The wooden house nestled deep in the forest seemed frozen in a strange routine. Every morning, the same silent ballet played out: Elios rose at dawn, his soft footsteps barely echoing on the worn wooden floor. From his room, he could already hear Merlione bustling in the kitchen, the clinking of utensils betraying her presence.
In those early days, the young boy carefully avoided meeting the Beast's gaze. He contented himself with observing her movements from the corner of his eye, noting every detail: the way her claws delicately handled the vegetables, how her tail swayed gently as she cooked, the rhythm of her breathing as she read by the fire.
One particularly foggy morning, as the scent of an herb stew filled the cabin, Elios could no longer contain the questions tormenting him.
"What do you really want?" The question burst out abruptly, slicing through the silence like a blade.
Merlione paused, the wooden spoon frozen above the steaming pot. She turned slowly, her golden eyes meeting the boy's. Her feline face held a serene, almost melancholic expression.
"I believe I already told you," she replied in a soft voice. "I just want to prevent another life from being extinguished, as thousands do every day in these senseless wars."
She gently placed the spoon down and leaned against the counter, her gaze drifting into the distance, as if reliving scenes she would rather forget.
Elios, his fists clenched on his knees, insisted, "And your people? The other Beasts? Won't you be hunted or pursued if they find out you're sheltering a human?"
An enigmatic smile brightened Merlione's face. "For now, I prefer not to think about it," she said with a shrug of her massive shoulders. "We're far away, in an old forest abandoned by the Beasts. I quite like this life in hiding, far from the wars."
Then, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, she added, "And besides, if anything happens to me, I have a secret weapon."
Curiosity overcame suspicion. "What kind of weapon?" Elios asked, leaning forward despite himself.
"A very powerful fire mage," Merlione replied, looking at him with a playful smile.
For the first time in weeks, a genuine smile lit up Elios's face. This simple gesture seemed to transform the room's atmosphere, as if a ray of sunlight had pierced the clouds.
Encouraged by this crack in the boy's shell, Merlione continued, "But first, this young mage needs to eat and train, because for now, his flames are only good for lighting a candle when he's afraid of the dark!"
Her warm laughter filled the room as Elios protested, cheeks flushed, "That's not true! I was just... checking if my powers still worked!"
The days that followed took on a new tone.
Silences were no longer heavy but companionable. Elios began to follow Merlione in her daily tasks, helping her tend medicinal herbs in the garden, listening with fascination to her stories about the properties of plants.
One evening, as they shared a meal by the crackling fire, Elios, who had been watching Merlione for some time, finally dared to ask the question burning on his lips.
"Tell me, Merlione... why did you become a warrior?"
The feline warrior turned her gaze away from the flames, a fleeting melancholy crossing her eyes.
"Well... I didn't really have a choice. It was the only path available to me to survive."
"What do you mean?" Elios asked, intrigued.
"I'll tell you some other time," she replied softly.
Elios nodded, understanding that he shouldn't press. After a moment of silence, he asked again, "And if you had had a choice, what would you have wanted to do?"
"Hmm..." Merlione seemed surprised by the question. "I've never really thought about it. Honestly, I don't know... maybe just live a normal life and explore the world."
"Explore the world?" Elios's eyes lit up. "The church books had many stories about the world and neighboring peoples, but they always warned that it was dangerous."
"Nonsense!" Merlione replied with a small laugh. "This world is beautiful. It's just that we don't have the opportunity to forgive each other and make peace."
"Hmm..." Elios pondered.
"And what about you?" Merlione asked, turning to him. "What's your dream? What do you want to become?"
The boy stared at the flames for a long moment, as if searching for his answer there. When he finally spoke, his voice was filled with a new determination:
"My dream... is to become the ultimate Flame Mage. I want to master fire like no one before me, to protect those I love and prevent others from going through what I have."
"The ultimate Flame Mage?" Merlione repeated, intrigued. "What is that?"
Elios looked at her with surprise. "You don't know?"
He continued, excitement in his eyes. "He was a legendary mage! He could create flames that danced in the sky like auroras, and his fire was so powerful it could purify even the deepest darkness!" The boy's eyes sparkled as he went on. "But the most incredible thing is that his flames had the power to warm hearts."
Wherever he went, people would gather around his fire, forgetting their differences. And they say he had golden eyes that shone like suns, with hair as yellow as the flames he commanded."
At these words, Merlione flinched imperceptibly, her body tensing slightly. Her gaze lingered on the dancing flames in front of them before she murmured, almost to herself, "You're talking about the Golden Mage..."
"Yes, with golden hair! My father often told me stories about his extraordinary fire magic," Elios continued enthusiastically. "And since I have the fire gift too, he encouraged me to become like him... even though deep down, my parents would've preferred I become a priest."
"You know him then?" Elios asked eagerly, stifling a yawn he tried to hide.
Merlione watched the young boy, whose eyes were beginning to droop with fatigue, clearly struggling to stay awake despite his interest in the conversation. A tender smile crossed her feline face.
"Yes, I know him..." she replied softly, "but it's late, and this story deserves to be told another night. We should both get some rest."
Elios nodded, his eyelids growing heavier with exhaustion. They rose, leaving behind the last embers of the fire that had been a silent witness to their confidences. In the darkness, their silhouettes moved toward the wooden cabin, their soft footsteps blending with the forest's nocturnal whispers.
That night, for the first time since his arrival, Elios fell asleep unafraid, lulled by the soothing purr of his protector, who watched over his slumber like a gentle sentinel. In the darkness of the cabin, only the moonlight filtering through the cracks in the planks illuminated their peaceful forms, keeping safe the secrets of shared stories and mysteries yet to be unveiled.
Thus, the evening came to an end.