When I awoke I was in my bedroom and the light of a golden dawn was streaming through my window. Rei seemed to be in a male mood today and I could feel his toned body tight against my naked skin as he held me close in his arms. It was nice and I thought that I could get used to having him holding me protectively like that. Willow was snuggled up on the pillow beside my head, her emotions indicating that she was having pleasant dreams. My mind was having trouble shaking that last dream and there was a lot there to mentally address so for a while I just laid there with my eyes closed, attempting to enjoy the comfort as I considered the dreams of my youth as Taelya.

First, my dreams made it seem like the Taelya in my memories was very different than I was. She could be irresponsible and selfish and, judging from her relationship with Seamus and how she had only gone through her lessons because Amoiraishe expected it of her, she seldom stood up for herself and was an abuse victim waiting to happen. The only times she seemed to assert herself was when it was someone she had authority over, and even then she pleaded and cajoled rather than taking a stand. She also didn’t want to learn magick, despite being a natural, and had a curiosity about Humans that blinded her to their dangers and those who really did care about her.

I on the other hand may not like having to be a leader, but I did it because I was it was my responsibility and I cared for my people. Not just my people but all people, because I didn’t want to see anyone hurt and because that was what the Fae should do if we really were meant to maintain the balance of life and magick. I took my duties seriously and I loved learning magick more than just about anything, but I also knew that with great power comes great responsibility. Sure it’s a comic book saying, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

I also know humanity for what we are and what we could be. I care about them, as I do for almost everyone, but I don’t blindly accept everything about them out of misguided faith or curiosity. I stand up for myself and those with me whenever necessary, something that I had only seen my dream self do when she was being backed into the corner about Seamus’ abuse and taking her responsibilities seriously. Overall, I didn’t really like dream-me. She seemed mousey, selfish, easily manipulated, and short-sighted.

Sure as Caleb I had been one to avoid being in charge of anything and I didn’t really know how to deal with people, but that was largely because of my anxiety issues. I had felt that anxiety less intensely and less often since becoming Taelya, and barely at all since I got over the body dysphoria. The only anxiety I had felt at all recently was over things that I had no control over and my suspicions about the game. I may have matured a little bit as Taelya too, but despite my earlier fears that I had changed a lot, now I could see that it was more like the person who I already was inside was being set free. With that in mind, it was like dream-Taelya and I were completely different people.

I guess that couldn’t be too much of a surprise, since these memories were probably programmed beforehand and they couldn’t know exactly what I was like before joining the game. Still though, if my mind really was taking the people and other things that I wasn’t familiar with and filling in the blanks, shouldn’t there have been less of a difference in personality?

That brought up my other main concerns. The biggest of those was, what the hell was with Seamus? I had never known anyone like that and he, and my dream-self’s feelings for him, stuck out like a sore thumb. Why didn’t that blank get filled in? I mean, I was bisexual as Caleb and had my share of crushes on guys, so why hadn’t my mind placed one of them in Seamus’s place? And why did all of those dreams feel like they had happened hundreds of years ago instead of in a more modern setting that I would be more familiar with? I could clearly remember the visits to Seamus’s village; sights, sounds, and smells and quite frankly I didn’t think that my imagination was that good.

Then there was the thing with the viyr’kuor that Narek and dream-me had made together. I had never seen him wear the amber-hued crystal since we met and I certainly didn’t have one of my own, blue or otherwise, so what was that about? And what was an Aen’kuorüis? Even if I hadn’t had the familiar elvish root words to work from, merely thinking the phrase was enough to get my Fae Culture skill to twig on it. That sudden realization gave birth to another and with a sudden sinking feeling in my stomach, I had a pretty damn good idea where those dream memories came from.

Everything made sense now. Well, not quite everything. There were still a few missing pieces to the puzzle, but there was more than enough to paint a fairly good picture and give some of my suspicions form, where before they had only been shadows. And given the picture that these clues had painted thus far, it didn’t take much imagination to fill in those blank spots. I wanted answers, but I knew that I would have to be patient. I would know for sure once the Redcaps were taken care of, but first, we needed to live through it.

I removed Rei’s arm from around me and climbed out of bed before making my way out of the bedroom. It wasn’t until I was in the living area of my rooms, with the bedroom door shut behind me that I called out, “Daenyss, could you please join me?”

My Nymph Attendant materialized in front of me wearing a relieved smile. “Good morning, Mistress, it’s good to see you awake. We were all worried about you when you collapsed the way that you did.”

“I’m feeling much better now,” I assured her. “How long was I out?”

Daenyss took my hand gently in hers and guided me toward the bathroom for our morning ritual. “You passed out about nine hours ago, Mistress. I had Lissany carry you here so you would be more comfortable and Venika promised to have a status report on the situation with the village for you at breakfast.” I sighed and let her pull me along and start running a bath. She was getting far too good at anticipating my needs and desires.

If I was out for nine hours, even after my brief nap on the couch the night before, then I must have really overdone it with the mana use. Usually, Fae only need 4 hours or so of sleep to feel fully rested. I felt bad for worrying everyone but even worse that I hadn’t been able to help with things in the village before passing out. I had a lot to feel bad about that morning, or so it seemed to me. “I’m sorry that you and Salem didn’t get to finish what you started last night,” I told Daenyss apologetically. “I had to interrupt Pete and Nishalle too, and you all deserved some downtime to spend with each other.”

“Mistress, do not worry yourself about that. You needed us so we were by your side, where we belong,” my Attendant admonished me with a shake of her head as she embraced me. The warmth of our naked bodies mingled as we waited for the bathwater to finish filling and she added softly, “Besides, we will still have plenty of time to finish what we began after the Redcaps are dealt with tonight.”

“Yeah, plenty of time,” I replied morosely. I couldn’t help but think that when this was all done and we returned to the real world that Daenyss would pay the heftiest price of us all. I gave her a long searching look as we got me settled into the hot water and she began unfastening my braids so she could wash my hair. “Daenyss, you… you knew how binding the Viyr Jhaith is and yet you chose the wording, you bound yourself to serve me for all time. I know that you can’t lie to me so I need to know, do you ever regret that oath?”

The Nymph looked down in surprise from where she was unbraiding my hair and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. “Mistress, you treat me more kindly than I ever dared hope for when I made that oath. You treat me as a friend and think of my needs as much as yours. At first, it was a penance I placed on myself for the one thing I do regret, causing you to suffer. I may not remember it, but I did it and I regret that every day because I don’t ever want to see you hurting. This was my choice, my oath, and I’m glad that I made it because it brought you into my life, a life that would have been empty otherwise. It gave me a best friend that I would do anything for because I know that you would do anything for me too.”

“I’d free you if I could,” I said softly, leaning my head into her shoulder.

“I know you would because that is the kind of person you are. But I am happy, and I get the feeling that I could never really say that before my life started again and I met you. So please, do not upset yourself over a decision that was mine to make, one that I would gladly make again knowing you as I do now.” She hugged me tightly and kissed me lovingly on the cheek and then returned to my morning pampering.

It was as Daenyss was braiding my hair and putting it back into its usual style that Rei emerged from the bedroom. My Attendant looked over my fiancé and offered, the bathroom is free if you would like to take a shower Rei.” She was getting as good at anticipating Rei’s needs as she was mine it seemed. Had my fiancée been looking especially feminine, the Nymph would have offered to start running a bath for her instead. When she was feeling especially girly she loved a nice hot bath and a bit of pampering, but at all other times, especially when male, he preferred a quick hot shower.

“Thanks, Daenyss,” the Kitsune said with a nod and a smile. Then he turned his gaze on me, concern in his eyes. “I hope that you’re feeling better this morning honey, you had a lot of us worried when you collapsed. Narek was being all ‘over-protective father’ and wouldn’t let anyone but us Priests and Paramedics close until he was sure you were okay. You really need to stop over-taxing yourself like that.”

“Yeah, I’m feeling much better,” I admitted. “I’m sorry for worrying everyone. How bad were the numbers last night?”

Rei let out a sigh, which quickly turned into a yawn that he covered with a hand. “We managed to resurrect everyone but two of the players in the village, but then we spent half the night performing healing prayers and various medical procedures to keep the ones we rezed alive and to get them to where they’ll be in shape to help fight tonight. Still, it could have been a lot worse.”

I nodded slowly. “And you complained that I was overdoing it. I understand why, we’re going to need every warm body we can get tonight, but how much sleep did you get, sweetie?”

My Kitsune lover shrugged tiredly. “Maybe four hours, we didn’t get in until almost three in the morning. I think I’ll take a cold shower rather than a hot one this morning, it’ll help wake me up. Love you, Babe.” With that he headed for the bathroom and his cold shower, not returning until after Daenyss had finished with my hair, gotten me dressed, and had just finished working on my make-up.

Daenyss thought that I should inspire confidence and pride in being Fae so she had dressed me in the very same outfit that I had worn on the day that we had amassed the Wild Hunt to punish Razor and his cohorts. She wasn’t aware of the significance of the outfit, but she thought that it looked great on me and I had to admit that I didn’t mind wearing it now that I no longer had that body dysphoria hanging over my head. The lack of any sort of modesty probably helped my comfort level with it too.

The gold-hued chainmail bikini top, with its silk inner layer inside the cups, so it wouldn’t chafe my sensitive breasts, had gone on first. Then she attached the golden chains from the underside of each cup to the other golden chain that they held up to hang off my hips suggestively. The sheer crimson panels of diaphanous material were attached to each link the belt chain to sway and shift teasingly around my legs down to my ankles with every movement giving brief glimpses of the crimson silk bikini bottom I wore underneath. Completing the outfit was the pair of gold sandals that laced up almost to my knees and golden armbands on each of my upper arms with more transparent crimson panels fluttering loosely down to connect to the golden bracelets which adorned my wrists. Last, but not least, my Nature’s Crown was placed upon my head.

My Attendant went pretty daring for my makeup too. Apparently, she thought that I needed to be able to call attention to myself, not that I didn’t already. If she added a little green I could have been a traffic light. Crimson lips stood out against my pale skin and thick long lashes with pale rose and bright gold on my eyelids fading into one another like a sunset called attention to my big golden eyes.

For a moment there Rei just stood in the bathroom doorway gazing at me with the towel hanging around his waist forming a noticeable tent. “Uhhh… maybe I should go take another cold shower.”

“Too late for that,” I teased. “I’m ready to go, so go get some clothes on and think of baseball or something.”

Breakfast was a somber occasion. Nobody sitting at the table looked very happy and most of them had been up late into the night trying to help the players and NPCs in the village deal with the aftermath of the dragon attack. At least Narek wasn’t trying to avoid me, though he did have a distinctively guilty expression on his face every time that he looked my way. Venika’s report on the state of the village consisted of only five words; “You should see for yourself.” No, that didn’t sound ominous at all.

Nishalle had slightly better news for me. Denise, Hadrick, and their team had completed assembling the other three Dragon anti-materiel rifles after the successful test-firing and had spent a good portion of the night pumping out ammunition for them. They would be doing the same for most of the day today as well and then delivering them to our designated snipers once we decided where to position them for the counter-offensive.

There would be no morning practice session that morning. If we wanted to be prepared when the Redcaps attacked then we were going to need the time to assess the damage to the village and make preparations based on that. Amoiraishe and Sheriff Becky Shaw would be participating in the battle, but not leading it since they were both admins and didn’t want to affect what tactics that we players chose to employ. So it looked like the planning of the battle would be left to me and Tien as the de facto leaders of our groups.

With that in mind, as soon as we finished breakfast my group headed into the village, or rather what was left of it. Every home, every business, the town hall, and even the boats and docks had been burned until only ash, blackened concrete, and bitter memories remained. All that remained was the defensive wall that we had built around the village out of whatever scrap and materials that we could find, but even with that, there were several sections of the wall that had been either badly damaged or were gone completely.

The people were no better off than the once-rustic village. Almost everyone was in what had once been the village square and they looked tired and bereft of hope as they sifted through the ashes of what had been lost. How in the hell were Tien and I going to convince these people to fight tonight? What would they even be fighting for, a pile of ashes? How could Tien convince them when she looked like didn’t see the point either? Becky had come to greet us but even the sheriff looked tired and unsure of what to do.

“Tien and I have tried to get some life into this sorry lot, but the village has been getting the crap kicked out of it since the event started and the dragon left nothing left worth fighting over. I’m not sure that even you can change that,” Becky said with a sigh.

I took a deep breath and began to issue orders. “Pete, the village’s food supplies burned up along with everything else. I need you, Rei, and Nishalle to take the truck back to the Estate and bring back every bit of food that we have except what the Brownies absolutely need for our people for tonight and tomorrow in the delivery truck. And bring some Brownies to cook it. Let’s get a good meal or two into these people today. Hopefully, they’ll feel more like fighting on full stomachs.”

“You got it, Your Highness,” the Human Soldier said with a determined nod.

“Nishalle, I want you and Mahair to bring everyone in the Glade who can fight or cast a spell to Haven, except those working on ammunition for the Dragons. That includes Selkies, Undines, and other aquatic Fae. I’d like them and any of our Atlantean friends to be prepared on the off-chance that the Redcaps come by water. And load the pick-up with all four of the Dragons and whatever ammo they have made so far. I’ll tell you where to place them, and have you and Daenyss show any other snipers how to use them, when you get back,” I told my sister.

“On it, Sis,” the Tokh'dhraí replied as she quickly trailed after Pete.

I gave Rei the brightest smile that I could manage. “Sweetie, I’ll need you to bring back all of the medical supplies from the Glade that you can get in the truck with you and Nishalle. You’ll be working with Khyrin and the other healer-type players and NPCs to set up an infirmary, preferably somewhere secure near the northern gate.”

My fiancé gave a determined nod as he ran off to catch up with Pete and Nishalle and I turned my attention to my apprentices next. “Kinara, Becky, and Salem, once we get enough Magi here we’ll need to start fortifying the barriers and sealing up the north entrance to the village. We can use basic stone pillar spells for that. You can start on the breaches on the southern barrier since those have the highest priority and I’ll join in once I have everything else organized. I don’t want an ant to be able to get through that defensive wall unless we let it. We’re going to leave them with only two options, come at us through the south entrance or by water and I can almost guarantee that they won’t choose the water since Redcaps usually can’t swim.”

The three of them saluted and gave an enthusiastic, “Yes, Your Highness,” before heading off to the southern defensive wall to look for any breaches to seal.

“Venika, I want you in charge of the Sprites. Until the battle tonight I want you sending out pairs to do an aerial reconnaissance of the southern forest every hour on the hour, and once the battle starts I have something in mind that I think you’ll all like.”

The Sprite gave me a curious look and once I leaned in closer to whisper my idea her tiny face broke out in a grin. “Oh, you devious little bitch, I love it!”

“Language, Venika,” I teased with a grin of my own before turning to the four remaining members of my party. “Lark, you and I are on morale duty and I doubt that Daenyss or either of our bodyguards will want to let us out of their sight, so they’re with us.”

The pair of feline Beastkin both nodded and the similar looks of determination on Rob’s and Lissany’s faces made me smile as I turned around and led the way toward Tien and the huddled Human players. “Don’t worry Tien, I have my people coming. They’ll bring food and medical supplies and tonight we’ll fight off those Redcaps together.”

Before Tien could reply a male voice cut in acidly, “Do you hear that everyone? Everything is going to be fine now that Princess Perky is here. Where the fuck was she last night? Probably in her palace in the woods, which I’ll bet isn’t a pile of ashes right now.” Of course, it was Hawkin.

The more I had heard about Hawkin since we met, the more I didn’t like what I heard. He liked stirring up trouble and he was one of those eighteen-year-old semi-pro players like those who had been in H3lls-Pwn. In fact, I had heard on good authority that he had tried joining them before they got banned for attempting to rape and kill me. He liked being the top dog or at least the center of attention and he’d do whatever it took toward that purpose.

“She was organizing search and rescue parties, people to fight the fires, sending her people to get the dragon’s attention off the village, and coming up with a way to kill it. She could barely stand and damned near killed herself doing it and she still wanted to come to assist the village personally when she finally passed out from exhaustion, you ungrateful piece of shit!” Lissany snarled.

“Says the princess’s pet,” Hawkin spat. “You wouldn’t be acting so tough without that armor and shield.”

Lissany’s response was to step between me and Hawkin and allow her armor to vanish. “Why don’t you come and try me asshole.”

I placed a hand gently on my Guardian’s shoulder, though I had to smile at the fact that Hawkin still hadn’t made a move toward her. “Enough Liss, I appreciate your concern and loyalty but this isn’t the time to be fighting amongst ourselves. Whether you believe it or not Hawkin, we’re here to help. Yes, this village is pretty much toast, but these buildings can be rebuilt, probably better than they were before. The important thing here is that you are all alive and that you continue to live after the Redcaps attack. I have a plan to…”

“Why should we listen to you? You’re just some spoiled little bitch playing princess while the rest of us had everything we’ve worked hard for turned to ashes,” Hawkin taunted.

I didn’t allow him to goad me. It was Rob who answered his question. “Look at the top of the XP leaderboard. That’s her name there. Where’s yours?”

“Everyone knows that she’s in the top spot because the admins want her there,” Hawkin accused with a sneer. “One is playing ‘Mommy’ to her and the other is her apprentice. She’s got this whole game rigged in her favor.”

No,” Lark said, glowering at the large man. “She’s at the top because she’s willing to do things that others aren’t and for the sake of everyone, not just herself. Those supplies that you ‘worked so hard for’ and those clothes you’re wearing. Those were mostly from her leading her party into the city to gather supplies, not just for her party, or the Fae, but for everyone. She’s personally had a hand in killing most of the toughest creatures on this server too, not because she wants the XP but because she cares about everyone, and whenever we need a miracle she finds a way to pull one out of her pretty little ass, usually at great cost to herself!”

“You better believe it!” Daenyss emphatically agreed. “And she will probably do it again tonight because that’s the type of person she is.”

The way I hear it you’re just Little Miss Princess’s slave so you have to do whatever she says. Or is that just in bed?” Hawkin forced a laugh as he stared hungrily at Daenyss’s illusion-clad form. Then he turned to sneer at Lark. “And you, you would be a nobody if you weren’t hanging off the redheaded bimbo all the time. I overheard that idiot sheriff and Tien talking about how you wear some sort of glamour because you rushed through character generation to be with her. Now that is fucking desperate. Are you that ugly in real life? Or maybe you’re some guy pretending to be a girl. Is that it?”

Lissany smiled enough to show her kitty-fangs and looked at Hawkin like he was a particularly stupid child. “Does this tactic of bullying people into following you or backing down usually work? Well, it won’t work with any of us, because every single one of us believes in Her Highness.”

Lark was quick to agree with my Guardian. “Unlike some people who need to try to make themselves look good by acting tough or bullying others, people follow her because she cares about everyone. I would follow her into the mouth of Hell because I know that she wouldn’t just do the same for me, she’d lead the fucking charge. When it comes to friends I prefer quality over quantity and you can’t find better than her and the others in this party. If you really want to see what’s behind the glamour though, I’ll gladly oblige.”

Rob gave his girlfriend a concerned look but she shook her head. “It’s okay sweetie, the plan was for me to reveal myself to the players at the end of closed beta anyway, and it’s looking like that’ll be in just over twenty-four hours.” The bard removed her pendant to a chorus of surprised gasps as most of the crowd recognized the Latino girl with the electric blue hair that the glamour had been hiding. Then she said in that clear and confident voice of hers, “My name is Robyn Reyes, and I’m proud to call Princess Taelya my friend.”

Lark’s, or rather Robyn’s, little reveal had managed to take all of the wind out of Hawkin’s sails. I’m not sure if it was because he was secretly one of her fanboys or because he realized that he had made himself look stupid enough already, but it might have been both. With him no longer trying to cause a scene I was able to discuss my plans with Tien. The Druid was willing to go along with my ideas once I had explained things to her.

I think that she realized that she wasn’t really a military-type leader and my plan did make sense. That’s not to say that she didn’t contribute. For instance, she was able to provide the names of two people with the sniper skill to handle the other two Dragons. The first of these was an Assassin class like my sister, a tiny little blonde female Witch only an inch taller than Salem who went by the username Whisper. The other was a Human Brigand by the name of Manny. She said that he liked to play the role of a Latin lothario but he was a damn good shot and the type of guy that you could count on to have your back when the chips were down. Personally, I thought that Tien might be a little sweet on him, but from what I had seen of him I could also agree with her assessment.

Until the food and the cooks arrived from the Glade Robyn tried to raise morale with an impromptu concert. This was done with the aid of some of her fellow bards who were only too happy to play a set with the famous pop star. It was working too, having a celebrity in their midst telling them that everything was going to be okay and that we could win the coming battle together seemed to lift a lot of people’s spirits. It helped that she was generally an earnest and down-to-earth kind of girl. Rob was keeping a close eye on her, but it seemed that she handled the crowd well enough that Rob didn’t feel the need to interfere and protect her. Robyn’s efforts gave me the time that I needed to finalize plans with Tien and my Mahair then to set up for the evening attack.

I spent the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon organizing things. First, I had to make sure that all of our combined forces knew exactly what the plan was. Then I was organizing mages to help my apprentices ensure that the defensive wall around the remains of the village was completely secure. I had to help with my share of that as well and took responsibility for sealing up the northern entrance. If they somehow made it through my trap then I wanted to make it as difficult as possible for them to get to the Glade. We needed to make our stand in Haven.

By lunchtime, the mood of the Human players had improved considerably. Under Tien’s direction, they were starting to contribute to the preparations for the evening battle. Everywhere you looked people were discussing the strategy, sharpening weapons, making arrows, helping with cooking and distributing the midday meal, or finding other ways to get involved. Human and non-Human players all working together for the good of all of us. It was a nice thing to see.

Nishalle and Daenyss were giving Whisper and Manny a lesson on how to use their new best friends and I had instructed each of them where I wanted the weapons set up atop the defensive wall. Given the size and weight of the weapons and the ammo that came with them, I had to assign them help to get the weapons in place. Daenyss was able to just climb to the top and then set hers up since she and Nishalle had placed the disassembled prototype and ammo bag in her trunk the night before to summon when she needed them but the others weren’t so fortunate. There were no shadows up on top of the wall for Nishalle to take even the disassembled pieces up using her shadow shift ability. So, once they were ready to place the weapons I had Lissany shed her armor, switch to her hybrid form, and carry the pieces up for them.

That did bring up the question of how we were going to get the rest of the ammo up to all four of our snipers though once it was delivered. I asked for Tien’s help to come up with a solution for this problem since she was well known for coming up with solutions that were a little outside the box. She promised me that she would have something ready by that afternoon, whatever it took, and began gathering a team to help her.

At that point, Salem and my other apprentices were starting to get tired from using too much magic so I had them tag out and supervise other tasks to get some rest before the evening’s battle. Salem I sent to help Rei with making sure the infirmary was set up to run as smoothly as possible in the burnt-out concrete husk of a former house’s basement. I had Becky helping Tien organizing the Human players and I had Kinara working with the other Yseil'dhraí and her father at organizing the Fae forces and relaying messages.

I had our forces digging and hiding holes in strategic locations. After I sealed up the north exit through the defense wall and made a circle of the entire village to ensure that there were no weak spots, I turned my attention to checking on the various tasks that I had assigned. Lissany wasn’t letting me out of her sight as I made my rounds of the village remains checking on work, offering encouragement wherever it was needed, and trying to boost morale.

Sonja and the other members of Níala’s party respawned just before lunchtime and Níala was quick to inform them about the dragon attack, the current situation, and what their roles in the evening’s battle plan would be. Their party was pretty eager for some payback after their accidental encounter with the Redcap clan. With that in mind, Sonja was able to provide general numbers and information on their combat tactics during the encounter.

It was mid-afternoon by the time that all of the preparations were made and I had everyone taking well-deserved breaks. Everything was set up as well as it could be and Tien had, as promised, solved the issue that she had set her mind and team to fairly creatively. Her solution had been to have her team assist her with making some lifts to carry loads of ammo up the walls to the waiting snipers. The materials used were some blackened, but not too badly damaged, metal shopping baskets from the former market and some scavenged pulleys, chains, and other materials retrieved by Atlanteans and water-dwelling Fae from the half-destroyed and sunk fishing boats at what remained of the dock.

The lifts weren’t pretty to look at, but they definitely did the job once the ammo had been delivered by Pete with the delivery truck. I unsealed the northern entrance long enough for him to get the truck through and then sealed it right back up again. We were as prepared as we were going to be. Denise, Lincoln, Ashura, Grell, and the others had gone above and beyond by working through the night to provide that ammo so I had called the Beastkin gunsmith’s cell phone to tell them all to get some rest once they had loaded all the ammo for delivery.

The rest of the afternoon was spent resting and preparing an early dinner so everyone would have the energy for the evening’s battle. I seemed to get progressively more nervous the closer that it came to sunset. As we sat alone and watched the south gate from the shadows of a burned-out building Lissany remained my silent Guardian, clad In her armor and ready to move or defend me at a moment’s notice. When darkness finally settled over what had once been the village of Haven I found myself showing my affection to both Ghost and Willow as I waited for the attack to come.

I alternated between lovingly petting both creatures. They were both anxious, but whether they were picking up on my own nervousness or not I couldn’t be sure. Ghost was ready for battle, stomping all six of her hooves and her golden eyes giving me a stern look. “Don’t worry Ghost, I’m not leaving you out of this fight, it’ll be you and me girl.” Her head bobbed up and down as if she understood, and perhaps she did, Vsilja are very smart creatures.

“You too little one, get up there and do your job,” I told Willow, kissing her softly before tossing the Wisp up in the air to join her brother and sister, adding the Wisp’s bright pink glow to the aquamarine and blue of her sister and brother. They and the ghostly lights provided by Rei and the few other Kitsune players provided an eerie light to the darkened village and the blackened skeletons that were all that remained of its homes and businesses. It was as I was gazing up at the display of lights and trying not to think about those shadows that Venika approached.

“They’re coming, they’ll be here soon,” the Sprite told us, a determined look on her tiny features. “I’ve sent other Sprites to inform the team leaders.”

“Thanks, Venika. We’ll be ready. Go and join the welcoming party, I’ll send up the signal when it’s time.” I climbed aboard Ghost’s back and summoned my Lindwyrm-hide armor as the Sprite flew off to follow my orders and then turned to her daughter. “Are you sure that you want to be here with me, Liss? There won’t be much chance to leave unseen once they come through that gate.”

The Beastkin shook her head. “I’m your Guardian, my place is at your side and I wouldn’t be anywhere else. No matter what happens, I will stand by your side and protect you, Your Highness.”

“You’d best get ready to do that then because any minute now a clan of Redcaps is coming out of those trees and charging through that gate,” I shot back. I felt oddly serene now that the time had come. I gave my Guardian a wistful smile and then I began to prepare my first spell.