When I awoke I had this sudden awareness that something was wrong. Not quite sure what exactly it was though, I laid there for a moment with my eyes closed relying on the sharpness of my other senses in case I needed to jump into action. No unfamiliar or dangerous sounds were caught by my twitching elven ears unless you counted Rei’s faint snoring. Nothing smelled out of place either, just the fading cleanliness of the sheets that had been washed and changed yesterday and the slightly musky scent of Rei’s currently male form. I even reached our with my magick sense, reaching out as far as I could to encompass the entire mansion, but other than the mana that was ever-present in the world and the various magicks that I was used to feeling from my friends and the other Fae, I could sense nothing.

I couldn’t tell what was wrong, just that something was, and the feeling persisted. It didn’t feel like anything disastrous or world-ending, more like something was out of place. There was no secret Fae danger sense warning me of impending doom or anything like that, it was just that something felt off. I didn’t think that there was any danger to the Fae Glade or Haven, and I didn’t think it was Narek pulling anything either. No, whatever this was, it seemed to be something of smaller scale, something concerning me. It was like it was a small change, barely noticeable, but something that would have huge ramifications for me, personally. I tried figuring out what was bothering me so much as I laid there in Rei’s arms waiting for Daenyss to call me for our morning routine, but whatever the cause was it just wouldn’t seem to click in my mind.

It wasn’t until I was relaxing in the bathtub and enjoying Daenyss’s ministrations that it finally hit me. I was relaxing in my bubble bath while Daenyss was washing my hair, and massaging my scalp with her skilled hands and I found myself thinking, “Mmmm, this is nice. Why was I ever so reluctant to have an Attendant? It feels good to be pampered and Daenyss is getting better at her job every day, I’m really enjoying this.”

The significance of that thought hit me like a falling anvil. I wasn’t prepared for it. I didn’t even have time to mentally pop up an umbrella, like a certain cartoon coyote would have done in my place. “Danu preserve me! I’m enjoying this. There are no niggling little dude thoughts in the back of my mind telling me that this isn’t me, that it isn’t right. The dysphoria, it’s gone!”

Ever since I had entered the game, body and gender dysphoria had been my constant companions. The self-loathing, the feeling of wrongness about my body, and the way people looked at me, especially with all the princess stuff. Everyday tasks like going to the bathroom, bathing, or looking at myself in the mirror as I brushed my teeth, all reminded me that I should have been Caleb and that being Taelya felt horribly wrong. Even how I got aroused or Rei caressing me in the wrong way generated those feelings, in fact, they made it worse than everything else and I had hated myself for that as well. Every morning that I woke up I had to shove those thoughts and feelings to the back of my mind if I was to have any hope of getting anything done or not breaking down into a redheaded elven mess.

I hadn’t had to do that this morning and it was the absence of that familiarity, the unaccustomed comfort with myself that had jarred me so much. For the first time, I was comfortable in my virtual skin. I was Taelya, a Yseil'dhraí and princess of the Autumn Court. I was comfortable being her, in fact, at that moment I liked being her and I was proud of my body. I liked being myself more than I could ever remember during my life as Taelya or Caleb. It probably shouldn’t have hit me so hard, it had been gradual enough. After all, the dysphoria had faded a little each day since I had gotten this virtual body, but I was so used to fighting those feelings now, fighting who I was.

I felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around me and then Daenyss’s concerned voice asked, “Mistress, are you alright? You’re crying. Did you get some shampoo in your eyes?”

Was I alright? I quickly took stock of myself and my feelings and, surprisingly, I found that the answer was yes. I wasn’t crying because I was upset about this situation. No, these were tears of joy. I was finally free of the burden that I had been carrying, free to enjoy being myself without the remnants of my male ego getting in the way. I leaned back into Daenyss’s arms, just enjoying the embrace and my newfound freedom for a moment before replying, “I’m fine Daenyss, better than fine. I feel wonderful.”

“Are you certain Mistress? I was a bit worried when I noticed you crying,” my Attendant pressed, seeming uncertain.

“If there were anything wrong I would be sure to tell you Daenyss, you’re a good Attendant and a good friend,” I assured her. “These are tears of joy though. My dysphoria is gone, and I feel amazing. Hopefully, yours will be gone soon as well.”

The Nymph hugged me even tighter, her firm breasts pressing into my back. “That is so good to hear Mistress, I’m so happy for you! Mine seems to be almost gone, it’s not near as bad as it was when I first joined you in the game. I hope that I’ll be up for the ceremony the night after tomorrow, it has been very hard controlling my urges lately.”

“I think I might go enjoy myself at the ceremony, now that I feel better as Taelya, though there’s something that I want to take care of first,” I admitted. After that, we talked about my plan as Daenyss thoroughly pampered me and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I was comfortable enough with her now, and with my body, that I didn’t really mind her getting into my intimate places. Daenyss even offered to help me prepare my plan for that evening and made a few suggestions on how best to go about it.

Soon Daenyss had ensured that I was clean and dried, my skin was soft and smelling wonderful, and she had brushed out my hair and re-styled it. I had particularly enjoyed having my hair brushed and braided, there was just something so relaxing about it. With all of that done and Daenyss choosing appropriate outfits for me for the day I decided to go wake my fiancé. I carefully slipped inside the bedroom and approached the bed calling out, “Rei, wake up sleepyhead. It’s time to get up and go have some breakfast. We have a lot to do today.”

Rei shifted in the bed and after a little more convincing on my part managed to sit up and look at me blearily. “Okay Tae, I’m up, I’m up,” he protested just before his eyes went wide. “You’re… umm… not thinking of going down to breakfast like that are you?”

“Well, I don’t really need any makeup for this morning since it’s just training,” I replied thoughtfully. “Why? Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing sweetie?”

“You’re not wearing anything babe,” Rei responded with a raised eyebrow.

I flushed in momentary embarrassment, how could I have forgotten that I hadn’t put anything on yet? I wasn’t really embarrassed at the thought of going out naked though, it was more that it was because it felt so natural to me that I hadn’t even considered not doing it. Before, being naked or wearing feminine clothes triggered the dysphoria and made me hyper-aware of my body, and how it wasn’t really mine. Not having those feelings there all the time, in the back of my mind, was going to take some getting used to.

My gaze fell downward, only to see the very noticeable tent that Rei had pitched with the sheets. “Oops. That kind of slipped my mind, I’m just so comfortable right now and I guess that the clothes just didn’t seem that important. I guess that Daenyss is picking out appropriate clothes for the day now, so I can throw something on if you really want me to.”

“Hey, I don’t mind my hot girlfriend parading around in the buff if that’s what you feel comfortable doing, I’m just a bit surprised that you do… feel comfortable with it. And I kind of figured that you wouldn’t want to give Narek any ideas,” he pointed out.

I managed to take my eyes off his tent to look him in the eyes again. “I am comfortable with it. I could probably walk right into Haven like this and have no issues if Becky wouldn’t arrest me on the spot. The dysphoria is gone sweetie and I feel incredible. I guess you make a good point about Narek though, so maybe I should wear a dress or something. It might help you calm down a bit before we go downstairs too,” I added with a wink.

It was Rei’s turn to blush, but I could see how happy he was for me. “I’m glad it’s over and that you’re feeling good about yourself. I’m so sorry that you had to go through that, I know far too well how horrible gender dysphoria feels.”

I crawled across the bed to deliver a tender kiss upon his lips to silence any other words that indicated he may blame himself for my gender dysphoria. It was gone now and it would be better for both of us if it were just a slightly bitter memory. “I chose to enter this game and I knew it wouldn’t be all sunshine and roses when I found myself having to take a female character Rei. It’s helped me to have a lot more appreciation for what you’ve gone through for most of your life. I’ve decided that we should keep playing after the closed beta is done and the game is officially released. We’ll buy the game and equipment, whatever we have to do. I would spend my whole life like this if I knew that I could be this comfortable with it and it would save you from the dysphoria.”

“Damn I love you Tae, you’re the most wonderful, caring, and romantic person that I’ve ever known,” he kissed my lips and then downward along the underside of my jaw, behind my ear, and onward to my neck. Each kiss, his warm breath upon my flesh followed by the electric tingle of his lips, summoned a warmth from inside me and I found myself shivering in delight and my breath catching in my throat. I heard a sound that I couldn’t quite place and then I realized that it had come from me, somewhere between a whimper, a moan, and a gasp. I sounded like a desperate Nymph, even to myself.

“Wh… what can I say? You inspire me,” I managed to respond in a slightly breathy voice. I wanted him so bad right now, but we had another long day ahead of us and it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to show up late and smelling like sex to all of those sensitive noses downstairs after all the effort that Daenyss had gone through to get me nice and clean. Besides, Daenyss and I had come up with something special for tonight. As much as I tried to convince myself that we really needed to stop this so Rei could get showered and we could both get dressed and head downstairs, I just kept letting him kiss me and things rapidly progressed to include groping and caressing between us as well.

We were reaching third base and being waved onward to home when we were interrupted by a knock on the door. “J… just a minute,” I managed to get out as I finally broke our embrace and headed for the door where Daenyss stood waiting and smiling.

“I thought that you would be coming right out Mistress, you’ve been in there for over fifteen minutes,” the Nymph chided me playfully.

“I’m so sorry, we’ll be… umm… right out,” I replied, fumbling with the words.

“Do not worry Mistress, I asked Kalia to inform the others that you are currently indisposed and will not be attending breakfast or our morning training session this morning,” Daenyss said with a grin before turning to go to fetch a covered silver tray from the table. Then she shoved the tray into my hands and gave me a playful wink as she added, “I also had her bring this up for you. You should both eat, it sounds like you’re going to need the energy.”

She had heard me? Of course, she had, she was Nymph and her hearing was as sharp as my own. If I still had a human sense of modesty I would have been mortified. As it was I wasn’t sure whether I was embarrassed because I wasn’t embarrassed. I did manage to say, “Thanks Daenyss, you’re the best.”

She practically danced backward with that playful little smile on her face. “You are most welcome Mistress, it is my pleasure to serve. Speaking of pleasure, you two enjoy yourselves. If you require anything just call me, and I will come and fetch you when it is time to prepare for lunch.” Then she was gone to give us what privacy she could.

It would seem that Rei had heard the exchange since he was sitting up in the bed with his cheeks burning as red as his ears and tails. “So… uhh… what should we do?”

“We take her suggestion and eat something, you are going to need your energy mister,” I told him with a grin as I put the tray on the bed between us.

We made short work of our light breakfast and Rei briefly left to use the bathroom, tails swishing across his bare bottom as he went. It was a shame that they blocked the view, he had such a nice ass. When he returned, my eyes just about popped out of my head. He had changed into a Yseil'dhraí, an Autumn Court Yseil'dhraí to be exact. He still looked like his male form for the most part, except for the missing fox-ears and tails. Now he was more delicate with slightly more angular and soft features and sported a pair of ears much like my own, golden eyes instead of the brown ones he usually had in his Kitsune forms, and his short and mussed up hair had changed from black to a bright red-gold that rivaled my own.

“Umm… not that I don’t find you very sexy like that, but why?” I inquired as he padded over to the bed and I got my first real look at him in all his naked glory. I had been avoiding seeing him, or anyone, naked if I could help it since being turned on just made my dysphoria kick into high gear. I couldn’t really avoid it much with the Nymphs, but I had tried to avoid it with everyone else. Even when we had been trying on clothes I had averted my eyes from Rei and the other girls after the first time I had seen her naked and it had generated those feelings of discomfort and self-loathing.

“Amoiraishe suggested it in case we ever have unprotected sex while I’m male,” he replied, his face as bright red as his hair now was. “Even with the Fae fertility issue, there is a really low chance that you could wind up pregnant. It’s not much of a chance, she said that it can take decades and sometimes hundreds of years for Fae women to conceive a child, even while trying. She asked that I take this form though in these cases so that if you do end up winning that Fae baby lottery, that it increases your chance of having a Yseil'dhraí child. I kind of don’t want to piss off the Queen of the Autumn Court, especially if she’s going to be my mother-in-law.”

“Damn you Mahair,” I muttered as I frowned at that revelation. I could get why she had asked him that, but it felt like my Fae mother was interfering in my sex life and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. “Well, that’s a mood killer.”

“I don’t mind doing it babe,” he said with a shrug. “This form is actually really nice, I feel more energetic. I’d use it more in public if I didn’t think that pretending to be a Yseil'dhraí it might offend some of the Fae. It was kind of fun being Tokh'dhraí though so maybe I can take that form or a Nyiir'dhraí form once in a while. There is one reason that my being in this form is good for you though, aside from the possibility of Yseil'dhraí babies.”

“Oh really? Do tell,” I replied, still feeling a bit put out by Amoiraishe’s interference. I was also uncertain how I felt about being encouraged to pop out a baby. I may be comfortable with myself like this now, but I wasn’t sure that I was ready for motherhood, even in a game. At least the odds were low.

I was so lost in those thoughts that I almost didn’t hear Rei reply, “The Fae have more stamina than Kitsunes.” With that in mind, he pounced on me, assailing me with kisses, licks, caresses, and little love bites to rekindle the flames of my lost desire. Soon I was eagerly reciprocating as we rolled around on the bed in a frenzy of amorous intent.

My entire body seemed aflame with desire and I was soaking wet between my legs when I finally pushed him down onto his back and climbed on top of him. He had very nearly made me orgasm just through licking, biting, and suckling on my nipples and his gentle caresses of my body were sending electric shivers through me. For a moment I just gazed down at him thinking about how wonderful he was and just how much I loved him, no matter what form he wore. “Gotcha,” I told him with a predatory smile.

“Oh no, whatever shall I do?” was his frisky reply as he grinned right back up at me. The grin faltered for but a moment and he asked, “Are you sure about this? We can stop now and hold off until you’re ready if it’s still too weird for you.”

I shook my head and showed him just how ready I was by taking his manhood inside myself and starting to eagerly grind our bodies together. My long and plentiful braids got in the way a bit at first as I rode him and tried to find a rhythm that would bring us both to pleasure, but not too quickly. I wanted us both to enjoy our first time together like this and I had no doubts that I both wanted and needed this. Finally, I couldn’t hold it back any longer and my back arched as I screamed out my pleasure and my tightening muscles caused him to erupt inside me. I barely noticed the strange feeling of his seed filling me though as I was rather preoccupied with the supernova that my existence had suddenly become. My vision went white as burning hot pleasure spread from between my legs to the rest of my body, my entire existence, in wave after gloriously satisfying wave.

Finally, I collapsed atop Rei; my skin flushed and glistening with perspiration and my breathing heavy as I shook slightly from the physical exertion of my first time as a woman. I wrapped my arms around him and just held him close for the moment, trying not to have him slip out from inside me while I savored the afterglow. I had heard that it was more intense for women than men, but wow, whoever told me that hadn’t known the half of it. I guess that it wasn’t really my first time, since I had all those memories of Taelya doing it, but as realistic as those memories were, there was still a difference between remembering something that was done before I became Taelya and being an active participant.

During the next several hours I continued to thoroughly enjoy my first sexual experience as a woman, and as a Fae as he proceeded to show me just how his improved stamina in his current form was good for me. I made damn sure that I wasn’t the only one on the receiving end of the pleasure too. My pride as a Fae wouldn’t let me do any less and I found that I really enjoyed giving pleasure to someone else as much as I enjoyed receiving it, possibly even more. There was something about bringing someone else to orgasm through my own skills and affections that made me feel good about myself. I used every little trick that I knew of from my Faerie Dance training to keep him on the edge of pleasure and then send him hurtling over again and again, even as he did the same for me. He may not have had my training, but he did know how a woman’s body works and what spots to stimulate to the best advantage.

We were laying there snuggled together and wrapped firmly in the afterglow of round six when Daenyss knocked again. “C’mon in,” I called out lazily, my whole body still thrumming in warmth and receding pleasure.

The door opened and Daenyss stepped inside. “Mistress, I have prepared another bath for you and I thought that Rei might prefer a shower while you’re doing that. Lunch will be served in just under an hour. I’m afraid that we have a busy afternoon, but I tried to give you as much time as I could.”

Even from the bed, I could see that she was flushed slightly and biting her lower lip as she awaited my reply. The poor Nymph really was having trouble managing her urges and walking in on us like this couldn’t be helping. I was half tempted to invite her to join us, but she wouldn’t still be keeping such a tight rein on her desires if she were ready for something like that, so instead, I merely nodded. “Okay Daenyss, thank you for everything. We’ll be right out.”

My bath wasn’t really all that long since we had already cleaned and styled my hair earlier. This time it had just been about getting my body cleaned from all of my ‘exercise’ and getting it to smell like flowers instead of sex. She still took great care to get every inch of me properly cleaned and then dried and lotioned, but it took far less time without having to deal with all of my hair as well. Once we were finished she helped me to get into one of the Fae outfits that the Brownies had made for me and to put on some makeup that would look good with it.

The outfit consisted of a top, a skirt, and a pair of soft-soled red silk slippers. The top was nothing more than a crimson strip of silk cloth that was arranged sort of like a halter top, securing around the back of my neck and then crossing in an X pattern over my collarbone to barely cover my breasts and connect to the skirt on my outer hips with a pair of simple gold-colored brooches. The skirt threatened to fall off my hips at first and was made of crimson and gold brocade overlapping panels that had been made to resemble leaves and reached to about mid-thigh. The finishing touch was an umber-hued silk sash wrapped tightly around my hips to hold the skirt in place. I made sure to wear a pair of my red silk panties beneath the skirt since, even if I wasn’t afraid of the skirt falling off and getting me arrested, the panels weren’t really secured except around the loose waistband of the skirt and could easily fly up with a good bit of wind and give anyone who may be watching a show.

Overall the outfit was simple, very Fae, and showed off a hell of a lot of skin. That didn’t really matter much to me except for the brief thought of trying to get Amoiraishe to bail me out of Haven’s jail, should I have some sort of wardrobe malfunction. I would have been just as good going in nothing at all if I thought that I could get away with it. “Humans don’t like nudity, Taelya,” I had to keep sternly reminding myself.

Once Daenyss had applied some subtle makeup to enhance my looks and put on my Nature’s Crown, I just stared at the sexy Fae in the vanity mirror for a few minutes, liking what I saw reflected there. It was me and damn did I look good. “I might have to add narcissist and exhibitionist to my growing list of character flaws though,” I thought to myself.

Rei had finished getting ready before me and was already waiting with the duffel bag containing my gear slung over his shoulder. He chuckled, shaking his head as he saw me smiling at my reflection. “Come on Tae. You can look at yourself more later, I’ll be looking plenty for both of us, and I’m hungry.”

I stood up and nodded as I took his hand. “I guess you deserve to eat, we both did build up an appetite after all. Let’s go Daenyss.”

Lunch was nice, except for those lingering hungry looks that I occasionally saw Narek casting in my direction. Those looks were short-lived though, withering quickly under glares from Nishalle. Narek may not have thought much of Lissany still, probably because he had never seen her in an actual fight or training, but Nishalle terrified him. So for the most part lunch was quiet and companionable. Nobody commented on my good mood until we had arrived in Haven.

“You seem to be in a good mood today, Your Highness,” Lissany said with a smile as we all got out of the pickup truck to regroup our party and make our way to the spot where I would be training my apprentices. Nishalle had of course taken her motorcycle, with Lark riding behind her, but we had been in the truck with Pete, Rei, Venika, Daenyss, and Kinara. Kinara was spending a lot of time with our group, particularly Lark and Lissany. She had been coming to town with us every afternoon for her magick lessons alongside Becky while her father, Narek, and Sahnae all got to know some of the Fae in the Glade a bit better.

“What’s not to be happy about? The sun is shining, I’m with my friends and family, I get to play with magick, I have no more dysphoria, and we don’t have to worry about gasoline for the vehicles anymore,” I said, taking in a deep breath of the country air. Grell had been working with Ashura all week on making our virtual lives easier, the first of these improvements being a magical equivalent of the internal combustion engine. It was efficient, pollution-free, and required no gasoline. The pair had already installed them in all of our vehicles, and most of the others in town as well, before moving on to their current project. I couldn’t wait to see what the pair of Atlanteans were working on now.

“I guess those are all good reasons to be happy,” Venika agreed before seeming to catch all of what I had said. “Wait, no more dysphoria?”

“Yup, my body feels right to me now,” I told them all. “I’m comfortable being Taelya, and I think I even like it.”

Something seemed to click in Nishalle’s mind and she grinned at me. “So that’s why you weren’t with us for breakfast and training this morning. I’m happy for you, both of you.”

“It’s also why we were so hungry at lunch,” I added with a wink. “Now c’mon everyone there’s magick to play with and quests to do!”

I had discovered during the past week that I enjoyed teaching magick as much as I enjoyed playing around with it myself, especially since both Kinara and Becky were eager to learn. I wanted to get as much magick training in as I could with the two of them over the next few days because I thought that we might have to go for another scavenging run within the next week. Our supplies were good for now, but if we wanted to survive comfortably for the next few months then we needed to start making regular runs into the city, and we needed more parties than just my group doing that.

I was planning on holding a meeting of all players in Haven’s Town Hall the next evening to address that matter and cover how we could all work together better, in the spirit of cooperation. I also wanted to get those of us who were more into combat preparing for the inter-server combat tournament. If we were going to win then we needed to start preparing and training early. I felt certain that my group would be ready, but we couldn’t do everything, and people needed to feel like they were doing something constructive and contributing. I had a few ideas to help with that.

The magick lesson went well and soon we were all doing some hunting and gathering quests since the one thing the village and Glade were both short on was meat. There were plenty of people already at the dock and out on the boats to do fishing quests so I figured that some venison or pork might make people happy, especially the village butcher. With that in mind, I put my leather armor and gun belt on over my clothing and we headed out into southern woods to hunt.

We had managed to bag a sizable bag of nuts and two deer and were tracking a third buck under Venika’s guidance when we heard something that made us all turn at once. It was a high-pitched shriek coming from the deeper woods to the west and even Pete had heard it. I quickly gathered in mana, ready to cast a spell if need be, and could sense Venika and Kinara doing the same. I looked over the Summer Court Yseil'dhraí in concern, she was young and hadn’t done much magick outside of our lessons yet. “Kinara, keep close to me, Liss and Nishalle will protect us b…”

I didn’t get to finish that sentence as three small flying creatures appeared from the thicker bush. They just radiated magick and one hit me square in the chest and tried to crawl inside my armor, another flew into Kinara’s loose hair to hide, and a third collided with Venika, knocking both her and itself to the ground. We all looked around nervously, wondering if we were under attack, in fact, the only one who didn’t seem confused or panicked was Kinara. She was giggling in glee as she removed the creature from her hair.

“What the hell?” Venika wondered as she tried to extract herself from the furry little dark blue and white critter she was tangled up with.

“Wisps,” the younger Yseil'dhraí said with a grin as she gently stroked the creature she now held in one hand with a fingertip. “Shhhh, it’s alright little one, you’re safe now.”

“Oh! It’s so cute!” Daenyss practically squealed in delight.

“I thought wisps were like big balls of light,” Lark said, looking at the trembling creature in Kinara’s hand.

“They do kind of look like that at night, with the magical glow they give off,” she explained while I managed to get the one trying to burrow into my armor in my hand and attempted to calm it. “They’re attracted to magic and once they’ve found a magic-user they like good luck getting rid of them because they will follow you around for the rest of your life. It’s better to just keep them as pets and train them to be useful since they’re pretty smart. These are just babies though, adults are like twice this size. Something must have scared them from their nest.”

I examined the one in my hand and thought that it resembled a sugar glider in appearance and size, though its ears were more foxlike and quite a bit larger. It was smaller though, roughly three inches long with another three inches of rudder-like tail. The coloring and markings were like no sugar glider I had ever seen though, the one in my hand was mostly bright pink with black markings; a little mask around its eyes, socks on all four of its legs, rosettes peppering its whole body, and its bushy tail had a black tip as well as three rings over its length.

The one that Kinara was holding was aquamarine and black with wavy stripes branching out from the long black stripe that went from its nose to the tip of its tail. Venika had finally managed to extract herself from the third wisp, which was dark blue with a white mask and a spattering of white spots. “Yay, a pet,” she muttered as she tried to soothe the little critter that was clinging to her for dear life. Well, it wasn’t that little to her, since it was bigger than she was if you counted the tail.

“More of a mount for someone your size, especially if it’s going to get that big,” Nishalle teased, earning a raspberry from the Sprite.

“You’re right Kinara these little furballs are terrified of something,” Rei said, staring at the one that was shaking my hand as I attempted to soothe it.

Kinara nodded, a grim expression on her young face. “As I said, these are babies, the only reason they would leave their nest is if they were terrified and something had killed their parents.”

“They came from that way,” I said gesturing deeper into the woods. “Let’s go find out what has them so scared. Quietly though, if it’s dangerous we want to see whatever it is before it sees us.”

“I’ll go check it out, I’m the stealthiest of us, and going back there might just scare them even more,” Nishalle offered. Without another word and only my nod of agreement, she slipped off into the woods, blending in with the shadows. A good ten minutes had passed, and we had only just managed to somewhat calm the wisps, when my sister returned as silently as she had left. There was a scowl on her face as she said, “You’re really not going to like this.”