Itzu Romero
I kneel before the queen. She sticks out her hand, waiting for me to grab and kiss it. Never have I felt so small and frightened in her palace. The walls are a royal blue with gold trimming. Her throne looks bigger than I remember, or maybe I just never paid attention. “What is it, Sir Eldrin?” she asks.
“Lady Verona is missing.”
“That’s no good. You’re both my trusted knights…”
“Send a search party. We need to find her.”
The queen steps toward me, cupping her hands around my face. “Very well, then.” The warmth of her hands is intense, her lilac scent intoxicating. I look up into her eyes, a striking blue. It all feels so real.
*
Verona and I lay on the grass, celebrating our newly earned knighthood. The sun shone on our faces and the wildflowers grew so tall that they obscured Verona’s body from my sight as we lay together, our fingers intertwined.
“Can you believe it?” Verona asked. “We finally reached our goal! We’re officially knights!”
“Yeah, nothing like a few hours of grinding, am I right?” I teased.
“Hey! Stop ruining the immersion! It was like a couple in-game years, I think. How long does it take to become a knight?”
I shrugged. “Beats me.”
Verona sat up and coughed a bit.
“You okay?”
She nodded. I was enchanted by her presence. Her braided auburn hair patterned over her shoulder. The sun radiated off her copper skin, and when she looked at me, the greens and yellows of the forest stared back.
We figured we could do a bit of world exploration before going on quests for the queen. Verona wanted to be a princess, but we’d have to wait until that update came out. I thought being knighted was cooler anyway.
*
I watch as the rest of the knights ready themselves to find Lady Verona.
“Sir Eldrin.”
I look back to see a fellow knight calling to me.
“Yes?”
“Will you be joining us on this expedition?”
“No. I’m doing a solo mission. But keep me in the loop if you find any updates.”
“Yes, sir.”
Our first mission as knights was to reprimand a witch down in Wailing Forest. I thought we’d be doing something cooler like slaying a dragon.
“Are you out of your mind?” Verona asked. “We can’t slay a dragon until we’re at least like level 20 or something.”
“Yeah, but there’s those baby dragons that we can maybe take on. What were they called again?”
“You mean wyrmlings?”
“Yeah! Those things!”
Verona and I laughed. We trekked down the winding dirt path, climbing over the occasional overgrown tree root and slashing branches. The sun eventually began to set, the lack of light making Wailing Forest creepier than it already was.
“We should make camp,” I suggested. “We need to keep our health and stamina up.” Rummaging through our inventory, I found the tent kit and threw it on the ground. The kit sparked to life, popping into existence. “Nothing makes me feel more manly than setting up a tent.”
Verona rolled her eyes and threw the cooking kit out of her inventory. “Whatever. I’ll cook some food with some of the herbs I found while we were walking through the forest.”
I stood watch as Verona mixed ingredients together, creating meals to restore our health and elixirs to give us buffs when we needed it. When she was done, we entered the tent, only to come back out into the dawn of a new day in less than a minute.
Looking at the quest description, the witch’s hut was a day and a half’s travel on foot, so we were getting close. It seemed like Verona realized it too, since she pulled out her sword, ready for an attack. Our steps grew more purposeful the farther into Wailing Forest we went. The air was growing thick and sickly. Then a giant spider barreled toward us. Verona shrieked and ran the way we came.
“Hey!” I drew my greatsword and pulled out my shield. “I could use some backup here!”
With my sword drawn and stance ready, I waited for the arachnid to attack. Unfortunately, the towering beast walked right over me. Uninterested in a fight, it crawled over toward Verona. I slayed the beast by chopping off its head. As I turned around to look at Verona, her head was being devoured by another huge spider, then she poofed.
“Dammit, Verona!” I sprinted toward the monstrous arachnid. Its red eyes bulged, and it opened its mouth to reveal its sharp fangs. I jumped and slashed down, slicing the disgusting head clean off.
Just as the body despawned, Verona poofed back into existence.
I teased her as we kept walking toward the witch’s hut. Fog began to limit our vision, but we took it as a sign that we were getting close. We made it to a clearing and saw a hut with wooden walls and a roof of leaves. Verona wanted to come up with a plan, especially after her last blunder, but I chugged a strength elixir and charged.
The witch was out brewing potions in her cauldron, so I was able to catch her by surprise. Verona stayed back and used a crossbow to deal extra damage. Unfortunately, the witch had more health points than I was expecting, and she ended up hitting me with one of her potions of sluggishness.
“Veronaaaaaaaaa!” I called out in slow-motion.
Like the knight in shining armor that she was, Verona slayed the witch, but ended up getting hit by one of her potions in the process. Verona started to uncontrollably cough and lose hearts. Luckily, the sluggish potion wore off and I was able to give her one of the healing elixirs.
“Here, drink this.”
She smiled and drank the elixir. Her health went up, but she still had a coughing fit.
“Ah, shoot! Is there another effect? Let me see what I have in my inventory.” Verona shook her head. “No, it’s….” She started coughing again.
“Oh… Right.”
*
As I am in town haggling NPCs for the whereabouts of my friend, a messenger pigeon lands on my shoulder with a note: Sir Eldrin, we heard rumor of a kingdom that seemingly poofed into existence. We are unsure if this is related to our search, but we figured we should let you know.
A glowing dot emerges on my map, signaling the location of this kingdom. I figure it is worth a shot to take a look since I have no other leads. I mount my horse and ride to the east.
*
There was a chunk of time where I wasn’t able to play with Verona because she was in the hospital. My mom suggested I take a break since I’d been playing so much. “I just don’t think looking at a screen all day is healthy, Emily,” she lectured.
“For one, Mom, it feels so real that it’s like I’m not even staring at a screen. Two, it’s my only way to hang out with Verona since she’s… you know.”
“Verona? And you can say she’s sick, honey.”
“Oh, yeah. Veronica likes going by Verona when we role play. And… cancer’s not the same as being sick, Mom.”
And… cancer’s not the same as being sick, Mom.
I finally made it to the mysterious kingdom. The town looks to be about the same as the one we normally play in. The castle is a bit different, though, with red and white accents instead of the normal blue and gold. Walking toward the castle, something doesn’t feel right, but I can’t put my finger on it. I chalk it up to nerves.
No knights guard the castle’s entrance. Strange. Inside, I’m met with NPCs gasping the moment they see me. Is it really him? Sir Eldrin, himself? In the flesh? I hear whispers of the characters. Guess the tip was right on the money.
A castle servant bows and greets me. “You must be Sir Eldrin, yes?”
“That’s me.”
“Splendid. I’ll inform Princess Verona that you’re here. She’s been waiting for you.”
Princess Verona. She did wait for that princess update for so long. My map’s glowing dot updates to the castle’s balcony. This is it. I found her.
The last time I saw Verona, I wanted to give her a night she’d never forget. “Where are you taking me?” she asked while I covered her eyes.
“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, silly.”
“Why do I feel like you’re going to kill me?” she teased.
I scoffed. “I would never!” We finally stopped at the location, and I slowly lifted my hands off her eyelids. “Okay. You can open your eyes now.”
She gasped, looking out at the scenery. The wisteria branches wove into each other. Its petals coated the ground lilac, the purple hue adding to the ethereal atmosphere. We were at the river’s edge, where fireflies danced. The water reflected their light, and it was as if we were among the stars.
Verona turned to me. “What is all this? And you changed your skin.” She began tearing up.
I swept away her tears with my thumb. “I just wanted to do something special for you…. And I wanted you to see the real me for once.”
Hand in hand, I led her to a banquet filled with her favorite foods where the melody of stringed instruments could be heard in the breeze.
“Eldrin, I don’t know what to say.”
Verona wore a long white, flowy dress; she looked like a goddess. I squeezed her hand. “Don’t say anything. Let me be your knight and you the princess tonight. May I have this dance?”
She giggled. “Yes, you may.”
It was awkward at first. She kept stepping on my toes and we would laugh to release the tension. After a bit of tweaking, we were synchronized. Her body was close to mine, her head rested in the crook of my neck, the warmth of her breath on my skin. We swayed to the sound of the violins in the background, and eventually they faded away until all I could hear was Verona’s humming. I lifted her chin to look into her eyes, but instead of getting lost in her nature, I was met with the look of melancholia. The forest was dying, and there was nothing I could do to save it.
I stop at the balcony’s entrance. The glass doors are closed, but I make out the silhouette of a woman standing outside, waiting for me. I have never felt this nervous before. My heart feels like it will explode, rupture right out of my chest. I try to take some deep breaths before I step outside. The glass doors open on their own, as if they’ve grown impatient with me.
I see her braided auburn hair and her copper skin in the sun. When she turns to look at me, I’m lost in the forest once again.
She smiles. “Eldrin, you came.”
I run and hug her tightly.
“Eldrin, you’re squishing me.”
I loosen my grip. “Sorry…. I’m just so happy to see you again.”
She smiles again, wider this time. Her hand stretches before her body, signaling me to get on my knees.
I bend down on one knee and kiss her outstretched hand. “So, what have you been up to without me? I’m digging this palace and the whole princess thing you got going on.”
“Ah, you know. Princess duties.” She shrugs.
I grab her hand and squeeze it tight. “I love you.”
“What?”
“You know what I said.”
“I love you too.”
I step to her level. “Look into my eyes and say that again.”
“I love you.”
I squeeze her shoulders and fall to the ground, sobbing into her red gown. She embraces me tightly as if to try to comfort me. Looking up at her eyes, I realize the forest is gone for good. I smile one last time before drawing my sword and piercing it right through her abdomen. She coughs up blood, and it begins to ooze out of her wound, but she’s still smiling. No more poofing. She can never come back.
*
I stand next to the tombstone with flowers in hand. “Sorry I haven’t come to visit you recently. It’s just…. It’s been so hard here without you, you know?”
I kneel down, planting the flowers as neatly as I can. Placing my hand on the icy stone, I caress it as if it were Veronica’s hair. “I miss you,” I mutter, tears streaming down my cheeks. “I miss you and—I love you. I love you so much, and I wish I could have told you.”
I hug the tombstone, but Veronica’s warmth is gone. All that is left is the rough and frigid embrace of a rock.
“Goodbye, Verona.”
The Rocky Mountain Review 