Three months later in the Nucandu forest territory....

           Daniel sat down in his favorite booth of Smitty's pub and ordered a couple pints, then simply waited. He looked around the pub, seeing some of his friends and neighbors. He nodded accordingly. He was just grateful that finally most of them had stopped asking him if he was okay; how he was handling his mate's death. It had been just passed half a year since she'd crossed over. It hadn't seemed possible. His trip to Goblin's Hollow after the funeral had made quite an impact. 

It had seemed to.. affect him. The way he saw things, how he looked at life. He helped save the empress and gained a dragon in the process, which had made him want to squeal like a little girl getting a pet unicorn. Momentarily lost in his own memory, didn't see the warlock sitting across from him. 

"Danny, you there?" He said smiling and grabbing one of the pints. 

"Huh? Say what?" 

He chuckled a second.

"How are you doing?" Daniel asked his friend.

With a solmn look he responded; "It's not me i'm concerned with," 

"How is she?" 

"Not good at all." 

"I was afraid of that." He said, taking a slurp of the pint.

"I love her and I don't know how to fix her." 

"I care for Ravenessa too. You can't just fix her grief." Daniel pointed out.

"You're the wisdom warlock, what do you suggest?" Stergis said.

"She needs to talk to other women." 

"Veronia goes to see her."  He responded.

"Not that female." He said.

After a long pause, he said: "Who do you have in mind?" 

"The empress. She knows true loss. If anyone can help her, it's Ralvania." 

"She does?" Stergis asked.

"Yes, remember Lily the queen of the faries?" 

"Yes, go on," He replied, nodding.

"Her mother, Melinda was like a sister to the empress." 

"Will you send a message to her for me?" He asked.

"Sure. I'll send Lilythe when I get home tonight." He replied.

"Thanks, bro." 

"You were there when I wasn't doing too good." 

Stergis nodded. "I need to get back to my mate," He said then downed the pint and left. 

      Thanks for checking out the first chapter. i thought the song went well with a pub scene. please, vote comment or just say hello...