“Before you go, Dain, I was hoping you could enlighten me on the purpose of the ‘ancient key,’ as my people call it,” asked Danny. Reaching down, Danny called the earth up to form a faux copy of the long cylindrical device that had been stolen from Diadem’s wizards. Danny had specifically waited until the queen was present, as he noticed the dwarf’s nervousness when she was near.
As expected, Dain looked between the stone object and the queen, and said, “I…I don’t know if it is my place to explain its purpose.”
Danny ignored Dain’s reluctance, asking, “My people are using it to try and ‘unlock’ every young boy’s mana. They hold the device over a boy’s chest and inject massive amounts of mana into it. The vast majority of boys are rendered without a connection to the source, thus loosing its benefits. The rest have their mana unlocked, but it is an incomplete thing.”
Dain looked horrified by this news, “Why in the dark depths would they do that? Every dwarf knows not to point them at anyone.”
“Then, can you tell us what they are for?” Danny pressed.
Dain looked conflicted, but relented, “Calling it a ‘key’ is not that far off. We dwarfs use it to focus mana, but not on ourselves… That’s all I can say without gettin’ in a heap of trouble.”
Danny bowed his head in concession, “Thank you for that, and I wish you the safest of travels.”
Forgetting the awkward moment, Dain moved forward to reach up and slap Danny’s shoulder, “Send word if you are ever near the conclave, and I will be happy to meet you at the trade post right outside the Dwarven Mountains. I owe you at least a couple pints of dwarven ale for pulling my carcase out of that cesspit.”
Danny smiled and shook the dwarf’s hand before Dain climbed up into the carriage. Soon, the elven squad and the carriage were out of sight.
“Did you learn what you wanted to know, Danny?” asked the queen beside him.
Danny shook his head, “I was hoping for a quick and easy answer, but at least he did eliminate some of my guesses. I will know more when I get back to Diadem and see their copy of the key.”
CHAPTER 35
The tall and unnatural tree seemed to grow right out of the freshly fallen show. Made up of three intertwined sacred trees, it sat amongst the still of the peaceful winter forest. It held the kind of quiet that can only be experienced in the middle of the coldest of seasons. The quiet permeated the entire world so that one would expect to hear the sound of the last falling leaf hit the ground like the felling of an entire tree.
“Danny Creek!”
*Does the woman think she is our mother?* grumbled Cranny at hearing Arya yelling.
Danny sighed as he landed in front of his tower right outside the elven capital. Arya the rest of her Trio were waiting outside. Danny noticed that Wizard Basalt was nowhere to be seen.
Danny put on a fake smile, “Good afternoon, Arya, Wren, Brianna. How’s your sorcery going?”
“Do you have any idea what you have done?” Arya confronted him, placing her body between him and the front door.
Danny paused before he moved into the woman’s personal space, “I know exactly what I have done, and you are welcome.”
“How long have you been able to do this?! First Ivy and her Trio, now this,” the shadow leader demanded.
Danny shrugged, “You three were the second group, and the first humans, for me to try it on, so I was happy there were not any adverse effects.”
All three women’s eyes widened upon hearing this. Arya’s face only seemed to turn a deeper shade of red.
Before she could begin another tirade, Danny interrupted, “I can take it away if you would rather.”
Brianna Basalt quickly stepped up next to Arya, “That is alright, Danny. We appreciate this amazing gift you have given us.”
Wren Basalt grabbed Arya’s arm and slowly pulled her out of Danny’s way, “Yes, thank you, Danny. Please give us some guidance when you have free time.”
Danny beamed at the normally silent members of the Trio, saying, “You are most welcome. Please come to me if you have any question.”
Danny walked through the front door to find Wizard Basalt wiping his forehead with a cloth. The older man nodded to Danny, saying, “Good job there boy. I was having the hardest time keeping Arya from destroying half the forest with her new Fire Affinity. If it weren’t for Wren and Brianna, I would probably have already gone to see if any of the elves are looking to adopt a handsome and slightly undercooked earth wizard. Now that you’re back, you can help me deal with this mess you made.”
“Sorry about that, Wizard,” Danny apologized. “I needed them out of my hair for a few moments while I slipped out. I will work with them on the sorcerer side of magic.”
The wizard landed one of his patented spine-crushing back slaps, “It’s good to have you back…so they have someone else to nag.”
Danny tried his best to get his arm to fall back into its socket as he headed up to his workroom. There wasn’t really much to be done to prepare for the wedding ceremony. Cranny was busy at work in the new… Danny couldn’t remember what were they calling it now?
*R&D Lab,* Cranny mumbled, as if answering while distracted by something else.
*What are we a corporation now?* Danny asked.
If Cranny heard, he chose to ignore Danny’s query. Danny put away a few things in the workshop before heading to his room. He found all three girls were there waiting for him, and they had already changed out of their traveling clothes.
“Hey Danny,” Jade greeted him by the door with a smile.
Ivy and Brooke had taken his bed and were leaning against the wall it was pushed against.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Danny asked them as he sat down at the end of his bed.
“Arya told us what you did before you left,” Brooke said.
Danny looked confused, before answering, “I didn’t tell you about that?”
Ivy shook her head, “No you didn’t, Danny. Don’t you understand what this could mean?”
Danny smiled knowingly, “Yes.”
Ivy took in his response and kept quiet. Something about her reaction concerned Danny.
Jade came over and sat next to Danny on the bed, opposite Ivy and Brooke, her head quickly finding its way onto his shoulder.
“Danny, is what you said about where you are from is true?” Brooke asked suddenly.
Danny quickly put up a barrier around the room, making sure the guards were still waiting outside, “Yes, is there anything you wanted to ask me?”
Brooke look conflicted, “You told us about your family there…” Brooke hesitated before asking, “Did you have anyone special you left behind?”
Danny swallowed, slowly shaking his head, “I dated a few girls, but none of the relationships worked out. I was pretty lonely there at the end, before I died. I am really glad I was paired up with you three.” Danny smiled to himself, and Jade slipped her fingers between his own.
Ivy had apparently been trying to hold back, and as she blurted out, “So, you have been seeing us as children this whole time?” her words held more than a bit of anger, frustration, and, to Danny’s shame, resentment.
Danny was taken aback by this. At first, he was going to deny it, but then he replied honestly, “Yes.”
Brooke crossed her arms, tears welling up in her eyes, “That’s not fair.”
“What isn’t fair?” Danny asked, wanting to make sure he understood.
Brooke wiped a hand quickly across her face, refusing to look him in the eyes, “You got to have all those…relationships and we only get this one chance, and-and you don’t even see us in that way.” Brooke looked over at the girl next to her, “Well, except Ivy.”
Jade spoke up next to him, “Brooke, I kissed Danny, too.”
Ivy’s jaw dropped at this news, and Brooke looked to Jade, completely floored in shock, before her gaze shifted slowly to Danny, “It’s me then… You don’t like me!”
“Brooke, it’s not
like…,” Danny tried to get out, but Brooke had already bolted out of the room. He easily tracked her as she rushed down and out of the tower.
He started to get up to follow, but a hand grasped Danny’s shoulder, stopping him from following Brooke. Ivy had moved over and was sitting on Danny’s other side.
“Promise me you will quit seeing us as kids and more as your proper fiancées. We all love you Danny, but you don’t seem to love us in the same way,” Ivy said sadly.
Danny sat back down and put his head in his hands, “Uhhh, I do feel that way about you three, but I don’t know…”
Ivy placed a hand on his back, and a sarcastic laugh escaped her, “Back when we were still in training, I spoke with the Basalt Trio about how frustrated I was that you didn’t seem interested in me…or us. They told me you were young still and to not pressure you into anything you were not ready for. Danny, how about you try that, but with us?”
Danny lifted his head to look over at Ivy. Laughing lightly, Danny asked, “Are you sure you are not also someone older trapped in a younger body?”
Ivy smiled at his jest, pushing on his back, “Go make it up to her, Danny.”
Danny stood at her prompting and left to hunt down Brooke.
***
Brooke stomped through the now shin high snow, moving deeper into the forest. It was getting dark, and she hadn’t brought anything warmer to wear than the clothes the elves had made her from the sacred tree. Hugging herself for warmth she looked back toward the direction of the tower, debating whether or not to go back.
The tears, which she had stopped shedding a good while ago, still stained her cheeks and were frozen there by the cold winter air. She continued ignored them, not caring if they stung slightly.
There was a rustling noise in the trees to her left. In the dead of winter, there was nothing else to compete with the sound but Brooke’s own breathing and now heavily beating heart. Searching around, she had foolishly forgotten her mace and was preparing to switch to her lava form when she spotted them. Two bright yellow eyes. The glowing eyes were staring directly at her from high up in a tree in the same direction she had heard the sound. The eyes started to move along the canopy, circling around her. What they could possibly belong to could not be discerned in the waning light of the sun. The eyes circled behind her while they slowly moved in closer.
Brooke turned her body with the movement of the eyes and stepped backward, toward the safety of the tower. The eyes fell from the trees and into the snow below. With the white snow as a background, she easily made out the shadow of a body with a long tail that swished around behind it.
Brooke was reaching for that part of her that controlled her Lava Aspect, when a slightly familiar voice called out her name, “Brooke.”
“Who’s there? What do you want?” Brooke demanded. More than a little fear could be heard in her voice.
Walking out into the last light of the setting sun, Danny said, “I am sorry, Brooke. Can you forgive me?”
Brooke squinted as if that would make what she was seeing make sense, “Danny?”
In his Sacred Beast Form, Danny nervously swished his tail. He wasn’t sure if this was the best way to make up for the pain he had caused her. He hadn’t taken this form since the embarrassing episode in the throne room, so he hoped the surprise would get her to open up to him.
“Yeah, it’s me. I wanted to make sure I could get to you before you ran off. I am a lot better at sneaking around in this form. Do you want me to change back?” Danny asked.
Brooke looked torn between curiosity at his new form and her hurt feelings. She finally turned away, arms crossed, “Do whatever you want. What I want never mattered to you before.”
Danny crouched down and quickly bounded over behind the upset Brooke. He mimicked Phantom’s habits by rubbing his face along Brooke’s shoulder and purring loudly. Danny’s nose was flat against his face like a cat’s, and his long whiskers slid along her sleeve.
“Brooke, please don’t be upset. I am sorry. Can’t you see I am trying to make it up to you?” Danny begged.
Brooke froze at Danny’s touch. As his head came around under her arm, she looked down at his now overly large black irises. Danny was giving her the epitome of the pathetic begging cat look. Brooke snorted as she unconsciously reached out and rubbed behind Danny’s ears, a habit she had picked up from being around Phantom.
Danny purring became significantly louder, and he froze in surprise, not expecting the extreme reaction. If he was in his original form, he would have been beat red. His traitorous body continued to purr loudly as Brooke stopped rubbing to scratch a specific spot behind his ear.
“Brooke, not there,” Danny moaned and came to his senses to find himself laying his head in Brooke’s lap. She was now seated on a fallen log, and he had no recollection about how they had gotten there.
Brooke laughed happily, but it quickly turned into a sad sounding thing. “So is this how you want us to be, a girl and her pet?” Brooke asked.
Danny moved so that he sat across her lap, finding that the position was both strange and yet natural to his current form. Even though he was slightly taller, Brooke’s body was more heavily muscled than his own, and he didn’t have to worry about crushing her. His face was now mere inches from hers, and he said quietly, “No, it doesn’t.”
Being this close, Danny realized he had never really looked at Brooke. Her deep brown eyes were ringed by a lighter shade, giving them an almost halo-like appearance. Her blonde hair was cut short but was still long enough to frame her face. Freckles seemed to cover her cute little nose. Lastly, his eyes lingered on her lips.
Danny shook himself out of his revery as he realized that Brooke had stopped breathing. She, too, was quietly studying his face with great interest as the tension built between them. Leaning forward, Danny licked the side of Brooke’s face.
“Ahhh, gross. Why did you do that?” Brooke yelled as she wiped at her face with her arm. “And why is your tongue so rough? It’s like…”
Danny suddenly grabbed Brooke’s chin and brought her lips to his. Brooke still had her arm up to wipe her face, and while they kissed, she awkwardly kept it up in the air as if she forgotten it was there. Danny pulled away, only to chuckle at her odd appearance.
Brooke slowly opened her eyes, only to realize her arm’s odd position, and she quickly lowered it, glowering at Danny. “You think that’s funny, do you?” Brooke threatened.
Before Danny could get away, Brooke had him by both his ears, and Danny lost all control of his body. Laying limply in her lap, Danny could only watch Brooke’s malicious smile as she found every sensitive part of his ears.
An excited Cranny threatened to interrupt the moment, *Danny! You have to come see what I ma…de…* Cranny’s voice trailed off before he continued in utter disbelief, *What the hell are you doing?* After it was obvious that Danny wasn’t going to be able to reply, Cranny quickly added, *You know, I don’t want to know. If you need me, I will be working in the R&D room, trying to forget…I ever saw whatever this is.*
Danny was once again brought out of his auricular induced state of bliss, but this time it was because he was dumped into the cold snow of the forest floor. His fur and robe were quickly soaked through, and he stood up awkwardly, his arms held out away from his body.
Brooke was walking away, but she had her head turned back watching him carefully. Seeing his haggard appearance, she couldn’t help her laughter as she called over her shoulder, “Now, we are even!”
Danny’s irises shrunk into vertical slits as he glared at the girl’s retreating form. Crouching down low, Danny replied menacingly, “Oh, I will let you know when we are even.”
Laughing, Brooke squealed as she ran back to the tower and away from the quickly approaching wet and cranky ball of fur.
CHAPTER 36
An area north of the palace, where once there stood numerous buildings crafted by elven hands, was now laid bare as throngs of elven citizens gathere
d in the large clearing marked off specifically for them. Those elves of significance took prominent spots closer to the center of the clearing. The outskirts of the clearing now only held sacred trees as the city was slowly being transformed into a true elven capital. Throughout the clearing, the druids had managed to grow fresh grass and wildflowers in the winter weather. Their magic kept the grass green and the flowers blooming. On the far side of the clearing, Danny stood with Elder Breeze as he prepared for the first stage of the wedding ceremony.
“Danny, are you absolutely certain you have this? I know you are very capable, but having a second opinion never hurts,” the head druid nervously wrung his hands. Obviously, the queen had put pressure on the head druid to find out Danny’s plans.
Danny was now in his Sacred Tree Form and grew roots out to connect to the surrounding sacred trees, “Stop worrying. I have this covered, and I already got a second opinion on the design.”
The elder looked surprised and relieved, “You did? Who was it?”
Danny paused and realized he couldn’t say it was Cranny, so instead told the elf, “An old friend.”
Elder Breeze was used to Danny’s sometimes cryptic answers by now and knew to take a different tactic, “I see, now Elder Frost said she saw you planting more than one sacred tree seed. Is this is going to be like your towers you created?”
Danny finished reaching out to the closest sacred trees and the seeds he had planted. Sighing, Danny replied, “Elder, it is too late now to change anything so you should just go and get to your designated spot. I have a wedding tradition to start, and you have the ceremony to officiate.”
The elder didn’t look appeased but gave up and quickly headed over to the waiting crowd.
*Cranny, you got everything ready on your end?*
*Yep, everything is finalized, and you did approve it yourself… Danny, do you think they will like it?*
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