...And once more the magnificent steed took to the wind. Riding upon its back were the fading silhouettes of the two young adventures: Parn and Deedlit. With armored outline gleaming gold through the fading dark of the coming day, and dark hair flapping about in the wind alongside his cloak, he sat firmly upon the horses saddle; next to him, the enchanting image of an elven woman with whom he had spent his recent heroic journeys. Her elven face sparkled gently; a pale white that pronounced her sharp but elegant features; for truly she was wore the majestic look of beauty upon her face. As lovely as she was, her magnificence was hindered by the sad look of mourning that weighed upon her eyelids, causing them to drop low to the ground: for the two young travelers had just departed from the resting place of their beloved friend, the valiantly departed Ghim. The chorus of familiar music that rang through the mood often on their travels sung a sadder tune, and the ethereal notes of the minor scale permeated the mood silently as they traveled onward into the morning sun until they had distanced themselves from their fallen comrades grave.

      Parn looked to the skies, a place that often held his gaze; for the skies lay ahead with the uncertainties and mysteries of the future. One who always lives among the future is all well and good, but in this fine young man's current circumstances, it would not suffice. For, much to Deedlit's dismay, Parn's eager visage, which resided amongst all the heroes of the world past and present, rarely ever fell down upon her, despite her constant efforts. His eyes, instead, gazed upon the admired King Kashue, the revered King Fahn, or even the fallen Ashram of Marmo, who had stalwartly represented in Parn's mind, the other spectrum of heroes that needed exist in a land: the darkness in a world of light. Throughout Lodoss they had traveled beside each other, and had accomplished more in their short time together than most people can boast in a life's time.

      Still, Deedlit wasn't happy; for though she had become wrapped up in a fairy tale quest that weighed on a scale of epic proportions, the happy ending was missing but one thing: the presence of love. It lacked a love that was everlasting and true, a love that she held within her soul, and a love that fell upon the outline of the young knight that sat in front of her, completely unaware of his partner's emotions. She, as the heroine of the story, deserved the attention, if not the admiration, of the hero: such is the way a story is woven and so shall this story be told as well, or so she hoped. But how could she gain her brave knight's love, for he had truly become associated with the word knight, in all its contexts and associations of duty and honor et cetera. Could she sway his heart to hers, was it possible? To awaken one's spirit to a new level of emotion, a world of joy for the sake of being joyful, and happiness for the sake of being happy would she be able to accomplish this task? There was a lover with in Parn; a lover within the kind young man that had so blindly given her the simple gift of a white rose, the weak attempt of his affections trying to burst out; to shine through. But now, amidst the grassy plains of Lodoss, among scenery so commonplace and boring; now was not the time to share with him such feelings. With a sigh of yearning that seemed would never be quenched, Deedlit removed her somber eyes from the back of her unnoticing lover, and followed the trail of his gaze into the deep azure sky.

      "Whoa boy!" Parn shouted, as he pulled back upon the reins and the coaxed the horse to a stop. Deedlit, nearly asleep by this point, awoke from her reverie to find before her the magnificent sight of an ivory castle ahead: a castle of the clouds. "Isn't it beautiful," Parn remarked, perhaps to himself, breaking the hours of silence that had existed between he and Deedlit since the two of them departed from the rusted battle axe that marked Ghim's dreary grave.

      "Yes it is," echoed the gentle lips of Deedlit's elven face. She spoke softly, in a mournful tone brought about because such words of beauty had never been uttered by the young man in her regard. But Parn did not take heed of her words, as he was too transfixed upon the castle that lay over yonder, atop a narrow cliff; the home of the great sage, Wort, whose adventures Parn often dreamed of. Even the somber Deedlit could not help but be amazed by the brilliant architecture of the magician's extravagant abode. The two stared in silence for a time, taking in their surroundings in an effort to imprint a vision upon their memory that could live up to the splendor of the true sight. But, as beauteous as the scene was at the time, it proved only a pretext to a greater fantasy, for much to both of their surprise, a gray dragon rose up through the clouds and perched itself upon the castle roof. From the dragon came forth two spaded tails, of which wrapped around the tower to provide the creature a greater stability. Such a sight was rare to see and would not be bested for times to come. Yet in Deedlit's mind, it still lacked perfection, for she was not within Parn's arms: the arms that she desired to be amongst, for they were the arms that had saved her life, the arms that had held her close, and also the arms that she feared would never embrace her in love. In time the dragon flew away, first revealing its tremendous wings span, then taking to the air with a grace that did not seem possible to come from such a mighty beast. After the Grande Finale, the two adventurers knew that it was time to resume their journey.

      "Shall we?" Parn said with a smile, gazing upon the scenery one last time from their narrow, mountainous perch that acted the theater for their unforeseen but welcomed play. With a nod, Deedlit gave her consent, and the their adventure resumed their journey to the northern Kingdom of Moss; an adventure that they had taken up for the mere purpose of exploration, having no greater goal but to visit a place unseen by either of their eyes. Within the hour they were out of the mountains and back within the plush forest that had become so commonplace. The two had ridden in silence for a good portion of the day, and now the sun hung low in the sky, marking the middle of a peaceful afternoon; it was time to take a rest. The two of them, aided by their faithful and tireless horse, managed to stumble upon the tranquil waters of a forest spring. Deciding between themselves that it was as good a place as any other, Parn and Deedlit dismounted from their single horse and walked over to the pure and mild spring. The young knight, drawing his royal sword in the process, set a hurried pace, and he walked several steps ahead to survey the area with caution. Behind him Deedlit dwelt upon her thoughts slowly, skeptical of the concept of present danger and, instead, took the time to enjoy the natural surrounding of an unrefined forest. There was a beauty to this scene as well, unlike that of Wort's castle, a different kind of beauty, yet as magnificent all the same. Here she found herself surrounded by the quaint and secluded, back area of a quiet forest, alone with the man to whom she held a love unprofessed. Her fanciful thoughts turned to impatient desire, and soon she found herself conjuring various methods to exact the expression her feelings to the ignorant boy, of whom walked several feet in front of her. He still had not looked back. Deedlit thought of a thousand ways of rationalizing her emotions to him: artistically, and logically, and gently, all seemed out of place. Her pace quickened with her heart and Deedlit's will had all but fled from her control. Instead of talking to Parn about how she felt, she decided that she would rather show him and observe his reaction.

      Hair arcing behind her gracefully, Deedlit took to the air, sailing toward the handsome young man of whom she had come to adore. Wrapping her arms about his unsuspecting body, she clasped Parn's chin and gently spun his head to face her, his whole body following suit. Upon his youthful countenance lay the astonished look of a child discovering, for the first time, the pain of fire upon his flesh: Parn dropped his sword in surprise and welcomed Deedlit into his rugged arms, not having been given any real choice in the matter. The result of her actions: a kiss, the first that had come to pass between their lips. And as Deedlit fell into Parn's arms, eyes closed in bliss, the young man remained rigid, tense and unknowing of the situation; his eyes open all the while. The moment ended, and Deedlit dropped away from Parn's loose grip; she examined his expression in order to analyze the feelings he held in regards to her unprovoked, random and very forward action. Her conclusions were not ones of happiness as she had hoped an expected. Parn moved his head from side to side, shaking away some of the shock that still permeated his expression. To Deedlit, he seemed neither happy nor sad as he glared at Deedlit with wide eyes, clearly in disarray. He managed to stutter out the words, "D D Deed, what'd you do that for?"

      Deedlit's smile faded away and her heart froze still; anger swelled red into her pale white face. With all the signs of mixed passionate frustration and rage, her eyebrows slanted down over narrowed eyes of fire. How could he ask such a ridiculous question? Could it be that he was truly so blind to her feelings after she had demonstrated them to him so directly, is it possible? Her fists clenched shut as she nearly started trembling with emotion. No, she was not melancholy at all, she was mad. "What do you mean, what'd you do that for?" she stated crossly, mocking Parn's tone and stressing its idiotic accent. "Why did I do that? Why? By the gods, you're a clueless one!" At this point she was screaming to alleviate frustration, attempting, hopelessly, to penetrate Parn's thick skull and appeal to his emotions. His only response was a blank look of utter surprise; for any shock that had left his face had now returned.

      "Did I do something wrong?" Parn truly looked ignorant of his bluntness in the face of an emotional situation, and Deedlit was dumbfounded. After one final convulsion of fury the elf stormed off, jumped into the saddle of their chestnut horse, and took off into the forest, leaving Parn behind. All he could do was scratch his head in awe, and wonder what, exactly, had just happened.