What approached us was a shimmering ball of light. It slowed as it got closer. It did not feel like an attack. No, there was something within it. I walked towards it.

The ball stopped and the glow faded, revealing a tiny person with butterfly wings. The creature looked feminine. Her ears were pointy, like an elf. She wore simple pants and a shirt. Her hair was long and light blue, as were her eyes. Interestingly, she had some very pointy teeth.

“I am the storm sprite, Adhira! You are trespassing in my domain!” She was clearly changing her voice with magic, trying to sound intimidating. But she was looking cute, which was not helping her cause. Intimidation was tough when you were about 20 centimetres tall.

“Hi, I am Amaya.” I said.

“I am Lucy.” My girlfriend introduced herself.

“Your feeble magic will not save you! Your powers will run out. Lightning shall burn your flesh as the wind tears it from your bones! For I am am am… uhm.” She stared at me. Then she blinked and rubbed her eyes.

“I am so sorry!” She squeaked. “I apologise for not recognizing you, my lady! I would never dare to attack you! Please spare me!” She started trembling.

“I think she figured out that you are an archfey.” Lucy observed.

“Probably. What do you think gave it away? My aura? My smell?” I wondered, while scratching my head.

Lucy pointed at the sky. “You are keeping a storm at bay. That might have been a clue.”

Adhira watched us closely. She was still trembling.

“I am not gonna hurt you, relax.” I said.

“So, is this storm your doing?” Lucy asked.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Um… it’s mostly natural. I just encouraged it a tiny bit.” She admitted.

“Please stop. It’s making our journey harder.” I said.

“Yes! Of course.” She nodded vigorously. “It might take a bit to disperse though.”

“That is fine.” I said.

Lily approached us. “My ladies, the people are wondering why we have stopped.” She looked at Adhira. “Is it because of her?”

“Yes. This is Adhira, a storm sprite. And this is our maid knight, Lily.” I introduced them to each other.

“Oh? Welcome little fey. You are here to pay your respects to Lady Amaya?” Lily inquired.

“You are a storm knight, you are a real storm knight!” She squealed. “This is so cool! I ah… I uh…” She seemed embarrassed to admit that she had threatened us. I was surprised that Lily had not heard her entrance. Maybe her voice did not carry that far after all. Our caravan was quite long I suppose.

“Who is the little lady?” Ben asked. His head was poking out of the carriage.

“Ben, stay inside! It might not be safe out there!” Lynn said.

“Big sis is out there! She can slaughter all mean things! Shani said both big sis are good at slaughter!” Ben protested.

Adhira’s eyes widened. “Please don’t slaughter me!” She squeaked.

“We mean you no harm. Just don’t attack anyone here and you will be fine.” I assured her.

“So, this is your domain?” Lucy asked.

“I live in this forest! And collect donations from travellers.” She said,

I assume that meant she robbed them.

“A storm sprite?” Josef had emerged from the wagons and joined us. “Greetings, I am Josef, an alchemist.”

“What is a storm sprite?” Ben asked. He had somehow left the carriage and joined us. Lynn was hurrying after him.

“Sprites are fey. They are magical creatures attuned to an element. Despite their small size they can be rather dangerous. While physically weak, their magic is rather potent. Sprites are often capable of tier three magic. They can also fly and are small targets. That makes them able to take out entire groups of adventurers. They are often mischievous and seen as tricksters. What many fail to understand is that they can be rather bloodthirsty too.”

“Are we in danger?” Lynn asked. She was holding Ben so he could not get closer to Adhira.

“We? No. Fey society in general is rather brutal. Their morals are often quite different. But they have a hierarchy. The archfey are the unquestioned rulers. They certainly have a lot of intrigue, but a sprite would never openly challenge Lady Amaya. Especially since they are of the same element. As long as she protects us we are perfectly safe.”

He looked at Lucy. “And your daughter could easily defeat a sprite as well. Actually, considering that we have Lily, Thessia, Terath, Minerva, Iris,... Our party is unusually strong.” He chuckled.

“Mom, can I play with her? Pleeease.” Ben whined.

“You don’t even know if she wants to play with you. You have to ask people first!” I told him.

“That is right, but more importantly it’s about safety! Ben, you can’t just approach magical creatures! A lot of them will do bad things to you!” Lynn explained to him.

He scratched his head. “But mom, they are all so nice! I know storms are scary but all the storm people are nice.”

“That is because we are your friends. But not everyone is.” Lily explained. “You have to be careful around strangers.”

Ben took some time to ponder that. Then he nodded. “Strangers can be scary.” He concluded.