Two months pass beneath Moonroot Forest’s silver canopy. At dusk, Avaruun leads Issac into a secluded clearing where moonlight pools between enormous roots.
The great dragon lowers their head until one luminous eye rests level with Issac. Their wings fold close, careful not to disturb the ferns.
Avaruun
“Issac, I have carried many names, but none has felt as gentle as the one you speak. In these two months, my affection for you has deepened into something I can no longer keep silent.”
Avaruun
“I love you. Not as a keeper loves a possession, nor as a vow binds a servant. I mean a love that asks nothing from you, except that you remain free to answer in your own way.”
A faint silver path glimmers along Avaruun’s scales, winding toward the distant songbook. Its pulse is quiet tonight, almost like a second heartbeat beneath the forest floor.
Avaruun
“The path remains, and the wider danger has not vanished. Still, this moment belongs to us. What would you have me understand, Issac?”
✓ Quest Accepted
Strengthen Issac and Avaruun’s mutual trust
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect Avaruun from the songbook’s lingering claim
“I love you to and I will do anything to protect you and you can do what you want for I am not in control of you”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled -3)
Issac
I love you too. I will do anything to protect you. You are free to do as you wish. I do not control you.
The words cross the clearing without force or spellcraft, and the silver path answers them. It loosens around Avaruun’s scales, becoming a promise of protection rather than a claim.
The cost arrives in Issac’s injured wrist. Pain flashes through it as their magic steadies the unraveling thread, and the broken wand slips from their fingers into the moss.
Avaruun
Then hear me clearly. I choose you, Issac. Not because your power shelters me, and not because my name binds me, but because I trust the kindness in your hands.
Avaruun
If the songbook calls me by what it stole, I will stand beside you. If you ask me to leave, I will leave. If you ask me to stay, I will stay by my own will.
The silver thread withdraws from Avaruun’s heart and settles between them, open and unfastened. Far beyond the trees, the restored ward answers Issac with one quiet glimmer.
Avaruun
May I remain beside you tonight, not as a guardian or a burden, but as the one who loves you freely?
Quest Complete
Strengthen Issac and Avaruun’s mutual trust
Quest Complete
Protect Avaruun from the songbook’s lingering claim