A high-pitched cry startled her awake.

“Spinel?”

Ansgarde jumped up, ready to fight whoever dared to threaten her friend again. There were no humans in sight. Spinel’s cry turned out to be laughter.

“Eeh!” she called over.

Ansgarde turned to the sound but was momentarily frozen, taking in her surroundings. What she previously mistook for a tree trunk was actually the stem of a giant mushroom. The semi-translucent cap let in some sunlight, making it look like it glowed.

Ansgarde wiped the loose hair that plastered itself to her face. Her tunic was damp, but at least it was warm.

Spinel was sitting on a small mushroom that grew on top of a tree-sized one, and conversing with… moving mushrooms?

No, they were gray creatures slightly larger than her. Their heads were pointy at the end and spread out like an umbrella at the bottom as if they wore mushroom hats. Long, smooth tentacles came out of where ears should be. More hair-like tentacles covered the body all the way to the feet which had only two toes each. They stood upright, leaning their three-fingered hands on the mushroom trunk. Their frog-like faces were permanently smiling, their words coming out as hums.

Ansgarde got onto her knees to see at their level. Spinel understood their humming noises and laughed heartily at what they had said. Their movements slow, they dropped their heads and became still. If she had not seen their faces a moment ago, she would have mistaken them for fungi.

“You made new friends?”

“Oh-oh-ai,” Spinel said enthusiastically, pointing at the frozen creatures.

“I’ve never heard of Lodolites. You can tell them to relax. I won’t harm them.”

Spinel translated and the creatures slowly moved again, turning up their gilled hat-heads. She interpreted their conversation, which revolved mainly around food recommendations.

Ansgarde only now realized how hungry she was, so she took the suggestion and carefully bit on a white ball that shed little flakes when she touched it. The consistency of the bitter mushroom felt strange on her tongue. It smelled nice though. Her stomach would have to wait until she cooked them. Spinel did not share her preference for cooked food and gorged herself as usual.

Ansgarde stood up, stretched her arms and wings, and marveled at the dreamlike forest. The creaking mushroom, the rhythmic humming, and flutter of wings dispersed the silence like a hushed song. Her feet slipped on slick roots and sunk a little in the rich earth. Small particles floated around, illuminated in the streams of afternoon sun but turned invisible in the shadows.

A snap of a twig behind her made her turn. There was nothing there. Maybe another creature.

She walked between the overgrown mushrooms, stopping to admire purple snails with glowing, gold markings on black shells. Their tentacles retracted, black eyes at the ends looked around, then slimy fingerless hands emerged and reached for a little red berry. With the prize in its grasp, the shell’s spiral glowed, and the snail teleported out of there in a little twirl.

She tried one berry. The sourness was surprisingly potent, and she was about to spit it out, but then, the flavor morphed into a pleasant sweetness that made her reach for more. They were addicting. Her tongue numb, she finally stopped herself and walked away before she ate too many.

She followed a stream of light ahead, thinking it would lead to an open field, but instead, she found herself at the edge of a pond. A swim sounded like a divine idea. First, tumbling around on dusty plains among dry weeds and unwashed humans, then caked in the moist air of the mushroom-island, she was filthy.

She tested the water. It was lukewarm and did not smell of anything suspicious. It seemed normal. She was about to take off her tunic, but a ruffling behind her made her reconsider. Even if it were only the little mushroom creatures, she couldn’t bear the idea of being watched. Besides, her clothes needed washing as well.

She submerged, leaving only her head above the water and sighed, tasting relief from the grueling gravity. She’d never had the luxury of having an entire pond all to herself. Upper Heliodor pool was divine but was also overcrowded. Swimming was not very different from flying, and all Empyreals loved it. But in this magical place, she didn’t have to share. No one would spoil this pleasure for her.

She stopped swimming and turned on her back, wings spread out. Floating, she admired the brilliant blue sky. She couldn’t do this back home either. Looking up only gave her the view of Lower Heliodor. She would have to fly far from her home island to see the amber sky of the Nether.

“I wonder what this looks like at night,” she mused to herself and grinned broadly. She would find out soon enough.

With no humans to worry about, she could fully enjoy this adventure. For the first time in her life, she was doing something worthwhile, something to be proud of, something to be respected for. Like a character from one of her tales, she was the realm-crossing, savage-fighting, pure-hearted hero. She saved a demon in distress, brawled with some locals, socialized with others, and discovered unique lands. Maybe she was more like Sadie, the warrior princess, than she thought.

The only thing she was missing was a magical object, an enchanted sword, or an elixir - something to give her an advantage if trouble ever found her. All fantasy heroes she read about acquired these tokens at the beginning of their quest. She wished Lamassu had given her one.

She frowned, realizing what else she was missing - information. These humans seemed to know something about the curse. Why haven’t they freed the dragons themselves?

She gasped and splashed in the water. What if humans were the curse placed upon the dragons? Would removing them lift the curse?