The next day, me and Blake wake up happily in the cave with the hot springs. We eat some mountain berries for breakfast and drink some water from a small river, then we head down the mountain. The sun is shining brightly above us as we enter the woods once more. The tall trees create a roof of branches and leaves. Toads jump on the path ahead and I can even see some deer running after eating some bark.

“You know, this forest is actually kind of beautiful now.” I admit all of a sudden.

“Verdant Island is full of wonders of nature. I think it’s one of the wildest countries in this part of the world.” Blake replies.

“Really?”

“Yeah! It’s part of our culture to respect nature, especially forests. In the old stories, they are places of wonder and magic, where spirits roam free and bless our land.”

“I didn’t know that! Tell me more!” I say with big eyes full of curiosity.

Blake chuckles.

“Ok, ok! So, in Verdant mythology, forest spirits are the ones that guide our people to prosperity. You can see their teachings on the tree bark. That’s why we have a festival in which we do bark readings. It’s the Forest’s Eve Festival. The bark tells you what you should do in order to achieve your dreams. Most people stopped believing in it though, but the festival is still very popular. We also have other folk sayings such as the Northern Lights being our ancestors greeting us from beyond the grave. Oh! Also, do you see the symbols on my clothes, they are traditional Verdant swirls, they represent our connection to the sea, to the forest and to one another. Our culture is all about being accepting of others and staying united.”

“That sounds so nice.” I say with a dreamy voice.

“It is! This moral is also reflected in the flag. Of course, it’s green and has an emerald on it to represent our magic colour, but it also has gold. Gold represents everlasting bonds, and since it is in swirls, it represents our everlasting bond with one another and the world around us.”

“That is so cool! I always thought it was just to add some colour.” I admit, blushing a little and running my hand through my hair from embarrassment.

“I’m sure it was a factor. Our country is known for the number of artists that have lived here throughout the years. So, they did care about aesthetics, but also gave everything meaning. Oh, funny story, the chirping of the birds is said to bring good luck. So, if you ever see a bird looking at you while singing, that’s really good! But avoid foxes, they have a connotation of bad luck if they pass by you.” Blake continues.

“Awww, but I love foxes, they’re adorable!”

“I know, right?! They are so vis! That means cute by the way. Smooth transition into teaching you more words, am I right?!”

We laugh a little, but then Blake stops and holds out his hand.

“If you want, I can also teach you a dance.” Blake says with a slight blush.

Speechless, I just nod as he takes my hand into his. It’s so soft and gentle, just like him.

“Ok, so, since we are an island, another huge part of our culture is the sea. That is reflected in the food we eat, being mainly fish, but also in our dances being inspired by waves. So, for this dance, the dance of valori, you need to bend your arms and knees like so.”

Blake puts his weight on one leg as he leans on it, moving his arm upwards in an arch. He then shifts and lets me do the same as I pull him towards me.

“Very good, you are a fast learner, Elwyn!”

“You are a pretty good teacher, Lake.” I reply and he smiles.

“I like that nickname! And thank you. Ok, onward with the lesson. You need to do it a bit more relaxed and smoother. Think that you are supposed to be water. We represent the gentle push and pull of the wave hitting against the shore. Occasionally, we’ll do a little spin and change positions. That’s to represent the undertow.” Blake explains calmly as I do my moves.

We slowly lean from one side to the other, just like the waves come and go on the shore. Blake is smiling happily and so am I. Suddenly, his hands glow green, and the grass below us is replaced by sparkly blue water. Waves of salty liquid brush against the trees, creating bubbly foam, and green stars fly above us.

“We’re illusion mages, so we do use them a lot in our traditions.” Blake says jokingly.

We dance for a bit as the waves surround us and spin with us in all directions. Drops of water and foam are thrown in the air as Blake hums a melody.

“Blake, I have an idea, I can lend you my powers so you can make your mandolin play by itself.” I offer and he looks at me surprised.

“Are you sure? Lending magic is the highest trust between mages here. You only do it with people you deeply care about.” Blake says as he blushes.

“Yeah, I’m sure!” I answer and my hand glows purple. “But only if you are ok with it.”

“Oh, I’m so ok! So ok! Who said I wasn’t ok with it?! I’ve said yes too many times, haven’t I?!” Blake rushes through his words as I chuckle.

“Yeah, but it’s, unironically, ok. Blake, we trusted one another with all of our fears yesterday, of course I trust and care about you.” I say and he smiles.

Our magic combines itself as the world around us sparkles with a lavender hue as well. Blake’s mandolin rises in the air and a heavenly song starts playing as we dance. Fireflies and animals watch us from the sides as we dance along the shores of the imaginary waves. Blake brings me closer to him and I become completely red. My breathing is slow and quiet as I look into his eyes. He makes me do a spin, sending some waves towards a rock in the process. Wow… I haven’t felt like this in a really long time. My eyes are full of wonder as Blake continues the dance and I follow along. The music is sweet and warm as it echoes throughout the forest. I look at Blake, his dorky smile and laugh, his emerald-green eyes and his tall and muscly physique. He’s so beautiful. I make him do a spin as well, and he does it with so much grace and elegance I blush even harder. He’s an amazing dancer. I’m not really good at it, but I’m loving every second of this. The dance continues, and for one of the moves, we have to embrace while walking in circles. The purple and green lights surround us. I rest my head on his chest. I don’t know why, but it feels right. He’s surprised for a bit, but then just smiles and holds me tightly as he does his moves. Blake’s heartbeat feels so soft and calming, like a beautiful harp tune, and his gentle perfume smells like a field of flowers. I feel so happy and safe in his warm embrace as I smile even more. The dance continues and we part a little bit, only for the next move to bring us together once more. I pick Blake up and spin him in the air as the stars and waves rotate with us. He looks at me with awe as he smiles. His face is also red, but neither of us cares about blushing, we are just loving the moment, being around one another. The lights starts to dim and fade, and the waves disappear as the dance and song come to an end. Our hands stop glowing as we finish.

“That was incredible!” I say, almost in a whisper as he nods excitedly.

“I loved every second of it!” Blake replies happily as he hops slightly.

While talking, we continue our journey into the woods, the trees moving slightly from side to side as if having a dance of their own. In just a bit, we reach a small river. The water moves peacefully as brown and yellow leaves fall onto the wet surface. The river is big and deep. I can see fish swimming happily in it, but sadly it is too fast for humans to cross.

“I guess we’ll have to find a boat to cross it.” Blake says. “I’m sure there must be one around here. There is supposedly an old and abandoned fishery along this river. There we could find a boat.”

“Why is there so much stuff abandoned in this forest?” I ask.

“No one knows. The only records we have of them are the satellite and helicopter photos. No one can get too near, and when exploring, very few people say they found anything. I’ve done as much research as I could before this trip, but even now, I sadly don’t know that much.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find all of the answers we seek when we reach the mansion.” I say with a comforting tone and he smiles.

“Yeah. Come on, now! We have a haunted fishery to visit!”

“I really hope that’s not true, I hate ghosts, they freak me out.”

“Why? It’s just spooky transparent people. Woooo!” Blake teases with a smirk.

“Stop that!” I say with slight amusement. “They are also dead, that’s what makes it creepy.”

“Fair.”

The two of us walk along the river for hours. At one point, I have to go to the bathroom and enter the woods while Blake waits for me. After I do my thing, I am zipping up my pants when something glitters in the corner of my eye. Curious, I push the bushes aside and I am met by thousands of rusty swords and broken spears. I gasp with surprise and move back slightly. What happened here?!

“I made a huge mistake… I should have listened…” a mysterious voice whispers and I look around, but there is no one around.

It must be my imagination, this place is giving me the creeps. Still a little unnerved, I make my way back to Blake and he laughs at me as he points at my still unzipped zipper. Embarrassed and red as a tomato, I zip it back up and we continue our journey. I tell him about the swords and he makes a thousand theories, each one less likely than the last. The sky darkens as the sun goes below the mountains and the moon rises to take its place. Occasionally, we hear a howl and we speed up, but in rest, nothing happens. In the distance, the shape of a house appears from the darkness. I look at Blake with fear and he gives me an encouraging smile. We reach a huge building made out of wood. It looks very old. Moss has taken over and the roof is almost completely gone. The doors are hanging open and the windows are shattered. A huge pumpkin patch sits in front of the wooden cabin and a lone scarecrow is protecting the area. I cling closely to Blake as we approach.

“I don’t like this.” I say as we enter the pumpkin patch.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe!” Blake replies and holds my hand tighter.

Crows are flying above us and the moon is golden and round on the dark sky. Silvery clouds move lazily with the breeze as leaves fall from the trees around us. Every step we take has a slight crunch from the grass and the wind is whistling quietly. We stop in front of the broken doors and peer inside. It’s quiet and empty. Two boats sit by themselves in the middle of the flooded room as the light from the moon shines through the absent roof. The smell of fish hits us in the face. Thousands of fishing rods and different types of equipment are mounted on the old walls and broken-down cabinets are propped against the rotten wood.

“Are you sure we’re safe?” I ask.

“Yes, don’t worry, we’re going to be ok! I promise.” Blake assures me. “You know, I have an idea!”

His hands glow with green energy as the world around us transforms.

“It’s Halloween anyway.” he comments as he checks the date on his phone.

The pumpkins outside carve themselves and suddenly light up with a warm orange glow. They all welcomingly smile at us. The rundown building becomes decorated with ghosts made out of paper and lightbulbs. Streetlights spring out of the ground and bring colour and warmth to the chilly night. Fake cobwebs with rubber spiders decorate the doors behind us and floating candles move around as they illuminate the darkness. I look around in disbelief at the transformation the place just underwent.

“It’s not much, but it might make it less scary. I think it would be a good idea to stay the night here since we have shelter. I can make you some traditional pumpkin soup.” Blake offers.

“Thank you!” I say, relieved, as I prop myself against a wall, finally letting go of the fear. “You’re a really kind person!” I murmur with tiredness in my voice and he smiles.

We collect some pumpkins, a cauldron and a big wooden spoon. Thankfully, there were enough supplies in the old fishery. I start a fire with my magic as Blake brings some water from the river. We bring it to a boil real quick, then we throw in some salt we collected from the mines. Together, we cut some pumpkins and put them in the soup. Blake runs into the forest and back with some plants to spice it up.

“Wait! Stop! Those are poisonous!” I shout as he’s about to put them in. “Maybe leave the plant choosing to me.” I joke as he laughs with embarrassment.

I look around and manage to find some wild onion and garlic. I pluck a few and return happily to Blake, who, in my absence made the soup smell absolutely amazing.

“You were stirring too fast, it was breaking the pumpkin too much.” he comments as I sit next to him.

I nod and start cutting the onion into pieces.

“Elwyn, you’ll cut your fingers, here, let me help you.” Blake offers as he comes to my aid. “Wow, you weren’t kidding, you’re really bad at this!” he says with a chuckle as he picks up my chunky onion bits.

Blake quickly cuts them thinly and elegantly, then throws them in the soup. We wait for a bit as he stirs patiently.

“Can I have more heat?” Blake asks and I use my powers to make the flames even stronger. “Thank you!”

I play with my powers a little bit while we wait for the soup. A small purple glow illuminates my hand and the light dances between my fingers playfully. I look around at the old fishery and at the hills with pumpkins that surround it, you can barely tell we’re still in the forest.

“Wow! Elwyn, don’t move, I need to take a picture of you! You look really cool like that!” Blake says suddenly as he gets his phone out.

I smile confidently as he takes the picture. Happily, Blake shows it to me, and I chuckle at his enthusiasm.

“You look so spooky! Look at that glow! Wooo!” he says as he admires the photo, making me blush.

“Yeah, purple magic is perfect for the spooky season!” I joke. “We purple wizards can pull the creepy vibe really well!”

“You really can! Thank you! Wow! I need to post this on my socials later!” Blake continues as I laugh. “Is that ok?”

I nod happily while smiling and his face lights up with excitement.

“You’re a great model! I need to take more pictures of you in the future!”

I blush and smile at his offer. The steam from the soup comes between us as it gets close to being finished. Blake takes his spoon once more and continues cooking. Later, we happily eat dinner as we tell stories from childhood. We laugh, we joke for hours. I look at him, so kind, so loving, so beautiful. In truth, I’ve had crushes before, but this is different. He’s special. I lean on him and look up at the stars. After a while, he falls asleep, and I start feeling sleepy as well.