Melia the Magnificent

Melia didn’t have the mental faculties to spare for anything else right now. Not Moeldywn picking her up, teleporting them both across the city into the courtyard of the Bastion of Light, or people scrambling out of their way as they moved forward with a sense of purpose. Her mind was consumed by one thing and one thing only.

Brandy.

Why was she here? She shouldn’t be here. She couldn’t be here!

Melia didn’t know how trans-dimensional transportation was supposed to work, but she really didn’t want to think about the thinly veiled insinuations. Working with a sample size of precisely one, Melia assumed the worst. After all…she herself only woke up in this world when she died in her old one.

And deep down inside, a tiny, despicable little part of her soul was rejoicing in her best friend’s possible death in their original world if it meant she got to see her again.

Melia felt sick and hated herself for even considering it. She shook her head and banished the thoughts, locking down her emotions into an icy tomb, beating down the joy and the dread. She didn’t know for certain that Brandy died. She didn’t know anything, even the fact that this might indeed be her Brandy was suspect until she verified it with her own two eyes.

And once she did…she’d cross that bridge when she got there.

But as soon as Melia convinced herself not to worry about Brandy’s mortality, a different fear instantly took its place. Would she recognize her best friend? How many years had passed on Earth since she died? Would Brandy recognize her?

What if it were Brandy in body…but not in spirit or mind?

Melia didn’t think she could stomach some imposter wearing her best friend’s skin and was already trying to rationalize how she might eradicate this new nightmare. Besides system-labeled monsters, she had never killed another creature before in cold blood, much less a real person. This was the closest she had ever been to losing herself.

Fortunately, a gentle nudge shook her from her dark thoughts. She stared up blankly at Moeldywn’s face, wondering how they suddenly found themselves in what appeared to be a waiting room.

“Are you with me?” Moeldywn asked. “Ah, I see you are. Good. You seemed absorbed in your thoughts, and I wasn’t sure how to draw you back. I wasn’t about to take you in if you weren’t fully in control of your senses.”

“Are we there?” Melia asked, peering at a nondescript door. The room itself seemed very generic and simple; she couldn’t tell by any of the furniture what this room might be used for or lead to.

“Yes,” Moeldywn explained gently. “We’re in the healing wards at the Bastion of Light. Eluna is behind that door.”

It took half a second before Melia connected the name “Eluna” to Brandy, since she never called her best friend by her in-game name. Once the connection was made, Melia began squirming in an attempt to escape Moeldywn’s arms and run for the door.

But the princess held her tight.

“Hold, Meliastraza,” she grunted, putting an extra amount of magical force behind her arms to keep the dragon contained. “Before we go in there, there’s something you need to know.”

Melia stopped, immediately falling limp, though her patience was dwindling.

“What is it? What’s wrong? Is she hurt? Is that why she’s in the healing ward? Why haven’t they healed her yet?”

“Peace! Peace!” Moeldywn begged. “See? This is why I didn’t want to let you barge in there. Can you listen to me for just a moment?”

Melia clamped her lips shut and stared impatiently at the princess, who looked slightly winded from trying to contain Melia’s thrashing.

“Good. If I put you down, can I trust that you won’t run off?”

Melia nodded her head, but her foot and the tip of her tail began tapping in annoyance.

“Very good. First: no. Eluna is not hurt. Not as far as any of the healers can tell. She’s been under constant supervision from [Clerics], [Priests], and many members of the church. Several [Archbishops] stop by regularly, asking for updates. She’s in no danger so long as the people around her are careful and mindful of what they do.”

“What do you mean?” Melia asked.

“She is only level 5,” Moeldywn said with a slight cringe, but when Melia tilted her head, it became clear she didn’t understand why that might be significant or problematic.

“Meliastraza, perhaps you’ve never considered it because of your own level and the fact that you are a dragon, but the mortal races are not so durable.”

“Ah,” Melia nodded. “You’re calling her weak. I see.”

“I’m not sure you do,” Moeldywn sighed. “Level 5, Meliastraza, she is only level 5. Literal children are stronger than that. Infants might be level 1, but by the time a child is a few years old, they’ve gained enough experience to gather at least a dozen levels. Not to mention a fully grown adult. And yes, while technically, there is still nothing wrong with having such a low level, especially since elves have such long lives, it wouldn’t matter if she got a late start….”

Moeldywn took a deep breath.

“Meliastraza. She is frail and you are strong. I don’t know how else to say this, so I’ll be direct. You just being yourself near her could hurt her. You’ll need to restrain yourself. Can you do that? If you can’t….”

It was clear Moeldywn was preparing to put up a fight, even against an impossible-to-defeat opponent such as an Archdragon, if it meant saving Melia from herself.

But one thing Moeldywn didn’t know was that Melia understood this dynamic all too well.

Melia herself held an entire lifetime of experience on the other side, being the one confined to a bed, trapped behind the glass, fragile, broken, and dying. Even the air her friends and family breathed could hurt her, so she was used to people being cautious around a sickbed.

She nodded seriously and let out a long snort of steam. She could do this.

“But,” she asked, “You said she’s been visited by [Archbishops]? Why so many members of the church? And so highly ranked?”

Moeldywn gave her a curious glance.

“With the appearance of a [Saint]?” Moeldywn asked incredulously. “You think they wouldn’t want to keep a keen eye on her?”

“A [Saint]?” Melia parroted. In the game, Brandy had been a [Priest]. But then again, she had been a [Warrior], a [Mage], and many other basic classes, but nobody ever had an advanced or evolved class. Brandy turning into a [Saint] made sense to Melia, and perhaps she was bragging a bit about her friend, but she felt Brandy deserved it. Melia nodded and smiled. That was good. If Brandy were here now, she would make an excellent [Saint].

“Okay. Can we go in now?”

Moeldywn said nothing, but knocked on the door for an answer. Several footsteps echoed in the room behind, and it was soon opened by a lady dressed fully in a classic nun’s garb. The lady looked tired, like she hadn’t slept in days, but she wore a faint smile and seemed to be expecting them. Or at least Moeldywn, whom she greeted with a respectful dip of her head.

In doing so, she caught sight of Melia much closer to the ground, with her horns fully on display and her tail dragging behind her. The nun’s eyes widened, but when she looked to Moeldywn for instruction, the old princess simply shook her head and escorted Melia to a chair. Moeldywn pulled it close to the only bed in the room, positioned so the patient could gaze outside the open window into the lovely courtyard beyond, and lifted Melia into it.

Now that she had a higher vantage point, she could see the room more clearly, and more importantly, she could see the person in the bed. Melia’s heart squeezed and she clenched her hands so tightly into a fist that her palms began to bleed. A shocked healer on the other side of the room must have noticed, because Melia heard a sharp cry and felt somebody trying to cast a spell on her, but it was useless. Melia’s health pool was so vast it might as well have been an ocean. A few drops of blood from her punctured palms would do her no lasting harm, but even the strongest spells she felt weave through her were like blowing leaves against a fortress wall. Or, since they were beneficial, perhaps it was better said that it was like attempting to fill up that same ocean…from a bucket…with a pipette.

Moeldywn quickly saw what was going on and shook her head ruefully as she held out a hand to the flustered healers.

“Your efforts are in vain. Do not waste your strength,” she sighed. She gathered the attention of the three healers in the room and pointed them at Melia.

“May I introduce you to the dragon, Lady Meliastraza Obsidianheart? It is unwise to try her patience. As it so happens, she is well acquainted with Eluna Brandywine. Perhaps, if we could have a moment alone…?”

It wasn’t a request, and the healers understood their dismissal. They didn’t look very happy to be ordered around in their own house, but they left without a word. The door clicked shut behind them, and suddenly Melia was alone in a room with a princess…and an elf.

As soon as Moeldywn had placed her on that chair and Melia’s eyes fell on the sleeping figure, she could not tear her eyes away. It was exactly as Moeldywn said: the patient in this bed was Eluna Brandywine.

And yet she was also Brandy Meredith, Melia Marcus’ childhood friend.

Melia felt a powerful surge of emotion well up inside her and she had to hide her eyes behind her arms. Not because she was afraid to show her tears; no, she was on the verge of letting out a wail so mournful and heartwrenching that it would destroy her if she didn’t let it free. But, because her emotions were running wild, so very far from her control, she could feel her innate mana gathering into rampant spellwork that she had no control over. A faint purple miasma of draconic energy radiated from her, and she threw herself to the floor to try to shield everybody from her unexpected outburst. The energy…could not be contained. Like a star going supernova, the spiraling cloud of magic rippled throughout the room, washing everything in a vibrant purple light, soaking everything as it penetrated into the very essence of reality.

Fortunately, it was benign. Behind her, Moeldywn let out a sharp gasp as she stood up straight. Melia whipped her head around, but the princess was staring at her hands, then at her system screen, and then at everything else, rapidly [Inspecting] the entire room. Melia did the same. Everything else but her had gained a very potent, but very temporary buff.

​

[Mana Overload]

​

You’ve been infused with potent draconic mana.

Spell Haste increased by 1000%

Mana Cost reduced by 100%

Spell Amplification increased by 10000%

Duration: 10 seconds

​

Nobody ever asks what the abyss sees when others gaze into it.

​

Moeldywn’s hands began shaking like she had just drunk 12 cups of coffee. Her face scrunched up, she let out a very dainty burp, and suddenly…she returned to normal. She continued gazing at her hands as if the last several seconds might have been a hallucination, but Melia’s attention was drawn back to the bed, where a melodious voice was sighing in a yawn. Melia scrambled back up into her chair so she could get a better look.

​

Eluna Brandywine

​

Level: 5

Class: [Saint]

​

And then Melia let out a sharp, choking laugh.

She didn’t know if anybody else could see it, or if it was something only she could see, or maybe Brandy had only just now put it on, but a title appeared.

​

[Crazy Cat Lady]

​

Moeldywn quickly rushed to her side to stabilize her before she could fall off the chair, but Melia wasn’t in any real danger of slipping off. She couldn’t; her body wouldn’t let her. Because that would mean she wouldn't be able to keep her eyes on Brandy as she stretched and looked around, and that would be unforgivable. This was Brandy. Her Brandy. And the only thing that she’d allow to block her vision was the waterfall of tears streaming down her face.

​

Brandy woke up and, for the first time in a long time, felt refreshed. The sun was streaming in through the courtyard, and unlike every day for the last three weeks, she wondered how it would feel to walk under its warm embrace.

Something about the day felt different, and Brandy knew something special was going to happen. At least, if the voice of the goddess was to be believed, and Brandy had talked with her enough to feel the sincerity in her words, a very special person would be visiting today.

Somebody whose quiet determination and hidden strength in the face of overwhelming adversity was an inspiration to everyone around her. Most likely, Melia never had the faintest clue how much she influenced the people closest to her…and to some degree, the world at large. Her story wasn’t the most well-known, but it wasn’t buried in obscurity either. People from across the globe had sent Melia’s family condolences and even letters on how their daughter had touched their lives when she passed.

It was the hope of seeing her best friend again that made Brandy agree to the goddess’ ridiculous request. Not that Brandy had much of a choice, trapped inside this world as she was, but now she no longer felt like ignoring it out of spite. And the more she talked with Celestara in her dreams, the more she almost felt bad for the deity. To have her power stripped away, sealed and nearly forgotten, unable to grant the desires of her followers and only capable of watching as the world passed her by. Brandy couldn’t think of many worse fates for an immortal being.

But that didn’t mean she wanted to be part of this convoluted quest. It almost seemed like something from a cheesy web novel or a hastily contrived video game plot. It ticked off too many cliché boxes.

Summon a [Saint] from another world?

An imprisoned goddess of light?

And the only way to free her was by defeating a rising “dark lord”?

Hard pass.

But, if it gave her the chance to see her friend again and the option to go home if she succeeded…especially with the guarantee that time was effectively frozen for her while she was here….

She could at least give it a go.

And depending on the state Melia was in when she found her, if she actually showed up today, maybe it would make for an excellent adventure. Or maybe she would keep it to herself. Melia already had one lifetime of suffering. She didn’t need another. And Brandy was a realist: she wasn’t under any illusions that this quest was going to be easy or finished in a day.

​

Brandy stretched her long, slender arms, sat up and propped her back against the headboard on her bed, and let her blade-like ears twitch as they picked up the vibrations of the room. Without opening her eyes, she could tell she wasn’t alone. Three weeks wasn’t nearly enough time to master all the quirks of her new body, but some came faster than others, especially if she couldn’t turn them off.

One of the more fascinating differences this body had was the ability to feel magic, which Brandy guessed was simply natural to those born in this world where mana was abundant. She could feel the aftereffects of a powerful spell fading in the air around her, though she had no idea what it had done, other than wake her up. Brandy finally opened her eyes, and they fell at once upon a beautiful young woman standing near the foot of the bed. She’d seen this woman before, and despite her youthful appearance, Brandy had learned that she was much older than she looked and had once been a queen. Brandy didn’t recognize her from the game, but that wasn’t saying much, since she never cared to read the lore about side characters and skipped most of the cutscenes if they weren’t part of the main story. Something Brandy was feeling a little bit of regret for right now, if she was honest.

Sniffling from a chair lower to the ground drew her attention, and Brandy’s eyes fell onto…possibly the most adorable little creature she had ever seen that was ugly-crying its chibi little head off. Her massive eyes were purple and lizard-like, shimmering with fat, messy tears streaming down her cheeks; she had a cute button nose leaking snot everywhere, and adorable little fangs in her mouth chomping down on her lips to try to keep herself from wailing.

Yes, Brandy would like two, please, or maybe fifty.

The young woman in the blue dress saw her looking at them and spoke up.

“Lady Eluna Brandywine,” she said in the most aristocratic British accent Brandy had ever heard, “Are you feeling well enough to entertain a visitor? I believe this is a special case you might want to consider.”

Brandy glanced around the room and noticed her normal keepers weren’t in the room with her. For the old queen to kick out so many overprotective healers, this had to be a very special visitor indeed. They were already here; there was no reason to send them away, so she nodded in agreement.

“Good,” the young woman said. “I am not privy to the details of your return to us, nor the state of your memory after all these years, so I beg your forgiveness if this comes off as rude, but…in case you have forgotten, you two already know each other. This is Lady Meliastraza Obsidianheart; dragon, [Mage], and troublemaker of the highest sort.”

As soon as she said the first three syllables of the name, everything else was drowned out. Brandy’s breath hitched, her eyes widened, and her gaze sharpened as it bore down onto the strange creature.

No, not a creature…actually, yes, a creature. But a creature she was, in fact, familiar with. It had been so long now that Brandy had forgotten that the dragon class Melia had unlocked came with a dragonkin form. If Brandy took away the gigantic horns, the draconic eyes, and softened the teeth a little, her best friend’s gnomish character was staring right back at her.

The gnome-thing squirmed and wiggled in place, like a puppy in training waiting to pounce on a toy, or a toddler desperate not to pee. It reminded Brandy of all her little cousins, most of whom were a bit older now, and she couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of her mouth. She raised her arms instinctively, since the little ones usually did that funny little dance when they wanted to jump into her arms, and her brain immediately made the connection.

The little dragon quickly hopped onto the bed and shuffled awkwardly forward. Between the chubby tail forcing her gait into an exaggerated waddle as it swayed from side to side, and her tiny fists desperately wiping at her eyes, trying to clear away the river of tears, Brandy wondered how she could move at all.

It barely took a couple of seconds before the creature was upon her, clambering over her legs and standing on top of her thighs as she slammed into Brandy’s waist. All things considered, she was very small, which fit with Melia’s usual design scheme, and parts of the usual coloration cropped up here and there, with the purple eyes and the pink highlights in the hair. Even standing up straight on top of Brandy while she was sitting up in bed, the top of the gnome’s head didn’t reach Brandy’s chin, and the small thing buried her face in Brandy’s chest, wrapped her arms as far around her waist as they could go, and clenched her seemingly as tightly as her little arms allowed.

And then…she let out the loudest, ugliest, most grating wail Brandy had ever heard.

“WeeeeehhhhhhHHHHHH!!!”

Brandy winced as the high-pitched sound pierced her sensitive ears, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. The wail was some unholy amalgamation of a caterwauling male cat in heat, a baby goat yearning for its mother, and the drawn-out and desperate plea of a dying cow begging for somebody to end its misery.

All Brandy could do was wrap her arms around the wretched little creature, heaving and sobbing and making an absolute mess of herself and Brandy’s bedclothes, patting her gently on the back while rocking her soothingly side to side.

“There, there,” Brandy said awkwardly, but the gnome clutched her even tighter, pressing her face tightly into her chest, while the horns started digging into her shoulders. Brandy grimaced, but the pain was tolerable. The wail eventually died down into hiccuping sobs and full-body tremors.

“Brandy,” a mature, but high-pitched voice eventually whined. “Why are you here? Why did it have to be you?”

It was at that moment that Brandy stopped seeing the person clinging in her arms as a creature or just some gnome.

This was Melia, her Melia.

The same timid little girl she first encountered when playing at the park, who was too shy to run around with the other kids. Who fell and scraped her knees, cried her eyes out despite the teasing of other kids, but when it happened to them, she was the first one to go comfort them.

She never had a bad thing to say about anybody else, no matter how much they wronged her or slighted her. She simply wished them well and went on with her life, smiling without a care, as if her body wasn’t a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. She always had an encouraging word, an uplifting anecdote, or found some way to brighten everybody’s day.

She never let her own problems, fears, or worries bring her down, let alone those around her. She should have had every right in the world to be a downtrodden vessel oozing gloom and doom, but she was the sunshine that flooded meadows and the smile that healed wounds.

Melia was the best of them, and she was taken far too early.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” Brandy cooed soothingly as she continued to rub Melia’s back. It wasn’t what the small girl wanted to hear.

“Okay?!” her muddled yell vibrated through Brandy’s chest. “How can you say it’s okay?! You died! How is that okay?”

“What do you mean I died?” Brandy asked, perplexed. The goddess she had been talking to made it perfectly clear that her body was fine back home, but her perception of time on earth simply wasn’t progressing. “I haven’t died at all. Why would you think I died?”

“Because you’re here!” Melia wailed, the hint of anger that had reared its head already disappearing.

“Oh,” Brandy remarked with an epiphany. It made sense, in a certain way, if that’s how Melia thought about it. Brandy shook her head…but quickly stopped so she didn’t impale herself on a set of horns.

“I might be here, that’s true, but I haven’t died.”

“Really?” Melia’s head shot up. She seemed shocked out of her crying, since her tears were no longer flowing like a river and her sobs had paused for now. Brandy could see the light of hope rekindling in those giant, expressive eyes and decided she needed to choose her words carefully.

“Really,” she affirmed. “While the details are somewhat vague, I have good reason to believe that this is only temporary. A setback, if you will, and after a little this and that, I can go back home.”

Brandy had a feeling she should probably tell Melia about the exact circumstances of her arrival, but right now was definitely not the time. That conversation had to wait until the little dragon creature wasn’t so unstable. As if to prove the point, Brandy watched those expressive eyes run through a whole host of emotions. They started with shock, then quickly moved to confusion and settled on rage. Brandy could see the genuine threat of a powerful creature manifesting itself, but it was gone almost as soon as it sprang up. And, almost to prove that the small gnome thing standing on her lap really was her long-lost best friend, Melia’s eyes took on a mischievous glint. Brandy tried to brace herself; she knew that look all too well.

“I thought the Executor’s Terrace was merely a setback.”

Brandy’s breath hitched as she was slammed with a jolt of dissonance. That was…a very, very old meme, and Brandy hadn’t been assaulted by a meme since she woke up here three weeks ago.

It was both refreshing and offensive to her sensibilities, but above all else, it was something Melia very much would say.

Brandy paused for too long, and she started coughing as she forgot to breathe.

“Medic!” Melia yelled in a panic, “Healer!”

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Brandy rasped out, pulling Melia close to muffle her shouts. The last thing she wanted was a bunch of busybodies swarming over her like a flock of mother hens. Melia wrapped her arms around Brandy again, content to snuggle tightly in her embrace.

“It’s so, so good to see you again,” Melia whispered. “I’ve missed you so, so much.”

“Oh, I’ve missed you too, Melia,” Brandy sighed. “More than you could know.”

“And you’re sure you haven’t secretly died or something without knowing it?”

“I suppose it’s impossible to really know, if you want to get philosophical about it,” Brandy chuckled, “But I’m as certain as I can be.”

She paused as a thought hit her. It might be a touch dark, but it would also help her really solidify her suspicions that this Melia was hers.

“And…did you?” Brandy asked tentatively. It was strangely awkward asking somebody about their death. “Know when you, you know, died?”

“Yeah,” Melia said softly. “I could feel it. Like a part of me was gone, and I couldn’t get it back. But…strangely…it also wasn’t that bad? Like waking up from a dream, or remembering that you moved away for college and your mom repurposed your room into an annex for the book club. You can’t go home after that.”

“Ahaha,” Brandy gave a genuinely mirthful laugh . “I remember when I moved out. My mom was so relieved I found a place she instantly stuffed my room full of all her sewing supplies and crafts she likes to sell online.”

Melia pulled her head back to grin up at Brandy, likely knowing that was exactly what her mom would do. But her smile began to falter as she must have thought of something.

“Wait…when you moved out? You say that like it was a long time ago? I thought you moved back into your parents’ place after college?”

“I did,” Brandy gave her a quizzical look before understanding dawned. “Melia, you died three years ago. A lot of time has passed.”

“Three years?” Melia asked soberly, before muttering, “But I’ve only been here about a month.”

That… was interesting, but it checked out with whatever whacky time connection was going on with this place, if her body was frozen in time. Melia’s grin quickly came back as she glanced back up at Brandy before giving her a mock look of surprise.

“Oh my gosh, you’re old now!”

Brandy’s eyebrow twitched.

“I’m 28,” she hissed. That was becoming a sore point. “And you were 25! We’re the same age! Three years doesn’t change anything!”

“I guess you’re right,” Melia shrugged. “And if we’re playing the age game, I suppose I have to admit I’m supposed to be older than that. Apparently, it’s been a hundred years since the game, and I might have been asleep that whole time. I might be old now, too.”

“Hag,” Brandy teased. Melia bopped her playfully on the shoulder.

“So this is the game, then?” Brandy asked. She had her suspicions, especially after talking to the goddess in her dreams. Melia shook her head.

“Not the game itself,” she denied, “But the world of it. There’s so many fine details no developer ever would have thought to add, no game could be this real.”

“That stacks up,” Brandy once again nodded. That also checked out with what the goddess told her. The reason she couldn’t log out was because she wasn’t in a game to begin with. Supposedly, her soul was shunted into a body built just for it, or some crazy mumbo jumbo. To be honest, she wasn’t really paying attention at that point in the explanation, and she was starting to wish she had.

It also explained why she both was, and was not, her character from the game.

“The servers shut down about a year after you died,” Brandy said. Her current body was like somebody understood what her character was supposed to be, with many of the highlight points such as titles, her race, and class, but the fine details were lost, like how her level was set back to 1. Brand new, never yet taken out to level.

“Really?” Melia asked with wide eyes. “But they were doing so good! What about the next expansion? They had one lined up and everything!”

“The developers got bought out by a mega-corp,” Brandy smiled sardonically. “Fantasy Online turned into a microtransaction-heavy shovelware, and when numbers didn’t keep going up, it got tabled and eventually died. The new overlords repurposed it into a pay-to-win gacha and alienated the old player base. At least the original devs got to plan out a big celebration for the last day of service. I didn’t join in any, but there were whole sections of the map that were converted into hardcore pvp free-for-alls. You died, that was it, character deleted. Lotta people felt it was rather fitting for the last time they could log in anyway.”

“Oh,” Melia said. “Did anybody else ever unlock the dragon race?”

“Are you kidding?” Brandy snorted. “Even the most dedicated players would need an extra year for that, even without the promise of an expansion that never dropped.”

Brandy sighed and shook her head.

“Speaking of dragons and gnomes,” she said leadingly, “I have a title I don’t remember earning. Also, it’s not in English, or whatever language this stuff is based on. Didn’t you say you maxed out your language proficiencies? I don’t think I’m on board with learning fantasy languages just to read a title.”

“Ooh, show me, show me,” Melia backed up and made little grabby fingers. “There’s a neat trick I learned: you can share parts of your status screen if you wish.”

Melia made a simple motion in the air, and up popped a blue screen, drawing Brandy’s eye.

​

[of the Shattered Sun]

​

Given only to those who have earned the undying trust of the Apostate, disciples of the Executor who turned their backs on the false god.

​

Brandy nodded appreciatively. She remembered that grind; most of her guild only made it to “Friendly,” which gave them access to the repair npc inside the dungeon. Melia walked her through the steps, and after several moments, she had her own title on display. Strangely, unlike everything else Brandy had experienced so far with the system, this wasn’t written in a language she could understand. Melia instantly brightened at the sight of it and began reading it aloud, though her volume slowly dropped as she grew increasingly bashful.

​

[Dragonheart]

​

No matter the nature of the being, be they magical, ethereal, or made of flesh and bone, no creature can live without its heart. Woe be unto those who try and separate a dragon from her heart, even death itself. There is no hell she would not endure to see her heart returned.

​

Well. That was extremely flattering, but just a tiny bit worrying, too. Something Brandy was going to file away and hopefully not have to think about anytime soon.

“I see my family is growing…,” muttered a voice from across the room. Brandy looked up to see the blonde woman staring intently at her title. The woman noticed her staring and quickly reintroduced herself.

“Apologies if I’ve overstepped my bounds. I am Moeldywn, the Queen Grandmother. King Philip IV is my heir. I know I don’t look much the part of ancient queen,” she chuckled, “So you may call me Melody. It’s what our dragon here does. I won’t pretend I understood a word of what you were talking about,” she said, shaking her head, “But I won’t deny that it was fascinating. As for your title, you’ve joined a select bunch of individuals who attracted the attention of the dragon. You’ll meet them soon enough, I’d wager.”

“The dragon?” Brandy asked. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard the term, especially from the old queen, but she didn’t realize Melia was that famous.

“I’m a dragon,” Melia said proudly, puffing up her chest. The queen rolled her eyes and mouthed, what can you do?

Brandy let out a small laugh, but the small movement jostling her around made her head spin. All this unexpected excitement really wore her out. She kept her smile on her face, but inside she was beating herself up. She hadn’t done anything; she’d only sat up in bed, hugged a small creature, and she felt completely drained. She used to jog several miles in the mornings trying to keep in shape, and now a hearty laugh knocked her on her butt. She didn’t realize exactly what she’d been doing to her body over the last three weeks, and she could only be glad she snapped out of her funk before it was too late. Watching her swoon wasn’t lost on the queen.

“Come along, Meliastraza,” she said tiredly, picking up the gnome like one might a wandering cat. “I see our presence has worn her thin. Let’s leave our friend so she might recuperate. Let the healers do their work; she’s in the best of care.”

Melia looked like she had a lot more to say, but she didn’t put up a fight. Instead, she put on a brave face to mask her lingering pain.

“I’ll be back!” Melia waved as she was practically dragged out of the room by the old queen. “Just you wait for me, Brandy, I’ll be back!”

“We’ll catch up soon, I promise,” Brandy said with a smile.