No. Absolutely not!

Felix took a deep breath as he stared down a furious amethyst dragon. "Zira–"

No!

"Zira… Will you please listen?" He begged, trying to keep his own rising temper down.

She switched to speaking out loud. "We have already heard everything, there is nothing more to hear. The answer is no! We will not leave the tent until Eri wakes."

"Didn't you want to practice today?! Weren't you angry at me for trying to refuse you?" He turned his attention over to Kyrith and gave him a pleading look. "You want to go practice, right?"

The poor ember-colored dragon looked torn, unsure of how to respond. Zira did it for him.

"Do not try to pit him against me!" She let out a dangerous growl. "And you were right. I wanted to practice, but that was before this! Now I only wish to be here!"

Mirezabeth, please give me strength… "Look, I came to a realization. Eri is going to continue to have these…episodes. Both Ashtia and Aluin believe it is stress induced and, until things settle down, she runs the risk of something like this happening again. At the moment, she is improving. However, ask yourself, what will she immediately do once she wakes?"

Zira narrowed her eyes into slits, she knew the answer. "We will do more for her–"

"Exactly! We will do more for her. Just like I've been trying to carry the weight of the world upon my shoulders, she has started to do the same. And, I don't intend to let that continue. In fact, I am starting now."

Felix gestured over to Oralyn as she stepped out from the Healer's tent. "Me and her are going to go see Hargoth in a few minutes and have a meeting. After that, I will be in meetings all day. I will be taking up Eri's workload so that, when she does wake, she can rest."

"And what does that have anything to do with us practicing?! I fail to see how that is relevant!"

"Because we're not postponing the wedding or coronation! And the two of you have something you must perfect, right?"

"We do…" She conceded, her tone guarded. "But it is as you said last night, we still have a few days."

He winced. "I am aware of what I said… But! I also said so long as you are cleared, you may practice. I will go and find Ashtia, she can check the two of you over."

Zira contemplated his words and he decided to push a little more.

"Look, Zira, it might not seem like helping but this performance you wanted to put on, it is necessary. You said so yourself and I fought with you about it. I didn't understand then but I definitely do now. You were right."

Hearing those words, Felix watched as his partner deflated. She finally relented. "Fine, but I leave the decision in Kyrith's talons."

All eyes fell upon the, until now, silent dragon. "I… I don't want to leave Eri. She is my partner and she is hurting…"

Felix started to open his mouth but Kyrith continued.

"But I know her better than anyone. She wanted us to participate in the planning. She wanted all of us to add our own little touches to the ceremonies. She would be sad if we did not take this opportunity to do so."

Both Zira and Felix immediately felt terrible and both stared at each other.

"Kyrith…" Felix started. "I didn't know that, but I promise you– Her, that I will do just that."

The dragon gave him a soft, almost sad smile. "Then we will practice and perfect our dance…"

***

"Took ya long enough," Gillador greeted as Felix and Oralyn came through the portal. He had several large, rolled up parchments in his hands. His teasing expression soon fell away. "How's ya gal doing?"

"It's Her–" Oralyn began to hiss, but Felix quickly interjected.

"She's doing…okay. She has a fever but it's coming down, and Ashtia believes she'll be back to feeling well by tomorrow."

"And ya decided to leave her there all by her lonesome?" the old elf asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Aluin is there to watch, and it wasn't completely my idea. You see, Ashtia said her episode was caused by stress and the pregnancy– And we can't do anything about that… So, I decided that I would do what I can and take her place in this and upcoming meetings."

Gillador nodded sagely. "Ya want her to wake up to a clean house… A wise decision. Careful, though, ya starting to become an old buck. But I suppose that isn't a bad thing, ya are expecting a child after all."

"Yeah…" Felix rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

There was a moment of silence that followed, only interrupted by Oralyn as she cleared her throat. "We're already running late, we should hurry."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Bah, that drunken bastard is probably happy to have the extra time. But then again… Perhaps we should hurry. Wouldn't want to miss this disaster!"

With that, the three of them made their way through the corridor and out into the Sanctuary proper. Though, unlike most times, it was quite busy.

Elves, dwarfs, gnomes, and golems were mostly working up on the levels above, installing what looked like railing and chairs. But, there was some activity down on the bottom floor as well. There, a stage was being erected. It was to be where Eri would be crowned…

As they continued towards the teleport circle, something caught Felix's eye. Glancing over to where the additional dragon eggs were stashed, he saw Watcher and a large contingent of kobolds standing in formation, as if guarding the eggs.

Of course they are… Watcher's life goal seems to be caring for them. With a bit of an amused smirk, Felix came to a stop and waited for Oralyn and Gillador.

"Ready?" he asked, guiding his mana towards the floor.

Oralyn gave a nod and the architect let out a grunt. His mana touched the enchants and–

Blinking, Felix waited for his eyes to adjust before looking around. Out here near the Sanctuary, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun shone brightly down upon them. It was warmer too…

Gillador let out a low whistle. "Damn it. I have to give it to him, he's gone above and beyond even my expectations."

Wondering what the old architect was going on about, Felix cupped his eyes and peered out into the scenery before him. His jaw fell open and his arm dropped to his side in pure shock.

Where once there was a forest of massive sky trees, now there was an open plain. It went on and on, encompassing well over a thousand feet on both sides. And the dwarfs were not even done…

He watched in the distance as a sky tree fell and was immediately set upon by workers and golems. They made shockingly quick work of it as a cacophony of evil growls sounded into the air. By the time he realized he hadn't blinked, they were done. The tree was now cut down into small sections and was in the process of being hauled away.

Another fell and the process started once again…

"There you are!" A voice called out, startling Felix. He quickly turned to it and found Hargoth approaching with a victorious smile upon his face. "Like what you see? Told you I'd only need three days!"

He held out a hand and Felix fumbled before grasping it and giving him a handshake.

"You weren't kidding… How?" He couldn't help but look back to the work being done.

The dwarf let go and pointed to his ear. "Hear that growling? That's those contraptions I told you about. With some modifications they can quickly chew through any tree. Hells, they could cut through stone."

"I… Wow. I'm at a loss for words. If we had those back at the manor–"

The dwarf shook his head and interrupted. "Unfortunately, not. Remember what I said? The contraptions burn through mana crystals. Just to get this done we've used up nearly two-thirds of our stockpile."

His jaw fell open once more. "You wasted so much just to clear these trees?!"

"Yes, but it is worth it. This should show that we dwarves are serious about our commitment. And don't worry, in time we will replenish our stocks."

"Still, what if something happens and you need them?"

Hargoth shrugged. "We still have a third ready to go, that should be more than enough. This," he gestured to the newly created space, "was factored into future plans."

Future plans– Oh, right. They want a permanent presence here. "I see. Well, I am grateful for what you and your kind have done so far. This is far more than anything I could have asked."

"See, Gil? Even a human knows how to be gracious– No offense Felix."

He laughed. "None taken…"

Meanwhile, though, Gillador merely folded his arms and grumbled. "I suppose ya've done a decent job. But we elves could have done this too, if we wanted to waste all our precious resources like ya did."

"Was… Was that a compliment?! From the grouchiest elven bastard alive?! Hah! My ears must have deceived me!"

"Whatever… Can we get moving? This sun is beating down upon us."

"Ah! Right. But, uh… Aren't we waiting for Her Majesty? I don't want to start this meeting without her."

Oralyn spoke up, saving Felix from having to explain everything once again. "Her Majesty is currently indisposed at the moment. It will be only us. But rest assured, I will pass on every detail to her."

"Very well, then," the dwarf gestured for them to follow him. "We have some tents set up that we've been using as a command post for this operation…"

He led them through the open ground and towards the edge of the new clearing where there was, indeed, a group of tents set up. Massive tents…

As they stepped through the flaps of one of those tents, Felix couldn't help but notice a difference in heat. It was definitely cooler inside and felt…refreshing. He took a deep breath and relaxed.

"Enchantments, meant to keep everyone cool when they are resting. Very similar to the ones in the manor, actually. If I were a betting man, I'd say the enchanter probably spent time there."

"You don't know who enchanted these?" Felix asked, a little surprised. Wait a second… "And how do you know about the manor's enchantments?"

For a brief moment Hargoth looked like a child caught with his hard in the sugar jar. "Not exactly… We've had them for a long time, and not everyone likes to boast about their work. As for your other question… It's a rumor I've heard. All I really know about them is how to set them up and fill the enchantments with mana."

Felix wasn't buying it, the canvas that made up the tent looked fairly new. Seems they've been snooping around the manor… I guess it's fine, so long as they don't actually steal anything.

He decided to move on. There was a table in the center surrounded by chairs. He took one and plopped down. "Anyway, from what I've gathered you're nearly done with clearing out the area."

Hargoth chose a seat opposite of him and the others soon followed. "Yes. The next step will be leveling and then building the town."

Gillador spoke up then. "And I've brought some plans…" He laid out his rolled up parchments onto the table. "I'm sure you've come up with some of your own too."

"I have," the dwarf replied, seemingly ignoring the elf's tone. "But seeing as this is meant for elves predominantly, I welcome any suggestions."

Felix sensed an argument was brewing and decided to get ahead of it. "Considering that Eri is currently…indisposed, Oralyn and I will make the decisions. I think that is fair. The Sanctuary was left in my care and she knows more about what the elves want and need."

"Very well, I see no problem with that."

Gillador gave a grumpy, but approving, nod.

"Great!" He leaned forward, genuinely excited to see what both had planned out.

"Let's take a look then!"

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