#I HAVE QUITE A FEW DRAWINGS OF FALIN TOO

[1alchemistart]

hello friends i have been consumed by dungeon meshi JAKLSDFKL

i read all of the manga.... had a grand time!!!!!

also my internet was down yesterday so i was playing games on my flashpoint, as one does. papa's cheeseria... and i made senshi in there LMAO and then i drew him and tbh he kinda makes it work???

also i love falin sm mwah mwah my most beloved

[dunmeshistash]

Ryoko Kui Exhibition & ''Delicious in Dungeon'' Exhibition

"Delicious in Dungeon" Artwork

Cover illustration draft, vol. 1

Since this was the first volume, I tried out a few different drawings and had the editor and designer choose which ones they wanted, then made small adjustments. I personally liked the top-down draft, and the one of the cooking processes (back cover) the best. But looking back, I sincerely think it's good that we didn't go with those. (Kui)

Cover illustration draft, vol. 2

The format was decided for volume 1. So, volume 2 came together quickly. (Kui)

Cover illustration draft, vol. 3

I thought it might be cool to make the character Chilchuck darker in the foreground, and the background brighter! But it didn't quite work out the way I had imagined. I think it could have been a bit better. (Kui)

Cover illustration draft, vol. 4

I remember that the overall shape of volume 4 came together very quickly. The character Senshi's hands didn't fit nicely, so I moved them backwards and to the side. (Kui)

Cover illustration draft, vol. 5

I thought people might start to think "how many have I bought?" so I wanted to create a slightly different impression with this volume. I decided to put the character right in the center and try putting it together all in blue and green hues. (Kui)

Cover illustration draft, vol. 6

With the Red Dragon defeated, have we reached the halfway point in the story? With this in mind, I thought of how many volumes were left to go, and the number of characters, and decided to pair up the characters Namari and Shuroiro. In hindsight, it would have been fine to have them on one cover each. (Kui)

Cover illustration draft, vol. 7

The image is of focus lines converging on the character Izutsumi. This is the kind of cover, with upside down characters, which I've always wanted to try once(?) I submitted it as a trial, thinking that at this point the cover wouldn't dramatically influence sales. However, in the end, we decided it would be better not to have it upside down. (Kui)

Cover illustration draft, vol. 8

I tried blurring the mushrooms in the foreground, then I accidentally saved over it, and couldn't go back to the original. I remember apologizing that it was probably tacky, when I submitted it. (Kui)

Cover illustration draft, vol. 9

I don't think snake meat is marbled at all, but if it has an unfamiliar look, people might not recognize it as meat… so I made it look like beef to make it easier to understand. (Kui)

Cover illustration draft, vol. 10

I thought it might be interesting to have more than one of the main characters on the cover again, so I added the character Falin. I remember it wasn't badly received, but it still ended up just being Thistle on his own. (Kui)

Cover illustration draft, vol. 11

I wanted this cover to be covered in shiny gold. After I finished it, it didn't have enough color, so I painted the tablecloth green, and it ended up looking like Christmas colors. (Kui)

Cover illustration draft, vol. 12

Up to this point, the covers have featured one of the main characters holding cooking utensils in the foreground and a monster in the background, but I thought it might be interesting to reverse the format just before the final volume, so I drew this cover with that in mind. (Kui)

Cover illustration draft, vol. 13

volume 13 was meant to be the final one, but it was too thick to be published as a single volume, so we decided to split it into two. The question of ���so, what should I draw next!?" may be at the forefront of volume 13. (Kui)

Cover illustration draft, vol. 14

I had decided that the final cover definitely needed to have everyone eating together on it, but because I was publishing two books at the same time I was pressed for time, and it was difficult to have a cover with so many characters on it. I also submitted a rough for an illustration that didn't need me to draw any crowds, but such obviously easy ideas are never adopted. (Kui)

TV anime "Delicious in Dungeon"

About the ending illustration.

I drew these based on the director's instruction "This kinds of pictures." I hardly ever have the chance to draw color illustrations, so it was a valuable experience for me. (Kui)

[Kui's commentary is from the english pamphlet]

[ladyloveandjustice]

Anime Expo Day 2 Report: Dungeon Meshi live draw panel

I'm on my way hope and can finally sit down and make a log of my Anime Expo Journey, day by day/

Here's the Friday report:

I attended the Dungeon Meshi panel on Friday! I made sure to do so by sitting through the end of the Gundam panel and the whole Terminator Zero panel to make sure I was in the room (they don’t clear between panels). The terminator anime actually does look pretty cool! Jacki from Anime News Network was hosting and she’s so enthusiastic you get swept up. I did feel bad she kept commenting on how big the crowd was when I’m pretty sure at least half had the same idea I had and were there for Dunmeshi. But hopefully it got people who wouldn’t have considered it (like me, I do like Terminator but it wasn't on my radar) interested!

As has gone around the internet, the panel got hijacked by a guy carrying a boom box and waving an anarchy flag and a person singing (badly). It was very confusing, they got on stage and at first I thought it was part of the show, but then I realized the singing person was shirtless and had their tits out under the jacket they were wearing and was like probably not. Someone in the audience mentioned it was a Panty and Stocking song. They were demanding we dance, we all realized they weren’t supposed to be there and started booing. A guy behind me yelled “you’re being disrespectful!!!” which I thought was a very wholesome reaction. They proceeded to flip us all off. People were yelling “where’s security” and they finally came and slowly hauled them away. The person said “something something gay something” and someone yelled something back and I guess it’s a good thing my hearing is bad. As they were hauled off, they deliberately opened their jacket and flashed their tits as like, a screw you, like we all hadn’t already seen them.

Fortunately Trigger staff weren’t on the stage as this happened, just the host (who I felt bad for). The director, Yoshihiro Miyajima, and character designer, Naoki Takeda, came out and one of them joked “what a special guest!”

Now onto the stuff that actually matters:

We were shown a ton of concept art (no lines all colors, can’t remember what that’s called) and everyone screamed like crazy when it got to Marcille and Falin in the bath. There were quite a few screams for necromancer Marcille. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take pix.

There was also a live draw for the characters. We were allowed to pick two by yelling out who we wanted (I yelled Marcille and Falin) There was a huge coordinated chant for Senshi but that was kind of ignored and they chose Marcille and Izutsumi. We did get to take a picture of that:

The producer was actually recording the whole panel for a future Youtube vid, walking among the audience (he almost fell getting off the stage at one point which was a little scary since he was pretty elderly) and he was so enthusiastic and adorable.

Fans got to line up and ask questions and some notable ones I wrote down:

What monster would you eat if you were in the dungeon? "I wouldn’t want to eat any of it honestly, but if I had to choose, the Red Dragon".

“Which part of Falin would you want to eat if you had to?” “The dragon portion, definitely.” “Which part?” “The thighs look delicious. I want to make it clear I’m talking about the dragon here”.

Someone asked about the added Senshi panty shots, and the director responded “very keen”. And then said to ask the animators because they were the ones who added them. He also said “look forward to the future”.

After the picture was finished, one of them mentioned that Izutsumi was just like their cat who runs away whenever he tried to pet it.

I did try to get into the Bocchi panel since it was just upstairs and an hour after Dunmeshi finished, but they made us go outside the building and come back in, I guess to be fair, but that obviously meant I got there too late. I waited in line but it was capped.

[justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms]

Hi hi!! May i please request a romantic genshin and hsr matchup? I prefer to be matched with a guy <3

My pronouns are she/her and Im a girl. im 4'10 (i havent grown since i was 12 so uhm😭😭😭) My MBTI is INTP, 4w5. My friends describe my personality to be cat-like. i bite people i like for example on their arm, cheek, neck etc etc. i like knocking things over, being affectionate, and am sleepy. (this is super ironic because my name is Faline and it means feline/cat-like!!) i like getting into trouble in and out of school (i may or may not be banned from a few places ahaaaa-) i can be stupid and reckless uhmmm.. im definetly not smart. My mood changes very, very quickly. i can go from 0-100 real quick. i am not afraid to say what i want. Im quite loud around the people i like and dont like affection from people im not close with.

My aesthetic is best described as the downtown girl aesthetic. My hair is basicaly like ochako urarakas from MHA soo theres that. i have brown eyes and my skin is a light brown. (we love growing up in an asian household and wanting to be whiter ahaaaa.. :( )

My favourite color is purple. i LOVE purple so much its such a pretty colour i could talk about it forever. i love drawing, photography, baking, watching anime and k-dramas, listenin to music and shopping!! im definetly more of a nighttime person and i love animals. animals over people anyday.

I don’t like school… I’m not a very good student and the best part of school is seeing my friends, for sure. i never pay attention in class and end up walking out the class, zoning out or drawing allover my notes or on the table. i skip classes alot too.

I think that’s all, thank you in advance!

Hi Faline! Thank you for your request! Sorry it took a while. I hope you like your matchups!

In Genshin Impact, I match you with...

Itto can appreciate your dislike for school. I don’t think he’s been to school a day in his life. Everything he knows has either been taught to him by Granny Oni or he’s learnt by himself.

Likes your catlike behaviour. He thinks it’s sweet, even if you do bite him sometimes. Just be warned, he will bite you back. He knows he has sharp teeth so he’ll never bite hard enough to hurt though.

Itto absolutely would watch k-drama with you! He would get so invested in the story and characters.

The height difference! Itto loves giving you piggybacks if that’s something you’re comfortable with. Especially if you’re at an event like a festival. He’ll lift you up so you can see over the crowd.

He would love eating anything you bake. He’s convinced your baking is the best in all of Teyvat. He’d love to help out sometimes but it’s up to you whether you want the company and the mess…

Please take photos of him. He’s oblivious half the time so you’d get really good candid shots. You might also be able to sell some of them to the news after he gets arrested for the third time in a month.

In Honkai Star Rail, I match you with...

Dan Heng doesn't know how to feel about your cat-like tendencies. On one hand, he finds them cute and endearing. They’re a part of who you are as a person and he wouldn’t change that for the world.

But when you knock something off his desk for the fourth time that day, he really wonders…

Okay, this guy absolutely sees gentle bites as a form of affection. He’ll return any bites you give him.

He’s so glad you like night time. He’s a night owl and stays up very light almost every night. He likes his own company but it’s night having someone else there with him when he’s reading late at night.

Because of his passion for the archives, Dan Heng will do his best to get you interested in learning. He can appreciate that school doesn’t always teach things in the best way.

But he’d be grateful if you spend some time with him learning about a variety of different topics.

[roydeezed]

Dungeon Meshi Thoughts 05

I think this will be the last of these Dungeon Meshi posts before I catch up because I’m finding it very hard to put down. Judging by the names of the next few chapters I’m on the edge of the fight with Thistle The Mad Sorcerer so I thought I’d stop off here and leave my thoughts before continuing. So this post is going to cover chapters 51-67. My spoiler filled thoughts down below past the “Keep reading”.

Last we left off, our intrepid heroes had just learnt of Senshi’s backstory and helped him overcome a great trauma in his life, the belief that he might have eaten his comrades in order to survive. Now, having been changed into different races because of the changeling mushrooms, the group talks about the differences in the ages of the races, which in hindsight after learning of Marcille’s desire, makes me realize how important this conversation was. It also makes me wonder how old Marcille really is. The story at multiple times obfuscated attempts at learning about her age. Has she somehow already learnt the way to increase her own lifespan as her worries about people dying on her due to age seem a little too real to be just worries for the future. And her traveling around picking up random bits of knowledge while also landing on forbidden magic screams someone who’s lived so long all they  can do now is gather knowledge. Marcille’s backstory, for being supposedly so old, is still so vague.

Getting back to the story, the main draw of the cooking in a fantasy setting has been the fact that they get to try all these sorts of wild creatures that would never exist in our world. But leveling that up and creating a whole new method of cooking, through changing things with the changeling mushrooms is such a great evolution of the lore of this world and classic fantasy staples. 

We also learn quite a bit about Laois and Falin’s backstory over the course of these chapters. The key motivation of Laios leaving his hometown was that he was sick of the people there, namely his parents with how much he didn’t want to look like his dad. His main regret was leaving Falin, which is why he’s trying so hard to get her back. His motivation, of wanting a world of harmony speaks to more of a desire of adventurers, to see a world that they haven’t seen before through Laios’s kindhearted view.

It’s a much vaguer wish, with an emphasis on discovery than someone like Marcilles wish, which, while grand, is very concrete. Maybe that’s why the Lion chose him, as such a vague wish is easy to manipulate. One other thing that stood out to me was that both Laios and Falin were engaged before it fell through. In between the cracks of what we know they have a whole set of lives and personalities. I want to know what Laios in love looks like so bad. The little scene of little Falin eating alone is so precious and heartbreaking. I just want the best for these siblings. 

Sharing food as a form of love, for both of the siblings, shows how much they both care about the party. Two small moments that followed this revelation that I loved were Marcille crying because she realized how much Falin loved her and Izutsumi acting literally like a cat as she comforted Marcille.

Izutsumi should be the blueprint for all catgirls going forward, the authour really hit a homerun when they made her.

The group also comes to the conclusion that they can eat her to fix her, calling upon the help of all their allies so far. With where I’m at now, with the characters as divided as they are and the Lion manipulating Laios, I can only say this was an overly hopeful dream. 

We then go over to what I now consider to be the manga’s secondary protagonist, Kabru. Who once again, I dearly love. I love all of the characters but Kabru is just great in so many ways. And we see his determination in not letting a repeat of Utaya, his hometown, happen again. We see how the dungeon has corrupted others and in an effort to drive out campers and get Thistle to come to them, the canaries incite desire in people by flashing money. Originally they seemed outright evil, but I should’ve known better as it’s never that straightforward with Dungeon Meshi. The Canaries are either royals or criminals who’ve meddled with dark magic, signified by clipped ears. This makes me wonder if Marcille has any relation with the Canaries because is she somehow authorized to learn forbidden magic? The Canaries seem like a lifetime membership though. 

Misurn and Kabru manage to get one over on Thistle and just as Misurn is about to end Thistle, Kabru realizes that he needs answers. A bad faith take of this situation, upon learning of the demons and the dungeon mechanics, as well as Kabru’s later desire to stop Laios, would be to say this was just extending the story through a plot convenience. And it really very easily could have been. But this goes back to the systemic issue of the older races, dwarves and elves, not trusting the younger races. Seeing them as naive and impulsive. Kabru forcing this information out is one of the reasons I love him so much. 

While I think some naivety is needed, Kabru looks forward to a world like the one Laios and Marcille look forward to but in a much more realistic sense. He understands the first thing that needs to happen, even before a magical resetting of the race’s ages, is that they need to trust each other. And that’s something we see happen on a smaller scale with our party.

Next, we learn Chilchuck’s backstory. He turns out to be a father and a husband, and through Marcilles incredibly empathetic prediction, we learn most of how the separation with his wife went.  After Senshi, Chilchuck comes in as the second most known about party member, though we still don’t know why or how he got into adventuring. While filling out the role of the rogue in the party, he is also the most wholesome, having raised his daughters and loved his wife.

Next we learn about Marcille’s backstory. And even though we learn quite a lot about her, by the simple virtue of being an elf, there’s still a whole lot more we don’t know about her. This also drives home Marcille’s desire to eliminate the differences between races. With Chilchuck and Senshi, them belonging to a younger race and being younger respectively, we’re able to learn their backstories quite fast. Marcille, being an elf, has that much more of a distance between her and her companions as she has so much more ground to cover on formative memories and motivations. Also on a personal note, finding out that Marcille got into dungeon crawling because she’s basically that world’s equivalent of a flatliner is the dorkiest, stupidest, and funniest thing about her. She’s such a loser(affectionate), I love her so much. Her being into a dorky prince like person as her one true love comes second to that. But going back to it, Marcille is so intrinsically tied to the siblings that it’s just as much her story as it is theirs. 

The next little bit has a few fun moments I want to mention. One is that the Dullhan looks like such a cool monster that I hope we see it again. Another is that I love how the story of the succubui helps Izutsumi come to terms with her animal nature so organically. It’s such a brilliant use of monsters to help realize the protagonists character arcs, you know I’m writing this down for future TTRPG use. Also Chilchuck’s wife is blonde, that’s so wholesome, he’s such a good husband. Them losing to the succubi because of Marcille’s lame taste is also so on brand. Though I would’ve thought Marcille would’ve seen Falin with how much they seem to care for her. I thought the story was alluding to a romantic relationship between the two of them but I guess I’m wrong as it sets it up that Laios sees Marcille as his type. Also Izutsumi is god tier ace rep. 

We then meet the lion, who looks adorable by the way, and we learn that it wants to help Laios become the new lord of the dungeon and that Thistle is keeping it trapped. From what we learn later, it looks like Thistle was able to keep the dungeon safe for so long because he locked up the lion, preventing it from feeding on his desire more. The lion also probably manipulated the people of the kingdom to make them aid Laios in such a specific way. As we later learn from Kabru's perspective, Demons are beings from a dimension of infinite energy that grow strong by feeding on people's desires. 

Here's where I think Dungeon Meshi delivers another masterstroke of storytelling. All throughout so far, we've been very clearly watching the world through our characters' eyes, learning what they want to learn about, being curious about what they want to be curious about, and more specifically learning about the characters themselves from little moments of dialogue to big chunks of backstory. And this has gotten us invested in the characters without much thought to the world. But now the world is developed in such a major way through the Canaries and The Demons and especially our characters' relationships with these two, specifically the Demons, that we can't help but care about the world as well. The main crux of the demon's powers being gained through desire lets the story function through the wants and needs of our main characters, making us, the audience, at the very least, understand, if not root for their desires. Desires that could very well destroy their world. It puts us at odds with the story as much as our characters are. It's genius.

Going back to the story once again, we follow Kabru as they tail Laios along his journey and we once again see that Kabru makes a quick and impulsive decision to follow Laios so he can speak with him one more time. Kabru is always quick to come to conclusions; we saw as much from his first interaction with Laios, where he chooses not to blame him for his party's death and gets a read on him instantly. It's one of his greatest strengths, but also could become one of his greatest weaknesses. Thankfully, up until now, it's worked out, but going forward, it could very well backfire as Kabru doesn't second guess himself enough to fully consider his assumptions.

Finally, on to the last stretch of events before I put it down to write this, our heroes come across Thistles cabin and partially free the winged lion after eating some phoenix.

The birth of the lion from the book as well as the whole sequence with Misurn and the goat are incredibly horrific.

As a horror fan, my love for this manga increased tenfold with the recent developments. The lion also looks like a biblical angel after it’s birth.

The imagery is absolutely breathtaking here.

Also I really like Misurn as both a character and a plot device. He’s so single minded about revenge but he also has a lot of personality even if that comes from having his desires taken away.

I also love how Kabru as a human matches wits with these supposed mature races. He meets them equally and I couldn’t be prouder of my boy. 

Our heroes also attempt to kill some rabbits for Falin and things go horribly wrong with Marcille being the only one left to fend for herself in one of the funniest moments in the series where she has a ghoulish dance troupe with dead rabbits and her fellow party members.

Speaking of the rabbits, if anyones watched Re:Zero they reminded me a lot of the snow rabbits but like a 100% more messed up.

But here we get another moment that makes me wonder what Marcille has actually gone through.

She talks about how it would make her feel if everyone died like she has some experience.

I’m still mad that the story skipped over her age. Is she like a thousand years old or something? What’s your deal girl? How’d you get so adorkable? But really. Marscille’s actions make me feel like she’s not that old but hints to her backstory suggest she is. It’s so weird. Going into this next part, Kabru is still my favourite but with how much of a loser she is Marcille is a really close second. And the fact that she’s such a capable wizard makes it a hundred times funnier. We love emotionally unstable dorks here. 

Also, I absolutely love the crying faces in Dungeon Meshi, they pack so much gentle emotion into them.

Anyways, they feed Falin and take her out before getting ready to fight Thistle. That’s where I stopped reading and right after posting this I am going to go back, I’ve been away from this for way too many days. With Kabru also converging on this point I don’t think this fight will turn out like a typical fight. There are way too many factors involved to accurately predict anything. Though it would be wild if Laios becomes the lord of the dungeon. Knowing how subversive and nuanced this story gets I wouldn’t put it past it. Our heroes have suffered so much, I just want a win for them at this point. With being on what I feel like is the precipice of a major plot point, I can’t really speculate much or analyze much as it all feels like it leads to the immediate next part. Like all the build up has been for a very specific set of circumstances that I probably won’t be able to predict. See ya next time when I've caught up! Unless something happens where I need to stop and gather thoughts.

[lovelymindescape]

Hi hi!! May i please request a romantic haikyuu matchup? I prefer to be matched with a boy <3

My pronouns are she/her and Im a girl. im 4'10 (i havent grown since i was 12 so uhm😭😭😭) My MBTI is INTP, 4w5. My friends describe my personality to be cat-like. i bite people i like for example on their arm, cheek, neck etc etc. i like knocking things over, being affectionate, and am sleepy. (this is super ironic because my name is Faline and it means feline/cat-like!!) i like getting into trouble in and out of school (i may or may not be banned from a few places ahaaaa-) i can be stupid and reckless uhmmm.. im definetly not smart. My mood changes very, very quickly. i can go from 0-100 real quick. i am not afraid to say what i want. Im quite loud around the people i like and dont like affection from people im not close with.

My aesthetic is best described as the downtown girl aesthetic. My hair is basicaly like ochako urarakas from MHA soo theres that. i have brown eyes and my skin is a light brown. (we love growing up in an asian household and wanting to be whiter ahaaaa.. :( )

My favourite color is purple. i LOVE purple so much its such a pretty colour i could talk about it forever. i love drawing, photography, baking, watching anime and k-dramas, listenin to music and shopping!! im definetly more of a nighttime person and i love animals. animals over people anyday.

I don’t like school… I’m not a very good student and the best part of school is seeing my friends, for sure. i never pay attention in class and end up walking out the class, zoning out or drawing allover my notes or on the table. i skip classes sometimes too.

I think that’s all, thank you in advance!

hey , you sound like my best friend <3 i love purple to it's so so so pretty , hope you liked what i came up with , tell if you don't ( and if you did)

I ship you with

NISHINOYA

you were in your second year at karasuno

kiyoko was a very good friend of you

so she talked you into managing the VBC with her

poor girl couldn't handle it alone anymore

so you tried it , and it wasn't so bad

by the first step you took in to the gym , you were admired by a certain boy ( and his friend )

you soon befriended him and you both became close very soon

since you had matching energy , you worked perfect together

in lunch breakes and at practice you see eachother

soon the whole team and especially tanaka stared shipping you

they would make bets about who would ask the other out first

he did it

one day after practice , you cleaned up and he stayed back to wait for you

then he asked you out for a shopping date

on the next weekend you met at the center

it was a very good date

so you went on a few more dates so when he asked you to be his girlfriend you said yes

even tho could not draw , you would meet up and draw eachother what mostly ended up with more paint on the both of you than on the canvas

you'd watch anime together and he'd would not let you raise a finger , he would get you everything you need

he would walk you to school and you would listen to music together

It's a loving and comforting and protective relationship

i hope it's not that bad i was in a rush 😊

[rufousnmacska]

Child of Peace 19 - Go

manorian adventures post EoS

chapter 18 with short summary of the story so far

full work on AO3

   Dorian nudged Manon, nodding across the cavern when she looked up from working on Abraxos’s talon. Annabee and Fallon had just walked in, heading toward Banshee at the opposite side the cave.

Your niece is a shameless flirt, Dorian thought.

Manon snorted. Have you been giving her lessons?

Oh you've only experienced a fraction of what… Dorian didn’t finish his thought as he watched Fallon laugh at something Annabee had said.

“Maybe I’m the one who should be taking notes,” he mumbled under his breath. “Are you seeing this?”

Manon grabbed his arm and pulled him down where she knelt behind Abraxos. “Stop spying on them,” she hissed under her breath.

“Hmmm…” He was still trying to peek around the wyvern. “Either she got it from her father’s side, or it skips a generation. And,” he turned back to her. “I’m not spying. It’s just nice to see Fallon smile.”

She stood and glanced over at the two, smiling herself. “I guess I needn’t have worried about neglecting her lately.” Abraxos released an annoyed huff. She patted his side as she knelt back down. “I’ve already apologized. And you’ve gotten more exercise this past week. You’re far from neglected.” She went back to sharpening his rough talon.

Dorian was waiting for her to reply to his teasing, but nothing came. He knew she wasn’t using the time thinking up a good retort. The suspense, the anticipation... That was part of it. His pulse beat just a little faster.

And because he so loved this about her, the way she would play with him, tease him... He would be patient. She gave as good as she got, enjoying the game as much as he did. Something that might surprise others. Not for the first time, he was struck by how differently those others must see her. And, as always, he was glad he’d never been fooled.

Manon finished and stood, carefully pushing loose strands of hair behind her ears. Here it comes, he thought, unable to keep a smirk off his face. But she just ignored him, walking past to inspect the other claws.

Dorian’s smile faltered and he was about to say something when Aven came running into the cave. She was shouting and it took him a few seconds to understand the words. Manon ran to meet her, Annabee and Fallon following.

But he just stood there. Frozen by the words he was finally processing.

“Ironteeth. About a day out. Hundreds of wyverns. All of you must leave. Now.”

  Rushing to pack supplies and weapons, Dorian reached for the pocket where the two wyrdkeys were secured. He’d been doing it reflexively every couple of minutes since Aven’s alarm.

She’d insisted - commanded - that they leave with the keys. Annabee would ride with Fallon and lead them to the temple. It was in the northernmost tip of the Anascauls. About a week on foot, three days on a broom. Less on a wyvern. Once they had the third key, all four would head to Terrasen.

Both Annabee and Manon had protested. But Aven promised that their forces would be sent to Orynth to join them and Aedion’s armies. No one had voiced their shared doubt. That there may not be many Crochan forces left to send.

Manon came into their room wearing her fighting leathers, Wind Cleaver strapped across her back. “They’re almost ready,” she said quietly.

He was impressed by her calm. Both she and Fallon had reacted to the news with lethal conviction. They’d no doubt been expecting it. The only time their composure had cracked was upon learning there still had been no sign of the Thirteen.

“I think I have everything,” he said, his hand going to his chest pocket yet again. “The keys. The spells.”

With a soft smile on her face, Manon reached around him and pulled a dried stem from the pack holding their clothes. Lavender. She inhaled the fading scent and stuck it into her jacket. “Let’s go.”

   Back in the wyvern cave, Fallon was preparing Abraxos for flight while Banshee hung back behind her alpha. Manon watched Fallon carefully. Looking for signs that the witch was having second thoughts.

All this time away from her twin had changed Fallon. Opened her up. She’d become more self-assured, more at ease with herself. That missing confidence her sister had distracted from, or helped Fallon to hide. Maybe Annabee has become a replacement for Faline in some ways, she thought. Maybe. But she didn’t see her niece being overly protective, or forcing Fallon out of her shell. She was drawing her out by her attention and personality. She is quite a flirt, Manon mused.

“Don’t worry about me,” Fallon said, noticing Manon’s staring.

“You don’t need to do this.” At Fallon’s hurt expression, Manon tilted her head towards Annabee. “I gave you no order.”

“I know,” the young witch said. “I know it’s my choice and I know what choice I’m making.”

Manon nodded but kept quiet as Dorian approached and began to strap in their bags and weapons. At the cave entrance, Aven talked quietly with Annabee then hugged her. The witchling came over to join them next to Abraxos, rubbing her eyes. She pulled Fallon into a tight hug, whispering something in her ear.

Dorian watched the goodbye with puzzlement. Then, understanding what was happening, he whirled on Manon. Trying to ignore the shock and anger growing on his face, in his thoughts, Manon took his hand and pulled him away from the others.

“What are you doing?” His voice was like ice.

The decision had been immediate. There was no way she’d abandon her grandmother, her people. She’d worn Aven down quickly by getting her to admit that there were other options for using the wyrdkeys if she was unable to join Dorian. The plan would be riskier with three instead of four, but the chance of success and survival was still high.

Fallon had asked to stay too, much to Annabee’s growing anguish. Annabee would have to go with Dorian to guide him to the temple and help with the keys. And although Manon thought Banshee a fine wyvern, she could only fully trust Abraxos to keep Dorian safe.

That had left informing Dorian. She’d meant to tell him in their rooms. But when she’d seen that sprig of lavender… The one she’d kept after his night of courting her. She’d thought it had been lost. But he’d found it. And kept it himself.

Now, Manon prayed to the Three-Faced Goddess to help her through this. And she almost laughed. Laughed at how many other times she’d thought This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done… How wrong she’d been.

“Manon.” Dorian practically moaned her name. Fear replacing his anger and shock. “I’m not leaving you.”

“I can’t leave them. I won’t leave them to fight an army that is hunting for me. For us.”

“Then I’ll stay too. My magic will be needed.”

Her chest felt like it would explode. Her heart actually ached.  And she knew some of that must be coming from him. They were both wide open to the other, sharing every feeling.

“You can’t,” she said, choking back a sob. She was determined not to cry. Not for fear of seeming weak. But because if she did, he would insist on staying, and her resolve would waiver.

His hand was trembling in hers. Was this from the bond? All of this emotion and pain? This physical pain?

“You know you can’t. You have to get the last key and take it to the others. We can’t risk them falling into the wrong hands. I promise. I will come as soon as I can.”

Manon felt his disbelief in her words. He didn’t doubt her abilities. He just knew the odds were against them. The Crochans had their own army. But, they were spread out too thinly along the mountains. The alarm had been raised and they’d be on the move south. But it would take days for most of them to get here.

He opened his mouth to argue but then closed it. He knew she was right. And he knew he could not convince her to go. She pulled his still shaking hand to her mouth and kissed it.

“Don’t worry,” she said, forcing a smile. “True love doesn’t happen every day. Nothing can come between it. Isn’t that what one of your books said?”

He huffed a quiet laugh, taking hold of her braid. “So that’s what you were reading after I’d fall asleep? Not Aven’s history books as you so adamantly claimed? And you said you only read those because it was a matter of life and death.” His face fell at the slip of that last word.

But Manon kept her smile. “Well, since I apparently lack any skill for flirting, which is absurd considering how easily I ensnared you… I thought maybe I could learn something from one or two of your silly romance novels.”

Dorian’s face lit up and he laughed, even as tears rolled down his cheeks. “My silly novels? I don’t recall borrowing any. And, I’m not the one quoting them. But don’t worry Witchling,” he said, leaning closer. “I won’t tell anyone how much you like them.”

And now, she was laughing too. And crying. He took her face in his hands and slowly kissed her. Their tears mixed together as the kiss became more desperate, neither wanting it to end... both willing it not to end.

But there was no time left. Easing into a hug, Manon whispered in his ear. “Keep Abraxos safe for me.” His breath hitched and she felt his nod against her shoulder.

When they returned to the others, Annabee was already atop Abraxos. At a look from Dorian, she slid towards the back of the saddle, rolling her eyes.

Manon had already said goodbye to her niece, but she felt a surge of gratitude when Annabee said, “I’ll watch out for them.”

Dorian kissed her again then mounted Abraxos. He turned to Annabee and said, “If I’d known you were to be my bodyguard, I’d have held a proper ceremony. Make you an honorary King’s Guard.” Annabee scowled, her eyes sliding to the others in exasperation.

And as Aven spoke to Dorian, Manon pushed herself to move to the next goodbye. She’d expected Abraxos to be angry, but his expressive face showed a mixture of sadness and determination. She spoke to him mind to mind, leaning her head against his.

You know how important this is. Keep them safe. I will do everything in my power to return to you.

A sudden half-formed image flashed through her head. The Matron. Then a rush of concern. Hatred.

I know. She’s coming. That’s part of why I must stay. I will deal with her.

Manon stepped back and gazed into his eyes. You are mine and I am yours Abraxos. From now until the Darkness cleaves us apart.

He dipped his large head, and before she could move away, his tongue flicked out and he licked her hand. He’d never done that before. She laughed and looked up to find Dorian watching them.

Holding Dorian’s stare, she laid her hand on Abraxos’s neck and said, “Go.”

As her wyvern made his way to the cave mouth, Dorian’s eyes never left hers. They shared again all of the feelings and thoughts they’d exchanged upon accepting the cariad bond. All of the love and understanding that had led them to choose each other.

An instant later, they were out of the cave and shooting into the air, headed north. Aven and Fallon came to stand on either side of her and they watched until Abraxos became a tiny dark spot in the sky. When he’d disappeared from view, they returned to the inner tunnels to prepare for the upcoming battle.

   They’d been airborne for mere minutes and had just cleared a high band of clouds when Annabee leaned forward to speak into Dorian’s ear.

“You didn't put up much of a fight. You're not going to Terrasen.”

Not a question. Good, he thought. Then she has the same idea. He twisted back so she could hear him over the roar of wind. Abraxos was already beginning to push himself to go faster, at Dorian’s urging.

“No. They’re right about the keys. The Blackbeak Matron cannot get them. We’re going to hide these two in the temple. Only heirs of Brannon can enter. And unless I’m mistaken, there’s only five of us, none of whom will help that bitch. Then, we go back.” She replied with a wicked grin.

Facing forward again, he leaned down over Abraxos’s muscled neck and thought GO!

Abraxos let out a scream of agreement and sped up.

  To be continued…