This was always the hardest day of the year for Fergus. He thought about Celeste constantly, but on the anniversary of her death he thought about his failures, and those were much harder to cope with. He would run through the day over and over in his head but always came to the same conclusion, he had not been able to save his wife.

After horrifying the girls in the morning due to his black eye and bloody cheek, he had headed to the old market to look for some new inspiration or materials for his shop. He had forgotten that much would be closed because of the rally, not needing a further excuse, he slipped into an elven pub that served his favourite ale. The tavern was called ‘Alements’, he chuckled every time he saw the sign. He didn’t know if it was a spinoff of ailments or elements. Celeste, had loved playing with words.

These daily reminders of things she loved, when would they stop being painful?

Alements was a cheery looking pub. Burnt orange coloured walls, dark wooden tables, and the friendliest barkeeps. Today, the large door was propped open, and the sun was shining in.

“Hello Fergus, what will it be? Faren will be sad she missed you; she’s helping Avery with the rally. I hope it doesn’t get too wild. Last time they almost drank all my wares.”

Faren was a barkeep at Alements. Normally, men would have been dying to hear that she missed them. But Fergus just shrugged and said, “a Sweet Meadow ale today Kurtis. I’ll pay extra for the orange slice if you have one?”

The Sweet Meadow ale was a cloudy ale with a slight citrus flavour. The malt and barley came from the farmers of the village Sweet Meadow, hence the name. The stone krug arrived, the beer foam just beginning to topple over the rim. The mug was engraved with Azuren oranges. Fergus squeezed the small orange slice, took a big gulp and sighed slightly in pleasure and partially in guilt, it wasn’t even lunch time yet. He began to daydream, his favourite daydream, about when he met Celeste.

--

He had been traveling for 25 days, sent on a crazy quest from his blacksmith master, to find a special tree bark that only grew in the state of Linlia. Sometimes he wondered if his master even wanted an apprentice, he sent Fergus so often on these ‘quests’ that Fergus was worried he wasn’t getting enough forge time.

He was exactly at the border of Sinceria and Linlia when he heard the screaming. There was a wyvern attacking six elves. It was the first blue wyvern Fergus had ever seen; and it was a beauty. Light blue and pastel teal scales were glittering against the endless blue sky. It wasn’t a large one, about 3 meters long (9.5 feet) not counting the tail, and he estimated about 230 kilos (around 500 lbs).

He couldn’t tell who was ‘winning’ the battle, but he noticed the problem right away, the elves had frost enchanted weapons but this was a frost wyvern. The elves looked exhausted already. He wondered if he could scare it off; it would be a shame to have to kill it.

Fergus reached inside his deep brown cloak. He had a fire throwing potion and his trusty sword. He had always been terrible at planning. Was more of a spur of the moment type of fighter. In typical fashion, he ran towards the combat and bellowed, “hide behind your caravan! I have fire. Shield your eyes.”

The elves looked at the huge young man running directly towards the wyvern. They didn’t need to be told twice. They dashed and took cover behind the caravan as the wyvern covered it in ice.

The wyvern looked at the new thing running towards it. This one looked different, stronger? No that wasn’t it. Experience. The wyvern started looking around for a potential escape route if it came to that. His eyes locked with the human; they both had the same ice blue eyes.

Then everything had happened so fast, Fergus sometimes messed up the order.

Fire potion thrown.

A roar.

Sprayed with painful ice.

A slash.

A stab.

Then the ROAR.

Fergus was laying on the ground. He saw one of the elves staring at him, her little head peeking around the caravan. She had huge jade green eyes. Fergus would never forget the way she looked at him. How much had she seen? His brain felt fuzzy.

She was sprinting towards him, “Get undressed now. You were hit hard by its frost-breath.” She looked around and grabbed his thick brown cloak. He was looking bad and she would need to work fast.

“Larkin, I need all of our blankets. Quickly now, he’s heavy.”

Three of the elves carried him over to the caravan.

Fergus’ body was shivering hard, he couldn’t see anything but snow and the elves. “What happened to the wyvern?”

The green-eyed elf, placed her hand softly on his forehead, “Shhhhhh, save your energy, you scared it away. I don’t think it will be coming back.” She made Fergus drink something. And then he felt warmth slowly spreading through his body.

Another one of the elves, with the same white blond hair, but dark eyes was rubbing a salve on his skin. Fergus heard humming and then all was silent.

He didn’t wake up until the next day. His nose actually had awoken him. Sitting around the fire were the six elves he had saved. A stew was beginning to boil. He sniffed again. Carrot and potato. His stomach let out such a sound that the elves stopped talking and looked over to him.

“I wasn’t expecting you to wake up so soon. But your skin is healing wondrously,” the green-eyed elf picked up an apple and climbed into the large caravan. “I am Celeste. Thank you for saving us yesterday,” she paused, handed him the apple, and then whispered, “you could have killed yourself. You need to be more careful.”

Fergus shrugged; he had seen real monsters before. A wyvern didn’t scare him, he had been relieved that it had gotten away, he hated hurting animals.

He took a bite of the apple, he had heard that the Linlia apples were the best, this one did not disappoint, juicy and sweet with a tinge of sour. He would say to this day, it was the best apple he had ever eaten.

He looked at the young woman more carefully. She had a light blue cloak with detailed embroidery. Was that real silver woven into it?

“It was no problem.” He shivered thinking of how it had rained ice on him. “I am Fergus, a blacksmith apprentice. I’ve been living the last few years in Azuren.”

“Azuren?! That is so far away. You must tell me everything. Mother of Gods, where are my manners? Let me introduce you to the group.”

They were all from Linlia and were enchanters of some sort. Celeste and the other female elf were healing enchantresses. The two younger looking males were archers. They both could enchant arrows. One with frost and one with the wind. The last two were warriors.

Myles, one of the warriors, and the oldest of the young group, had a lute in his arms. He was gently strumming while looking at Fergus; he was wary of humans.

“Our enchantments are far more valuable than human enchantments. You can maybe make a sword lighter or sharper, however we can weave the elements into the metal. Larkin, show him your sword.”

The only Elf-hu of the group walked forward. He held his sword sideways for Fergus to admire. It was too small for Fergus, but it was a beautiful blade. Narrow, and sharp, with ornate small flowers engraved in the hilt and pommel. The edge of the blade was a silvery blue. Fergus could feel the chill without having to touch it.

Larkin was a bit shy and in awe of Fergus, “it was my father’s. He called it Hellebore.”

“My master would pay you to study this. It is an absolutely beautiful blade.”

Celeste jumped up and almost hit her head on the caravan ceiling. “Then that’s what we shall do!”

Fergus took a moment to look around the caravan. He was propped up on silky cushions and it was very decorated. Tiny pink and purple flowers were painted on the ceiling. It looked like something he would have seen at the Azuren court, not in the middle of nomad’s land.

Fergus stepped slowly down from the caravan, his skin felt itchy, but besides that, he felt almost normal. He looked around the caravan and was shocked. Standing around the trees, instead of horses, were four massive white reindeer. Their harnesses alone looked more expensive than anything Fergus had ever owned.

The lute paused for a moment; Myles was watching Fergus closely.

“What?” asked Celeste. “Have you never seen the Ren? They are sacred to our tribe.”

Fergus had his hand close to his sword, “Are you thieves?”

“Mother of Gods, no. Whatever gave you that outlandish idea?” Celeste looked hurt.

Myles got up glaring at Fergus. “Come on, we healed him. A favour for a favour. Let’s go.”

“Just tell him. If your mother had sent him here to collect you, he would have known anyways who you are,” said Larkin the Elf-hu.

Larkin didn’t care if he was being selfish or unfair or whatever other word Myles would call him later. This Fergus, could be his ticket for getting out of Linlia. He hated it there.

Linlia was one of the three nation states in the known world. Its elders, the leaders, the people, even the Ren all had the same background. Same culture, and similar beliefs. And then there was Larkin. Not only an Elf-hu, but his father had left them when he was young. His father had been like a hero to him. As most children do, he blamed his mother when his dad left. She was like everyone else in Linlia and couldn’t understand why he felt different.

Except for Celeste. He liked to think she was his bright snowflake on dreary days. It had been her idea to leave Linlia. He had been so excited, was counting down the minutes before they left. But now they had been traveling for 3 weeks. Their food stores were slowly diminishing. They could have crossed into Sinceria but no one was really sure what they should do, or where they should go.

Fergus walked over to the Ren. He had never ridden one, but held out his hand to the one closest, the way he would do with a horse. It seemed to approve of this greeting, and nudged his hand hoping to be pet. Fergus took a deep breath, the elves seemed to be disagreeing with one another. “If the Ren are as sacred to you as you said they are, we need to get them back.”

Celeste whipped her head around. “No, they go where I go.”

“Listen, have any of you ever left Linlia,” Fergus looked accusingly around the group, and was met with silence, “Good. I didn’t think so. Boars breath, these things are like bait for wyverns. Their hooves look ideal for snow and grass terrains. Sinceria has the largest capital of the unknown world. They will be on streets and rock paths for days. And if you did then ever make it to Azuren, they wouldn’t survive the Harvest season. It gets very hot. Who planned this trip of yours anyways?”

“I did,” said Celeste sheepishly. “I am the Elderwoman’s daughter.”

“Am I supposed to know what that means?”

Celeste laughed loudly, “that is exactly the reason why I need to leave Linlia. Come let’s sit around the fire and I will tell you about our country. Then we can discuss next steps.”

Everyone seemed to relax a bit after that. “The stew is done. Let’s eat first,” said one of the archers.

They took turns telling Fergus about their home, only Larkin had remained quiet. Celeste truly did love her Ren, and spent the longest time talking about them. Hours had gone by, second bowls of the delicious carrot and potato stew were passed around, when it happened.

Like a mum holding her babe, Myles gently cradled his lute nodding at Celeste. She stood up and tucked her hair behind her ears, her eyes were sparkling. And she sang. The songs of Linlia, of older days, of battles, of love and of loss. She sang with a voice far older and wiser than she was. A voice that was a gift. Myles began to harmonize softly in the background. They sang until the stars began to twinkle, and one of Myles’ fingers had started to bleed.

When they finally stopped. No one spoke. Fergus opened his mouth, but no words or sounds could do justice after that.

Celeste’s eyes were watery but she was smiling. She was born to sing. It was the one thing she had always been certain of. “My apologies to all of you. I didn’t plan this well. Let’s go home. Let’s get Fergus the bark he needs for his master, show him the glory of the Ren, and Mother of Gods, I promise you our next adventure will be better than this.”

The elves began to cheer and laugh, the Elf-hu was silent, and the human was still speechless from the singing.

“What say you, Fergus,” she held her hand out to him, “do you want to see our home?”

He stood up too quickly, and almost fell back down. She laughed again.

He steadied himself, and stared into those jade eyes, “I would be absolutely honoured.”

The next six months, learning how to enchant, meeting the elders, learning how to ride the Ren, where all amazing for Fergus. But if he had to pinpoint it to one moment, maybe his favourite life-changing experience besides his daughters being born, it was that night, around the bonfire, falling in love with Celeste hearing her sing.

--

“Fergus…Fergus,” Kurtis was snapping his fingers at his friend.

Fergus blinked and looked up at him. His hand was still tightly holding his empty krug.

“Your head was up in the clouds again. We got word.”

Kurtis slid a plate in front of him. A steamy fried tomato sandwich with crumbled goat cheese, served with apple slices. Alements was the type of pub that only had three things on the menu, whatever was seasonally appropriate, but guaranteed to be delicious.

“Thanks. Who scouted? In the city or out?”

“Both. One of the Sweet Meadow rangers saw the orc hoard. Thank Mother of Gods, they didn’t smell him. I guess last night was just their scouting crew. There is around 40-50 of them camping towards the lake.”

Fergus, stopped chewing. “40-50?! We will need everyone tonight. The ones last night were more dangerous than expected.”

Leaning over the smooth bar, Kurtis whispered, “Aye commander. I’ll give the signal for sundown. But why are they coming? What are they looking for?”

“I don’t know Kurtis; and that scares me.”