Felix and Olympia pushed past the bushes to where a small river flowed at a leisurely pace. The shore here was more smoothed over rocks than sand, and it was smaller than the last river they had found together. Random animals called out into the dark of the night, though Felix barely twitched his ear at it.
He knelt down beside the water and hesitated. Olympia bent down to wash Felix’s dagger she had been holding. He plunged his hands into the freezing water. He winced a little, but didn’t pull his hands out of the water.
“Do they feel better or do they still hurt?” Olympia asked him. “They’re going to hurt for a while…” He said, not looking up from the swirling water around his hands. He didn’t want to voice his fears that the damage might be permanent. Fella jumped down from his shoulder and landed on the shore beside him. She sat at the water’s edge and looked down at his hands then back up at him.
Olympia sat there looking at his hands, still worried. She wished that she could help. Felix sighed and pulled his hands out of the water. They still looked horribly damaged, but at least there wasn’t blood dripping from his hands anymore. “We should probably find a place to rest.” Felix said, standing. Fella jumped up and caught the edge of his cloak. She crawled up and sat on his shoulder.
“Yeah, we should.” Olympia followed behind him. He stopped in a small gap between the trees where a little patch of grass grew. There was enough for them to sleep on, but the trees still crowded out the night sky. “This is as good a spot as any.” Felix said, sitting down.
Olympia sat down and placed the sword and dagger beside her. She felt like it was going to be a long night. Felix laid down with his back to her. She didn’t see him wince as his hands touched the ground. Fella curled up beside him, and they were both asleep in minutes.
All you could hear was the sound of the breeze and animals. Olympia looked over to see that both Felix and Fella had fallen asleep. She hesitated for a bit before getting up and making her way towards them. She kneeled down and gently grabbed Felix’s hand so that she wouldn’t wake him up.
Silence fell for a few seconds as she started whispering something. His hands started glowing a blue coloring before fading seconds later. Olympia sat there confused at what had just happened. She looked at Felix’s hands to see that they were now healed. She stood quickly stumbling back, feeling dizzy and tired.
She wanted to wake him up but decided to tell him in the morning. She sat back down quickly falling asleep.
The sun rose over the hills, and the birds began to fill the forest with their songs again. Felix didn’t wake up to the dawn. Fella did. She nudged him awake. “No…” He groaned. Fella climbed onto his head and made a poor excuse for a roar right into his ear. “Fine, I’m up.” He said, sitting up. He didn’t notice that he had pushed himself up without feeling any pain.
Olympia woke up feeling the sun hit her face. She was still a bit tired. Felix looked over at her. “Morning.” He groaned, rubbing his eyes. Fella chirped at her, which was probably a good morning as well.
“Good morning.” She responded, giving them a tired smile. He paused, a confused expression crossing his face. He held his hands out in front of him, and stared down at them, shock clear in his expression. Fella climbed down his arm and sat on his wrist, staring too.
“Everything alright?” Olympia asked. “My hands…” He trailed off, not looking up from them. She got up and went to his side. “I was planning on telling you.” She stated. “What… How? There is absolutely no way that wounds that bad could heal overnight.” Felix said, perplexed.
“Last night, I grabbed your hands, said a few things and then they were healed.” Olympia said, playing with the hem of her shirt. “But… How is this possible?” Felix asked.
“I really don’t know, it just happened.” She said. “So… It just… healed?” He asked. Olympia hesitated a bit. “Yeah..it just healed.” Felix wasn’t sure what to say. “Well… Thank you… I guess.” He said with a slight smile. She smiled back at him. Felix looked down at Fella. She said something to Felix Olympia didn’t understand because Fella was a dragon. “You know I have no clue what that means.” He said to her. She sighed, and crawled back onto his shoulder.
“Do you always understand her?” Olympia asked, curious about what Fella said. “Definitely not. I barely know any Dragon Speak. She’s teaching me, but I’m a slow learner.” Felix replied.
“Well she has patience with you so that’s good.” She said. Felix smiled and ran his finger down her back. “She hasn’t left me yet. I’m grateful for that.” He replied. He hesitated for a moment. “So… Are you going to head back to the capital? The invaders might not be there any more.”
“No, I think that it’s best I stay away for a while.” Olympia said. She did miss her family but going back would only cause more trouble. “Well… Where are you going to go then?” Felix asked.
“Well, I met this person a few days ago that helped me out, so maybe they would let me go with them.” She said. Felix smiled, and looked down at Fella. She chirped at him. “I think that’s a yes.” He said, looking back to her.
Olympia gave them both a smile. “So where to next?” She asked. “I think we need to find someplace the invaders probably won’t go to. The only problem with that, is we don’t know what they want.” Felix said, thinking out loud.
“Maybe we should find a map!?” She said. “Well I know most of the area, and a few of the city-states around the mountains. We don’t have a huge need for one. Kind of depends on which direction we go.” Felix replied with a shrug.
“Should we get going then.” Olympia stated. “Depends on where we’re going. I hate to admit it, but Thovell might not be the safest place anymore.” Felix said.
Olympia knows Felix is right. “Then we should leave Thovell. I don’t know where we’re going but we’ll figure it out.” She said. Felix thought for a moment. “There are three ways we could go. South towards Thunder Canyon, Northeast to the city-state Storm Call, or Northwest towards the Great River.” He paused for a moment. “Are you sure you want to leave? Your family might still be alive. They could have escaped the invaders like you did.” He added.
“Yeah, I’m sure. I know they’re safe and there is something I want to know before I see them again.” She said. “We can come back after the invaders have all left. So, princess, which way do you want to go? We would have to head back the way we came to go to the southern pass, so that might not be the best choice. Up to you though.” Felix told her.
“Let's head Northeast.” Olympia responded. Felix nodded. “We can either wait out winter or go now. Either way, we’ll need to buy some supplies.” Felix explained, standing. Fella seemed excited by the prospect of leaving Thovell.
“I think it would be better to go now. If we want to buy some supplies we have this.” She said, taking out the bag of coins she had. “How much is in there?” Felix asked, grabbing it and looking inside. “I’ll have to pickpocket a little bit, but this should cover most of it.” He said, shuffling around the coins.
“We can head toward the village at the pass’s entrance. I’ll need to get something I left just outside the town though.” Felix said. “Yeah,” Olympia responded. Felix stood and stretched, Fella crawling up to sit on his head. “Well we should probably get going then.” He said.
Olympia nodded. “What did you leave?” She asked, a bit curious. “I just found a book that was interesting. Well, it was actually a notebook that I think belonged to a Dragon Rider.” Felix replied. The book Olympia had left behind came to mind. Should she go back and get it? She shook her head leaving that thought behind. “Let’s go get it then,” she stated.
Felix led the way. It took them a while to find their way back to town. Felix hesitated when they came into view of the town. It was deserted, and most of the buildings had collapsed. There were a few burned shells of homes that remained standing. Olympia's heart sank as she saw what became of the town. If she could stay and help she would, but she knew that couldn’t happen.
Felix started towards the town again, Fella moving down to his shoulder. Olympia followed closely behind them. She pulled the hood over her face, not wanting to be seen. There weren't many people there. The few that were were looking through the rubble of their homes.
Felix stared for a moment then looked away, his ears going back. Fella chirped at him in confusion. “You ok?” Olympia asked, walking next to him. “I’m fine.” Felix said quickly, speeding up. Olympia let out a sigh and just followed behind quietly. Felix kicked the rock away near the burned tree stump. The book was still where he had left it. Felix picked it up and moved quickly away, keeping his gaze off of the burnt town.
Olympia knew Felix was acting a bit off. She wanted to ask but she knew he wouldn’t tell her. “Fella can you come here for a bit.” She said. Fella jumped from Felix’s shoulder to Olympia’s. Felix glanced back but didn’t comment. “Do you ever think he might open up to me?” Olympia asked. Fella looked at him then back at Olympia she looked uncertain.
“I know he probably won’t, but sometimes I just wish he says that doesn’t want to talk about it then lying.” She stated. Olympia rubbed under Fella’s chin. Fella chirped happily. She looked at Olympia for a moment then leapt back to Felix. She rubbed against his cheek and Felix ran his finger along her spine.
Olympia felt tears run down her face. She quickly wiped them away and pulled the hood to hide her face. Felix paused when they were out of sight of the town. He glanced at the sin and the three mountains that surrounded the valley then changed direction slightly. “It should take us a few days to get to the Northeast pass.” Felix said.
“Have you been there before.” Olympia asked. “Yeah, a couple years ago.” Felix replied. “Is it nice?” She asked. “At the pass or outside?” Felix asked. “Umm both,” she said. “Well it’s pretty cold at the pass. There’s a town on either side for supplies. Outside… It’s a lot different. There’s definitely a lot more races out there. There’s definitely more variety in the terrain too.” Felix said.
A smile formed on Olympia’s face, as the thought of meeting other races came to mind. She was glad to have met Felix and Fella. “It was kind of funny how surprised you were when you first saw me. Then again, a lot of people here react that way.” Felix said with a slight smile. “To be honest, when I first met you I wanted your ears to see if they were real,” Olympia stated. Felix laughed. His ears flicked. “Definitely real.” He said.
Olympia laughed, “I know that now.” “I guess it would be odd to see someone covered in fur when all you’ve seen are humans.” Felix said with a shrug. “Yeah, you’re right,” Olympia replied. “Just wait till you see some of the other races.” Felix told her. Olympia couldn’t hide her excitement. “I hope I can be friends with them as I am with you.” she said. “Well you can’t be friends with every person who's ever existed.” Felix teased. Olympia pouted, “I know, but the least I could do is try.”
Felix smiled at her. “I can’t wait to see your face when you see what’s outside these mountains.” He said. “I-It’s not that bad right?” she asked, feeling a bit nervous. “It’s not bad. Just… different.” Felix explained. “Well I have you two so it won’t be that bad,” she gave them a smile. “Fella’s never actually been outside the valley. This will be new for her too.” Felix told her. Fella chirped at him. “Probably less than you’re used to.” He said in response.
“It’s a good thing that we’re all going together then,” Olympia said. “It’s probably changed since I was last outside.” Felix stated. “You said that it’s been a year so it probably has changed,” she responded. “It’s actually been more than a year. I think it’s been four now since I came here. The years before Fella kind of blur together though.” Felix explained.
Olympia nodded. “Well let’s get going,” she said. She couldn’t hide her excitement any longer. She wanted to know what was out there. “We can’t get there instantly. There’s a town between here and the Northeast Pass, so we can stop there. We should get there some time tomorrow afternoon.” Felix told her. “I know. It’s just that I’m too excited.” She responded. Felix laughed. She gave him a smile.
By the time the sun was setting, they had made decent progress. They made camp beside a river on the edge of the forest. “Do you want apples?” Olympia asked, taking them out of her pockets. “I forgot I had them,” she added. “Yeah, thanks.” Felix said, taking one. “Fella do you want one?” she asked, taking out another one. Felix grabbed it and set it down for the small dragon. She jumped down and sat on top of the apple, eating small bits of it. She probably wouldn’t be able to finish the whole thing.
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