The Fall of a Kingdom

To Find What Is Lost, You Must Be Lost

Gabriel walked for hours before he finally felt that he was safe enough from the town to not be found. He had grew up in the rural parts on the eastern side of the kingdom so he was not unfamiliar with sleeping outdoors if need be, he was only worried about Princess Raven as she was so small and young and could not just sleep on the ground.

Digging through the pack he found some fruit and figured that would be the easiest thing to feed her. Grinding it up into mush he slowly fed the young girl and was once again stumped on why she had never made a sound. He saw intelligence in her eyes, eyes that drew him in with how clear and bright they are even with all the bad that was going on in the Kingdom. He wanted to be able to stay and protect her forever but knew that his body would not make it, he would be lucky to be around by night tomorrow.

His whole life he had dreamed of serving the Royal Family, of protecting them, so even if it cost him his life he would not be upset with the outcome, as long as she survived.

After gathering up some dry wood he started a fire, it was not particularly a cold night, but the fire would keep the un-savory creatures away while they slept. Next he emptied the sack like bundle that Polaris had packed and began to sort through it to make stock of what he would need for the Princess. He was glad she had thought ahead, but he wished she could have been with them. He knew nothing of taking care of a child, he was the youngest of his family so he had never even had to help take care of siblings, let alone someone as important as a Princess.

Finally finishing up his preparations he laid down on his with the Princess on his chest. He had placed the sack in between them as he did not wish to sully her attire with his blood but he we was scared that if he let her even slightly out of his grasp something in the night would grab her.

After listening to their surroundings for several long minutes he finally closed his eyes. He would need what strength he could muster for in the morning.

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.

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Only a couple hours had passed when he jolted awake. The fire had died down, but was not completely burned out. He placed some more dry wood on it and was sitting in thought before what was wrong dawned on him. The Princess! She was no longer on his chest, she is just a baby there is no way she could have left on her own!

His heart felt like it would beat out of his chest. Which way should he start looking first, what or who could have taken her? He was usually a light sleeper, but his wounds must have taken more of his energy than he realized. He was just about to head south back towards town when he heard.. giggling?

The sound stopped him in his tracks, it sounded like a young child, but there should not be any children in this forest, especially this far from town.

Moving towards the sound he found a scene out of a fairytail. There was a clearing that seemed to light up even without the sun. The Pond in the middle was a gentle topaz, while the grass around it a deep jade. He could not believe his eyes, this was not here earlier when he did a perimeter check. Looking around in amazement he almost missed the young girl setting on a rock holding the Princess. She blended in with her surroundings As her skin and hair was of varying shades of green.

"Uh Oh, looks like you found us. I was going to bring her back, I promise!" she said in the most melodic voice he had ever heard. "My name is Aurora! I just wanted to see who was giving off the magical signature, she is so cute, I could just eat her up." She giggled again with a childlike innocence.

Gabriel pinched his arm thinking he must be dreaming. He must be losing his mind, Sprites are not real...

His thoughts were interrupted by the melodic voice, "Of course we are real, silly boy. You are looking for a dragon, yet you think that we would be a myth? Did you hit your head when you escaped the castle earlier?"

He had not told her any of that, how did she know he was looking for a dragon, or that he had escaped the castle. Can she read minds.. He was about to ask when Aurora spoke up again, "I should not even tell you this, but... In order to find what is lost, first you must also be lost. That is it, that is all I will say." She stood and made her way over to him gently placing Raven in his arms, he looked down at her and was relieved that she seemed unharmed.

He looked up to ask about the area only to find himself in the middle of the forest surrounded by trees. The beautiful clearing with the pond was no more. Thinking on what she said, all he could figure was that she meant he would not find the dragon if he was not lost himself. Whatever that meant.

Getting back to their makeshift camp he packed up the sack and once again set off. He could tell that the sun was about to rise, and he needed every minute of daylight he could get to find that dragon. Every now and again he would look down at the Princess seeing that her eyes were wide open watching their surroundings and still never made a sound. He may not know a lot about babies but this cannot be normal.