It was already mid-morning when Markus starts to open his eyes. As he slowly adjusted to the time of day, Markus' upper body suddenly shot straight up. The memories of the previous day's events flooded his mind. He looked around the tent, feeling for the backpack behind him and rifle beside him. Everything was just as he left it before drifting to sleep. It dawns on him that he was still in a strange land, somewhere away from home.

Markus quickly gathers his backpack and heads out of the tent with the rifle in tow. Rays of sunlight momentarily blind Markus as he exits the tent, causing his eyes to squint in minor pain. When his eyes adjust, Markus looks up and is once again greeted by the impressive fairy town all around him.

In the day, the fairy town is bustling with activity now. Numerous fairies fly in all directions high above Markus. They weave between the trees and bridges of the town with ease as they go about their lives. Markus even sees buildings that remind him of miniature markets and shops. Fairies were walking on bridges, buying groceries, and working their jobs just like any town back home.

As Markus stares at all the activity around him, a single fairy flutters in front of his face. He remembers her as one of the escorts from last night, although the only feature he could recognize was her long, blonde curly hair.

She seems young, with a surprising hourglass shape to match. Her button nose and wide green eyes make her cute regardless of size. Blue tinted wings keep her flying with ease. She's wearing a long sleeved white shirt, with brown leggings underneath, and knee high black boots rounding out her outfit. Pieces of armor cover her extremities and torso, similar to the first fairy he met. On her waistband belt, a small sword was sheathed beside tiny pouches.

“Can I help you?” Markus asks politely. He smiles at her, and she does the same back. He then notices a slightly confused look on her face. She probably didn't know what was said.

“Ne recedas hinc.” She says to Markus, with a pointed finger facing him. “Seniorem venit ad te non relinquam.” She finishes speaking, and crosses her arms triumphantly.

“Okay... sure.” Markus responds automatically. He has no idea what was said, but can at least listen to the words clearly. The fairy language sounds similar to what the bat-woman in the cave spoke. Perhaps the language is indeed the same?

Markus notices a small crowd of fairies now gathering around the edges of the visitor camp. Male and female fairies of all ages are chatting on the bridges or looking out windows for a view of him. Markus can only assume the events of last night has spread around town. He can feel an increasing amount of gazes surrounding him. The staring makes for an awkward situation, causing Markus to move to a nearby tree away from view.

After several steps, the escort fairy zooms in front of Markus again. She starts waving her hands forward in an effort to stop his movement. It works, but Markus is puzzled about why he can't go further. Turning around, he heads for the next nearest tree ahead of him.

“Prohibere! Prohibere!” The escort fairy yells from behind. She rushes again in front of Markus, this time crossing her arms to make an X symbol just a few feet from his face. Her face is becoming flustered as she tries communicating with actions.

“Alright, alright I get it.” Markus says once he sees her makeshift sign. It's obvious the blonde fairy wasn't allowing him to leave the immediate area. He takes a few steps back, and finds a place to sit on the ground. He unloads his backpack again and then places the rifle beside him. The fairy seems relieved at his actions, and also finds a spot on the grass a bit away from Markus.

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Markus can only sit in silence as he waits for whatever the fairy mentioned. He now places the rifle over his lap, and sits back to observe more of the town and fairy folk. After several minutes of watching, an entourage of fairies can be seen heading directly towards him.

The fairy entourage soon present themselves in front of Markus. He sees six all together, four women and two men that all look significantly older than the other fairies. The women are all in elaborate dresses with numerous layers and frills. Their outfits are colored in elegant blues, golds, reds, and greens which are paired with various pieces fancy jewelry. It was clear they were extremely important members of the town.

The men of the group seemed just as important, although they wore much simpler outfits. Both old men were dressed in basic suits with gray slacks, white shirts, and gray jackets. They even had matching long, white beards. Markus was intrigued by their clothing. Everything he had ever known about fairies always described their clothing as nearly non-existent or simple. Clothing modifications even existed to accommodate for their wings.

Markus sees his fairy escort fly up to meet the visitors. She talks among them for a minute, away enough that nothing could be heard. When she finishes, one of the old men signals her to leave. She glances back to Markus, before flying away in the direction they came from.

The old man that dismissed the escort now starts to slowly drift to Markus. When he reaches eye level with Markus, he stops, and looks over the young man. He floats in silence, putting his hands behind his back without saying a single word.

Markus studies the aged fairy too. All he sees is a tiny old man with butterfly wings. He has white hair to match his beard, and his face is a wrinkled complexion sun dried over the years. His body has a slight hunch, with even his colored wings dulled over time.

“Potestis intelligere me?” The old fairy finally speaks first.

Once again Markus is confronted by their strange language. He sighs, and says “I don't know what you said old man. It'd be nice if someone could speak English.”

The old man listens to Markus, then replies with “Stultus es.”

Markus looks at the fairy, but simply shrugs his shoulders to acknowledge he doesn't understand.

A big smile emerges from the old man's face. He then lets out a deep, cackling laugh loud enough that all the fairies nearby stop to look at him.

Markus shows an awkward smile, not really sure what was going on with the old fairy.

The old fairy then says “Iuvenis hominis, hoc est ad nocere.” His right arm suddenly begins to glow with several circular bands of golden light. Strange scriptures appear on each band as they form individual rings around the arm of the old man.

“What the...” Markus says as he watches the old fairy. The first thought in his head is the word - Magic. He tries to stand up, but the old fairy is faster.

The old fairy quickly rushes straight for Markus' head, with his right arm outstretched. His hand touches Markus' forehead, and instantly, flashes of light erupt from the circular bands. The magic circles shoot themselves forward and disappear.

Markus instantly feels a massive headache in his head. He crumbles backwards onto the ground holding his forehead. He rocks himself side to side as he groans in pain from the mysterious attack.

“You old bastard! What the hell!” Markus yells as he lays on his back. He tightly grips his forehead, feeling the pain slowly subsiding. The headache quickly dissipates after a minute, as Markus stays still on the ground with a hand covering his face.

“Can you hear me?” An unknown voice speaks out in English.

Markus immediately props himself up from the ground as he looks for the source of the words just spoken. He realizes the voice sounded familiar, and turns his eyes to the fairy flying in front of him. A smile is beaming from the old man.