“It’s beautiful,” Wildflower whispered.

Max nodded.

“No one in all the Amber Vale will be able to stay away,” she continued. “This is the wonder the Master Builders bring.”

They stood in silence for a moment. There was a splash in the river below as something large surfaced for a moment. Probably a fish.

A small frown crossed Wildflower’s face. “You’re going to make me commander of the village, aren’t you?” she asked.

“That’s the idea.”

Wildflower looked up at him and bit her lip. “You know I want to explore. I want adventure. I don’t want to be bound to one place. That’s why I left my home forest in the first place.”

Max studied the girl who was his only companion in this strange and scary new world. The green of Wildflower’s soft skin was bathed in the blue light of the village outline, giving her an ethereal look. Her chestnut brown hair fell down her back and over her shoulders in waves. And her curves all curved… all of them.

But despite her incredibly feminine appearance, Max knew she was no shrinking violet. She was a fighter. And though he couldn’t remember his time from before the Trial, he got the distinct impression that she had already stood by him through more hardship and challenges than any girl he’d met before.

If the state that he’d first woken up in this world was any indication, he’d known quite a few girls in his old life.

He reached out and hooked a stray strand of hair behind Wildflower’s ear. “I will not cage you, Wildflower. The moment we find another commander who can take command of Swarm Central in your place, if that is what you wish. The prompt said your people are natural scouts. Leading the forward units seems like more your thing. And you do look good on unicorn back.”

Wildflower smiled up at him. She was beautiful.

Max felt the urge to bend in and kiss her.

Wildflower must have sensed his feeling, because she suddenly looked regretful. “Max, we can’t be lovers. I’m sorry for teasing you before. I didn’t think I’d feel this way after so short a time together. I really like you. You are everything I’d ever want in a mate. But now that we have unicorn hair, we mustn’t—”

Max cut her off by placing a finger on her lips. Something inside of him had clicked.

“Wildflower, that quest means we mustn’t have sex. But that doesn’t mean we can’t love each other. I want you and unless there’s some kind of bullshit magic stopping me, which you should tell me about right now, I’m going to kiss you. Right here, right now.” He paused. The night wind blew through both their hair.“Is there some bullshit magic I should know about?”

Wildflower’s cheeks had darkened to a delightful shade of emerald. “No,” she whispered.

Max bent down as she reached up on tip toes. He felt her nearly-naked body press against his. Their lips met. Soft. Tender. Breathy. Her arms wrapt around his neck. His hands fell around her waist.

For a long time, they simply held each other, closely sharing each other’s breathing. Max felt the world disappear around him. The mysteries of the trial, the threat of death, the fact that he had family out there, somewhere in this world—in that moment, it all became unimportant.

After what seemed an age, they broke apart.

“Wow,” Wildflower whispered.

“Yeah,” Max breathed back.

Wildflower giggled. “I could do that all night.”

“We’re going to have to sort out sleeping soon,” Max replied, but he knew it was easy to tell from his voice that his heart wasn’t in it.

Wildflower simply smiled up at him and pulled him in for another kiss, and while the first had been soft and tender, this one became much longer and far more passionate.

The moon was full and low, seemingly massive in the nighttime sky.

Man and woman stood embraced atop the cliff by the river, silhouetted against the celestial body by anyone below who might be watching.

Hidden in shadow, a wet figure by the river with light blue skin was watching.

As the man and woman continued to make out at the top of the cliff, the figure giggled to herself. Occasionally, her gaze strayed to the many constellations of mist and stars that outlined the yet-to-be-built village.

She heard a gruff sound approach, like the muttering of an old man.

With a hurried movement, she turned and slid back into the river, headfirst, with a loud plop sound.

Not long after, Thorax arrived at that curve of the river bank, scanning the blue-lit area with all eight of his eyes. On finding nothing, he muttered to himself. “Probably a fish.”