in Kendra's hand, save for her own supplies, It was hard to stand now, her hands rested on her knees, Kendra was left gasping for air, blood dripped from her face and arms, her back ached as the points where their 2.7 meter wings connected, she ambles her way back to where Tatiana was still cowering under her cloak, still feeling their eyes resting on her back, the baby dragon was by her side chirruping nudging its head under the cloak licking at her face, "they're gone... are you alright?" Kendra removes her cloak as Tatiana struggled to stand upright, she nods feebly, the bruises already forming from the attack.

Kendra's attention soon turned to the baby dragon sat proudly waiting for recognition, "well you've done it again Dragon, at this rate I'm going to have to name you!" Kendra grins broadly, stroking it behind its ears, its head tilting side to side purring, "go on home to the trees, you won't be safe with us, as you can see we're not that good at adventuring," Tatiana manages a weak chuckle in the midst of her coughing against the smoke and stagnant air that fed into her lungs.

Reaching the edge of the forest, battered and bruised it had taken them much longer than they had dared hope for, Tatiana's body gave out before long, struggling against the heat in her weakened form, Kendra also struggled as she balanced Tatiana on her back, peering into the disappearing light; she spots a small sand cave a few meters ahead of them, her knees buckling under the weight, Kendra staggers towards it.

Dragging Tatiana into the cave Kendra successfully casts a protection barrier without interruption or intrusion, removing Tatiana's outerwear, she searches through their bags trying to find anything that could stem the flow of blood from the wounds on Tatiana's back, in the end Kendra stiffly removes her own tattered tank top, pressing it down firmly on the wounds, watching as the soft grey material quickly turned red, grabbing some dried-out vines that were nearby, she tied them around her body, to hold the top in place, deciding that they needed a healer and fast.

As she sat there, under the fading light a familiar face popped into her head, Kendra pulls a piece of parchment from her bag, sticking her finger in her mouth using what little saliva she had left, drawing an oval on the sheet, "contact Healer Jones!" The lines of the oval flash gold a few times eventually moving to the centre and turning silver, reflecting the image of a stern looking woman with frazzled black hair and grey wrinkled eyes.

"Kendra? Are you okay? You haven't run into a wraith again have you? Your face is bleeding." Healer Jones fires a flurry of questions at Kendra, despite her stern nature, Kendra knew she held a soft spot for both her and Tatiana.

"I'm fine, No I haven't, and this is from birds," Kendra gestured to her face, "It's Tatiana I'm worried about, her back is really bad, she took some fruit, the birds got angry, her cloak wasn't tied properly and now I can't stop the bleeding! Please is there anything you can do or tell me what to do!"

"Show her to me."

Turning the parchment to face the unconscious body lying on the floor, the fading light made it difficult to see anything other than darkened shapes, "rest the sheet against a rock and make a fire, can you do that?" Healer Jones ordered already examining the wounds she could see.

Muttering under her breath, Kendra searched for what vines she didn't use on Tatiana gathering them into a small pile she used the smaller rocks scattered through the cave to create a small border, "Kendra, light please."

"One second..." Panicking Kendra held her hand over the feeble mound of kindling, her mind drawing a blank, "erm… Flames!" nothing happened. "Dammit!" she peered around frantically trying to remember how to summon flames "oh!… Adhibete ignisque!" Flames explode up from the mound slightly burning her hand, "arghhh! No! Stop! Prohibere!" the flames go out and rapidly as they started.

Upon hearing an audible sigh from Healer Jones, Kendra twisted her body in the direction of the parchment, "Vocare Flammae, Miss Starcroft..." her usual stern look replaced with one of derision.

Turning to the charred mound Kendra hoped that she had not used the last of her energy or what little kindling she had, "Vocare Flammae!" holding her non-burnt hand over the mound as small flames grew, becoming a decent size casting light into the shadowed cave, "hey I did it!"

Shuffling over Kendra removed the vines and her shirt revealing the worst of the wounds, using her already blood-soaked top to wipe away as much blood as she could, "hmm, it's been a while since I have had to do this, medicus tactu procul Tatiana Leonis et Kendra Starcroft!" soft yellow light emanated around her body as she raised her hands out in front and closed her eyes, the light passed beyond the parchment surrounding Kendra and Tatiana, the energy felt like tiny bolts of lightening coursing through their bodies, Kendra's body soon felt refreshed and invigorated, the pain nulling as each wound and bruise faded into nothing, Tatiana's wounds took longer to close being the main target of the attack, a few minutes to disappear completely.

"Thank you, Healer Jones."

"I won't be able to do this all the time Miss Starcroft, so I suggest getting a lot better at protecting yourselves or you'll be waking up to me dragging you back to The Guild and on kitchen duty for the year!" with that she taps the floating reflection of the girls, the oval portal swirls around shrinking before completely vanishing from sight.

Kendra hugged her knees spending the night watching over Tatiana's unconscious body watching her shadow dance against the cave walls, the blood she lost soaked into their clothes, into the hard, sandy floor.

Tatiana awakens to an empty cave the sun's light illuminating her face, stumbling to her feet she staggered out to the entrance, "Kendra?" long, red hair fell over the mouth of the cave as her head popped into view.

"Ahh, you're awake are you? Took you long enough! Two days in fact, look it's almost dawn again!"

"You seem chipper," Tatiana states dryly, her head pounding as the fact of being unconscious for two days set in and her throat turned dry, looking out at the light stretching out over the sun-baked desert, "two days? How did we get here?" turning around the forest was no longer in sight, just a sea of endless sand dunes.

"Well, when we reached the edge of the forest you completely passed out leaving me to carry you to the closest cave I could find, I had to use a sheet of parchment to contact Healer Jones, who said you sucked by the way, she healed us and said you need to get better at protecting yourself because I can't keep carrying your useless bum around!" Kendra teased her.

"Ah… so we both got told off by Healer Jones I take it."

"Yeah, she threatened to take us back to The Guild… and put us in the kitchen…"

"We're teachers…she does know we're on an important mission, right?"

"Like she cares! To her Master of the Guild is just a formality, even Master Gray can't win against her ironclad judgement, and he's pretty ripped and stubborn for an old guy."

"That's true, if it were up to her she'd have the Villas Queen come to The Guild and apologise for keeping her waiting!" Tatiana laughs aloud.

"I made a sled with bits of wood and vine I found in the first cave, dragged your heavy butt around... hope you don't mind I used your cloak. I used mine as a sun guard since it was soaked with your blood," Kendra stood looking down over Tatiana before jumping down to the ground, taking her cloak back it changes back to its beautiful red with black roses, fastening it into place the red smoke wraps around her feet and the black petals begin their dance once again.

Kendra smiles, happy to see her friend up and about once more, taking out the map she shows it to Tatiana, "Kanar has moved on to the map, look..." she points to the top left corner, the letters had grown larger and moved nearer to the centre of the map now, "there is a small village just out to the East of the main city, I thought we could head there and hopefully clean ourselves up a bit before reaching the city of the Villas Queen. What do you think Tati?"

"Sounds good. We may be able to find a freelance healer if we're lucky, that'll keep us from getting into more trouble with Healer Jones."

"That woman is terrifying, it is astounding she is a healer," they both nod in agreement.

"Well... I guess she has the bedside manner for it." Tatiana admits, a sly grin on her lips.

Stuffing her cloak into her bag, Kendra smiles at the vibrant purple fruit resting at the bottom, "hey!" she shout to Tatiana who had dug out her comb brushing her hair she styled it into a fishtail braid, "catch!" she tosses the dragon fruit to her catching her by surprise.

"What? How?" Beaming from ear to ear she uses Kendra's dagger to slice it in half before biting into the crisp, white centre, the excess juices running down her chin, her mouth and throat feeling the cool relief it brought her.

"You said you wanted it... so while I lured the birds away, I stuffed a few in my own bag and threw the rest," Kendra admitted sheepishly, walking away from the cave entrance they headed towards the village east of Kanar.

Tatiana jogged up, moving in line with Kendra handing her the other half, "I am sorry Kendra..."

They reach the village by midday, with Kendra's clothes crusted and ruined from the sweat and blood she arrived wearing only her bandeau bra, "you'll cause a commotion turning up like that!" Tatiana commented on Kendra's half-naked, sunburnt appearance.

"We've just come from the desert I'm sure people have turned up wearing much less."

"That maybe true but I doubt they were as red!" She laughs running ahead into the village.

Why couldn't she stay unconscious? Kendra thought to herself shaking her head following her into the village.