The sun peered over the treetops, showering Nolan in its golden light. Its warm rays stirred him from his deep slumber, coaxing his eyes open one reluctant blink at a time.
He tried to move his hands for a stretch. His right reached for the sky without issue, fingers splaying out as he yawned.
His left didn't move.
'Is it stuck on something?'
Nolan looked down. And that's where he saw her.
Lyris was laying on him like he was a pillow. Her hair drifted across her face, swaying gently with each peaceful breath against his chest. Her head rested softly on him while her boobs pressed against his lower abdomen.
'Nice.'
He couldn't help but think.
But that's not where his left hand was.
'Where is it?'
He tried to feel it out, flexing his fingers. Somewhere soft. Warm. Almost as if it was—
His eyes widened.
He tilted his head, craning to look past Lyris's shoulder, and there it was. His left hand, firmly planted underneath the plump backside of Lyris. Her butt firm in his grasp.
'Oh she's gonna kill me.'
Slowly, carefully, Nolan tried to slide his hand free. The problem was that it was early morning, and like every man cursed with biology, he was a little half-chubbed. So when he shifted to free his hand, his hips moved with him, and the motion was enough to stir the sleeping Lyris, her eyes fluttering open.
"Oh no."
Lyris peered her head up, looking at Nolan with half-lidded eyes. "Oh. It's morning already."
However, just as she moved to get up, she realized exactly where she was. Her eyes went wide. She planted her palm against his chest, trying to push herself upright—but her hand slid down his shirt, lower and lower, until it found it.
They both froze.
Lyris's face went from sleepy to bright scarlet in approximately zero point three seconds. Her hand recoiled like she'd touched a hot stove.
"I—" she stuttered. "I didn't mean to—"
"It's the morning, it just happens—"
"I—I know what it is!"
Lyris scrambled off of him, her face burning so hot Nolan was convinced you could cook an egg on it. She stood up, turned away, and pressed both hands to her face as if she could physically smother the embarrassment out of existence.
Nolan sat up and made a show of brushing dirt off his sleeves, patting down his shirt, picking at an imaginary speck on his pants—anything to look like a man whose biggest concern right now was dust and not the fact that a beautiful woman had just grabbed his half-hard dick.
'Smooth, Nolan. Real smooth. Day two and she's already felt your—'
'Nope. Not finishing that thought.'
Coughing into his fist, Nolan tried to break the tension.
"So… breakfast?"
"Yeah." Lyris was already walking. "Breakfast."
"Breakfast."
"Yes. Breakfast. Let's go."
Neither of them looked at each other as neither of them wanted to acknowledge what had just happened. They simply walked toward the fire pit, side by side, red-faced and silent, with the unspoken agreement that the last sixty seconds had been permanently erased from history.
Breakfast was a quiet affair. The same stew from last night, reheated over a fresh fire, served in the same chipped bowls. Nobody complained. Food was food.
Nolan and Lyris sat on opposite sides of the fire pit, choosing not to acknowledge each other beyond the occasional glance. Which only made it worse when they caught each other glancing at the same time—both snapping their eyes away like they'd been burned.
'It's okay,' Nolan told himself, staring into his bowl like it held the secrets of the universe. 'Things like this happen. It's normal. You can't control it. It just so happened that a beautiful princess fell asleep on your chest, and her boobs were on you, and you woke up, and your hand was on her—'
'Oh my god. What was I doing?'
He shoved a spoonful of stew into his mouth to keep himself from spiraling any further.
"Good morning, my lady."
Nolan's attention pulled upward. Jeffrey was walking toward them, his steps slow but steady, his remaining arm resting at his side.
Lyris immediately stood up. "Jeffrey, how are you? You shouldn't be walking."
"Relax, my lady. Melissa was able to take care of me. I'm feeling much better now, thank you."
"That's good. I'm glad you're feeling better."
"Though I must say," Jeffrey continued, a faint smile crossing his face, "I didn't expect you to wander off last night. For this new boy."
Lyris's face went red. "Jeffrey." She smacked him on the chest.
"My lady, what was that for?"
"You know why." Lyris pouted, her eyes quickly darting toward Nolan before snapping back.
Nolan put his hands up. "Hey. Don't look at me like that. It's just—you know—I was helping last night, and she fell asleep on me." He muttered the last part into his bowl.
Laughing, Jeffrey seemed to find amusement in teasing the both of them. "Oh, relax. I come bearing news anyway."
Both Lyris and Nolan focused on what Jeffrey had to say.
"The north wall, the drawbridge, and the gate are all broken. We'll need wood to repair them. However, Ethan and Charles both died in the attack, so we don't have anyone skilled in handling the lumber or the construction." He straightened up as best he could. "I believe I must request your service, my lady. As well as the young man's."
Nolan looked slightly puzzled at the request.
The hell? I don't look like a carpenter. No one said I was a carpenter.
"You want us to summon," Lyris answered, already understanding.
'Oh that's what he means.'
"Yes," Jeffrey said.
Nolan looked between the two of them. "Summon? Like what you did with Jeffrey?"
"Exactly." Lyris crossed her arms. "The Summon Arch. If we need a lumberjack and a carpenter, we summon them."
"My lady is correct," Jeffrey said. "It is how I was called to your service. The arch should be able to provide what the village needs."
Nolan stood up. "Alright then. Let's go summon some help."
The Summon Arch stood on the south edge of the village. A structure of pale stone that looked as if it had been carved by the hands of a Greek god. Two curved pillars rose from the ground, leaning inward to form an arch roughly ten feet tall, their surfaces carved with symbols that pulsed faintly with a soft blue light.
'Wow.' Nolan stared up at it. 'It looks like it came straight from Rome.'
"So how exactly does this work?" he asked.
Lyris stepped up to the arch with her hand held out with her orb in her grasp.
"Alright. Here goes." Lyris raised her orb, closed her eyes, and channeled. Light gathered around her hands, soft and golden, flowing from her palms into the stone. The carved symbols flared brighter, the blue pulse quickening into a steady glow.
The air inside the arch shimmered. The space between the pillars began to ripple like the surface of a disturbed pond.
And then it stopped.
The ripple froze. The light in the arch dimmed. And from the ground directly in front of Lyris, a small stone pedestal rose from the earth, pushing up through the dirt like it had been waiting beneath the surface all along. It locked into place with a heavy thud.
On its flat surface was a single carved indent the shape of a scroll.
"What the…" Nolan stepped forward, looking down at it. "Is it asking for something?"
Lyris opened her eyes, staring at the pedestal. Her hand hovered over the indent, tracing the shape without touching it.
"It's like it requires some sort of resource to work." She said quietly tracing her finger over it. "Like a parchment from the shape or perhaps a scroll."
"Let me guess we don't have one of those do we." Nolan watches.
"No. No we do not."
The arch's light faded entirely. The shimmer between the pillars dissolved, and the symbols along the stone returned to their faint, dormant pulse. The pedestal remained, the empty scroll-shaped indent staring up at them like an unpaid bill.
"It would seem I was fortunate enough," Lyris said, her voice tight. "I guess they gave me a first-time summon for free." She stared at the empty pedestal. "And now I guess it costs a scroll every time we want to summon."
Nolan crouched beside the pedestal, tapping the indent with his index finger. "Where do we even get one of these?"
Lyris shook her head. "I don't know. Perhaps we find them amongst the treasure of goblins. A dungeon. I have no idea. Perhaps we need to make them."
"Well that's just great. A resource we need to summon more people and we can't even do it because we have no idea how to make it or where to find it." He stood up. "Whatever. Step aside. Let me give it a try. If it was free for you the first time, surely it's free for me."