The sky was staggeringly clear and blue, it seemed to spread indefinitely with no end in sight.
As Anemone rode her horse following the long dirt road, wind gusted over the fields, grass rustled, and tiny ripples ran through it all along to the faraway forest.
Scenes like this made one wonder why it's called Windyfields. The wind is as gentle as it ever could be and brought only the most relaxing of feelings to those standing there, unlike many places sharing the first part of its name.
This place is no longer the same. Although the green color is slowly returning the scenery to how it was, the rocky hills and boulders that fell around would leave a mark that's going to last.
Near the hollow carcass of the male rorock, she descended and stood looking at the clear blue sky. Her memory went back to the battle that ended a little over a week ago.
Sieg, riding on one of the wyverns he taunted the female rorock into following him up beyond the clouds, and just when the roaring seemed to stop thunder exploded shaking both heaven and earth, then rather than rain, burning rocks showered all over the land.
It was a sight to behold, even though the lightning that spread was bright enough to blind anyone who dared to look its way. Eternals hunting dragons.
Every last one of those stories happened away from the eyes of those who had a limited life. Witnessing it for the first time, the people of Windyfields finally knew what the eternals really are.
"WELL LOOK WHO'S HERE," a voice called, loud as ever.
Anemone turned in its direction, surprised to see the large women she met during the crisis. "HOW IS YER BELLY GOIN'?" a huge grin spread across her face, remembering the time she punched the girl snatching her consciousness away.
"To tell you the truth, I still have some trouble eating." Of course, such effect would never be real considering the armor she was wearing at the time. But tough as it may be, the hit still managed to make her sleep.
"That's why ya need to eat meat! Meat I say,meat!" the large woman laughed her lungs out. "Gladly, we have enough of this baby to last us a whole year! Come visit our shop later this day; this guy turned ta be really good at handling dragon!!"
"Ya say that but I'm the one always cookin' damnit!" yelled the man mining the carcass.
"I have tried dragon meat before so I know it's not suitable for my tongue," said Anne, smiling at the man and his wife, "but I will gladly accept the offer; we have yet to celebrate your safe return"
The castle city didn't fall, and the threat had been dealt with. The blood had dried, and the fire was put out.
There is much mourning to be had, but for now everyone must celebrate the passing of death and the safety of the homes that welcomed them back.
"By the way, do you have any idea where he might be?" asked Anne, remembering the reason she traveled all the way here in the first place.
"Ah! If it's that boy then he is over there," the large woman pointed to the mountain like rock that dropped near the forest. The fire it spread also changed the sight and it would be long before the woods returned to their previous state.
A few minutes later the girl arrived on her horse just to be more and more shocked by the sheer size of that boulder.
The rhythmic sound of metal hitting rocks rang from atop as she circled around careful not to make a noise, but her legs stepped on a scorched branch, cracking it and the hitting came to a stop.
"Ah, it's you." said a voice from inside the rock.
"How did you know?"
"You think I wouldn't recognize your scent?" two eyes peeked from the edge; half closed. The boy whom they belonged to spoke in an emotionless tone, "you sweat a lot."
Trying not to get offended by his rude remark the girl already had a replay, "yeah right, you probably saw me coming from up there."
The boy slid down on the rocks' side his bare fingers scratching it like metal claws, then with a jump he landed beside the crimson haired girl.
They looked at each other for quite some time, and while she suppressed the urge to make a really smug smile, the boy asked, "what?"
"Nothing, I was just thinking why you don't turn to your other form."
"Well, with that last one I have died seven times this year," he scratched his head, visibly annoyed. "I don't particularly need to use it till the next ceremony."
When the female dragon devoured him along with his fully charged hammer, he triggered the last attack right before his body completely melted.
The next thing he knew was waking up at the outskirts of the capital in his thirteen years old form.
Constantly keeping the older version of him required a lot of concentration and many sleepless nights, so the better choice was to wait for the new year to get it to last through the ceremony, foregoing the trouble required by such feat.
Although having a girl many years younger look down at him doesn't feel good, he hated the effort needed to grow above her height.
"Father said your next assignment is ready," said the girl, her cheeks slightly reddening. If you were to ask her, she preferred him in this form many times over the other. Not that there is anything wrong with an older him.
"You gotta be kidding me! It's been only a week!"
"An urgent request for night blue herbs has come. The snowy mountains are taken over by a horde of three handed gorillas"
"The snowy mountains… at least no valuable equipment would be lost to monsters of that level. Is chasing them away all right?"
"As long as they could gather the herbs," suddenly, a thought crossed the girls mind, "ah, but be careful, I heard something about an ice giant lurking there."
"Ice giants live in frozen lakes, not the snowy mountains."
"Who knows, maybe one of them decided to move there."
"Very unlikely…"
Siegfried sat down, wondering what weapon to take. Facing another dragon wasn't one of his plans for the year, but orders are orders and complaining won't get the work done.
The sky was staggeringly clear and blue, it seemed to spread out across the entire world.
Wind gusted over the fields, grass rustled, and tiny ripples ran through it all along to the faraway forest.
Burned rocks – no one would guess they rained from above – and the scorched forest would soon grow back to what it once was.
No dragon would approach this place anytime soon, the girl had no worries unlike the boy whose weapon was lost.
"By the way, I wanted to ask you before. Which was stronger, the thunder storm, or the two Rorocks?" asked the girl eager to know.
But the boy shut her down only saying, "well, that's a story for another time."